New Amiga vs. SNES/Mega Drive Port Comparisons

[boatofcar]

I've been inspired lately to create some port comparison videos between the Amiga and its "rival" 16-bit consoles. The results have sometimes been surprising! I plan on publishing more of these as I get time--timing things so they line up correctly is not always easy. Here are the first few I've done.

[ Show youtube player ]
I was expecting the SNES to be the clear winner here, but the Amiga version is more colorful in general, possibly due to this being an AGA release. The only downside is it's missing the short cutscene before the level begins.

[ Show youtube player ]
This was a real missed opportunity for the Amiga. The soundtrack is incomplete, the charming room names are missing, and the lack of backgrounds makes the Super Nintendo version the must-play. Still, gameplay-wise, the Amiga version holds its own.

[Steve]

Interesting videos but ultimately we have a glaring schoolboy error.

The SNES footage has got filtering applied to smooth out the pixels so it isn't an accurate comparison.

[boatofcar]

Whoops! Good catch--I didn't realize that was turned on by default. I have a few more queued up with the filter applied, but going forward I'll make sure to turn that off.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by boatofcar

Whoops! Good catch--I didn't realize that was turned on by default. I have a few more queued up with the filter applied, but going forward I'll make sure to turn that off.

Looking forward to them.

[DanyPPC]

Watch better: Out To Launch snes version in the second level
has the animation of the water that breaks on the shoreline of the beach.
The trees are much more colorful.

Generally the games were more cared for on consoles because they had to comply with the standards imposed by Sega and Nintendo.
This did not happen on Amiga.

[DanyPPC]

I was not referring to the graphics, but to the general quality of the titles for these consoles.

[salteadorneo]

They look very similar.

[Mrz]

make a new video and compare the game Desert strike , the Amiga version kill all console ports and pc port by far

[roondar]

Though I really like Desert Strike on the Amiga, AFAIK that is basically a Mega Drive port, with the Mega Drive version having fairly identical graphics but a higher framerate. I could be remembering this wrong, of course, but I don't recall it being better than the other versions.

[Mrz]

for Desert strike the megadrive version is too fast and the soundFX is buggy compared to the Amiga
the amiga version is by far the best, have better intro,the sound of the heli is real and loud, the guys you must rescate says "help" , the sound of the explosions are better etc
Having 2mb or better in the Amiga this game have extra soundFX

[Anubis]

I played all 3 versions to end, and can't remember much difference, except not using keyboard in SNES and MD versions.

[sokolovic]

Not only the sound but also the explosions animations are far better made on the Amiga version of Desert Strike.

Bubble and Squeak is interesting MD/AGA to compare. Both versions have their advantage. The scrolling is multi directional even in the parallax for the Amiga AGA one but he foreground is more coloured on the MD. (in fact Bubble and Squeak is a good example of how poor the AGA version of James Pond 3 was with his black screen on the background).

But generally, 16 bits consoles platformer versions were better, which is generally because programming on these machine was much easier than on the Amiga. Many Amiga games were fast ported, due to limited market and budget. And even Amiga specialized devs we're sometimes rushing the Amiga version (Wiz'n'liz, Pugsy or Adams Family, AGA version of Zool 1&2 are coming to my mind, and JP3, of course).

[roondar]

Seems I may remember the differences between the various versions Desert Strike incorrectly. A video comparison would be nice regardless

As to 16 bit consoles platformers, it's not just that they were easier to program for. It's also (as unpopular as this might be to say on an Amiga forum) because the consoles had better hardware for this sort of thing - more playfields, more objects on screen, more colours on screen without requiring trickery, graphics hardware that generally doesn't slow down the CPU, etc.. And in the case of the SNES a larger palette as well.

This doesn't mean Amiga hardware is bad for gaming, it's just that console hardware was better optimised for games whereas Amiga hardware had all sorts of features that are better suited for general computing (f.ex. there is a reason that consoles all used tile based graphics and the Amiga instead opted for a bitplane/bitmap based system).

[boatofcar]

Desert Strike is on my list for sure!

Next up, Outrun! Anyone familiar with the Amiga version should know what to expect
[ Show youtube player ]

If you like these videos, please subscribe! It really helps get the word out.

[boatofcar]

Originally Posted by roondar

As to 16 bit consoles platformers, it's not just that they were easier to program for. It's also (as unpopular as this might be to say on an Amiga forum) because the consoles had better hardware for this sort of thing - more playfields, more objects on screen, more colours on screen without requiring trickery, graphics hardware that generally doesn't slow down the CPU, etc.. And in the case of the SNES a larger palette as well.

How much did the AGA chipset play into addressing these issues? There seems to be the common sentiment that developers rarely took advantage of AGA versions of games, but was the tech behind it specifically designed so the Amiga could produce more "console-like" gaming experiences?

[Gordon]

Boat on EAB

Just watched the f1 podcast video followed by outrun. Really is an awful port. The graphic artist for the loading screen probably spent more time on that than the rest of the team on programming it.

Great work with the channel

[lilalurl]

Originally Posted by Mrz

have better intro

The prisoner being lifted down into the acid barrel from the MD version looks more gruesome though. What's next, Mortal Kombat without blood or fatalities?

[boatofcar]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Boat on EAB

Just watched the f1 podcast video followed by outrun. Really is an awful port. The graphic artist for the loading screen probably spent more time on that than the rest of the team on programming it.

Great work with the channel

Thanks Gordon!

[oRBIT]

"Mortal Kombat" on Amiga was a huge disappointment compared to the SNES version. Anyone up for a port?

[idrougge]

Originally Posted by boatofcar

How much did the AGA chipset play into addressing these issues? There seems to be the common sentiment that developers rarely took advantage of AGA versions of games, but was the tech behind it specifically designed so the Amiga could produce more "console-like" gaming experiences?

That's what "easier to program" means. On the Amiga, you had to work out your own hacks to provide what was hardware features on the consoles.

You could compare this to the situation with the Amiga vs the ST; on the Amiga, a copper rainbow in the background was almost free, as were sprites and scrolling. On the ST, you had to use a lot of optimisation and tricks in order to get the same display on the screen.

When the 16-bit consoles entered the stage, the Amiga was put in the same situation as the ST once was in relation to the Amiga; the console hardware was optimised for making Sonic and Mario, while the Amiga hardware was optimised for scrolling a small bitmap on top of a copper rainbow. The technology behind could be coerced into making something similar to Sonic and Mario, but not without building a software framework to replicate a lot of features that were built into the hardware of the Megadrive or SNES.