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Best Coin-Op Conversions that Appeared on Western Home Computer Game Machines


Best Coin-Op Ports: 80s & 90s



This article ranks the best conversions of coin-operated arcade machines that appeared on Western home computer game machines in the 1980s and 1990s.

The coinop conversions are primarily ranked based on their faithfulness to the original arcade machine. However, this ranking factors in the technical limitations of the target platform; that is, the technical limitations of the computer to which the coinop game was ported.


For example, in replicating coinop audiovisuals the Amiga is much more capable than the C64, but that does not necessarily equate to a given Amiga port being automatically superior to a C64 equivalent.

Consider the following:

  • Amiga processing power and RAM far exceed that of the C64
  • Amiga distribution media storage capacity far exceeds that of the C64
  • Amiga display fidelity, color depth and audio capabilities far exceed that of the C64
  • The Amiga can scroll screens faster and smoother than the C64
  • The Amiga can shift more sprites/bobs than the C64
  • The Amiga can sprite-scale better than the C64

On an absolute level many Amiga ports are superior to C64 ports, but relative to hardware limitations that is not necessarily so. If an 8-bit port offers just as much gameplay as a 16-bit port, the 8-bit port is favored under the aspect of "They did almost as much, but with much less."


Besides that, some 8-bit ports are objectively superior to their 16-bit counterparts. The 16-bit port was always more colorful and displayed in "hires", but sometimes the framerate was poor or the collision detection and controls were off.

A good coinop port is one that faithfully replicates the gameplay, controls and audiovisuals of the coinop, but it is important to factor in target platform hardware restrictions when evaluating coinop ports.


Gameplay faithfulness is primary, audiovisual faithfulness is secondary. In the event that one port is as good as another, I rank based on which game provides the best gameplay and has the most replayability.

God-tier coinop ports are ones that render the arcade machine "redundant" in that computer-gamers no longer feel the need to play the coinop down at the arcade parlor, since they have what amounts to the coinop at home.


This was one of the dreams of computer-gamers in the 80s and 90s... and sometimes, this dream came true.

From Shoot 'em up History:

It was every young Amigan's dream to have what equates to an arcade game in their bedroom. And our dreams came true. We lived the computer-gaming dream from the late 80s to the early 90s. We played shoot 'em ups with our best friends sitting next to us, taking turns or playing coop for hours on cutting-edge yet affordable home-computer hardware. It was such a special time to be a computer-gamer; one that lasted only a few precious years. No one understands this except us. We miss our old friends and long for those times, but those days are gone forever.
Long gone.
Only fond memories remain.

I also factor in time of port release. All else being equal, ports that came out in the same year as coinop originals are prioritized over (for example) 1996 ports of 1987 coinops, even if that 1996 port is 1:1 arcade-perfect. Indeed, I am rather bored by ports that came out almost one decade after the original coinop -- on Pentium-powered PCs that were 100x more powerful than the original coinop. That said, my coverage does not ignore even belated ports.

Due to the limited distribution media storage capacities of target platforms, early coinop ports are not penalized heavily for their omission of certain content, such as a few stages aka levels.

Top 25 Coin-Op Conversions of the 80s & 90s



Note how there are five Taito coinop conversions in the Top 10, yet each conversion was handled by a different software house. As well, four of the five conversions are on different platforms. Thus, there is no software house or platform bias. Any perceived favoritism for Taito is unfounded: I cannot help that Taito of Japan developed some of the most playable games of all-time, which also received the greatest ports of all-time by some of the best coders, graphicians and composers in the West.

In this ranking, a coinop game can only appear once; that is, only one conversion of a coinop game can be ranked. If this rule did not apply, only a few coinop games would be represented due to the sheer strength of multi-platform porting of certain coinops.

Format is Game, Platform, Dev, Release Year, Coinop Manufacturer, Coinop Release Year.
 

In the above ranking of 25 coinop ports seven genre, six computer game machines, 10 coinop manfacturers and 19 software houses are represented.

1989 saw the release of seven of the best ports whereas 1988 saw the release of six.

Brief Explanations


  • "Why did you rank Amiga Arkanoid above C64 Arkanoid?" +33 Levels.
  • "Why did you rank PC Arkanoid 2 above Amiga Arkanoid 2"? +Construction Kit.
  • "Why did you rank PC Golden Axe above Amiga Golden Axe?" +Versus Mode.
  • "Why did you rank Amiga Rainbow Islands above the arcade-perfect PC version?" 6 years separates them.
  • "Why is PC Joe & Mac a historically significant port?" Because it was one of the first VGA coinop ports that evoked coinop quality.
  • "How can you rank 1988-89 ZX Spectrum coinop ports highly? Speccy was primitive by 1988-89!" Because no one other than the porters thought them possible.
  • "Shouldn't PC Street Fighter 2 & Mortal Kombat be ranked higher?" Arguably.
  • "What about SF2 and MK sequels?" They're covered in the original-game articles. As great as they are, I'd rather not fill the ranking up with SF2 and MK games.

Memories of an 8-bit blockbuster:


Notable Omissions


Here is an alphabetical listing of notable omissions:


Coin-Op Porting: Hit & Miss


Porting arcade machine games to computers was a hit and miss affair in the 80s and 90s. Consider the following:

  • Coinop hardware was often custom built or tailored to a specific game whereas computer hardware is more general in nature and nowhere near as advanced. In addition, some computers did not have custom chipsets at all, which means screens had to be set up manually and everything had to be done in software.
  • Coinop porters were often denied ROM-dumps and other info on the coinop, meaning they were forced to code some ports from the ground up and convert audiovisual assets by eye and by ear. Many ports were basically hand-made from scratch.
  • Coinop porters often had to code game-engines and tools for porting purposes. For example, some porters had to code custom compression software just to fit the data on limited-capacity distribution media.
  • Coinop porters often had to meet strict deadlines and follow strict guidelines. In addition, ports needed to be released within limited time-frames. Coinop porters did not have the luxury of six-month or one-year development cycles. Some non-coinop ports of 1989 had 4-year dev-cycles...
  • Many coinop ports were developed by only three people: coder, graphician and composer. Sometimes, only one person ported everything and playtested the port by themselves.
  • In the mid to late 80s Amiga porters often had to employ the inferior but more popular Atari ST as lead. Many Amiga ports were coded and drawn on STs, which is blasphemy.
  • Compiling code and converting audiovisual assets was slow even when using the fastest assemblers and conversion software. Not many porters had access to custom, cutting-edge Development Systems.
  • Publishers had to coordinate multi-platform ports for wildly different computer hardware. The difference between one late-80s computer and another was much greater than it is now; computers were nothing alike in the late-80s; they were fundamentally different. Thus the need for multiple teams of coders, graphicians and composers -- and even multiple software houses. For example, not many coders were experts on 6502, Z80 and M68K assembly (to say nothing of the intricacies of custom chipsets).
  • As an aside, computer game journalism gave more credit to publishers than to developers. In many reviews the developer is not even mentioned.

As a rule, the best Western home computer games were not coinop ports but rather clones thereof or custom originals that were designed for specific Western home computer game machines. However, notable exceptions can be found in the above-enumerated. For example, no 8-bit or 16-bit block-breaker is better than Amiga Arkanoid.

Indeed, the best Western home computer games have no analogue on arcade machines; that is, they are of genre unrepresented by coinops. The best example would be strategy games.

Needless to say, computer games did not remain in the shadow of coinop games.

The Chopping Block: What Often Gets Cut in Coinop Ports


Note the qualifier: "often."

  • Pixel-count reduction: fidelity aka sreen resolution is decreased.
  • Active drawspace is not full-screen (Atari ST).
  • Color-count reduction: the number of on-screen colors is reduced.
  • Sprite animation frames: complex articulated sprite animations are cut.
  • Sprite count: the number of simultaneous on-screen sprites is reduced.
  • Music or Sound effects, not both: this mostly impacted C64 ports, not Amiga ports.
  • Parallax scrolling: removed entirely or the number of layers is reduced.
  • On-impact VFX and SFX (e.g., projectiles hitting objects and scenery): cut or reduced in number.
  • Inputs need to be recoded for 1-button digital joysticks (C64 and ST/Amiga). Analog joystick calibration (PC).
  • Up-to-jump: Players move the joystick "up" to jump instead of hitting the fire button to jump. However, assuming a micro-switch joystick up-to-jump is often superior in terms of speed and accuracy (platform games).
  • Content: some encounters or even entire stages are omitted.

Amiga Paula is a chameleon. Paula could replicate basically any coinop audio; the limits were RAM and storage capacity, not Paula. SID could only approximate. The PC could not convincingly replicate coinop soundtracks and sampled sound until the advent of Sound Blaster in 1989.

Audio-wise, the soundtrack for Amiga Turrican (to give but one example) can contend with any coinop soundtrack of the early 90s.

C64-native and Amiga-native coinop-style games are almost always superior to C64/Amiga coinop ports because the native games were designed and coded for C64/Amiga hardware capacities from the ground up; that is, the native game taps into the strengths of the hardware hosting it; thus, the native game is King. There are C64-native games dating back to 1986 and Amiga-native games dating back to 1988 that would not have looked out of place in the arcade parlor. For example, C64 Uridium and Amiga Hybris.

Fast-forward a few years and dozens could be cited. Custom chips, son. Custom chips.


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