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Impossible Ports made possible!

Great pick. Having dived pretty deeply in MS/GG games, there are actually many games that are technically incredible on this SEGA 8 bits hardware.

A favorite pick of mine are the Shining Force games on Game Gear. I made an elaborate post (in French) about the technical details explaining how incredibly complicated it was to achieve the presentation they got on the console with only 2 palettes of 16 colors. Which is basically the exact same presentation as on MegaDrive.

In case some might be interested :

Other impressive games are the Mortal Kombat and Golden Axe ports using background tiles.
I've never played SF on the Game Gear. I agree mind, Mortal Kombat is awesome on the Master System. Master System doesn't get enough credit
 

Moses85

Member
They had to cut geometry by half remove visual effects, downgrade textures, simplify environments etc,etc,et, so yeah In its original form it was not possible on PS2 😚
Yes, but the game ran and looked good. But there are a few games out there which deserved the stamp „impossible to made“
 

calistan

Member
How about Virus on the ZX Spectrum? It was a port of Zarch, the showcase game for the Acorn Archimedes (of ARM fame), which was far more powerful than anything else of its time.

The game had to be compromised considerably to work on even the Amiga and ST, so getting it running on a cheap 8-bit micro from 1982 was pretty impressive. Even if you can count the FPS on your fingers.



Original version: (a modern version with unlimited draw distance would be cool)
 

simpatico

Member
I remember playing Half Life on a VAIO laptop that was just barely enough to launch the game. I don't think I broke 20fps in my entire playthrough. Somehow I loved every second of it. Nowadays, if I can't lock in at least high 60fps, I put it on hold until after a PC upgrade. What changed?
 

RAIDEN1

Member
I would like to see someone actually put a competent port of Streetfighter 2 on the Amiga machines. or even the CD32, one game you can say would be impossible to port is Doom for Commodore's 16 bit "powerhouses" much less the A1200
 
RE2 on N64 is an absolute miracle of engineering.

A 2 CD game, 1.2GB, fit on a 64MB cart, with FMV's, music and all the voice acting included, using tech they created themselves.
They should have liscensed that tech then N64 could have ran playstation and saturn ports. The magic of software. But would nintendo allow it?
 

nkarafo

Member
RE2 on N64 is an absolute miracle of engineering.

A 2 CD game, 1.2GB, fit on a 64MB cart, with FMV's, music and all the voice acting included, using tech they created themselves.
It's not really 1.2 GB of data though since the second CD repeats a lot of those files, it's not like the second characters explores completely different pre-rendered environments.

I'd say the game could still barely fit in a single CD if you only count the actual different files. I would bet the 2 CD packaging was just marketing.

Still, 600+MB compressed to 64 with decent results is not a joke.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
It's not really 1.2 GB of data though since the second CD repeats a lot of those files, it's not like the second characters explores completely different pre-rendered environments.

I'd say the game could still barely fit in a single CD if you only count the actual different files. I would bet the 2 CD packaging was just marketing.

Still, 600+MB compressed to 64 with decent results is not a joke.

It's mostly the CGI that takes up the space.

All the location data and pre-rendered backgrounds would be repeated, yes. But that's also the case for the FF games on PS1, for example. They're on 4 discs because of all that CG.
 

nkarafo

Member
It’s like seeing all those Doom ports on every electronic device known to exist. If you have the time and the coding chops, anything is possible.
Except half of these are not DOOM or anything close to DOOM since they don't do anything remotely close to what the DOOM engine does. Some of them are mere Wolfenstein 3D like demos with completely orthogonal rooms/corridors.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
ProTip: There are no “impossible” ports of videogames. Anything can be achieved with enough knowledge, time and programming skills.

My favorite example is the Axelay tech demo created for the NES. It shows the stunning mode-7 warping effect from the overhead stages, alongside an impressive number of sprites, all without flicker or slowdown. Granted, there is no collision detection, player control, music or enemy AI, all of which would impact performance. It’s just a graphics demo. But it shows just how far older hardware can be pushed by those who have mastered Assembly code.

Technically, almost everything seen on the Atari 2600 was “impossible.” That machine was built to play tank and paddle games, not Space Invaders. Yet the engineers found a way, and here we are.

It’s like seeing all those Doom ports on every electronic device known to exist. If you have the time and the coding chops, anything is possible.
"Impossible" is a term of art. It does not mean literally impossible. It is about porting to hardware that is much weaker and/or doesn’t have the same capabilities, and retains enough of the original’s elements to be quality and recognizable. Most of those Atari 2600 ports are total ass.

tech demos that have one level or lack 80% of gameplay elements don’t count obviously.
 
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This thread is how I learnt there was a Resident Evil 2 port on N64

That sounds incredible
Just to give you an idea of what they did

On PS1, RE2 shipped on 2x 700MB CD's, total game size 1,400 MB

On N64, the game fit onto a 64 MB cartridge

1,400 -> 64 MB

It took over a year to complete the port and required a dedicated team that eventually had over 20 people working on it
 

magnumpy

Member
Great video showcasing some great titles of the decades gone by that should not have been possible on the platform the developers targeted....highlights include - Elite running on the NES, when the NES couldn't even do 3D, Streetfighter Alpha 2 for the SNES...and many more!



what trash I literally begin vomimiting the moment I view sub 60 fps 3d OR even pseudo 3d visuals my therapist will be hearing about this how daRE YOU :(
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Really with carts you can make any game run on any cart based system. Just needs to be within the color limitations. Like doom genesis port the whole game is running in the cart. Just the character ram is drawn to the screen.
 
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