Marvel vs Capcom 2 on the Sega Dreamcast. Not only was it a beautiful conversion but it didn't cost you an entire day's pay when you had a few beers at Sega Gameworks [my hometown was lucky enough to have one and it was AMAZING. I wish some other restaurant/bar chain would copy the idea]
A great Game Sack episode for my birthday. Made my night. Glad to see Joe hasn’t missed a beat since Dave left. Would love to see more live-streams as well. I like them even if he’s only casually playing something. Most underrated retro gaming channel out there.
Dave retired from Game Sack because it was taking too much time away from his career and family. He might return for guest spots in the future, was said.
@@victor.elkins it's all true, they are both awesome we miss Dave but we understand why. We think Joe is doing a fantastic job. Still the best tv show on any medium.
Just watched better than the arcade 2 episode , with my Time Machine , I traveled 5 years into the future to find it, I’m off to 2029 now to check out the 3rd video
I specifically request closing shifts on Sundays at my work because I know I can't get to sleep early when there's a new episode of Game Sack. I think they assume it's a religious thing - I don't correct them xD
Virtua Racing on the 32X was far worse than the arcade version. Yes, it had more tracks, but it ran at half the speed and was half as sharp. As for the rest, I totally agree.
@@VERMISIMILITUDE I wouldn't call the 32X version "terrible," in fact I'd argue that it's probably the best home version, but definitely not as good as the arcade.
It's amazing how much Namco could fit an arcade experience and more into a Compact Disc! It's a shame that I can't really play it anymore since not only is the power cut off from the entire upstairs (not downstairs, the basement or the bathroom upstairs thankfully), but also my PS2 can't play CDs (or Blue Discs as they're more formally called) anymore due to either a dirty or misaligned laser.
@@scottp.548 It might be due to squirrels that're between the 2nd floor and attic, which has happened before. When it happened though, I was actually just turning on the zip-strip in my room and then the power went off. This happened awhile ago so the house is still intact thankfully. My mom tried to restart the fuse box in the house by turning it off then back on to make sure it would work again, and it didn't. And I can't get rid of the squirrels since they're in an unreachable spot so that's out of the question. So for now I just have to wait until it comes back on.
I remember when a friend of mine showed it to me. It was this stage that has 3d grass and like a hut in the background I believe. I was SHOCKED WITH THE AMOUNT UF GRASS IT HAD. hahah. Loved it
He shoulda gave a shout-out to Bionic Commando Rearmed. It's a seriously impressive redux of the NES original. I hated the arcade Bionic Commando. It looked corny & was super difficult.
@@TexasHollowEarth honestly the original was good. The remake suffered from a vase of good graphical rmastery, poor control in the sense that it feels unlike the original to play it.
Joe, I admit I was a bit skeptical when you went solo. You know, after years as a duo, I thought it would feel a bit "empty" with just one guy. But I think you really found your groove, these episodes are great. Thank you for the amazing content.
I was at FuncoLand 9am sharp on 9/9/99. Crazily enough out of the three games that I bought with the DC I was the most enamored with Trickstyle. I got a cool free DC shirt too.
9+9+9+9=36...3+6=9.... then take the first two 9/9 =1, then take the second two nine's in 99, add them 9+9=18, then 1x8=8, then take the 9 you started with and minus the 8, so 9-8=1. So you have 911. Then take Sega, S=19, E=5, G=7 and A=1, so you then do 19x5x7=665 then you add the 1 for the A and you have 666. So, 911, or September 11th - and 666. That's what the Dreamcast launch was telling us.
Rod Munch are you suggesting that sega knew about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center??? People died because that senseless attack! Not cool man.
Same, I picked it up along with Sonic, HotD2, and Power Stone. Playing that game that evening produced one of the few WOW moments I've had playing games in my 39 years. Power Stone blew me away as well TBH.
Thank you for continuing to make this a great series all by yourself, Joe. It must be extremely time-consuming and a lot of work to produce all of these high-quality episodes. Awesome job!
If you do another one of these, "Gauntlet IV" for the Megadrive/Genesis needs covering. A great arcade conversion that ALSO has a full quest mode with all-new levels and RPG elements.
Soul Calibur was one of the reasons I got my Dreamcast, the other was every other fighting game on the Dreamcast, it was a great console for fighting games, Just wish it had a better controller like the Saturn had
My friend and I grabbed the ASCII controller that had a marketing tie-in for Capcom vs. SNK. I don’t know if it made it out of Japan nor remember if it was any good.
I'm surprised you didn't mention TMNT and TMNT: Turtles In Time, while I love the arcade versions I felt that the console versions offering more levels and awesome soundtracks was worth mentioning.
Game sack is my favorite show of all time, and this includes tv not just youtube. Better than Breaking bad, Game of thrones, Mad men all of that. You have a charming personality are very witty and funny. Your show is also full quality content and information. I like how you can give your opinion without seeming negative and spiteful like those review websites. You deserve an award for this show. All the effort you put into this really shows. I can tell this is a labour of love. Thank you for providing us with hours and hours of entertainment.
Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast is 20 years old and the visuals still look pretty damn good. Even though it is 20 years old the graphics and gameplay can still be enjoyed today. Then compare a game that came out 20 years before Soul Calibur like Asteroids. There is clearly no comparison. Even a 10 year old game from 1989 isn't comparable to a 1999 Dreamcast game. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we haven't progressed near as much from 1999-2019 as we had from 1979-1999. I miss those days when new technology was coming out that was amazing and had a big wow factor to it. In 1990 the SNES came out then only 6 years later the N64 was released and was absolutely mind blowing! Then came the Dreamcast which had even more amazing graphics. After that things slowed down. The PS2,Gamecube and Xbox came out which did have more graphical power than the Dreamcast but it was nothing amazing. That was the last consoles I owned besides the Wii. After that I just gamed on the PC as there didn't seem to be much of a reason to own a console.
I kind of miss those days too. Video game graphics to me have pretty much reached their peak. The jump from PS3 to PS4 to me wasn't that big, only that lighting and texture effects were improved and that they looked a little more realistic.
@@Dj.D25 I totally agree. I don't see how graphics can really improve all that much from what they are now except for little improvements here and there like you mentioned with lighting. Just Cause 2 came out in 2010. Just Cause 4 was released in 2018. Does 4 look better than 2? Sure, but does it look 8 years better? Not to me. 8 years used to be a huge amount of time in gaming. Basically it was the difference between Super Nintendo to the Sega Dreamcast. If you went back to 1991 and showed somebody Shenmue their mind would have been totally blown! They wouldn't even be able to comprehend how such an advanced game was possible. If you did the same now and went back to 2011 and showed somebody a game that was released in 2019 they wouldn't be that impressed. They would probably say it looks pretty damn good but would easily be able to believe it came out that year and was just running on top of the line hardware. I don't think we are ever going to have a huge jump in gaming like we used to. A lot of people went straight from the SNES to the N64 and that was an unbelievable jump in graphics. The only thing that could maybe come close to that today is if they developed a really good VR. Something that actually made you feel like you were in the world of the game. Even though there has been some big improvements in VR recently I don't know if I ever see them making a VR that truly seems real. If it ever does get that good it will be pretty far off in the future.
I think part of it is that the more detail you can produce, the more artists you have to hire to produce what the graphics are going to look like. The art departments they have to maintain to design modern AAA games are orders of magnitude larger than the teams they worked with in the late 90s. There's a lot more that goes into it than just computational power. I think that's part of why visuals in games haven't changed as dramatically in recent years: we've gotten past the point where the tech is holding us back but there's still the matter of development budgets.
I felt the SNES version of TMNT: Turtles in Time was better than the arcade. More levels, better bosses, better game flow. I've had people disagree with me, but I'm curious to hear differing opinions.
Looking forward hopefully to more episodes from " Better Than the Arcade ". It's a really solid idea for this show. Hope it gets like 5 episodes or more.
Ninja Gaiden on the NES was the first time I saw that type of animated cutscene and it blew my mind. I was never very good at the game but it was always one of the most memorable games in that era for me just because those cutscenes set it apart from every other game I was playing at the time with static shot cutscenes.
It was a first for a lot of people. I was subscribed to a video game magazine back then and in the review you could clearly see they were genuinely confused and surprised about those "scenes" that "tried to tell a story in the middle of the game" XD One of the writers even said "it tries to mix film and video games" haha... well, it was a different time and games trying to tell a story were not common. Times change. Have a good day!
Joe, this was a great topic and a great episode, man. I honestly thought Game Sack would be a little bit harder to watch as a "one-man show" but you're holding it down and keeping the quality high and shows entertaining as always; much appreciated! I laughed so hard at 21:34, btw. Jeez louise - you knocked that guy into orbit (^-^)
Hey Joe! Big fan! Just wanted to pitch in my two cents on the Super Hang On controls. I don't think they're actually "laggy" per se, I think they're intended to have that gradual feel so that you can have the greater range of turning degrees despite the lack of analog stick, without the animation going totally wonky. For example, if it's a gradual left turn, holding left will be too sharp, so instead you can rapidly tap left. Thanks to the "delayed" feeling of the turning, it feels a lot more like you're shifting your weight on a bike, and they reflect this in the animation by not leaning your rider until you've held the turning direction for a little while. Otherwise if it were like most racing games your rider sprite would be freakin out. I always thought this was an inspired design choice, it is (as you said) surprisingly easy to get used to and really FEELS like the weight of turning a motorcycle is present, setting it apart from other types of racing games like OutRun.
Have to disagree about Shadow Dancer, I absolutely loved the arcade version , while the Sega Genesis version just like E- Swat completely disappointed me . Gone were the cool huge character sprites, cool music and sfx and cool super move too. I have to say in the case of Shadow Dancer and E-Swat the arcade version was much better and cooler
It was when I saw NFL 2K running on the Dreamcast in Best Buy. It made the NFL games on PS1 look like DogSh**. That was when I realized that the Dreamcast was a true next gen beast.
My first thought was Street Fighter: The Movie. While the arcade version is a shoddy Mortal Kombat clone, the PS1/Saturn versions are ports of SF2 Super Turbo (AFAIK) with uglier sprites, and so play a lot better.
I love it when home ports improve on the arcade originals, despite the limitations, that way we get to experience awesome games like Contra and Ninja Gaiden the way they were meant to be played!
Great video, as always! But, my God, were the TH-cam ads unbearable! There were 5 ad breaks throughout the video and two of them were an identical two and a half minute trailer for the new IT movie. Great algorithms, TH-cam!
Ah the thrilling speed sensation is what still makes me come back to arcade Super Hang On. Other versions are just substitutes to me, when you couldn't play the arcade version easily (availability, money, restrictive parents, you name it). And i enjoyed a lot playing the Atari ST version in my youth.
Bionic Commando actually had nothing whatsoever to do with Commando. That connection was only added in the English translation, and was basically just part of censorship (since they removed a lot of plot elements). The original plot had to do with taking down a neo Nazi state. The original name was Top Secret: The Resurrection of Hitler in Japan.
I love this topic. Coin-op conversions/ports are some of my favorites. As much time as I spent in arcades in my 10s and 20s, being able to play the games at home and at will was often a treat. Your mention of SoulCalibur is a perfect example to use, especially with the Dreamcast's 20th anniversary on the horizon. Others that I'd mention include: -- Tecmo Bowl (NES over coin-op): The NFLPA license added real players, plus the game was revamped from its dual-monitor coin-op counterpart to deliver a simpler and more enjoyable experience. -- Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PlayStation & Dreamcast over coin-op): The addition of World Tour Mode vaults the home versions past the coin-op original. Being able to build a (kind of) unique character, earning and enabling different power-ups, is super-addictive. The Dreamcast version is, in terms of performance, virtually arcade-perfect... but the PlayStation version is no slouch, either. -- Starblade Alpha (PlayStation over coin-op): The PlayStation version of the not-often-seen coin-op introduces texture-mapped polygons for a better look than the arcade's more generic graphics. It's still a rail shooter, no matter which version you play, but the PlayStation (and 3DO!) versions are better because of this added visual option. Thanks for keeping up the hard work, Joe... and I'm really happy that ending skits are still a thing. This one is gold.
Agree. Turtles In Time had more levels and exclusive bosses. Street Fighter Alpha 3 had more characters and stages. And you also got unlimited tries against the final boss in Arcade mode, which the arcade version didn't let you do. Only 1 try and that's it.
Gamesack coming in clutch again. Just got fired from job( 90 day option i didnt do anything wrong) and was bummed. Needed something to watch. Thanks my man.
Gauntlet Dark Legacy for the PS2 / GC! A two-button combo system (no more green Turbo meter for one-shot slow attacks), improved graphics, and I believe more worlds too.
Joe’s Contra commentary about screen orientation made me think: do they’ve made vertical screens a thing back in the day to minimize cabinets size? I mean, obviously an arcade owner would like to display as many cabinets as possible. (Sorry if this is an actual well known thing and I’m late in the conversation though).
There's actually a reason for Contra's vertical orientation. Most video displays update on a scanline-by-scanline basis, filling the screen top to bottom. This makes vertical scrolling fairly easy since all you have to do to shift everything up and down the screen is add or remove scanlines. Aside from those lines that you add or remove, everything else can stay the same. Horizonal scrolling is a lot more difficult, though, since to scroll the screen horizontally you have to update every single scanline on the display to individually add and subtract information from either side. Therefore, if you wanted to make a game that focused on horizontally scrolling but didn't want to make the hardware extremely expensive, a simple solution would be to just turn the monitor on its side. That way you can use the more-efficient vertical-scrolling techniques on a horizontally-scrolling game. Sure, there were vertically-scrolling sections in the Contra games, but they typically had you moving more slowly than on the horizontal sections and had less going on on the screen.
You really nailed some of these, Joe. Rygar on NES, TTT on PS2, and both of the NES Contra games were the first titles that came to my mind when I saw the theme of this episode. Also, the Staff Roll in Tekken Tag is arguably the finest piece of video game music ever made.
I always know it’s going to be a great week when a new Game Sack comes out. I love this topic. It would be cool to see another episode on the same topic some day soon. You just keep getting better with age my friend. Thanks for all you do! Have a great week.
So Rygar gets made fun of for running to the right but Mario somehow gets a free pass because he's Mario This is bulls**t *flips table and runs to the right
I’m really glad you’re continuing this channel. While I miss Dave, I do wish him all the best and understand his reasons for leaving. I still love your content, format and the vast majority of the subjects you focus on. Please keep up the good work, you’re doing great!
(Looks at Thumbnail) Ya damn straight both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur had way better ports then their arcade versions. Just thinking about it is nostalgic. Thanks for the good memories, Thumbnail!
I didn’t even know Soul Blade had an arcade counterpart until I found Soul Edge in a Vegas arcade ages ago. I came away thinking the PS1 version was better.
@@TexasWench Just runs smoother if memory serves, plus the PS1 version has that really kickass campaign mode. It's a shame that Soul Calibur completely overshadows it because as a PS1 fighter it's probably the best on the system and still plays pretty good; hard to pass up Soul Calibur on Dreamcast though if you specifically want a retro 3D
What are some games where you think the console version beats out its arcade counterpart?
Star Force on Nes
Marvel vs Capcom 2 on the Sega Dreamcast. Not only was it a beautiful conversion but it didn't cost you an entire day's pay when you had a few beers at Sega Gameworks [my hometown was lucky enough to have one and it was AMAZING. I wish some other restaurant/bar chain would copy the idea]
Section Z on the NES. Great game either way but the NES one felt a little beefier.
Game Sack Soulllll Calibruuuuh
Joust on the NES is way better than the arcade version.
30+ minutes! Joe you work so hard to keep us happy. Great job buddy
A great Game Sack episode for my birthday. Made my night. Glad to see Joe hasn’t missed a beat since Dave left.
Would love to see more live-streams as well. I like them even if he’s only casually playing something.
Most underrated retro gaming channel out there.
Too long; couldn't watch.
@@Browningate But you could comment. Bless your charitable ways.
@@Browningate nobody cares
@Burns - Yeah, nobody cares enough to watch ;-).
Mad respect for keeping GameSack going on your own, Joe, thanks so much for all your continued efforts.
whats going on with the other guy? im kinda new to this channel, i dont even know their names yet hehe
@@raafmaat was working a ft time job and wanted to spend more time with his family
VRHyoumaru Amen, brother. I knew he’d keep the channel awesome. Love Dave but you could always kinda tell Joe was the soul of the show.
wait where did Dave go?
Dave retired from Game Sack because it was taking too much time away from his career and family. He might return for guest spots in the future, was said.
Soooo glad Joe is keeping this going even though Dave has moved on! I will watch this channel til I die :)
KEEVS There are only two channels I stay on TH-cam for, and would switch platforms for and GameSack is one of ‘em.
Dave? He isn’t gone. He is an unlock-able character.
Christopher Those don’t exist anymore; Dave is paid DLC. The pre-beard Dave is a $10 skin.
Where did he go?
@@victor.elkins it's all true, they are both awesome we miss Dave but we understand why. We think Joe is doing a fantastic job. Still the best tv show on any medium.
Just watched better than the arcade 2 episode , with my Time Machine , I traveled 5 years into the future to find it, I’m off to 2029 now to check out the 3rd video
It would have been more impactful if you went back to 2019 to make this comment 5 years ago, but I wish you good luck on your journey.
I specifically request closing shifts on Sundays at my work because I know I can't get to sleep early when there's a new episode of Game Sack. I think they assume it's a religious thing - I don't correct them xD
I'm sure Joe would baptize you in the name of Sega if you need to make it official 😁
Gaming IS a RELIGION - for some- one you actually get something useful from though :)
*Crazy taxi for the Dreamcast
*Monkey ball for the Gamecube
*Virtua racing on the 32X
*Virtua fighter 5 on the 360
Those are some I can think of.
Virtua Racing on the 32X was far worse than the arcade version. Yes, it had more tracks, but it ran at half the speed and was half as sharp. As for the rest, I totally agree.
E-swat for genesis
Astyanax for nes
Rama Loza Agree on all of the except Virtua Racing... the 32x version was terrible to. An awful, blocky & rigid mess compared the arcade classic!!!!
@@VERMISIMILITUDE I wouldn't call the 32X version "terrible," in fact I'd argue that it's probably the best home version, but definitely not as good as the arcade.
And any modern PC Games are better than the arcade if your pc can be run on Ultra Setting
When I brought Tekken Tag home for the PS2, I freaked out. I swore it looked better than the Arcade, but no one believed me.
It's amazing how much Namco could fit an arcade experience and more into a Compact Disc! It's a shame that I can't really play it anymore since not only is the power cut off from the entire upstairs (not downstairs, the basement or the bathroom upstairs thankfully), but also my PS2 can't play CDs (or Blue Discs as they're more formally called) anymore due to either a dirty or misaligned laser.
@@hudde814 Huh? Only half your home has electricity? If so, you better get that looked at, for the possibility something may start a fire.
@@scottp.548 It might be due to squirrels that're between the 2nd floor and attic, which has happened before. When it happened though, I was actually just turning on the zip-strip in my room and then the power went off. This happened awhile ago so the house is still intact thankfully. My mom tried to restart the fuse box in the house by turning it off then back on to make sure it would work again, and it didn't. And I can't get rid of the squirrels since they're in an unreachable spot so that's out of the question. So for now I just have to wait until it comes back on.
I remember when a friend of mine showed it to me. It was this stage that has 3d grass and like a hut in the background I believe. I was SHOCKED WITH THE AMOUNT UF GRASS IT HAD. hahah. Loved it
it played worse, but it was a good game with lots of content.
unlike tekken tag 2 which is barebone
I officially declare that the original, "Commando," from now shall be referred to as, "Organic Commando."
He shoulda gave a shout-out to Bionic Commando Rearmed. It's a seriously impressive redux of the NES original. I hated the arcade Bionic Commando. It looked corny & was super difficult.
@@TexasHollowEarth I bought Rearmed, and hated it. Very stale very quick. Was hyped to an impossible level vs the nostalgia I had for the original.
@@caiusmadison2996 - It's like the original. What were you expecting? Did you play Rearmed 2? I didn't care for that one.
@@TexasHollowEarth honestly the original was good. The remake suffered from a vase of good graphical rmastery, poor control in the sense that it feels unlike the original to play it.
[Coury] Always a pleasure when I get to make a little cameo in a Game Sack episode.
Thats what you get for being a great channel
Joe, I admit I was a bit skeptical when you went solo. You know, after years as a duo, I thought it would feel a bit "empty" with just one guy.
But I think you really found your groove, these episodes are great. Thank you for the amazing content.
Soul Calibur blew me away on 9/9/99!!!
Same here. That game tracked your time played and I clocked in well over 100 hours. Money well spent.
I was at FuncoLand 9am sharp on 9/9/99. Crazily enough out of the three games that I bought with the DC I was the most enamored with Trickstyle. I got a cool free DC shirt too.
9+9+9+9=36...3+6=9.... then take the first two 9/9 =1, then take the second two nine's in 99, add them 9+9=18, then 1x8=8, then take the 9 you started with and minus the 8, so 9-8=1. So you have 911. Then take Sega, S=19, E=5, G=7 and A=1, so you then do 19x5x7=665 then you add the 1 for the A and you have 666. So, 911, or September 11th - and 666. That's what the Dreamcast launch was telling us.
Rod Munch are you suggesting that sega knew about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center??? People died because that senseless attack! Not cool man.
Same, I picked it up along with Sonic, HotD2, and Power Stone. Playing that game that evening produced one of the few WOW moments I've had playing games in my 39 years. Power Stone blew me away as well TBH.
I never get tired of hearing that Bionic Commando noise you play every time you say the game's title.
Its from an old tv show called the six million dollar man
Man, that sketch at the end, I noticed that all sound effects got placed in manually during editing. A bit tedious, but classy.
Thank you for continuing to make this a great series all by yourself, Joe. It must be extremely time-consuming and a lot of work to produce all of these high-quality episodes. Awesome job!
Man I Miss Dave. Big props for Joe continuing to do the show and entertain us.
If you do another one of these, "Gauntlet IV" for the Megadrive/Genesis needs covering. A great arcade conversion that ALSO has a full quest mode with all-new levels and RPG elements.
Joe was released from the hospital today due to eyes, ear and finger damage playing Altered Beast on Master System. Wish him a speedy recovery.
Soul Calibur was one of the reasons I got my Dreamcast, the other was every other fighting game on the Dreamcast, it was a great console for fighting games, Just wish it had a better controller like the Saturn had
There were third-party adapters that allowed you to use a Sega Saturn pad on the Dreamcast.
There is a very good ASCII hori(?) 2d controller for the dreamcast.
My friend and I grabbed the ASCII controller that had a marketing tie-in for Capcom vs. SNK. I don’t know if it made it out of Japan nor remember if it was any good.
Power stones and soul calibur is the reason for me
@@robertrada4783 yes. That is a very good controller.
The good thing of ninja gaiden arcade is the game over countdown.
That's exactly what I was thinking when he said that.
Same here :)
+ot4kon
Just like "Final Fight!"
I'll add that it was pretty good fun for me and remains a favorite...
I think 'TECMO Knight' also had a funky continue timer. I don't recall what it was though.
I'm surprised you didn't mention TMNT and TMNT: Turtles In Time, while I love the arcade versions I felt that the console versions offering more levels and awesome soundtracks was worth mentioning.
I played the hell out of, and loved, the NES version of the arcade game, but I was always dying to go to Pizza Hut so I could play the real thing.
Agreed of Turtles in Time. TMNT Arcade on NES really takes a hit with the slowdown, especially in co-op. Still a good port though.
Pimpzilla greatest ost ever :D
Requiem4aDr3Am and a great ost.
Not sure on that.. I own a TMNT arcade machine and nothing beats a four player sesh on that beast!
I just want to say thank you for always having great closed captions. It's still pretty rare and I know it can be a lot of work, and I appreciate it.
SoulCalibur on the Dreamcast is one of the best fighting games to grace a console EVER!
Game sack is my favorite show of all time, and this includes tv not just youtube. Better than Breaking bad, Game of thrones, Mad men all of that. You have a charming personality are very witty and funny. Your show is also full quality content and information. I like how you can give your opinion without seeming negative and spiteful like those review websites. You deserve an award for this show. All the effort you put into this really shows. I can tell this is a labour of love. Thank you for providing us with hours and hours of entertainment.
Oh god, I wasn’t ready for that ending skit. I had me a good laugh at that. 👍
Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast is 20 years old and the visuals still look pretty damn good. Even though it is 20 years old the graphics and gameplay can still be enjoyed today. Then compare a game that came out 20 years before Soul Calibur like Asteroids. There is clearly no comparison. Even a 10 year old game from 1989 isn't comparable to a 1999 Dreamcast game. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we haven't progressed near as much from 1999-2019 as we had from 1979-1999. I miss those days when new technology was coming out that was amazing and had a big wow factor to it. In 1990 the SNES came out then only 6 years later the N64 was released and was absolutely mind blowing! Then came the Dreamcast which had even more amazing graphics. After that things slowed down. The PS2,Gamecube and Xbox came out which did have more graphical power than the Dreamcast but it was nothing amazing. That was the last consoles I owned besides the Wii. After that I just gamed on the PC as there didn't seem to be much of a reason to own a console.
I kind of miss those days too. Video game graphics to me have pretty much reached their peak. The jump from PS3 to PS4 to me wasn't that big, only that lighting and texture effects were improved and that they looked a little more realistic.
@@Dj.D25 I totally agree. I don't see how graphics can really improve all that much from what they are now except for little improvements here and there like you mentioned with lighting. Just Cause 2 came out in 2010. Just Cause 4 was released in 2018. Does 4 look better than 2? Sure, but does it look 8 years better? Not to me. 8 years used to be a huge amount of time in gaming. Basically it was the difference between Super Nintendo to the Sega Dreamcast. If you went back to 1991 and showed somebody Shenmue their mind would have been totally blown! They wouldn't even be able to comprehend how such an advanced game was possible. If you did the same now and went back to 2011 and showed somebody a game that was released in 2019 they wouldn't be that impressed. They would probably say it looks pretty damn good but would easily be able to believe it came out that year and was just running on top of the line hardware. I don't think we are ever going to have a huge jump in gaming like we used to. A lot of people went straight from the SNES to the N64 and that was an unbelievable jump in graphics. The only thing that could maybe come close to that today is if they developed a really good VR. Something that actually made you feel like you were in the world of the game. Even though there has been some big improvements in VR recently I don't know if I ever see them making a VR that truly seems real. If it ever does get that good it will be pretty far off in the future.
I think part of it is that the more detail you can produce, the more artists you have to hire to produce what the graphics are going to look like. The art departments they have to maintain to design modern AAA games are orders of magnitude larger than the teams they worked with in the late 90s. There's a lot more that goes into it than just computational power. I think that's part of why visuals in games haven't changed as dramatically in recent years: we've gotten past the point where the tech is holding us back but there's still the matter of development budgets.
I felt the SNES version of TMNT: Turtles in Time was better than the arcade. More levels, better bosses, better game flow. I've had people disagree with me, but I'm curious to hear differing opinions.
I am kind of surprised that game wasn't mentioned here too. The snes version has some exclusive levels and bosses and some extra game play modes.
But the original arcade version has four players playing together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not to mention a kickass soundtrack
Same plus the music also so much better on snes
Looking forward hopefully to more episodes from " Better Than the Arcade ". It's a really solid idea for this show. Hope it gets like 5 episodes or more.
Ninja Gaiden on the NES was the first time I saw that type of animated cutscene and it blew my mind. I was never very good at the game but it was always one of the most memorable games in that era for me just because those cutscenes set it apart from every other game I was playing at the time with static shot cutscenes.
It was a first for a lot of people. I was subscribed to a video game magazine back then and in the review you could clearly see they were genuinely confused and surprised about those "scenes" that "tried to tell a story in the middle of the game" XD
One of the writers even said "it tries to mix film and video games" haha... well, it was a different time and games trying to tell a story were not common. Times change.
Have a good day!
Joe, this was a great topic and a great episode, man. I honestly thought Game Sack would be a little bit harder to watch as a "one-man show" but you're holding it down and keeping the quality high and shows entertaining as always; much appreciated!
I laughed so hard at 21:34, btw. Jeez louise - you knocked that guy into orbit (^-^)
You know what game wasn’t better on the console than the arcade? Willow. Seriously the arcade was so awesome!
BooThisMan.gif
Hey Joe! Big fan! Just wanted to pitch in my two cents on the Super Hang On controls. I don't think they're actually "laggy" per se, I think they're intended to have that gradual feel so that you can have the greater range of turning degrees despite the lack of analog stick, without the animation going totally wonky. For example, if it's a gradual left turn, holding left will be too sharp, so instead you can rapidly tap left. Thanks to the "delayed" feeling of the turning, it feels a lot more like you're shifting your weight on a bike, and they reflect this in the animation by not leaning your rider until you've held the turning direction for a little while. Otherwise if it were like most racing games your rider sprite would be freakin out. I always thought this was an inspired design choice, it is (as you said) surprisingly easy to get used to and really FEELS like the weight of turning a motorcycle is present, setting it apart from other types of racing games like OutRun.
You're likely right and that thought did cross my mind. Good way of explaining it!
Have to disagree about Shadow Dancer, I absolutely loved the arcade version , while the Sega Genesis version just like E- Swat completely disappointed me . Gone were the cool huge character sprites, cool music and sfx and cool super move too. I have to say in the case of Shadow Dancer and E-Swat the arcade version was much better and cooler
DOA re-release on OG Xbox from the arcade was a visual improvement. Also xbl play!
DOA 2 ultimate
Jesus Joe, that outro sketch was genuinely horrifying. D:
Soul Calibur is the game that made me believe "Next Gen" was a thing that could happen.
No other game has done that for me.
It was when I saw NFL 2K running on the Dreamcast in Best Buy. It made the NFL games on PS1 look like DogSh**. That was when I realized that the Dreamcast was a true next gen beast.
So glad Rygar was mentioned. I was waiting for that.
Lol, Joe bleeding at the end. That made me laugh a lot!
Also, you covered so many games in such a short time, awesome as always!
Always psyched to see 30+ minute episodes. Keep up the great work, Joe!
I actually prefer the arcade versions of Ninja Gaiden and Contra. Great episode as usual.
This video is American so blinded by NES Nostalgia
It's easy to forget that Contra was even in arcades some times, but It's kinda neat with episodes like this to have those reminders..
My first thought was Street Fighter: The Movie. While the arcade version is a shoddy Mortal Kombat clone, the PS1/Saturn versions are ports of SF2 Super Turbo (AFAIK) with uglier sprites, and so play a lot better.
I love it when home ports improve on the arcade originals, despite the limitations, that way we get to experience awesome games like Contra and Ninja Gaiden the way they were meant to be played!
Can you try classic games ported to Zx Spectrum ? Or Atari St ?
Rick Dangerous 1 & 2 on Amiga, and FLOOD on Atari
These are very thorough. Everytime I feel like I have something to add with a comment, the video covers it. It's great, professional work.
Great video, as always! But, my God, were the TH-cam ads unbearable! There were 5 ad breaks throughout the video and two of them were an identical two and a half minute trailer for the new IT movie. Great algorithms, TH-cam!
That movie looks really good though.
Thank God I have TH-cam Red. I listen to podcasts while I work and forgot ads even existed, to be honest.
Same TH-cam red is solid
adblockers are awesome
Ah the thrilling speed sensation is what still makes me come back to arcade Super Hang On.
Other versions are just substitutes to me, when you couldn't play the arcade version easily (availability, money, restrictive parents, you name it).
And i enjoyed a lot playing the Atari ST version in my youth.
Greetings:
You forgot turtles in time. The SNES version added more stages.
Even though it had just two-player, it's better.
Bionic Commando actually had nothing whatsoever to do with Commando. That connection was only added in the English translation, and was basically just part of censorship (since they removed a lot of plot elements). The original plot had to do with taking down a neo Nazi state. The original name was Top Secret: The Resurrection of Hitler in Japan.
I died laughing on the "organic commando" remark. That was hilarious.
With no online at the time, I still preferred going to the arcade to play with other people when it comes to Tekken Tag.
I love this topic. Coin-op conversions/ports are some of my favorites. As much time as I spent in arcades in my 10s and 20s, being able to play the games at home and at will was often a treat. Your mention of SoulCalibur is a perfect example to use, especially with the Dreamcast's 20th anniversary on the horizon.
Others that I'd mention include:
-- Tecmo Bowl (NES over coin-op): The NFLPA license added real players, plus the game was revamped from its dual-monitor coin-op counterpart to deliver a simpler and more enjoyable experience.
-- Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PlayStation & Dreamcast over coin-op): The addition of World Tour Mode vaults the home versions past the coin-op original. Being able to build a (kind of) unique character, earning and enabling different power-ups, is super-addictive. The Dreamcast version is, in terms of performance, virtually arcade-perfect... but the PlayStation version is no slouch, either.
-- Starblade Alpha (PlayStation over coin-op): The PlayStation version of the not-often-seen coin-op introduces texture-mapped polygons for a better look than the arcade's more generic graphics. It's still a rail shooter, no matter which version you play, but the PlayStation (and 3DO!) versions are better because of this added visual option.
Thanks for keeping up the hard work, Joe... and I'm really happy that ending skits are still a thing. This one is gold.
Starblade was also ported over as a bonus on a tekken game
Midnight Resistance on Sega Genesis. While I miss the spindle joystick, the control scheme on the Genesis works really well
@msd 100%. I wish I could have the Genesis version with the spindle joystick.
I very much disliked that spindle.
LOL someone is a 'button-masher' in Soul Calibur. Good thing it's NOT a Cuphead tutorial!
Nothing better than some good Sunday morning coffee and a new Gamesack episode.
Watching this episode is better than playing in the arcade...well, almost.
0:36 Soul Calibur
4:08 Punch-Out!!
8:46 Tekken Tag Tournament
12:54 Contra
16:40 Super Hang-On
20:30 Super Monaco GP
22:46 Double Dragon II
25:13 Ninja Gaiden
26:14 Shadow Dancer
27:44 Bionic Commando
28:54 Gun.Smoke
30:20 Rygar
I must say, the Sack still shoots full loads ever after missing one ball.
Your videos are so good that before bedtime, instead of following my intellectual pursuits I rewatch episodes like this one, with no regrets! 😊
I like the Ninja Gaiden arcade way more than the NES games. Since you can actually beat people up and toss them into the environment.
No matter how long these episodes are they always seem to just fly by.
Surprised not to see Turtles in Time. Also, I would say Street Fighter Alpha 3, Tekken 3, and UN Squadron.
Agree. Turtles In Time had more levels and exclusive bosses. Street Fighter Alpha 3 had more characters and stages. And you also got unlimited tries against the final boss in Arcade mode, which the arcade version didn't let you do. Only 1 try and that's it.
Super Hang-On is DEFINITELY better in the arcade - especially when you have one of these motorbike arcade machines!
Compared to the Megadrive version? Even the Amiga one is better... Better sfx, smoother, faster and analogue controls via the mouse. It rocks...
Henceforth, Commando shall be known as Organic Commando!
its a bit sad that dave is not here. but i admire Joe spirit to keep the show running with the accustomed quality
I'm going to suggest Insector-X, whose arcade original was a cute 'em up but was made more serious on the Genesis port.
dude, I hate the genesis version! the main sprite looks awful, the arcade is much cooler!
@@DJDanceClassic Thank you!
Everytime I see a new episode listed, I get a little happier. Thanks GameSack!
Please do a video on San Francisco Rush 2049! It would have been perfect here!
20:48 In fairness, Marlboro was sponsoring these type of races back then anyway so that's not out of the question.
It figures. I was seeing this normally being done in racing events.
I agree with everything outside of Super Hang On.
Arguably Shadow Dancer and Rygar, as well.
Yeah I hated the slowdown on Super Hang On (especially on the PAL version :-P). It completely ruined the game for me.
NEW GAME SACKKKKKKK!!! I normally wait till Sunday morning to watch these on the smartTV but I cant resist.
Gamesack coming in clutch again. Just got fired from job( 90 day option i didnt do anything wrong) and was bummed. Needed something to watch. Thanks my man.
Hope you land on your feet
Get a better job
Sucks, bro. Take a few days to chill and get back on your grind in no time. Good luck.
Gauntlet Dark Legacy for the PS2 / GC! A two-button combo system (no more green Turbo meter for one-shot slow attacks), improved graphics, and I believe more worlds too.
I thought Mercs was better on the Genesis. They cut some things, but added a new mode.
How did you know I was watching this on my phone? WHAT KIND OF BLACK MAGIC IS THIS???
still like the soul calibur on dreamcast rather than the xbox
Lee Hiyazaki it's fantastic. They are my favourite along with the ps2 sc 3 :)
Joe’s Contra commentary about screen orientation made me think: do they’ve made vertical screens a thing back in the day to minimize cabinets size? I mean, obviously an arcade owner would like to display as many cabinets as possible.
(Sorry if this is an actual well known thing and I’m late in the conversation though).
Man, I wish *Greendog* had an arcade version.
This might be the best retro gaming channel on TH-cam
I played Super Monaco GP to death on my Genesis. Such a great game.
I like this whole "lets take an arcade action game and make it an adventure game" business.
Joe, you are still great as a solo act. However I still miss Dave. I hope he can possibly do a guest appearance. Maybe in a special.
Besides, who else is going to steal your copy of Snatcher for Sega CD?
Screw Dave. How dare he think family is more important than Game Sack. Dave is dead to me for his selfishness.
The announcement episode of him leaving they said he would still guest star.
@@Trainy2 Hey, family always comes first.
@@MosesMedinaE Yeah, I hope Dave has one soon.
There's actually a reason for Contra's vertical orientation. Most video displays update on a scanline-by-scanline basis, filling the screen top to bottom. This makes vertical scrolling fairly easy since all you have to do to shift everything up and down the screen is add or remove scanlines. Aside from those lines that you add or remove, everything else can stay the same. Horizonal scrolling is a lot more difficult, though, since to scroll the screen horizontally you have to update every single scanline on the display to individually add and subtract information from either side.
Therefore, if you wanted to make a game that focused on horizontally scrolling but didn't want to make the hardware extremely expensive, a simple solution would be to just turn the monitor on its side. That way you can use the more-efficient vertical-scrolling techniques on a horizontally-scrolling game. Sure, there were vertically-scrolling sections in the Contra games, but they typically had you moving more slowly than on the horizontal sections and had less going on on the screen.
If you like Punch Out gameplay, try Pato Box. This is modern indie game, but its realy cool
GARNIR СТРИМЫ I didn't like the visual style but thanks for recommendation.
I misread that as "Plato Box" at first and got confused.
You really nailed some of these, Joe. Rygar on NES, TTT on PS2, and both of the NES Contra games were the first titles that came to my mind when I saw the theme of this episode.
Also, the Staff Roll in Tekken Tag is arguably the finest piece of video game music ever made.
Even at 50% less, this channel has even MORE PAWAA!!!!
I always know it’s going to be a great week when a new Game Sack comes out. I love this topic. It would be cool to see another episode on the same topic some day soon. You just keep getting better with age my friend. Thanks for all you do! Have a great week.
SMS Altered Beast is still better than the NES version, though.
Seriously? There are better ways to sucker people, brah...
Notes and Nerds you tried so hard to sucker people but you failed SO hard
"Password that's easy to remember"
...I can't believe this man! Lmao!
I remember the 1st time I saw tekken tag on ps2 I was so amazed especially since I was used to n64s graphics
Super hang on arcade you were physically sat on an actual bike! surely that's more impressive then a basic career mode on the console version?
There was also a stand-up version. But those gimmicks never really wowed me.
So Rygar gets made fun of for running to the right but Mario somehow gets a free pass because he's Mario
This is bulls**t
*flips table and runs to the right
Whats the transition called that is used between games towards the end of the episode?
Think that's something he had to animate himself using Photoshop and After Effects.
Dreamcast was so ahead of the curve at the time. I feel we never got to see the full potential of that hardware.
I’m really glad you’re continuing this channel. While I miss Dave, I do wish him all the best and understand his reasons for leaving. I still love your content, format and the vast majority of the subjects you focus on. Please keep up the good work, you’re doing great!
21:33 That made me laugh so hard.
What game is that playing on the monitor here?
22:25
Virtual-On? Or one of it's sequels?
(Looks at Thumbnail)
Ya damn straight both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur had way better ports then their arcade versions. Just thinking about it is nostalgic. Thanks for the good memories, Thumbnail!
I didn’t even know Soul Blade had an arcade counterpart until I found Soul Edge in a Vegas arcade ages ago. I came away thinking the PS1 version was better.
@@TexasWench Just runs smoother if memory serves, plus the PS1 version has that really kickass campaign mode.
It's a shame that Soul Calibur completely overshadows it because as a PS1 fighter it's probably the best on the system and still plays pretty good; hard to pass up Soul Calibur on Dreamcast though if you specifically want a retro 3D
Joe thank you for keeping game sack going its one of my favorite things to watch
Super hang on was way better on arcade simply bc you had handlebars.
...and a fookin motorcycle to ride on!
@@freakjob0 yeah that too