Games ported off the PC to 8/16bit consoles, or JP only releases to another US system

[Tanooki | 4,940]

Lately I've been thinking a bit more about this and seeing some interesting stuff that comes along.  Most people I find tend to just look at the whole Sega vs Nintendo 16bit wars and go into who got the better copy and it's overly debated, argued, and just played out over 30 years.

But there are these games you don't always realize in a lot of cases that popped up from like MSDOS or maybe a Japanese only release on a console or one of their computers that made it to the US shores on a console in that period too more or less.  An example would be PC Engine having good games vs the endless mistakes of the US office, so you'll end up with like Dragon's Fury on Genesis which is Devils Crush on PCE/TG16, or the non-localized PCE game Bomberman 94 did come over, again, on the Sega Genesis as Mega Bomberman.

I never have really seen any site or person bother to really create a list of these gems (or junk) that go transported over, and if they were badly done, as good, or even better for someone looking to try something new or revisit it in another way.

Sega Genesis seemingly at first look appears to have picked up a bit more of the slack when it came to PC DOS stuff and some Japanese favored consoles but Nintendo had some solid stuff they didn't get as well.  Like from the PC side Genesis got a fantastic version of Star Control and also Dune II while SNES had a really (dumb password save aside) noble done efforts with Wing Commander and a 2nd cart for its 2 chapters of special operations too.

Maybe we should try and knock out a list, or at least maybe point out some stuff that would be worth checking out or avoiding someone may not realize made it.  And even in some cases both systems got supposedly the same game but were grossly done differently in some way (visuals here) they're almost not the same like Test Drive II the Duel.

[JamesRobot | 5,808]

Maniac Mansion, Sim City, and Doom immediately come to mind.  And Myst came to the DS years after the fact.

[JamesRobot | 5,808]

And I'm still holding out for the prototype Tengen NES port of License to Kill to one day turn up.  A man can dream... 

[Tulpa | 3,520]

I compiled a list of computer ports to NES awhile back for a topic on that. I don't have the specific systems that they first appeared on (because I wasn't asked at the time), but here they are. I also put together a list of NES arcade ports.

 

Licensed

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Dragonstrike

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of the Lance

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Hillsfar

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Pool of Radiance

Archon

Bad Street Brawler (as Bop n Rumble)

Bandit Kings of Ancient China

Bard’s Tale

Battle Chess

Bill Elliot’s NASCAR Challenge

The Blues Brothers

Boulder Dash

California Games

Castelian (as Nebulus)

Castlequest (as Castle Excellent)

Caveman Games (as Caveman Ugh-Lympics)

The Chessmaster

Conan: The Mysteries of Time (as Myth: History in the Making)

Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine

Defender of the Crown

Deja Vu

Double Dare

 F-117A Stealth Fighter

F-15 Strike Eagle

Fisher Price: Firehouse Rescue

Fisher Price: I Can Remember

Fisher Price: Perfect Fit

Flight of the Intruder

Gemfire (may have had concurrent releases)

Genghis Khan

Ghostbusters

Harlem Globetrotters

Hollywood Squares

Hudson Hawk (may have had concurrent releases)

The Immortal

Infiltrator

Jordan VS. Bird: One-On-One (may have had concurrent releases)

King’s Quest V

Kings of the Beach

Klashball (as Speedball)

Krusty’s Fun House (as Rat-Trap)

Last Ninja

The Last Starfighter (as Uridium)

The Legacy of the Wizard (as Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family)

Lemmings

L’empereur (may have had concurrent releases)

Lode Runner

Loopz

Lunar Pool (as Lunar Ball)

M.U.L.E.

Maniac Mansion

Mario is Missing

Mario’s Time Machine

Metal Gear

Might & Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum

Miracle Piano (may have had concurrent releases)

Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival

Nigel Mansell’s World Championship Racing

Nobunaga's Ambition

Nobunaga's Ambition II

North and South

Overlord (as Supremacy: Your Will Be Done)

Paper Boy 2  (may have had concurrent releases)

Pipe Dream (as Pipe Mania)

Pirates!

Platoon

Prince of Persia

Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom

Raid on Bungeling Bay

Remote Control : MTV

Rescue: The Embassy Mission (as Hostages)

Robocop 2

Robocop 3

Robowarrior (may have had concurrent releases)

Rocket Ranger

Rollerball

Rollerblade Racer (may have had concurrent releases)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms II

Shadowgate

Silent Service

Skate or Die

Ski or Die (may have had concurrent releases)

Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular (as Alternative World Games)

Spelunker

Spot (may have had concurrent releases)

Spy VS. Spy

Star Soldier (may have had concurrent releases)

Super Cars

Super Pitfall (may have had concurrent releases)

Target: Renegade

Tetris

The Three Stooges

Times of Lore

Tombs and Treasure

Ultima: Exodus

Ultima: Quest of the Avatar

Ultima: Warriors of Destiny

Uncharted Waters (may have had concurrent releases)

Uninvited

The Untouchables

Wheel of Fortune (may have had concurrent releases)

Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?

Win Lose or Draw

Winter Games

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

Wizardry II: Knight of Diamonds

World Games

Zanac (had concurrent releases)

 

Licensed Europe exclusives: 

Elite

Kick Off

 

Unlicensed North American

The Adventures of Captain Comic

Bee 52 (may have had concurrent releases)

Big Nose the Caveman (may have had concurrent releases)

Dizzy the Adventurer (as Dizzy, Prince of the Yolkfolk; may have had concurrent releases)

Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy (as Fantastic Dizzy; may have had concurrent releases)

Firehawk (may have had concurrent releases)

Impossible Mission II

Mig-29: Soviet Fighter

Quattro Adventure (may have had concurrent releases, Super Robin Hood and Treasure Island Dizzy were on computers before the NES version)

Quattro Arcade (may have had concurrent releases)

Quattro Sports (may have had concurrent releases)

Tetris: The Soviet Mind Game

 

If Sachen is in the mix, there might be more. I think one of their multicarts had a port of Minesweeper.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Tulpa