Arcade Ports

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As is fitting for the golden age of arcade games, a large portion of the CPC range was made up of conversions of one classic coin-op or another. The major British based software houses of the time would bid for some of the biggest arcade games of the time and a number of key relationships between arcade game manufacturers and companies were established.

The theory, of course, was that kids would develop a taste for these high spec games at their local arcade and consequently go home and pester mum and dad for either more money to play the game that little bit longer or demand a version that they could play at home - although a more expensive short term investment, buying the right arcade conversion could prove to be a better long term prospect for the prudent household!

Technical aspect

Hardwares

Arcade Cabinets and games were often a close combinaison between a game ROM and a Hardware especially designed around it and for it.

While the main CPU were often quite common chips, the Video was generaly (if not always) based on a heavy use of Hardwired Sprites and Harwired Scrollings in a custom fashion.

A good share of earlier 80's Arcade games were Z80 based.

Example :

  • PacMan : it uses a single Z80 as CPU.
  • Namco 8-bit Galaxian arcade system board : also use a single Z80 CPU.

As Arcade games were to become the more and more complex, the number of CPU also increased.

  • The Namco 8-bit Galaga per example used three Z80 CPU (as main CPU, Video Co-CPU and Sound co-CPU)
  • 1942 (Capcom) : uses a Z80 as main CPU and a second Z80 to manage additionnal 2x AY8910 Sound processors.
  • Black Tiger (Black Dragon) (Capcom) uses a Z80 as main CPU and a second Z80 as sound-CPU to manage the YM2203 soundchip.

As a result, the earlier Arcade Games/Systems are not especially more powerfull than an Amstrad CPC computer, but were Discrete Logic and Hardware based while a CPC is mostly Software based.

Later Arcade system were more often fit with 16bit CPU (68000 is a common example) yet some were still equipped with Z80 as co-CPU.

  • Sega MegaDrive/Genesis is basically a downgraded arcade system, with a 68000 as main CPU and a Z80 as sound co-CPU. While the Z80 could mostly only used for sounds as a MegaDrive, it was also used to emulate Retro-Compatibility with SegaMaster System console (Z80 based system), provided the right cartridge adaptator.

Gameplay

Arcade systems and games were mostly centered around Hardwired Sprites and scrolls.

This make a good proportion of Shoot'hem Ups (vertical or horizontal), Platformers, Beat'hem Up/All.

And quite always action oriented games. Adventure and text based games (or even point and click) were not well represented genres and mostly typically Computer Games.

Custom Game controller could be used.

  • Trackballs : Marble Madness kind of games.
  • Circular Potentiometer : Arkanoid.
  • Steering Wheel : OutRun and quite all Car-Games
  • Joystick with in-built Circular Potentiometer : Forgotten Worlds or Midnight Resistance.

Execution of the ports

Being ROM based, Arcade games could be far heavier than what a home computer's RAM could handle. While a good 8bit sytem with 128K RAM and fast Disk Drive multiloading (=CPC6128) would be good enough to get accurate ports, the popularity of 64K RAM + Tape configuration (=CPC464 or ZX Spectrum) made accurate ports far more difficult.

It is quite well known that while many european ports weren't good/well done, some Japneses Cartridges ports done by the original manufacturer for the demanding Japanese market on Japanese computers would be considered great ports. Some MSX cartridge games had the honnor of such attention.

Many Arcade Manufacturer saw in the port of their arcade Hits only a way to get some extra cash from the licenses and franchise.

  • Being mostly Japanese, the Arcade Industry knew nothing about the European Home-Computer market and machines.
  • But American companies also knew nothing about the Amstrad CPC.

Arcade manufacturers actually had few interest to have Home-Computer ports being as good as the Arcade original, as peoples would then no more pay for Arcade and only play at home.

Also the success in Europe/Western World of software based machines such as Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, IBM compatibles (MS-DOS PC) or ZX spectrum would not ease the portage of such games.

The Companies which bought the Licenses for the games often only wanted to use the Arcade's success as a good publicity to get fast selling games. They rarely tried to get actually good games but indeed fastly developped cheap games.

  • Sometimes the original Manufacturer would supply Codes, Datas and/or Arcade cabinet to the porting company... This may lead to a good port.
  • Other times the porting team would even have to go to the next arcade house and pay to play the original game to see how the game is (= no help from companies). Hence largely unaccurate ports ensues.
  • It is also to notice that on the Amstrad CPC a lot of great arcade hits had the honnor to be hastly Speccy Ported.

List by manufacturer

The following games were ported onto the CPC (or inspired a similar game [*], based in the original idea) and have been split into groupings based on their original arcade developer or manufacturer :

Alpha Denshi

  • Kyros --> Desolator - Halls Of Kyros (US Gold - 1987)

Arcadia

  • Ninja Mission --> Ninja (Mastertronic - 1987)
  • Xenon (Melbourne House - 1988)

Atari

  • 720º (US Gold - 1988)
  • APB (Domark - 1989)
  • Asteroids [*] Space Eggs (Your Computer) [*] Amstroids (Your Computer)
  • Bad Lands (Domark - 1990)
  • Basketball --> Basket Master [*] (Dinamic - 1987)
  • Batman <-- Batman the movie (Ocean - 1989) * first on computer
  • Blasteroids (Image Works-Mirrorsoft - 1989)
  • Canyon Bomber --> Blitz [*] (Sybex - 1984) / Bomber-Bombardero [*] (Amstrad Computer User/Amsoft - 1984)
  • Centipede --> Killapede (Players - 1986) --> Caterpede (Your Computer)
  • Championship Sprint (Activision - 1988)
  • Choplifter --> Army Moves (Dinamic) --> Fire! --> Protector
  • Crystal Castles (U.S.Gold - 1986)
  • Cyberball (Domark - 1990)
  • Empire Strikes Back, The (Domark - 1988)
  • Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters (Domark - 1990)
  • Gauntlet (U.S.Gold - 1985)
  • Gauntlet II (US Gold - 1986)
  • Hard Drivin' (Domark - 1989)
  • Hydra (Domark - 1991)
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (US Gold - 1987)
  • Klax/Klax ( Cartridge ) (Domark - 1990)
  • Marble Madness (Melbourne House - 1986)
  • Paperboy (Elite - 1986)
  • Peter Pack-Rat (Firebird - 1988)
  • Pit-Fighter (Domark - 1991)
  • Pong --> TeleTenis (Rasidic/Amsoft - 1984) / Blip (Silverbird - 1988)
  • Pong Double --> Bat n' Ball (Design Design - 1985)
  • Return of the Jedi (Domark - 1989)
  • Road Blasters (US Gold 1988)
  • Road Runner (US Gold - 1985)
  • Skull & Crossbones (Domark - 1989)
  • Star Wars (Domark - 1987)
  • S.T.U.N. Runner (Domark - 1991)
  • Super Breakout --> BustOut/Rebotes [*] (A.C.U./Amsoft - 1984) // Crack-Up [*] (Atlantis - 1989)
  • Super Sprint (Activision - 1987)
  • Tempest (Electric Dreams - 1987)
  • Tetris (Mirrorsoft 1987) --> Tetris (Frederic) --> Tetris 2 --> Tetris 95 --> Tetrix --> Perestroika --> Perestroika 2 --> Power Tetris
  • Thunder Jaws (Domark - 1991)
  • Toobin' (Domark - 1989)
  • Vindicators (Domark - 1989)
  • Xybots (Domark - 1989)
  • Vs. Atari RBI Baseball --> Rbi Two Baseball (Tengen/Domark - 1991)

Bally Midway

  • Discs of Tron --> Disc (Loriciels - 1990)
  • Rampage (Activision - 1987)
  • Spy Hunter (Choice/Sega/Amsoft - 1986)
  • Tapper (Choice/Sega/Amsoft - 1986)
  • Tron (Cycles Race) --> Blokker (Your Computer) --> Zona 0 --> Tron
  • Xenophobe (Micro Style - 1989)

Bally Sente

  • Trivial Pursuit --> Trivial Pursuit Edition Genus [*] (Domark - 1986)

Capcom

  • 1942 (Elite - 1986)
  • 1943 (Probe/Go!/US Gold) - 1988)
  • Bionic Commando (Go! - 1988)
  • Black Tiger (Tiertex for US Gold - 1990)
  • Commando = Space Invasion (Elite - 1986)
  • Dynasty Wars (Tiertex for US Gold - 1990)
  • Final Fight (US Gold - 1991)
  • Forgotten Worlds (US Gold - 1989)
  • Ghosts 'n' Goblins (Elite - 1986) --> Deadly Evil
  • Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (US Gold - 1989)
  • GunSmoke --> GunSmoke / Desperado (Topo - 1987) --> Outlaw
  • Last Duel (Tiertex for US Gold - 1989)
  • Led Storm (Go! - 1988)
  • Mercs (US Gold - 1991)
  • Side Arms (Probe/Go! - 1987)
  • Street Fighter (Tiertex for Go!/US Gold - 1988)
  • Street Fighter II "The World Warrior" --> Street Warriors (Kasumba - 1995)
  • Strider (Tiertex for U.S. Gold - 1989)
  • Tiger Road (Probe/Go! - 1987)
  • Trojan --> Metropolis (Topo Soft) --> Street Gang
  • U.N. Squadron (US Gold - 1990)

Century

Cinematronics

  • Dragon's Lair (Software Projects - 1985)
  • Dragon's Lair 2 "Escape From Singe's Castle" (Software Projects - 1987)

Daehyun

  • Pipeline <-- Pipeline/Oil Mania (DreamSoft/SoftIce - 1990) / SuperPipeline (II) (Taskset/Amsoft - 1985) * first on Computer

Data East

  • Breakthru (US Gold - 1986)
  • Boulder Dash (Mirrorsoft - 1984) --> Boldeur --> Diamants de la Peur (les) --> Lost caves --> Rockford --> Splatch!
  • Burger Time (Hebdogiciel - 1985)
  • Dragon Ninja (Imagine - 1988)
  • Express Raider (US Gold - 1987)
  • Firetrap (Activision - 1987)
  • Karate Champ --> The Way of the Exploding Fist [*] ( Melbourne House - 1985) / International Karate Plus - IK+ [*] (System 3 - 1988)
  • Karnov (Activision -1988)
  • Lemmings (Psygnosis - 1991) *first on Computer
  • Magical Drop / Chain Reaction (Mochilote/CpcMania - 2007)
  • Midnight Resistance (Ocean - 1990)
  • Real Ghostbusters (Activision - 1988)
  • RoboCop "The Future of Law Enforcement" --> Robocop ( Ocean - 1989)
  • Shackled (US Gold - 1988)
  • Sly Spy _ Secret Agent (Ocean - 1990)
  • Two Crude --> After the war

Exidy / First Star

  • Boulder Dash (Mirrorsoft - 1984)
  • Crash --> Auto-Choc (CPC magazine - 1987)

Gottlieb / Premier

  • Exterminator (Audiogenic - 1991)
  • Q*Bert --> Er*Bert (Microbyte - 1984) --> Englebert --> Screwball

Irem

  • Battle Chopper --> Mr Heli (Firebird - 1988)
  • Dragon Breed (Activision - 1989)
  • Kung-Fu Master (US Gold - 1986)
  • Moon Patrol --> Moon Buggy (Anirog - 1985)
  • Ninja Spirit (Activision - 1990)
  • R-Type (Activision/Electric Dreams - 1987) --> R-Type (Easter Egg - 2012)
  • Vigilante (US Gold - 1989) --> Freddy Hardest in South Manhattan

Jaleco

  • Butasan ("Mr.Pig") --> Psycho Pigs UXB (US Gold - 1988) *Jaleco licensed from NMK
  • Cisco Heat (Image Works - 1991)
  • P-47 _ The Phantom Fighter --> P47 Thunderbolt (Firebird - 1989)
  • Rod-Land (Storm Software - 1991)
  • Saint Dragon (Storm Software - 1990)

Konami

Leland

LiquidMedia / MegaNudge

  • 3D Pong / Curveball / 3D Spinball <-- Room Ten (CRL - 1986) *first on Computer to web/flash/iPhone

Mitchell

  • Pang (Ocean - 1990) [*.cpr] --> Zap t balls

Namco

  • Dragon Spirit (Consult software =Domark - 1989)
  • Metro Cross (Probe/US Gold - 1987)
  • Motos (Mastertronic - 1987)
  • Pac-Land (QuickSilva / Grandslam - 1989)
  • Pac-Man (T and T - 1986) --> Munch It --> Pac Ball 2 --> Pac Boy --> Pac-Man (J. Martin) --> Pac Man (T and T) --> Pac Girl --> Pac Man (Frederic Carbonero) --> Pac-Man -emulator- (TotO/Syx)
  • Pac-Mania (Grandslam - 1988)
  • Pole Position / Pole Position II --> 3D Grand Prix [*] (Amsoft - 1985) / Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix [*] (Martech - 1988)
  • Rally X --> Atomic Driver --> Rock N Roller
  • Rolling Thunder (US Gold - 1987)
  • Soukoban / BoxyBoy --> Soko-Ban (Ritter/Schick) / Balldozer (Erkens - 1991) / Soko Bam (CPC infos - 1993) / Small Games For Smart Minds (ESP - 2007)
  • Vs. Atari RBI Baseball --> Rbi Two Baseball (Tengen/Domark - 1991)
  • Xevious (US Gold - 1986)

Nichibutsu

  • Galivan - Cosmo Police (Ocean - 1986)
  • Mag Max (Imagine - 1986)
  • Moon Cresta (Incentive - 1986)

Nintendo

PopCap / Success

  • Bejeweled! / Zookeeper --> BeTiled! (CEZ - 2009) *web/flash/console to CPC

Rock-Ola

  • Nibbler (Rainbow Arts - 1985)

Sega

  • Action Fighter (Firebird - 1989)
  • After Burner (Activision - 1988)
  • Alien Storm (US Gold - 1991)
  • Alien Syndrome (Ace - 1987)
  • Altered Beast (Activision - 1989)
  • Bank Panic --> West Bank (Dinamic - 1985)
  • Bonanza Bros. (US Gold - 1991)
  • Buck Rogers --> 3D Fight (Loriciels - 1985)
  • Columns (CEZ / ESP - 2004)
  • Crack Down (US Gold - 1990)
  • Dynamite Düx (Activision - 1989)
  • Enduro Racer (Activision - 1987)
  • Eswat - Cyber Police (US Gold - 1990)
  • G-Loc - Air Battle --> G-Loc R360 (U.S.Gold - 1991)
  • Galaxy Force (Activision - 1989)
  • Golden Axe (Virgin Games - 1988)
  • Head On / Head On 2 --> Auto-Choc (CPC magazine - 1987)
  • Hot-Rod (Activision - 1989)
  • Line Of Fire (US Gold - 1990)
  • Moonwalker (US Gold - 1990)
  • Out Run (US Gold - 1987)
  • Passing Shot (Image Works - 1988)
  • Pengo --> Troglo (Ace - 1986) / Mange Cailloux (Ubi - 1987) / Penggy (Chip - 1987)
  • Power Drift (Activision - 1989)
  • Quartet (Probe/Activision - 1987)
  • Scramble Spirits (Grandslam - 1990) --> Killer Cobra
  • SDI "Strategic Defence Initiative" (Activision - 1988)
  • Shadow Dancer [Shinobi II] (US Gold - 1991)
  • Shinobi (Virgin Games - 1989)
  • Sonic Boom --> Silent Shadow (Topo - 1988)
  • Space Harrier (Elite - 1986)
  • Space Harrier II (Grandslam - 1990)
  • Super Hang-On (Activision/Electric Dreams - 1986)
  • Super Monaco Gp (US Gold - 1991)
  • Super Wonderboy In Monster Land [Wonder Boy II ] (Activision - 1989)
  • Thunder Blade (US Gold - 1988)
  • Time Scanner (Activision - 1988) --> Score 3020
  • Turbo Outrun (US Gold - 1989)
  • Wonder Boy (Activision - 1987)
  • Zaxxon --> Zaxx (Chip - 1986)

Seibu Kaihatsu

  • Empire City 1931 --> Prohibition (Infogrames 1987)

Snk

  • Fighting Soccer (Activision - 1989)
  • Guerrilla War (Imagine - 1988)
  • Ikari Warriors (Elite - 1986)
  • Prehistoric Isle in 1930 (1989) --> Prehistoric Island (R.Ortega, for Dinamic? -not released-Demo-) [1]
  • Psycho Soldier (Imagine - 1988)
  • T.A.N.K (Choice/Ocean - 1987)
  • Victory Road (Imagine - 1988)

Sun Electronics

  • Arabian --> Tales Of The Arabian Nights (Interceptor - 1985)

Sunsoft

  • Vs Platoon <-- Platoon (Ocean - 1987) *first at Computer

Tad

  • Cabal (Ocean - 1989)

Taito / Technos

  • Arkanoid (Ocean - 1987)
  • Arkanoid (2) - Revenge of DOH (Imagine - 1988)
  • Bubble Bobble (Firebird - 1987) --> Plumpy --> Bubble Bobble 4 CPC (CNG -2012)
  • Chase H.Q. (Ocean - 1989)
  • Continental Circus (Virgin Games - 1989)
  • Double Dragon (Virgin Games - 1988)
  • Double Dragon II (Virgin Games - 1989)
  • Double Dragon 3 "The Rosetta Stone" (Storm - 1991)
  • Elevator Action (Quicksilva - 1987)
  • Flying Shark (Firebird - 1987)
  • Great Gurianos (Elite Systems - 1987)
  • Legend Of Kage, The (Imagine - 1986)
  • NewZealand Story, The (Ocean - 1989)
  • Ninja Warriors (Virgin Games - 1989)
  • Operation Thunderbolt (Ocean - 1989)
  • Operation Wolf (Ocean - 1988)
  • Plotting (Ocean - 1990)
  • Puzznic (Ocean - 1990)
  • Rainbow Islands "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" --> Rainbow Islands (Ocean - 1989)
  • Rastan (Imagine - 1987)
  • Renegade (Imagine - 1987) --> Subway Vigilante
  • Slap Fight (Probe / Imagine - 1987)
  • Solar Warrior / Xain'd Sleena --> Soldier Of Light (Animagic - 1989)
  • Space Gun (Ocean - 1992) [CPC+]
  • Space Invaders (Design Design - 1985)
  • Super Space Invaders '91 --> Super Space Invaders (Domark - 1991)
  • Tiger Heli --> Havoc

Tatsumi

  • Buggy Boy (Elite - 1985)

Tecmo

Tehkan

Titus

  • Fire & Forget II (Titus - 1990)

Universal

  • Mr. Do! --> Fruity Frank (Kuma - 1984)
  • Mr. Do's Wild Ride --> Kong Strikes Back (Ocean - 1984)
  • Space Panic --> Roland goes Digging (Gem/Amsoft - 1984)

Video System

  • Pipe Dream --> Pipe Mania (Empire - 1990) --> Pipe Crazy

Williams

  • Defender --> Defend or die (Alligata/Amsoft -1985) --> Gauntlet (Micropower) --> Guardian II
  • Joust (Quality - 1986)
  • Narc (Ocean - 1990)
  • Smash T.V. (Ocean - 1991)

Wood Place

  • Deep, The (US Gold - 1989)
  • Firetrap (Activision - 1987)

Play these at Arcade version

and compare with CPC version.



Put in MAMEui32/Folders and play they. Then later go to your CPC system terminal (RetroWare or Emu) and tell us your preferences... Which version do you prefer?  ;-)


238 aprox. MAMEd CPC games (Pong & Dragon's Lair not in MAME, see DICE & DAPHNE)

Links

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