Arcade Ports released for both Sega Saturn and PSX

[CD AGES]

Everything did seem slower all the way around, as well, in your videos. Simply jumping seemed slower.

You have a good eye! And for that I'm greatful! Yes, my vid (SAT version) did appear slower, but the same cannot be said for previous matchups during the arcade ladder of 8 A.I. challengers. It appears the final 2 boss fights really dip the entire speed of the games perhaps due to their extravegant backdrops or sprite models. Its a different story when your fighting Shuma, or Capt. America, or Psylocke for example. The speed is at a smooth and even blistering pace. But if you Activate a gem, aircombo juggle your opponent in the corner or slam them to a wall, and the speed takes a hit that becomes even more apperant due to the smooth pace of the game. Once again, this is not an issue on the PSX version. With the exception of Juggernaught, Spidey, Blackheart matchups, the games overall pace is even across the board no matter who your opponent ends up being.

Have you observed anything like this in other Capcom titles for the Saturn? I have quite a few, all JPN, and I've not had any complaints.

Well I imagine you would have no complaints if you take into consideration that you don't have another version of your saturn fighter to compare them to. Is my assumption correct?
But now that you mention my observations for other capcom titles on the SAT, Wip3outguy7 has just opened my eyes even more with his post!

[CD AGES]

What about differences between the PSX and Saturn versions of Pocket Fighter?

I owned the PSX version many years ago and I own the Saturn version today.

The Saturn version utilizes the 4 meg ram cart, of course. It seems to load maybe a second quicker. It also appears that there is more animation overall, especially in the backgrounds.

Does anyone have both versions that they could compare? A video would be awesome.

I own Pocket Fighter (PSX) but I do not own Gem Fighter mini mix (SAT) so I can't make comparison vid even though I would love to, because your post really opened my experience with the game because I recall vividly what I noticed. A friend of mine just got on the Saturn bandwagon after giving him one of my consoles and he began stocking up on JPN titles last year. He got Mini Mix and we began playing it for a while.. right off the bat I noticed that load time were LONG! (At least longer than what I've been accustomed to on the PSX version). When played with the RAM cart, load times feel about the same length but animation frames are injected into the game. Once again though it came at a price of some slowdown.
Pocket Fighter (PSX ver) is one of the most solid fighting arcade ports Capcom has done on the platform. The games biggest drawback are some frames of animation missing as well as lack of some effects (the around the world segment that kicks in after counter hitting your opponent in the corner was removed on PSX while its retained on the SAT with or without the RAM cart). Aside from this the PSX version has no slowdown whatsoever and the games color scheme is as vibrant as the arcade version. Despite the shortcomings of the SAT ver, it does little to unravel the gameplay experience due to the simplistic mechanics of the combo engine of the game as well as very little requirement in excecution to said combos when compared to the 6 button system (magic series) combos of MSH!

[CD AGES]

All I want to do is clarify all this wrong info that out there where many claim MSH (and SSF2T) on the Saturn are superior to the PSX ports. It just isn't true...

[dunpeal2064]

All I want to do is clarify all this wrong info that out there where many claim MSH (and SSF2T) on the Saturn are superior to the PSX ports. It just isn't true...

And thank god for it! Most people just go with what folks say.

I've been doing this with Sat/PSX shmups, and some of the info out there is definitely incorrect.

[CD AGES]

And thank god for it! Most people just go with what folks say.

COMPLETELY!!!

The major reason I started this post was after a "discussion" with someone on another forum where he said 2D fighters on SAT are always superior over the PSX version. That would be all fine and dandy as the Saturn usually has the better ports within the 2D fighter category, but then he used MSH as a direct example! As a matter of fact he claimed MSH is "arcade perfect" on the saturn with the RAM cart enabled. Throughout the entire argument, he was simply countering all my arguments with stupid reviews and youtube video links that have some of the most unprofessional comparison videos I've ever seen for games.

It simply boggles my mind how people just go with what others say all willy nilly.

Dude tells me MSH has super fast loading times and is much faster than the PSX in gameplay. I was like "are you serious". Have you even played the game on the saturn!? O_o

[wip3outguy7]

I own Pocket Fighter (PSX) but I do not own Gem Fighter mini mix (SAT) so I can't make comparison vid even though I would love to, because your post really opened my experience with the game because I recall vividly what I noticed. A friend of mine just got on the Saturn bandwagon after giving him one of my consoles and he began stocking up on JPN titles last year. He got Mini Mix and we began playing it for a while.. right off the bat I noticed that load time were LONG! (At least longer than what I've been accustomed to on the PSX version). When played with the RAM cart, load times feel about the same length but animation frames are injected into the game. Once again though it came at a price of some slowdown.
Pocket Fighter (PSX ver) is one of the most solid fighting arcade ports Capcom has done on the platform. The games biggest drawback are some frames of animation missing as well as lack of some effects (the around the world segment that kicks in after counter hitting your opponent in the corner was removed on PSX while its retained on the SAT with or without the RAM cart). Aside from this the PSX version has no slowdown whatsoever and the games color scheme is as vibrant as the arcade version. Despite the shortcomings of the SAT ver, it does little to unravel the gameplay experience due to the simplistic mechanics of the combo engine of the game as well as very little requirement in excecution to said combos when compared to the 6 button system (magic series) combos of MSH!

Awesome, thanks for the impressions!

[marurun]

OK, popped in MSH JPN into my US Saturn w/ mod chip and AR+ (the good one). No graphical glitches. Slow loading times, but I'm not put off with loading times and I don't think they're nearly as important to cross-platform comparisons. I played in 3 MB mode.

I suck at launching people into air combos, but I didn't notice much of the slowdown apparent in your videos with the US version. I selected Spidey, since he's the character you use in the comparison videos you posted. I fought a few CPU matches against Cap and Juggernaut (at challenge level 1, because I suck, and speed Turbo 2) before I accidentally yanked the controller cord too hard and glitched the Saturn as a result. And though my modded Saturn sometimes misbehaves, this time it's cooperating just fine. If I was having too much trouble I'd just swap it for my region-switch equipped model. Every one in a while thing seemed to slow just a tiny bit, but I found things much more smooth than your videos suggest. It may indeed be that the JPN version lacks some problematic code that the US and EU versions have to facilitate the extra frames of animation.

I should go plug in a second controller and do VS mode and see if I can set off some nice air combos. Unlikely, but I can give it a go. So far my experience with the JPN version is heartening.

[CD AGES]

No I appreciate the feedback very much. Unfortunately, I'm assuming that you don't have the PSX port of the game to do your own personal comparison berween the two, because this is ideally what I've been asking of others here on the forum to aid me with. I will look into scrapping some cash to buy a capture card of some sort to do a better video for both. Thanks again though...

I suck at launching people into air combos,

This is another concern of mine. It would be perferable to have some one who is proficient at the game to play it simply due to the fact that an experienced player would have a mind set of "OK I wanna hit and start up wolvie's infinite juggle or his 20 hit combo that he knows oh so well to do" and see what they come up with in the environment that the Saturn port provides (not to say that that extended or infinites aren't doable on the saturn, but holy shit is it a bitch!). Much like that video you posted of the JPN ver, the player of this vid was obviously a casual player of the game as there appeared to be no magic series combos of any sort in the video and there appeared to be some moments of simply mashing into certain attacks or specials. Such a way to play the game won't deter you from your goals as there isn't much to your attacks in terms of execution and timing.

[marurun]

I confess I've never been a fan of the Magic Series style combos. I dabbled in Nightstalkers and X-men: COTA and worked hard to get the hang of them against the computer, but while they were more complex than, say, Mortal Combat's dial-a-combo setup, I still found them lacking compared to non-pre-programmed combos that naturally result from attack timing. It's been a long time since I gave MSH even the time of day given that I prefer X-men: COTA, though I did play it quite a bit in Japan, because it was one of the few games I had for my Saturn there.

I'll practice my combos and let you know what I think, but compared to the video you recorded, the Saturn JPN version, so far, seems much more comparable to the PSX version than the Saturn version. I'm hopeful that extensive play will continue to demonstrate this trend.

[CD AGES]

I confess I've never been a fan of the Magic Series style combos. I dabbled in Nightstalkers and X-men: COTA and worked hard to get the hang of them against the computer, but while they were more complex than, say, Mortal Combat's dial-a-combo setup, I still found them lacking compared to non-pre-programmed combos that naturally result from attack timing. It's been a long time since I gave MSH even the time of day given that I prefer X-men: COTA, though I did play it quite a bit in Japan, because it was one of the few games I had for my Saturn there.

I'll practice my combos and let you know what I think, but compared to the video you recorded, the Saturn JPN version, so far, seems much more comparable to the PSX version than the Saturn version. I'm hopeful that extensive play will continue to demonstrate this trend.

Really!? O_o well, COTA has a very restricted MS combo system. it was there sure, but it became a shadow of what the Magic Series ended up becoming. Capcom opened the gate with MS combo system starting with MSH and has become the archetype to every VS. series that dabbled in this popular combo formula. Because Capcom chose to provide the player with more freedom when combos are concerned after the warn reception COTA received, MSH has perhaps some of the most insane, more creative combo pallete (right there with XMenVS.SF)