Favorite Namco PCE game?

[PukeSter]

These threads are always fun

Namco made a whole bunch of fun HuCards, but there were also some generic stinkers! Which will come out on top?

My picks are

Galaga 88
Splatterhouse
Samurai Ghost

I do have a soft spot for Bravoman but it just isn't good enough

[Michirin9801]

I'm not a big fan of Namco in general, but I did enjoy Valkyrie no Densetsu quite a bit! It's the closest thing to Etoile Princesse that I know on the PC engine, even if it's not quite as good as that, but it's still pretty fun! Good music too, also, gotta love those scaling sprites ;3

My other two picks were Samurai Ghost and Bravoman, which I tend to think of as guilty pleasures, but what probably does it for me in them is the parallax scrolling, I mean seriously those games tried SO hard to do parallax I can't help but respect it! And it doesn't look THAT bad right? I mean, at least Samurai Ghost is better than Ernest Evans...

Also, I know Splatterhouse is a classic and all, but it just didn't quite do it for me... Sorry ^^';

[CrackTiger]

Final Lap Twin
Pac Land
Galaga '90

Final Lap Twin would "go for" $300+ today if it had been released by Nintendo for SNES. But unlike Earthbound, it's actually a great game (the RPG mode at least). The arcade mode is also fun and good for playing on the Express/GT.

Pac Land and especially Galaga '90 are timeless classics.

[Michirin9801]

But unlike Earthbound, it's actually a great game (the RPG mode at least).

Umm, I respectfully disagree, and I don't really see the comparison...

[gojira1954]

galaga '88
splatterhouse
marchen maze

[cabbage]

Difficult to choose only three, but I went with Final Lap Twin, Valkyrie no Densetsu, and Yokai Dochuki.
Which ones are the "generic stinkers?"

[Digi.k]

Valkyrie no Densetsu and Tower of Druaga because they have a good chunk of satifying gaming to them.

Genpei toumaden; out of all their arcade ports for the pc engine this one is almost arcade perfect

[esteban]

Jesus. Picking only three.

(Damn...)

[turboswimbz]

FINAL LAP TWINN = OH SO GUT

WONDA MOMO = DA BOMBB  - I just like this silly game.

DRAGON SPIRT = FUN FUN FUN FUN

I also like galaga, world court tennis and Splatterhouse.


Also no world court Tennis = fail

[nopepper]

1: Dragon Spirit (I'm amazed how underrated this game is among PCE enthusiasts)
<1:
Splatterhouse
Galaga  88
Final Blaster
Final Lap
Valkyrie
Dragon Saber

Namco made so much good stuff for the PCE, and their box art was tops as well.

[NecroPhile]

My votes went to Splatterhouse and Galaga (the Namco games I've played and loved the most) and to Wonder Momo because I like to role play that I'm the perv trying to get an upskirt pantsu shot.

[Arkhan Asylum]

why can't I pick Wonder Momo 3 times?

[exodus]

Fun to see peoples' different choices! I went with:
Splatterhouse (I love it - I prefer it to the arcade version too, but probably because I played it first. Also I realized I've played this game so many times that when my girlfriend was playing it I was actually able to give her lots of tips, haha)

Samurai Ghost (I just like the multi-directional sword and super weird vibe)

Youkai Douchuuki (what a cool and weird game with so many small arcane variants to what you can do - I want to know what cabbage things of it, since you chose it too!)

[seieienbu]

I picked Splatterhouse, Valkyrie Densetsu, and Youkai Dochuki.

Honorable mention would go to Dragon Spirit, Galaga 88, and Final Lap Twin.

[Digi.k]

Youkai Douchuuki (what a cool and weird game with so many small arcane variants to what you can do)

I was thinking about choosing Yokai too since it was this game that sold me on getting the pc engine.  I love the graphics and audio of this game and it's so weird.  My only problem today is that I always have to disconnect any multi player adapter before playing and this also involves the wireless receiver as it stops the game from booting up.

[Winniez]

Gotta go with the Galaga 88, but they did plenty of good quality Hucards. And from the collecting point of view I love how uniform the spines look.

[johnnykonami]

Ordyne, Splatterhouse and Galaga 88 for me.   A 4th would probably be Genpei Toumaden.

[exodus]

I was thinking about choosing Yokai too since it was this game that sold me on getting the pc engine.  I love the graphics and audio of this game and it's so weird.  My only problem today is that I always have to disconnect any multi player adapter before playing and this also involves the wireless receiver as it stops the game from booting up.

it's real weird! It feels like there are tons of possibilities in terms of what you can do, even though it's not true - the feeling is there! that's weird about the multiplayer adapter thing! I wonder why that would be...

[spenoza]

Well, there do at least seem to be some strong trends. Galaga and Splatterhouse are definitely out in the lead.

[crazydean]

I didn't vote because I haven't played a lot of these games.

Galaga is a surprise, though. Not that it's a bad game, but it's just outdated. Do you guys who like this game think it's good for a Namco game or that it's a top shooter on the system?

[PukeSter]

I didn't vote because I haven't played a lot of these games.

Galaga is a surprise, though. Not that it's a bad game, but it's just outdated. Do you guys who like this game think it's good for a Namco game or that it's a top shooter on the system?

Galaga 88 isn't a port, it's an upgraded sequel with lots of new enemy types, branching levels, scrolling areas, and even boss fights. Yet, it is still just as accessible, if not more so, than the original. It's not a gimmicky piece of garbage like Gaplus.

It's quite a challenge to get all 4 route endings, and then attempting Hard Mode. The triple ship is also a massive gamechanger.

Well up there with the best of them.

[exodus]

I'm also surprised by galaga. It feels pretty dated to me even in its 88 version.

[CrackTiger]

I didn't vote because I haven't played a lot of these games.

Galaga is a surprise, though. Not that it's a bad game, but it's just outdated. Do you guys who like this game think it's good for a Namco game or that it's a top shooter on the system?

Dated can only be a compliment with the way gaming was headed.

But it's seriously one of the better games of all time and solid port of a great expanded update.

I don't think Namcot did a good job on the technical side with most of their PCE games. Galaga '88/90 is timeless though.

[Psycho Punch]

Seeing everyone agreeing with Galaga 90 being a great Namco game feels good.

[turboswimbz]

I honestly think Galga is one of the better shooters/game on the system.

Yeah, it's a dated arcade port, but that's what makes it charming. (can't you make this argument about half the library anyway?)  It's simple, fun, challenging but not frustrating and different from most if not all the other games on the system. What more could you want?

[Michirin9801]

Galaga 88 isn't a port, it's an upgraded sequel with lots of new enemy types, branching levels, scrolling areas, and even boss fights. Yet, it is still just as accessible, if not more so, than the original. It's not a gimmicky piece of garbage like Gaplus.

It's quite a challenge to get all 4 route endings, and then attempting Hard Mode. The triple ship is also a massive gamechanger.

Well up there with the best of them.

Damn, I gotta give that game another shot!
I've always dismissed it because it looked rather unimpressive and didn't have music at first...
I think being unable to move my ship vertically also turned me off of it a little more...

[gilbert]

Never owned any Namco game so I cannot state any favourite ones.

I think one problem is that Namco only produced games for the system in its early years and they just withdrew before even developing CD games. Early games (not just Namco ones) on the system were understandably primitive and couldn't use the system to its better potential. Namco's games were usually arcade ports that at first glimpse looked close enough to the arcade originals, but when examined in detail suffered from a lot of sacrifices in nearly every department. That early Hucards were usually small sized didn't help (It was advertised that games could go up to 4 or 8 Mbit right from the beginning, but the truth was early titles couldn't even exceed 2Mbit, which was one reason why R-Type was released in two parts, and this was at a time that even Famicom and SMS titles started to get bigger). They're still good games in their own rights, just not up to the standard of the originals that they're going to emulate.

One example was Dragon Spirit. It looked good and sounded good though a number of stuff were cut, such as the opening cutscene and stages. (I still find this a good conversion, though many people disagree.) The Famicom version looked like a pile of ... er... things but included a lot of original features and cutscenes (even extra ones) to make it enjoyable. This somehow made the PCE version looked barebones in comparison.

Another example was Youkai Douchuuki. The PCE version looked decent, but still, was a scaled down conversion. The Famicom version, however, was greatly expanded even compared to the Arcade version and it looked and sounded great considering the system's limitation.

I think in many cases the developers could try harder, as there were many missed opportunities.

[nopepper]

I don't think Namcot did a good job on the technical side with most of their PCE games. Galaga '88/90 is timeless though.

Do you think they did a good job technically with Dragon Spirit's and Splatterhouse soundtracks?

I find those 2 to be some of the best chip music in the PCE.

[nopepper]

I didn't vote because I haven't played a lot of these games.

Galaga is a surprise, though. Not that it's a bad game, but it's just outdated. Do you guys who like this game think it's good for a Namco game or that it's a top shooter on the system?

The original Galaga will never be outdated in my eyes, and Galaga 88/90 is just an expansion of that same formula.

With that said, I feel the original Galaga is the better game, as it's more straightforward, which seems to work better with this type of game.

I understand feeling this way about stuff like Space Invaders, but Galaga, come on! You must be a millenial, post generation X'er, right?

[nopepper]

Damn, I gotta give that game another shot!
I've always dismissed it because it looked rather unimpressive and didn't have music at first...
I think being unable to move my ship vertically also turned me off of it a little more...

Are you turned off by Mega Man's inability to duck or shoot up? If not, then you should be able to appreciate the constraints the developers imposed (even if by forced design) upon you as the player, for the sake of challenge and level design.

The original Galaga is a masterpiece of design. Galaga 88/90 is great as well.

[crazydean]

I didn't vote because I haven't played a lot of these games.

Galaga is a surprise, though. Not that it's a bad game, but it's just outdated. Do you guys who like this game think it's good for a Namco game or that it's a top shooter on the system?

The original Galaga will never be outdated in my eyes, and Galaga 88/90 is just an expansion of that same formula.

With that said, I feel the original Galaga is the better game, as it's more straightforward, which seems to work better with this type of game.

I understand feeling this way about stuff like Space Invaders, but Galaga, come on! You must be a millenial, post generation X'er, right?

I was born in '88. So, Galaga has always been around, and I still see it as a rehash of an older game. Namco in particular is guilty of this as they are the ones putting out the same old "arcade collection" generation after generation.

The NES has also been around my whole life, and I am able to find many of its titles interesting and fun. For example, Blaster Master and Bionic Commando are both old, yet they don't feel dated to me.

I've only been a PCE/Turbo fan for about two years, and didn't play many shooters before then. However, in that time, I have played several on this system and found Galaga 88 to be about as plain Jane as the genre can get. The game is solid and challenging, but there's just nothing there that makes me want to come back.

[Michirin9801]

Are you turned off by Mega Man's inability to duck or shoot up?

Yes! But to be honest, I'm turned off by almost everything in Mega Man, let's just say I'm not a big fan =w=';
Mega Man X on the other hand, that's a gaming masterpiece if I ever saw one ;3
Yeah, I know you can also not shoot up or duck in that game, but that's more than made up for with your added mobility, being able to dash and wall-jump changes everything and makes the game a lot more dynamic and fast-paced! Also, the music in Mega Man X wipes the floor with regular old NES Mega Man music, which I think is overdone as hell, but I also think Mega Man 7's music is way better than NES Mega Man music so... I guess Capcom was just better at making music on the SNES...

[nopepper]

Are you turned off by Mega Man's inability to duck or shoot up?

Yes! But to be honest, I'm turned off by almost everything in Mega Man, let's just say I'm not a big fan =w=';
Mega Man X on the other hand, that's a gaming masterpiece if I ever saw one ;3
Yeah, I know you can also not shoot up or duck in that game, but that's more than made up for with your added mobility, being able to dash and wall-jump changes everything and makes the game a lot more dynamic and fast-paced! Also, the music in Mega Man X wipes the floor with regular old NES Mega Man music, which I think is overdone as hell, but I also think Mega Man 7's music is way better than NES Mega Man music so... I guess Capcom was just better at making music on the SNES...

We definitely have different tastes in regards to music and sound chip sound, as I think most Capcom music on the SNES sounds awful and lacks teeth. I also love pretty much all Mega Man's in the NES, as well as the NES's overall sound when in good hands, which more often than not, Capcom was. To me, the SNES is only good for orchestral type stuff that Square was great as.

At least we can agree that Mega Man X is a masterpiece, particularly the first one. That is one of my go to games that I never get tired of. But I can say the same thing about Mega Man 2, 4 and 6...oh, and Galaga (among many others)!

[nopepper]

I was born in '88. So, Galaga has always been around, and I still see it as a rehash of an older game. Namco in particular is guilty of this as they are the ones putting out the same old "arcade collection" generation after generation.

The NES has also been around my whole life, and I am able to find many of its titles interesting and fun. For example, Blaster Master and Bionic Commando are both old, yet they don't feel dated to me.

I've only been a PCE/Turbo fan for about two years, and didn't play many shooters before then. However, in that time, I have played several on this system and found Galaga 88 to be about as plain Jane as the genre can get. The game is solid and challenging, but there's just nothing there that makes me want to come back.

How do you feel about pre-NES arcade games in general? Stuff like Robotron 2084, Defender, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong? Do you find those too plain jane as well?

Just wondering if the issue is not so much graphics but the fact that the allure of these games is mainly score chasing, something that was kind of lost, at least as the main gameplay hook, once the NES came along.

And yeah, Bionic Commando is another Capcom masterpiece, at least the NES version. Blaster Master has great music, but I've never really enjoyed that game much, as I always get bored about halfway through. Just seems too repetitive.

[Michirin9801]

We definitely have different tastes in regards to music and sound chip sound, as I think most Capcom music on the SNES sounds awful and lacks teeth. I also love pretty much all Mega Man's in the NES, as well as the NES's overall sound when in good hands, which more often than not, Capcom was. To me, the SNES is only good for orchestral type stuff that Square was great as.

At least we can agree that Mega Man X is a masterpiece, particularly the first one. That is one of my go to games that I never get tired of. But I can say the same thing about Mega Man 2, 4 and 6...oh, and Galaga (among many others)!

That's fine... Personally, I'm not very fond of Capcom's NES music, I think Hudson, Konami, Natsume and especially Sunsoft did a much better job than them handling the system's soundchip, also Tim Follin, but yeah, I understand and respect that a lot of people love Capcom's NES sound...

The Mega Man games are perfectly fine too, it's just that they don't quite do it for me, I'll pick Batman, Shatterhand, Castlevania and Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu over Mega Man any day...

[crazydean]

I was born in '88. So, Galaga has always been around, and I still see it as a rehash of an older game. Namco in particular is guilty of this as they are the ones putting out the same old "arcade collection" generation after generation.

The NES has also been around my whole life, and I am able to find many of its titles interesting and fun. For example, Blaster Master and Bionic Commando are both old, yet they don't feel dated to me.

I've only been a PCE/Turbo fan for about two years, and didn't play many shooters before then. However, in that time, I have played several on this system and found Galaga 88 to be about as plain Jane as the genre can get. The game is solid and challenging, but there's just nothing there that makes me want to come back.

How do you feel about pre-NES arcade games in general? Stuff like Robotron 2084, Defender, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong? Do you find those too plain jane as well?

Just wondering if the issue is not so much graphics but the fact that the allure of these games is mainly score chasing, something that was kind of lost, at least as the main gameplay hook, once the NES came along.

And yeah, Bionic Commando is another Capcom masterpiece, at least the NES version. Blaster Master has great music, but I've never really enjoyed that game much, as I always get bored about halfway through. Just seems too repetitive.

There's a definite divide between pre and post-NES, and I'd say that there are few games I like which came prior. However, I can appreciate the design of games for their era, like the ones you mentioned. Even though I don't enjoy playing most score-based games.

Had Galaga '88 been an early release on the Famicom, I would be more appreciative. But, it came out the same year as R-Type on PCE. To me, it's clear that Namco was still focused on the past.

A game series needs to grow and struggle to stay relevant. Anyone who likes the NES, will likely place Super Mario Bros 3 in their top 5 games. While the first SMB was a great game, too, Nintendo added a ton of new features for that release. On the other hand, Galaga '88 didn't do enough to update the gameplay.

[CrackTiger]

I was born in '88. So, Galaga has always been around, and I still see it as a rehash of an older game. Namco in particular is guilty of this as they are the ones putting out the same old "arcade collection" generation after generation.

The NES has also been around my whole life, and I am able to find many of its titles interesting and fun. For example, Blaster Master and Bionic Commando are both old, yet they don't feel dated to me.

I've only been a PCE/Turbo fan for about two years, and didn't play many shooters before then. However, in that time, I have played several on this system and found Galaga 88 to be about as plain Jane as the genre can get. The game is solid and challenging, but there's just nothing there that makes me want to come back.

How do you feel about pre-NES arcade games in general? Stuff like Robotron 2084, Defender, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong? Do you find those too plain jane as well?

Just wondering if the issue is not so much graphics but the fact that the allure of these games is mainly score chasing, something that was kind of lost, at least as the main gameplay hook, once the NES came along.

And yeah, Bionic Commando is another Capcom masterpiece, at least the NES version. Blaster Master has great music, but I've never really enjoyed that game much, as I always get bored about halfway through. Just seems too repetitive.

There's a definite divide between pre and post-NES, and I'd say that there are few games I like which came prior. However, I can appreciate the design of games for their era, like the ones you mentioned. Even though I don't enjoy playing most score-based games.

Had Galaga '88 been an early release on the Famicom, I would be more appreciative. But, it came out the same year as R-Type on PCE. To me, it's clear that Namco was still focused on the past.

A game series needs to grow and struggle to stay relevant. Anyone who likes the NES, will likely place Super Mario Bros 3 in their top 5 games. While the first SMB was a great game, too, Nintendo added a ton of new features for that release. On the other hand, Galaga '88 didn't do enough to update the gameplay.

This might make some sense if you weren't talking about the masses of people enjoying these games decades later while dismissing a game for not being different enough than a game released years earlier.

The SMB3 comparison is particularly hilarious, since that 8-bit looking and sounding game was released a year after R-Type and Galaga '88.

[nopepper]

There's a definite divide between pre and post-NES, and I'd say that there are few games I like which came prior. However, I can appreciate the design of games for their era, like the ones you mentioned. Even though I don't enjoy playing most score-based games.

Had Galaga '88 been an early release on the Famicom, I would be more appreciative. But, it came out the same year as R-Type on PCE. To me, it's clear that Namco was still focused on the past.

A game series needs to grow and struggle to stay relevant. Anyone who likes the NES, will likely place Super Mario Bros 3 in their top 5 games. While the first SMB was a great game, too, Nintendo added a ton of new features for that release. On the other hand, Galaga '88 didn't do enough to update the gameplay.

This might make some sense if you weren't talking about the masses of people enjoying these games decades later while dismissing a game for not being different enough than a game released years earlier.

Ha, that is true, not to mention that Galaga and its ilk keeps getting re-released, remade, copied, etc., and still gets played or at least fondly remembered. Then you have games like Robotron, which has spawned entire an entire subgenre, and copycat games with only graphical differences are still getting played by the masses.

But I think the main divider is whether you are into score chasing or not. Most modern games, either through achievements or score, place this goal in addition to the end game as a motivating factor to the gamer. This is smart in the developer's part, as it ensures their games have a wider audience by appeasing to different tastes.

Finally, as a side note, I would not place SMB3 in my top 5 NES games. Hell, I'm not sure it would be top 10. In fact, I think the original SMB is the better game; more concise, infinitely playable and approachable, and every single level is expertly crafted around it's obstacle course philosophy. SMB 3 is just more of the same, but it diluted that formula too much for me, so it's more of an adventure than an arcade action experience, drawing out the action among all the map hopping and mini games. Still a great game, but I just love the purity and perfect level design of the original, and it's the one I always go back to when I want to romp through the mushroom kingdom, old school style.

[spenoza]

That's fine... Personally, I'm not very fond of Capcom's NES music, I think Hudson, Konami, Natsume and especially Sunsoft did a much better job than them handling the system's soundchip, also Tim Follin, but yeah, I understand and respect that a lot of people love Capcom's NES sound...

Retro Game Audio did a bit on Capcom's NES era audio. Capcom always focused solely on composition and did very little custom programming and manipulation with the NES sound hardware. So while a lot of Capcom's tunes sound pretty good, they never used the sample channel for bass or percussion or used any of the other neat tricks companies like Konami, Natsume, and Sunsoft did. Basically, if a Capcom track sounds good, it's because it was well composed and used very careful instrument selection and that's it.

[spenoza]

As for Galaga 88/90, it's definitely not simply a rehash of Galaga. There are definitely some classic Galaga-style levels, but there are also scrolling levels and bosses. I think it's an artful and well-thought advancement of the original Galaga model, unlike some of what they tried with Pac-Man over the same time span.

[nopepper]

That's fine... Personally, I'm not very fond of Capcom's NES music, I think Hudson, Konami, Natsume and especially Sunsoft did a much better job than them handling the system's soundchip, also Tim Follin, but yeah, I understand and respect that a lot of people love Capcom's NES sound...

Retro Game Audio did a bit on Capcom's NES era audio. Capcom always focused solely on composition and did very little custom programming and manipulation with the NES sound hardware. So while a lot of Capcom's tunes sound pretty good, they never used the sample channel for bass or percussion or used any of the other neat tricks companies like Konami, Natsume, and Sunsoft did. Basically, if a Capcom track sounds good, it's because it was well composed and used very careful instrument selection and that's it.

That makes sense. I've always found Capcom's stuff in SNES to be well composed, but lacking in instrument selection. From what I understand (which is not a lot from a technical standpoint), SNES uses samples as opposed to NES actually using the chip, so maybe Capcom should have just sampled the NES chip and called it a day.

I also like Konami and Hudson stuff, and Sunsoft to a lesser degree in NES. I think Follin's Solstice's opening tune is masterful, but that game pisses me off so much, the in game music eventually grates, so I find it hard to appreciate.

[spenoza]

It seems to me that while the NES sound hardware was very well utilized by some developers, with all sorts of awesome tricks to exploit all its capabilities, the PCE's sound capabilities are still somewhat open to further exploration and exploitation. The CD came too soon for the little Engine that could, meaning people jumped to Redbook (to great effect) and stopped exploring the wavetable goodness.

[Gypsy]

As for Galaga 88/90, it's definitely not simply a rehash of Galaga. There are definitely some classic Galaga-style levels, but there are also scrolling levels and bosses. I think it's an artful and well-thought advancement of the original Galaga model, unlike some of what they tried with Pac-Man over the same time span.

Concur. It's pretty different. I will play Galaga 88 randomly, and it's actually pretty beatable. I have no desire to play the original Galaga.

[gojira1954]

As for Galaga 88/90, it's definitely not simply a rehash of Galaga. There are definitely some classic Galaga-style levels, but there are also scrolling levels and bosses. I think it's an artful and well-thought advancement of the original Galaga model, unlike some of what they tried with Pac-Man over the same time span.

Concur. It's pretty different. I will play Galaga 88 randomly, and it's actually pretty beatable. I have no desire to play the original Galaga.

Me too galaga 88 is one game that I always go back to on the pce, one of my top 5 games on the system.
In my opinion it plays better than the arcade version, graphics have taken a minor hit in the conversion but it plays really evenly and the transition from tate to yoko is spot on

[Michirin9801]

Retro Game Audio did a bit on Capcom's NES era audio. Capcom always focused solely on composition and did very little custom programming and manipulation with the NES sound hardware. So while a lot of Capcom's tunes sound pretty good, they never used the sample channel for bass or percussion or used any of the other neat tricks companies like Konami, Natsume, and Sunsoft did. Basically, if a Capcom track sounds good, it's because it was well composed and used very careful instrument selection and that's it.

The instrumentation is precisely what turns me off about NES Capcom music, it's true that the songs are very well-composed, and I'll never tell you otherwise, but the instrumentation is just so generic and lazy-sounding, it sounds like "any NES music", it doesn't pack the same punch that Sunsoft music did on the system, not even remotely close...

... so maybe Capcom should have just sampled the NES chip and called it a day.

Eww, that would have been rubbish >w>';

Personally, I think it was on the SNES days that Capcom really found their own "sound identity", their SNES games for the most part sound incredible! Other than the first two Final Fight games their SNES soundtracks are all amazing! That's when they had both the composition AND the instrumentation to back it up! So much variety! So much charm! So much punch! You don't get soundtracks like those anymore, Final Fight 3 still has one of my favourite soundtracks in gaming!

If you think otherwise, eh, what can I do? You do you, I'm just telling you what I think =w=';

[ccovell]

I disagree.  Early (hell, even in 1993-94) Capcom SNES games had horrible instrumentation.  I thought so even in 1991 when I rented a SNES and Final Fight.

Capcom on the NES at least made good use of the different pulsewidths for different instruments, 1- or 2-channel echo, looped noise for percussion; none of this is to sniff at.

Play the password entry tune in Code Name: Viper and tell me it's not a jazzy, at least decent, reconstruction of a 4-piece jazz band, with a great muted trumpet facsimile considering the NES hardware.

[Michirin9801]

Eh, you're free to disagree, but I did mention Final Fight 1 and 2 as exceptions...
That said though, as much as I love Capcom's SNES sound, they also generally don't have my favourite SNES audio, once again beaten by the likes of Natsume, Hudson and Konami, to name a few...
Okay, Enix, Square, Taito, Rare and Nintendo too, I just couldn't not mention them...
I'd still say Final Fight 3 has one of my favourite soundtracks in gaming though! Probably my favourite from them...

Also, I'd never heard of Code Name Viper until now, looked up its Password music and well... I can't exactly say it pleases my ears very much >w>';
Sorry... Maybe the rest of the soundtrack could surprise me though, who knows?

[Arkhan Asylum]

but the instrumentation is just so generic and lazy-sounding, it sounds like "any NES music", it doesn't pack the same punch that Sunsoft music did on the system, not even remotely close...

I'm sorry, you're wrong and need to tell your ears to try harder.

I think the problem is you are enamored by samples and weird effects, which is what Sunsoft specialized in pretty hardcore on the NES with Gremlins and such, so you've fooled yourself into thinking that anything else is inferior.  This is why you are obsessed with the SNES.  It's a bunch of samples gone wild.

To say Capcom NES sounds generic and lazy and like "any NES music" is just kind of clueless. 

They had a very distinct sound on NES.  So much so that Codename Viper has leads that I can equate to the ones in MegaMan.     Mega Man's percussion is pretty legendary.    No other group even comes close with the lazer-toms.  At all.

Like Chris pointed out, their echo is pretty fantastic, too.

Eww, that would have been rubbish >w>';

Yeah man the only way that could be worse is if they sampled shitty orchestra sounds from a toy keyboard.  It's a good thing they didn't do something that sounded like that...

oh wait.

I would legit rather listen to the NES one that isn't even that great over shit-tier muffled/aliased/goony orchestra crap.

Personally, I think it was on the SNES days that Capcom really found their own "sound identity", their SNES games for the most part sound incredible!
Other than the first two Final Fight games their SNES soundtracks are all amazing!

Final Fight 2's OST isn't bad... it has some fantastic cockrock and swing music that fits the mood perfectly.

and incase you didn't notice in this song, it has some of the same sounds from Street Fighter 2 and Mega Man X....  so now you're just contradicting yourself.

Capcom's sound identity basically comes from that synthbass, and chorus'y lead guitar sample they used.  If you don't know a song, hear that bass, and guess Capcom, you are probably going to be right.

Exceptions being  like.... Demon's Crest, which has a pretty forgettable soundtrack that at least sound's nice while playing it.

That's when they had both the composition AND the instrumentation to back it up! So much variety! So much charm! So much punch!

It's a bunch of samples of rock instruments from digital pianos.   Calm down, lol.

You don't get soundtracks like those anymore,

Yeah, because now you get real rock bands instead of shitty sampled attempts at them.   ayyyyyy

Final Fight 3 still has one of my favourite soundtracks in gaming!

lol.   "one of my favourite X in gaming" is your catchphrase.   I think you have used it so much here that I'm not sure if you know what favorite actually means.

[Michirin9801]

I'm sorry, you're wrong and need to tell your ears to try harder.

I can't be wrong about having an opinion.
The only "wrong" thing is dismissing someone else's opinion as "wrong" because it's different from yours...

Yes, I'm enamoured by lo-fi samples, and there's nothing wrong with that, I'll take lo-fi rock/orchestral instrument samples over real rock or "NES chipwank" any day, and that's my honest-to-goodness opinion that you can't simply say "you're wrong" and hope to change my mind...

Also, neither Final Fight 1 nor 2 have bad soundtracks, I never said that, I said they were the exception to the whole "Capcom had good instruments on the SNES" thing, yes, I know they've reused some instruments from other games, pretty much all devs do that sometimes, but the way they were used in other games like Street Fighter and Mega Man X just pleased my ears more than they do in Final Fight 1 and 2...

And the thing about Final Fight 3's soundtrack is that it's just SO layered and has SO much stuff going on at once, they basically have each instrument playing its own melody at once, and it all ends up somehow fitting so neatly together like clockwork! That soundtrack is not only GENIUSly composed, it's also got some of the best instrumentation they've used on the system! (Which to me means "ever" because to my ears nothing sounds better than the SNES ;3)

You disagree? Fine! Have your opinion, unlike you I'll not give you s*** for it, you can like and dislike whatever you want...

[Arkhan Asylum]

I can't be wrong about having an opinion.

http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/no-it-s-not-your-opinion-you-re-just-wrong-updated-7611752

The only "wrong" thing is dismissing someone else's opinion as "wrong" because it's different from yours...

This, going back to the article I just posted.   When you say something is lazy and maintain that stance after someone explains clearly unlazy technical prowess....especially using the patented "well you're free to disagree" or "that's just your opinion" shit,  you kinda lean into wrongland.   It's such a dumbassed copout.

even when you're not doing that, your opinions may not be wrong, but they can still fucking suck.

and not because I may disagree with them.   It's because you put them out there with little substance.     Name dropping every popular company followed by AND I LIKE COMPANY X BECAUSE BY GOLLY YEP THEY SURE ARE THE GOODEST without any other real example of anything is useless.

Yes, I'm enamoured by lo-fi samples, and there's nothing wrong with that, I'll take lo-fi rock/orchestral instrument samples over real rock or "NES chipwank" any day, and that's my honest-to-goodness opinion that you can't simply say "you're wrong" and hope to change my mind...

I don't simply say "you're wrong".  I at least provide examples/reasons/explanations, lol.   I don't really care if you like listening to shitty sample-rock instead of actual instruments.  More power to you.     I'd rather go see Iron Maiden instead of listening to a bunch of SNES covers of Iron Maiden. 

Also, neither Final Fight 1 nor 2 have bad soundtracks, I never said that,

Other than the first two Final Fight games their SNES soundtracks are all amazing!

   Nice one, dummy.

You disagree? Fine! Have your opinion, unlike you I'll not give you s*** for it, you can like and dislike whatever you want...

You can keep being a crybaby about the fact that I made fun of your opinion to the point where you gripe about it on a high horse like 3 times in one post. ...

It doesn't change the fact that you can't articulate much outside of "omg its the beststestest ever because teeheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

try using examples and reasons besides adverb laden hyperventilating about your most favoritist thing of all time ever ever.

and stop bleeping out your fucking swear words.  Are you 12?  We know what the fuck's supposed to go there when you put S***.    Are you trying to get the "no swear words" scout badge or some shit?