SNES Vs. Genesis: Same Name, Different Game
My version of Aladdin is better than yours
Back in the 1990s, consoles used to be very different from one another. The SNES and Genesis, for example, were both “16-bit hardware” (in a manner of speaking), but the sound chips, graphical capabilities, color palettes, etc. made many multiplatform games all look, sound, and play slightly different from one another.
Gamers were clued into each systems’ differences for the most part, and they rented/purchased games accordingly. Some multiplatform titles look and sound worse on the Genesis, but if you never had a SNES to compare them to, you wouldn’t have known any better.
Every so often, though, developers threw gamers a curveball. They’d release a game with the same name, same cover art, for all intents and purposes, you look at the cover of these games at Toys R Us or the video store and think, yup, this is Alien 3, Home Alone, whatever, same on the SNES as it was on the Genesis. But no, friends. They’re not the same. They should be, but they’re not.
Aladdin is the most well-known example of this. The Genesis version was developed by Virgin Games in tandem with some Disney animators who also worked on the film. As you might expect given that pedigree, Genesis Aladdin looks gorgeous, like a cartoon come to life. SNES Aladdin, however, is developed by Capcom, and while it looks colorful and vibrant, the graphics don’t come close to matching the inspired visuals from the Genesis version. Both versions also feature completely different level design and are not the same game in the slightest, despite being based on the same property.
The following licensed properties are three of my favorite examples of this strange phenomenon. These games hail from a time when gamers would just play titles for whatever system they had, rarely knowing that perhaps a far superior version of the same property awaited them on a rival machine.
BATMAN RETURNS
Batman Returns on the SNES came out in April 1993, nearly a year after Tim Burton’s dark, gloomy sequel hit theaters in June 1992. The extra time was worth it. Konami’s beat-em-up really captures the film’s intensity and gothic visual style. Batman controls like the tank he was created to be. When his punches and kicks connect to the Red Triangle Circus gang – especially when he slams two thugs’ bodies together - you feel the attack in your bones. I’m unsure how Konami captured the Caped Crusader’s brooding beatdowns so well, but capture they did. Batman Returns remains a top-3 example of the beat-em-up genre on the SNES.
Genesis Batman Returns came out in time for the Christmas 1992 season, and it’s more of a platformer in the vein of a Shinobi game. Batman moves slowly from scene to scene with one-to-two enemies placed in any given area. With his grappling hook, he ascends to the steely rooftops, while his cape lets him glide over the oppressed Gotham masses below. Batarangs and other Bat-gadgets are also here, and are your friend, to be used liberally. Both the SNES and Genesis versions are rock hard, but the Genesis version is slightly more difficult, given that enemies sometimes appear out of nowhere as you’re moving from one scene to the next.
WHICH ONE’S BETTER?: It really depends on the style of game you’re looking to play. Batman Returns for the SNES is a top-notch beat-em-up that can be enjoyed even if you’re not a huge Batman fan, while the Genesis version is a platformer that incorporates more of the Dark Knight’s persona and essence. Both games are a good time, but I’m giving the nod to the SNES version.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Beauty and the Beast, that timeless classic where a girl twirls and sings about books, gets lost and kidnapped in the woods by a man-bear, some salacious silverware sings catchy showtunes, we find out man is the real beast, then boom! Prince marries librarian, and happily ever after.
But how would one create an engaging game based on these iconic, immortal events? Would developers have you alternate between controlling Belle and the Beast in different scenes from the film? Or perhaps you’d play as multiple characters like Belle, the Beast, Gaston, or even Belle’s father, crazy ol’ Maurice.
Developer Software Creations answered these questions by creating two Beauty and the Beast games for the Genesis, Belle’s Quest and Roar of the Beast.
Belle’s Quest is a literal walk in the park, except “the park” is all the setpieces of the movie, including the village, the woods, Beast’s castle, and eventually, the ballroom. But she does walk, a lot, all over creation. Belle walks and leaps and ducks, especially when bats and forks fly at her face. She collects keys and solves some light puzzles, but otherwise, her adventure is relatively milquetoast. Belle’s sprite does look incredible, though, very well-animated. Which is surprising since, as far as I know, Disney animators did not help create the look of her sprite or the game itself.
Belle’s Quest was aimed at young girls, and it absolutely shows. Given how bad most of these “girl games” typically were back in the 80s and 90s, you could do a lot worse than playing Belle as she flitters about France. Like Barbie on the NES, for example. An insult to females the world over, that one.
In Roar of the Beast, you control the titular creature, skulking and growling about his castle, in the woods saving Belle, and kicking Gaston’s butt. Beast can swipe at fools and he has this forward jump thing, where he extends his claws downward on all men or animals who oppose him, but otherwise, this ol’ boy does a lot of walking too, just like Belle. Gasp! Maybe the pair are meant to be!
As with Belle, the Beast’s sprite looks fantastic with excellent animations. In games like these that offer little gameplay variety, any visual flourish is most welcome.
Roar of the Beast was marketed towards boys, despite many young girls thinking the Beast was awesome and wanting to play as him instead of Belle. Either way, Sunsoft and Software Creations deserve credit for their shrewdness. Instead of just making one giant Beauty and the Beast game with both Belle and Beast segments, they split the game in two, presuming they’d make more profit that way. I don’t know how that financially worked out for them in the end, but it’s a novel idea that’s rarely been replicated.
SNES Beauty and the Beast all but admits that playing as Belle isn’t that interesting and gives you full control over the Beast. Probe Entertainment and Hudson Soft handle developing and publishing duties, respectively, but apparently neither got the memo that this game based on a Disney animated film for children was likely going to be played by young kids only. Seriously, why is Beauty and the Beast so friggin’ hard?! Blind jumps, cheap hits, and some of Beast’s obtuse mechanics, like roaring to freeze bats or getting platforms to activate, are necessary to move forward in certain levels. As a kid, I would have been so frustrated at this game. As an adult, I am so frustrated with this game.
Admittedly, Beast isn’t nearly as lumbering here as he is in Roar of the Beast, he’s sleeker and slightly smaller. He can also climb on walls and decaying curtains and leap over scores of spiked pits. The presentation as a whole is phenomenal, with the game’s dark visual style radiating a menace and overall unsettling vibe that the Genesis games lacked. You really feel like you’re in Beast’s broken, disintegrating world.
WHICH ONE’S BETTER?: Both Belle’s Quest and Roar of the Beast are pretty easy, developed as they were for young girls and boys. Neither game is bad per say, but also no one reading this is those games’ target audience. I imagine if you’ve never experienced them, they might be a relaxing way to play through the beats of one of Disney’s most beloved films, but if you choose not to play them, you’re not missing much.
Get your game face on if you plan to tackle SNES Beauty and the Beast, though. Red headband, camo outfit, a slug of whiskey, the whole bit.
You all think I’m joking here. SNES Beauty and the Beast is just a string of difficult moments that only get more challenging as you progress further into the game. As with the Genesis titles, the SNES game isn’t bad, it just really wants to make kids suffer or something.
JURASSIC PARK
Whether you control Alan Grant or the Raptor, Jurassic Park for the Genesis is a full-on immersion into the dinosaur-filled wilds of Isla Nublar. When I played this game as a child, I felt the inherent danger Grant was in. Everything around him, from the dinosaurs to the fauna to waterfalls to blowing steam vents, could hurt him. Heck, even when he’s not hurt, he’s always making some sort of grunting noise, like he’s in constant old-man pain. Creeping around, knowing that the T-Rex could pop out of the wall at any minute… that’s some proto survival-horror going on right there. Grant has a decent arsenal of tranquilizer darts, smoke bombs, and the like, but even with these on your person, I never really felt safe.
Controlling the Raptor, however, is the opposite. With a powerful dinosaur, I felt bold and confident, like I could handle any threat, human or dinosaur, that came my way. BlueSky Software was wise to let players have the option to control both.
SNES Jurassic Park has a lot of potential. A top-down non-linear action-adventure with Dr. Grant, Esq. exploring the park while it’s being overrun by dinosaurs is an excellent idea. The first-person perspective shift when you move indoors is similarly inspired (inspired by Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, to be precise). Unfortunately, the game is mostly missing the tension and heavy atmosphere that made the Genesis version so memorable. Grant is a ripped beefcake with numerous weapons that instantly vaporize Velociraptors; great for protecting yourself, but it also makes these dangerous dinosaurs feel like a small threat.
Your assignments are also boring. Find 15 eggs, collect ID cards, find and destroy raptors’ nests, on and on the list goes. These are the type of sub-quests that get rightfully hated on in modern open-world games, and they weren’t much better in 1993. When I rented SNES Jurassic Park back in the day, I was bored and disappointed. Yeah, seeing a Velociraptor jump at you head-on in first-person-view is scary the first time you see it, but diminishing returns after that.
WHICH ONE’S BETTER?: Both games are rip-roarin’ hard. The Genesis version is trial-and-error incarnate, while the SNES version expects you to play the entire game in one sitting, a maddening notion in the days when passwords and battery backed chips were becoming more commonplace.
That said, when removing difficulty from the equation, I lean Genesis. Many people enjoy the more relaxed pace of the SNES Jurassic Park, but personally, the Genesis version really makes you feel like you’re trapped in a prehistoric wasteland with just your wits and some basic weaponry that never feels like it’s enough. Plus, when you turn on the Genesis Jurassic Park, the T-Rex growls “Sega!” and that’s as awesome today as it was thirty years ago.
*images courtesy of GameFAQs, The Cover Project, Giant Bomb
I miss the days when you’d get different games with the same title on different systems. It really helped differentiate the consoles from one another. Konami was a great example of this. Even if they had the license for a property across platforms, they’d make the SNES and Genesis versions different games. My favorite example of this is another Batman game, the Adventures of Batman and Robin. The two versions really played on each console’s strengths, the SNES version is a beautiful game that emphasizes finesse and exploration just as much as fisticuffs. Meanwhile, the Genesis game is a fast paced, rock hard run n’ gun with a pulse pounding synth soundtrack.
I loved the Genesis Batman, it was a vibe. Also, Shadowrun, two different games between the system.