Ys III Wanderer from Ys version?

[Ikagura]

I want to know which version of the original game I should do (between the PCE CD, Snes and Mega Drive version)

It's especially important about the game difficulty overall and the hitboxes...

[ThreeSon]

The SNES version is the best looking and sounding version, but I think it is maybe not the best as far as gameplay.

I have not played the Mega Drive version. Only a couple hours of the PCE CD version, but I think the combat (including hitboxes) is slightly better on the PCE compared to the SNES.

However, the PCE also has very terrible voice acting, that can not be turned off.

[Doomlord]

From someone who actually took the time to play through all of them:
If you REALLY must play that pile of garbage go for either the computer versions or the Mega Drive.

In terms of PC versions:
PC-88 version is the original experience. Go for that if you're a fan of the YM2203.

PC-98 version is pretty much the same thing. Damn shame Wanderers never got the Renewal treatment, would have loved to hear the soundtrack on the YM2608.

Sharp X68000 version is not all that different, but the music sounds way better thanks to the YM2151 (sampled drums ftw).
EDIT: And the scrolling is way smoother. Forgot to add that.

MSX I wouldn't really recommend. It's just primitive compared to the other ones. Not to mention the music sounds about as good as the NES version.

For Consoles:
Mega Drive version looks decent, the hit detection is decent, and thanks to the YM2612 you can get the closest possible thing to the original PC-88 music. Overall this is the least sh*t port.

PCE-CD version has the best music, but the backgrounds scroll extremely choppy and unless you can get used to it it'll get straining on the eyes. Also that "voice acting" and you can't turn it off.

SNES version is the worst of the whole bunch (how people can defend that sh*t I'll never know. I'm guessing nintenyearolds). I legit threw my cartridge out the window. The graphics are presentable, but the hit detection is godawful and the music is just plain terrible. I don't care what delusions people have. The SNES sound "chip" isn't made for Ys music.

NES version is alright, but who in their right mind would play an 8bit port of a 16 bit game.

PS2 version looks good, but the music is pretty bad and its moonrunes only. Plus you can't attack and move at the same time.

[Saralene]

I guess opinions differ wildly on this...

I'm not here to start any fights, mind you, but I think it's interesting how much this can vary.
Of the console versions, I prefer the SNES version myself.
The hit detection has issues here and there, but the balance is fine if you can get used to that.
The SPC chip isn't exactly to blame for any complaints in music quality, by the way; the SPC chip uses samples that the developers themselves add to the game (the same way they add sound effects or voice clips), as opposed to FM generation like the Genesis. It can put out some amazing tunes if sample choice is smart; check out the soundtrack to "Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis" for one of my favorite SNES soundtracks.

Genesis version feels rather poorly-balanced to me, although it does have better hit detection than SNES. That much is true. The music of this version is certainly a saving grace, being that it was arranged by the magnificent Noriyuki Iwadare.

The PCE version is kind of a strangely mixed bag. As mentioned, the background scrolling is choppy. I personally don't like the arrangements from the PCE version much, but for some people it and/or the voice acting is a plus. I guess that I have less of a bias for it than some because I didn't grow up with that console and its versions of Ys I&II or III. I'm not a big fan of the PCE Ys I & II music either. Feels more like it would suit an arrange album than the game itself, to me.

Avoid the PS2 version at all costs. Even the NES version is higher recommended than the PS2 version, even if its graphics are all right.

If you want to play the PC brand of Ys III, I'd suggest PC-98. The X68K version has some balance issues (sort of like Genesis and, actually, NES too).

This is all from memory, so my apologies for that fact, but SNES is the one I've played most recently and even found an amusing bug. It does have a couple weird bugs.

Edit: As a sidenote, I've never played the MSX version.

[Doomlord]

Don't bother with MSX unless you want to go through it for completion's sake like I did.

I'm well aware that SNES chip uses samples. It can't generate music on its own hence why there's no such thing as "SNES sound". I'm not sh*tting on the console, mind you, since it's what I went with back in the day and I played some glorious sh*t on it. Problem with SPC is that it's essentially a glorified keyboard and that's what it excels at. Just like the Mega Drive wasn't really all that good at making orchestral music (Gauntlet IV comes close but even that's stretching it) I've yet to hear any rocking SNES ost that can hold a candle to M.U.S.H.A. or Thunder Force IV. In theory you can use FM Synth samples but even then thanks to compression they'll never sound as good as the actual sound chip.

SNES Brandish, Wanderers and Mask in particular are guilty of using bad samples. Not to mention some songs outright screw up the melody and make it sound way off. As for Kefin, I guess that one gets a pass because it sounds nothing like Ys (It sounds more like something Square would push out).

As for balance I found all versions of Wanderers to be ridiculously easy even with the awful hit detection so I don't really think it matters all that much. Kefin's the only Ys game that I found easier than Wanderers.

[Saralene]

Originally posted by Doomlord:

As for Kefin, I guess that one gets a pass because it sounds nothing like Ys

Ugh, yes. It sounds like it's trying to be faux-orchestral or something to me but it does it all wrong. This kind of music bores me to tears and that brings down Kefin as a whole for me. I had the same problem with Breath of Fire 4 (though I know a lot of people would disagree vehemently on that one).

Originally posted by Doomlord:

As for balance I found all versions of Wanderers to be ridiculously easy even with the awful hit detection so I don't really think it matters all that much. Kefin's the only Ys game that I found easier than Wanderers.

Well, it's good that you don't have any trouble with it, but... a lot of people -do- find Ys III to be quite difficult, so that's why it could be relevant for some. Some bosses are just stupid-hard if you don't have the right strategy in some versions, too.

Edit: Oh, sidenote. There are still a couple songs that really shine in Mask in particular on SNES, even if it's more in spite of the sample choices rather than because of them. Crater (AKA, Sanctuary of the Sun) is one of the ones that stands out in Mask for me.

[Doomlord]

Well Mask did have its moments I'm eternally mad that Celceta omitted the whole plot point about not all Eldeen being goody two-shoes, but thats another topic not for this thread.

In terms of music I do like a couple of songs from Mask's OST, in particular Mask of the Sun, such a great opening tune.
I'm almost 100% sure a song from a particular eroge from the early 2000s took inspiration from that track XD.

Also aside from Celceta I don't remember any other version of Ys IV having Crater. Sanctuary of the Sun is a different song altogether.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-jHvrCNceM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuW_s62dhUI

[Saralene]

Originally posted by Doomlord:

Also aside from Celceta I don't remember any other version of Ys IV having Crater. Sanctuary of the Sun is a different song altogether.

The Memories of Celceta version of Crater is an entirely original song (as far as that version of the soundtrack goes -- being unused before and all), but the track we know as Sanctuary of the Sun was purposed as "Crater" in Mask of the Sun (it's not used at the actual Sanctuary) and labelled as such in a couple of soundtracks. (Edit: Mostly rips, I guess, as I'm not even sure if Mask had an official soundtrack?) That's why I referred to it that way, based on how it was actually used in the SNES version. Sorry for the confusion! I am well aware of its actual name, hence why I mentioned it. :P

Edit 2: Also, yeah... I was kind of sad about the various plot threads omitted by Celceta too. It even seemed weird to omit the callbacks to Ys I & II since there's a lot of fans eager to see them revisit things like that again and they were a pretty large part of Mask (non-PS2) and Dawn alike...

Edit 3 is too many: There were a couple other oddly repurposed tracks in Mask compared to the official names, too. For example, Karna's theme was used in the waterfall cave.

[Doomlord]

It's cool. Crater's just a song that never made it into Ys IV and they later brought back in Celceta. Kinda like the original Theme of Adol which made it to the Turbografx-CD. But with the way people have been naming Falcom soundtracks over the years I'm not even surprised we keep confusing tracks. Was discussing Brandish 2 with some dude a while back and we ended up in the exact same situation. He used some extremely fancy names for a few tracks I simply knew as Cave, Dark Zone etc.

In regards to Edit 2: If I wasn't living on the other side of the planet I'd have gone to anime expo just so I could ask Kondo about it since he keeps reminding everyone he worked on Celceta. Sadly I missed that opportunity XD.

As for my own personal Edit 2: Imma shut up now since I already derailed this thread far enough. Ikagura just pick whichever one you want. If you're emulating you lose nothing anyway.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Originally posted by Doomlord:

Don't bother with MSX unless you want to go through it for completion's sake like I did.

I'm well aware that SNES chip uses samples. It can't generate music on its own hence why there's no such thing as "SNES sound". I'm not sh*tting on the console, mind you, since it's what I went with back in the day and I played some glorious sh*t on it. Problem with SPC is that it's essentially a glorified keyboard and that's what it excels at. Just like the Mega Drive wasn't really all that good at making orchestral music (Gauntlet IV comes close but even that's stretching it) I've yet to hear any rocking SNES ost that can hold a candle to M.U.S.H.A. or Thunder Force IV. In theory you can use FM Synth samples but even then thanks to compression they'll never sound as good as the actual sound chip.

SNES Brandish, Wanderers and Mask in particular are guilty of using bad samples. Not to mention some songs outright screw up the melody and make it sound way off. As for Kefin, I guess that one gets a pass because it sounds nothing like Ys (It sounds more like something Square would push out).

As for balance I found all versions of Wanderers to be ridiculously easy even with the awful hit detection so I don't really think it matters all that much. Kefin's the only Ys game that I found easier than Wanderers.

SNES Wanderers seem to use okay sound samples in my opinion, from the little I've heard of it. Sort of generic, rather than something really notable...but then again, notable doesn't necessarily mean that I'll like it. For example, I'm not a big fan of Secret of Mana's sound samples, even though they are sort of distinctive (the snare drum is way loud). Also, while I enjoy Super Castlevania IV's and Super Metroid's soundtracks, I'm not sure I have an opinion on just their sound samples themselves aside from "they're sort of unusually muffled", which could be a good or bad thing depending on how they're used. (Contrast SCv4 with Dracula XX, which is much more like SNES Wanderers's sound samples in their genericness. Incidentally I sometimes prefer Dracula XX's soundtrack over Rondo of Blood's soundtrack, such as in the last stage...)

Edit: Now that I'm listening to it more, it seems the individual track arrangements aren't that bad, but the item get theme is rather cruddy.

[Doomlord]

The whole muffled sound is not really the samples themselves but the actual SNES, since it applies a filter (forgot what it was exactly) to the sound output. As for Rondo and Dracula X I sorta agree. Though I can't stand Dracula X itself since that game is just awful in a few cases I do prefer its rendition of the soundtrack to Rondo's. Like Bloody Tears for example (Though Sota Fujimori's rendition in Chronicles destroys both).

[Ikagura]

Oh that's a lot to read!

Thanks for the answers anyway! I thing I'll do the Megadrive version just because I prefer the OST of this version, the snes has a good music chip for games with orchestral music like in Zelda or Mario but the Genesis is more suited for rock musics (in the Ys serie there's a lot of them)