Why are the ports of this game so bad?

[inpurpleshadows]

Sonic Adventure is a game that I grew up with and is one of my favorite Sonic games, probably in the top 5. The first time I played this game was with the DX port for the Nintendo GameCube. The GameCube port was the version of the game I grew up with, however I barely had any access to the internet back then so I didn't know the differences between the GameCube and Dreamcast version, hell I didn't even know the GameCube version was a port. Years later, I decided to get this game on Steam and while playing it I thought to myself "Wow, this game is worse than I remember, I used to like this?" After watching Cybershell's video on Sonic Adventure DX, I later realized that I was actually playing a version of Sonic Adventure that was worse than both the Dreamcast and GameCube versions. The GameCube version, while worse than the original does have some pretty cool additions such as updated models/textures, 60 FPS, Mission Mode, the ability to play as Metal Sonic and even some unlockable Game Gear games. The "HD" ports on the other hand are just terrible ports, atrocious lighting, awful collision detection, the lack of widescreen and the absence of the unlockable Game Gear games. Thankfully I did find some mods that do fix most of the problems found in these ports of this game. The worst part is, these ports of Sonic Adventure are so bad that it caused other people and gaming "journalists" to straight up say that the Adventure games are bad and even created the "Sonic had a rough transition into 3D" meme.
If you want to find a mod that will fix the problems of these terrible ports I would recommend the Dreamcast Conversion Mod, I will list a link down below:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/sadx-dreamcast-conversion

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

The GameCube version, while worse than the original does have some pretty cool additions such as updated models/textures, 60 FPS, Mission Mode, the ability to play as Metal Sonic and even some unlockable Game Gear games.

If you ask me, the extra content and added improvements to the GameCube version makes it the definitive version (assuming without mods on the PC port) . It's nice to play a version of Sonic Adventure that plays in 60FPS and allows me to skip cutscenes, all without a lot of the bugs or other problems that later ports did.

The "HD" ports on the other hand are just terrible ports, atrocious lighting, awful collision detection, the lack of widescreen and the absence of the unlockable Game Gear games.

It also lacks support for any sort of "Tiny Chao Garden" that previous versions of the game did. While the Dreamcast is well known for its VMU device which this game takes advantage of, said functionality got a bit of an overhaul when it got ported to the GameCube allowing for connectivity with the GBA to achieve a similar result.

No port since has had this feature, making the Chao Garden not as fun as previous versions. Shame considering I think it could make for a great mobile app, or in the case of the PS3 version, an app that connects to the PSP.

The worst part is, these ports of Sonic Adventure are so bad that it caused other people and gaming "journalists" to straight up say that the Adventure games are bad and even created the "Sonic had a rough transition into 3D" meme.

This is my problem with "terrible ports" of great games we had in the past, yet I don't think anyone really understands this all that much besides the two of us. By releasing terrible ports that fail to live up to the quality standard of the originals, it feels like altering and/or changing history as we know it as opposed to respecting history as it was back in its day!

I have a similar problem regarding the likes of the GTA Trilogy; the remasters have so many problems that never existed in the original games, to the point where it makes you wonder why the games were even good in the first place if you only play those versions. Getting the originals is no longer an option either since they removed them from sale, so newcomers who only play the new versions will think the old games always sucked and the only reason people liked them 20 years ago was due to blind nostalgia.

Sadly, this trend has continued for the Sonic franchise with Sonic Colours Ultimate and, to a lesser extent, Sonic Origins.

[ShriekViola]

Video game code equivalent of inbreeding.

[inpurpleshadows]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

The GameCube version, while worse than the original does have some pretty cool additions such as updated models/textures, 60 FPS, Mission Mode, the ability to play as Metal Sonic and even some unlockable Game Gear games.

If you ask me, the extra content and added improvements to the GameCube version makes it the definitive version (assuming without mods on the PC port) . It's nice to play a version of Sonic Adventure that plays in 60FPS and allows me to skip cutscenes, all without a lot of the bugs or other problems that later ports did.

The "HD" ports on the other hand are just terrible ports, atrocious lighting, awful collision detection, the lack of widescreen and the absence of the unlockable Game Gear games.

It also lacks support for any sort of "Tiny Chao Garden" that previous versions of the game did. While the Dreamcast is well known for its VMU device which this game takes advantage of, said functionality got a bit of an overhaul when it got ported to the GameCube allowing for connectivity with the GBA to achieve a similar result.

No port since has had this feature, making the Chao Garden not as fun as previous versions. Shame considering I think it could make for a great mobile app, or in the case of the PS3 version, an app that connects to the PSP.

The worst part is, these ports of Sonic Adventure are so bad that it caused other people and gaming "journalists" to straight up say that the Adventure games are bad and even created the "Sonic had a rough transition into 3D" meme.

This is my problem with "terrible ports" of great games we had in the past, yet I don't think anyone really understands this all that much besides the two of us. By releasing terrible ports that fail to live up to the quality standard of the originals, it feels like altering and/or changing history as we know it as opposed to respecting history as it was back in its day!

I have a similar problem regarding the likes of the GTA Trilogy; the remasters have so many problems that never existed in the original games, to the point where it makes you wonder why the games were even good in the first place if you only play those versions. Getting the originals is no longer an option either since they removed them from sale, so newcomers who only play the new versions will think the old games always sucked and the only reason people liked them 20 years ago was due to blind nostalgia.

Sadly, this trend has continued for the Sonic franchise with Sonic Colours Ultimate and, to a lesser extent, Sonic Origins.

Now that I think about it, it seems like most re-releases or "remasters" that were currently released have the same problem as the recent Sonic Adventure ports and this doesn't just extend to Sonic games or the GTA "Definitive" Trilogy. Some other examples are Super Mario 3D All-Stars which is just a compilation of three ROMs with barely any graphical enhancements other than the ability to play these games in HD and improved textures, not to mention the game was only available to purchase for a limited time. There was also The Last of Us Part I which was a remake of a game... that came out the previous generation. What makes The Last of Us Part I even worse is the fact the PS4 version of the game is literally backwards compatible with the PS5, rendering the remake completely pointless, and to add insult to injury the remastered version cost $70 when I can buy the PS4 version for $20. And what is the justification for paying $70 dollars for a game I already own, some graphical enhancements and AI tweaks, wow I'm so glad I can buy a glorified patch for $70. There is also Life is Strange: "Remastered" Collection which is a "remaster" of Life is Strange and its prequel... both of which came out 5-7 years ago. All we got with this was improved lighting and facial expressions, oh and we can't forget about the numerous bugs and glitches in games where the gameplay is literally walking around and talking to others. Life is Strange and its prequel aren't perfect but at least they had good writing, pleasing graphics and a great soundtrack but all these aspects are ruined by the bugs and glitches, there was even this one scene where one of the characters were having an emotional breakdown and how did this "remaster" ♥♥♥♥ up this scene, the characters were literally T-Posing. When it comes to re-releases like Sonic Colors: "Ultimate", Sonic Origins and Life is Strange: "Remastered" people make the excuse "they'll patch it later", guess what? Most of these re-releases still have bugs even months after they have released. People who never played the originals are going to play these versions and say "Wow, people like this ♥♥♥♥, this game is terrible". In my opinion, developers should remake games, not for money, they should remake games to enhance the experience of the original, add new features and improvements and make these older games more accessible. Unfortunately all of the "remakes" I've listed fail at all of those. Shortly before Sonic Origins release Sega delisted the digital versions of the Classic Sonic games and Super Mario 3D All-Stars was only available for a limited time so these two games fail at making the originals more accessible. Sonic Colors: "Ultimate" and the GTA "Definitive" Trilogy do not improve on the original versions at all, in fact they actually make it worse. The Last of Us Part I and Life is Strange: "Remastered" barely added any enhancements or features that justify their price. Sorry if this reply sounded a bit ranty, I just wanted to express my disappointment with recent video game re-releases.

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

Some other examples are Super Mario 3D All-Stars which is just a compilation of three ROMs with barely any graphical enhancements other than the ability to play these games in HD and improved textures, not to mention the game was only available to purchase for a limited time.

To be fair to Super Mario 3D All Stars though, at least the games worked as they should for the most part, the games in the collection are still good and still mostly represent the original experiences, it's just that the collection itself was underwhelming, sold at full price as well as being a limited time only release.

The games in the collection wasn't the problem, the collection itself and the business model around it was.

"Remastered" people make the excuse "they'll patch it later", guess what? Most of these re-releases still have bugs even months after they have released.

This is just a problem with modern gaming in general, particularly with a lot of big releases that come out today, but it makes absolutely zero sense for remasters or ports of older games, especially when the originals never had these problems to begin with.

Yeah, I miss the PS2 and before era of gaming when the game we bought on shelves was the final product and couldn't be patched.

Sorry if this reply sounded a bit ranty, I just wanted to express my disappointment with recent video game re-releases.

No, I fully understand. I actually feel a similar way you do regarding this topic.
I can at least say there are some good ones, though. Glover on Steam is one I can definitely recommend if you haven't played the original and have any interest in it. It's very similar to the N64 version, but it also includes an emulated PS1 version as a bonus.

[inpurpleshadows]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

Some other examples are Super Mario 3D All-Stars which is just a compilation of three ROMs with barely any graphical enhancements other than the ability to play these games in HD and improved textures, not to mention the game was only available to purchase for a limited time.

To be fair to Super Mario 3D All Stars though, at least the games worked as they should for the most part, the games in the collection are still good and still mostly represent the original experiences, it's just that the collection itself was underwhelming, sold at full price as well as being a limited time only release.

The games in the collection wasn't the problem, the collection itself and the business model around it was.

"Remastered" people make the excuse "they'll patch it later", guess what? Most of these re-releases still have bugs even months after they have released.

This is just a problem with modern gaming in general, particularly with a lot of big releases that come out today, but it makes absolutely zero sense for remasters or ports of older games, especially when the originals never had these problems to begin with.

Yeah, I miss the PS2 and before era of gaming when the game we bought on shelves was the final product and couldn't be patched.

Sorry if this reply sounded a bit ranty, I just wanted to express my disappointment with recent video game re-releases.

No, I fully understand. I actually feel a similar way you do regarding this topic.
I can at least say there are some good ones, though. Glover on Steam is one I can definitely recommend if you haven't played the original and have any interest in it. It's very similar to the N64 version, but it also includes an emulated PS1 version as a bonus.

When I was talking about Super Mario 3D All-Stars I wasn't trying to be harsh to the collection itself, I was mostly criticizing the business practices centered around the collection. Sorry for sounding a bit too harsh towards Super Mario 3D All-Stars as I don't think it's a bad collection, it's a great way to play the games featured on the collection. It was also kind of hypocritical for me to just call Super Mario 3D All-Stars a compilation of three ROMs when the Sonic Mega Collection was also a compilation of ROMs with some added bonus content, and I love the Sonic Mega Collection. My main problem with Super Mario 3D All-Stars was the business practices surrounding it as the game was only available for a limited time on the Nintendo eshop and shortly before the games release, multiple Nintendo fan-games were taken down, including an HD remake of Super Mario 64 which was essentially the definitive version of the game... and it's no longer playable. As with the "they'll patch it later" excuse, I completely agree with you on that topic. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 were released in an extremely buggy state, to the point where it wasn't even playable. If Sonic 06 released today as a glitchy mess I bet you my soul people would make the excuse, "Don't be so harsh. The game devs will patch it later." Games like Sonic 06 didn't have that luxury as at the time it was released, it was not possible to patch games so Sonic 06 will remain a buggy disaster forever. It's a shame Sonic 06 turned out the way it did because it had a lot of potential to be a great Sonic game, if not one of the best. The controversy surrounding Sonic 06 ties back to my discussion about how ports of Sonic Adventure caused many people to turn on the Adventure series and other 3D Sonic games. This is similar to how Sonic 06 tarnished the legacy of the Sonic franchise, where future games in the series received mixed to negative reviews such as Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight, even genuinely good games like Sonic Unleashed received negative reception. Even worse, I've heard people say that Sonic, the franchise that literally rivaled Mario during the console wars was never good. This is why I am tired of companies rushing games as it can ruin the perception of their game and eventually, the entire franchise.

[GrimAtrament]

because current sega doesn't know how to port games. Wasn't that obvious with the sonic origins and color's ultimate release?

[inpurpleshadows]

Originally posted by GrimAtrament:

because current sega doesn't know how to port games. Wasn't that obvious with the sonic origins and color's ultimate release?

Oh yeah, that reminds me of the Game Boy Advance port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). The GBA port of Sonic 1 is infinitely worse than Sonic Origins and Sonic Colors: Ultimate because at least Origins and Colors: Ultimate were actually playable, Sonic 1 GBA on the other hand is borderline unplayable. Sonic 1 GBA suffered from a terrible framerate, awful collision detection and the worst renditions of the Sonic 1 OST I have ever heard. The one redeeming aspect of Sonic 1 GBA is that it adds the spindash to Sonic's moveset which he didn't have in the original version, however this feature was present in a previous port included in Sonic Jam and in many future ports making the GBA port completely obsolete. The worst part is the fact that the original version of Sonic 1 is one of the most important video games of all time as it was obviously the first game in the Sonic franchise and literally rivaled Mario, y'know the most iconic gaming franchise of all time, and this port just completely ♥♥♥♥♥ on Sonic 1's legacy.

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

Originally posted by GrimAtrament:

because current sega doesn't know how to port games. Wasn't that obvious with the sonic origins and color's ultimate release?

Oh yeah, that reminds me of the Game Boy Advance port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). The GBA port of Sonic 1 is infinitely worse than Sonic Origins and Sonic Colors: Ultimate because at least Origins and Colors: Ultimate were actually playable, Sonic 1 GBA on the other hand is borderline unplayable. Sonic 1 GBA suffered from a terrible framerate, awful collision detection and the worst renditions of the Sonic 1 OST I have ever heard. The one redeeming aspect of Sonic 1 GBA is that it adds the spindash to Sonic's moveset which he didn't have in the original version, however this feature was present in a previous port included in Sonic Jam and in many future ports making the GBA port completely obsolete. The worst part is the fact that the original version of Sonic 1 is one of the most important video games of all time as it was obviously the first game in the Sonic franchise and literally rivaled Mario, y'know the most iconic gaming franchise of all time, and this port just completely ♥♥♥♥♥ on Sonic 1's legacy.

On the other hand, however...
Sonic Origins and Colours Ultimate I still find to be a lot more offensive overall than Sonic 1 on GBA. At least, with Sonic 1 on GBA, we had great Sonic games on the GBA before it and by that point, there were plenty of other ways to play Sonic 1, including the PSP Mega Drive Collection the same year, making the GBA port irrelevant even when it was new. Not to mention Sonic 1 on GBA was a US only release.

With Colours Ultimate, there's no easy way to get Sonic Colours other than having a Wii console and a Wii copy of the game. And with Sonic Origins, they actually removed the most accessible versions of the games to push people towards Origins instead.
Although obviously, in terms of overall quality, Sonic 1 on GBA is far worse.

[inpurpleshadows]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

Originally posted by inpurpleshadows:

Oh yeah, that reminds me of the Game Boy Advance port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). The GBA port of Sonic 1 is infinitely worse than Sonic Origins and Sonic Colors: Ultimate because at least Origins and Colors: Ultimate were actually playable, Sonic 1 GBA on the other hand is borderline unplayable. Sonic 1 GBA suffered from a terrible framerate, awful collision detection and the worst renditions of the Sonic 1 OST I have ever heard. The one redeeming aspect of Sonic 1 GBA is that it adds the spindash to Sonic's moveset which he didn't have in the original version, however this feature was present in a previous port included in Sonic Jam and in many future ports making the GBA port completely obsolete. The worst part is the fact that the original version of Sonic 1 is one of the most important video games of all time as it was obviously the first game in the Sonic franchise and literally rivaled Mario, y'know the most iconic gaming franchise of all time, and this port just completely ♥♥♥♥♥ on Sonic 1's legacy.

On the other hand, however...
Sonic Origins and Colours Ultimate I still find to be a lot more offensive overall than Sonic 1 on GBA. At least, with Sonic 1 on GBA, we had great Sonic games on the GBA before it and by that point, there were plenty of other ways to play Sonic 1, including the PSP Mega Drive Collection the same year, making the GBA port irrelevant even when it was new. Not to mention Sonic 1 on GBA was a US only release.

With Colours Ultimate, there's no easy way to get Sonic Colours other than having a Wii console and a Wii copy of the game. And with Sonic Origins, they actually removed the most accessible versions of the games to push people towards Origins instead.
Although obviously, in terms of overall quality, Sonic 1 on GBA is far worse.

I kind of disagree with you on Sonic 1 GBA being less offensive than Sonic Origins or Sonic Colors: Ultimate because the Christian Whitehead ports of Sonic 1, 2 and CD are still available on Mobile devices and there are even some fan-made decompilations of all those games that can be played on PC. With Colors: Ultimate, you can still buy the original Wii version for like 20 bucks and Wii's are still relatively cheap nowadays, some of them even cost $80. If you don't have a Wii or don't want to spend the extra money for it you can just buy Sonic Colors on its own and burn the disk to your PC so you can emulate it on Dolphin. I also played a fan remake of Sonic 3 & Knuckles called Sonic 3 A.I.R which is in my opinion the definitive way to play Sonic 3 & Knuckles. But yeah, I definitely agree with you on why we should preserve video games. When it comes to retro games or video games in general they can only be played on the platforms they were released on (unless they are emulated) and most companies barely re-release their older games. Now I know that I previously made a lengthy rant on some of the more recent video game re-releases but that was because most of these developers and publishers don't really understand the purpose of a remake, re-release or whatever you like to call them. I think that re-releases should both satisfy those who grew up with the game and have them experience an improved version of it and to make these older games more accessible to younger audiences but video game developers/publishers only see it the other way around and only re-release their older games just so they can bait those who have nostalgia for these games. Sonic Mega Collection is a great example of a re-release (or a compilation) done right. Not only does the Mega Collection make the Genesis Sonic games more accessible to younger audiences or people who didn't have a Sega console, it also adds some bonus content such as Archie Comic covers, character illustrations and some videos which includes the opening and ending to Sonic CD, trailers for Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and a brief history of the Sonic franchise up until that point. Now you might be thinking "But the Sonic Mega Collection emulates these games, it doesn't port them" but honestly, I don't see that as a problem because during the time Mega Collection was released, there were only two other ways to play the original Genesis games, either from the original versions on the Sega Genesis or Sonic Jam on the Sega Saturn which was a massive failure. As with the bonus features, you might make the excuse "But the bonus content can be easily searched up on the internet" and yeah, the internet did exist back in 2002, but it was also pretty obscure at the time as it was very costly and took like 5 minutes to load one page (for me at least) so this collection was the only way to see these bonus features. There are other examples of great re-releases such as Super Mario All-Stars (SNES), Final Fantasy VII Remake, Metroid: Zero Mission, Klonoa (Wii) and Gravity Rush Remastered (extremely underrated game btw). I also wanted to thank you on suggesting me the Steam release of Glover, so far I'm enjoying it quite a lot.

[h7_ae9]

just mod it

[Dark Redshift]

Another good example of bad remasters and/or ports is Halo 1 for the PC by Gearbox back in 2002. It was the Xbox equivalent to SA1 as many of the graphics and even some of the AI were broken on PC, as well as my first copy of Halo 1 PC having a few audio bugs. This wouldn't be the first time Randy Greaselord would screw up a rerelease of a beloved FPS classic. Halo 2 PC was by someone other than Gearbox but it had similar issues as well as that awful Windows Live thing.

Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary on Xbox 360 used the PC version as a base in Classic Mode and built Remastered mode on top of that, so the old stuff looked way worse than it actually was in the original game. Since some people may not have got the original Halo 1 or wouldn't bother, especially when Master Chief Collection came out, they would just assume the game was always like that, just like SA1 & SA2. MCC was didn't even change anything at launch on Xbox One and PC, and Halo 2 Anniversary was also based on Halo 2 Vista. Like Dreamcast Conversion, we had to rely on the mod Halo CE Refined to fix those issues.

Thankfully, 343 Industries listened and worked with the Refined team (as far as I know) to undo the problems in CEA and Halo 2A's classic modes so they look and play just as good as they always did. I don't know if it was perfect, but it's a lot better than it was at launch.

Another example of a terrible port/remaster would be Half Life Source.

https://youtu.be/Z74y3IVGHwo

This remaster is the reason why Black Mesa exists: so Half Life gets the same treatment Counterstrike, Day of Defeat and Team Fortress got when Valve made Source engine versions. (Team Fortress's being the sequel)

Then there's Duke 3D Anniversary World Tour mentioned above: the rerecorded Duke lines make him sound tired or bored, the True 3D rendering looks way worse than Eduke 32's great attempt at the same thing (esp HD Pack), the new episode is great but the boss is a joke & the ending sucks, all of the expansion packs that were included in Megaton Edition are gone, even though 3D Realms and Night Dive managed to get the rights to the Sunstorm exapansions in Shadow Warrior & Blood's remasters perfectly fine, the developer commentary is lame compared to your average Valve game or Tomb Raider Anniversary & there's not enough of it in many of the levels (usually just a small number in the first level and nothing else in each of the 4 main episodes), and not only Megaton edition, but the original DOS game on GOG and both GOG & Steam versions of Duke Nukem 1+2 and Manhatten Project were taken down to make way for Randy's terrible port.

The steam ports of the Goldsource Half Life games technically count as well compared to WON because the main menus are trash. Half Life 2, Half Life Source and Episode 1 are clearer examples as their graphics are subtly worse in modern builds of them, especially the fire effects, lighting and vortigaunt skin textures. The physics feel off sometimes too such as the first seesaw puzzle.

In Episode 2 it wasn't so bad as that ran on a better version of source, but Valve shouldn't have fixed what isn't broken. You can still play the 2006 builds of Half Life 2 and Episode 1 with the better graphics and physics but you need to run them as mods.

[alumlovescake]

They never ported of the OG version. Every port was a trash port port of a trash port. So it got worse and worse. At least that is what I heard