Platform Agnostics: The Most Whored-Out Games from 1UP.com

We look at the most whored-out games in history.

...continued, (page 3 of 4)

Case Study: Street Fighter II
Originally Released: 1991

Official, Noncompilation Versions (20): 3DO, Amiga, Amiga CD32, Arcade, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Dreamcast, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Genesis, Mobile Phone, MS-DOS, PC Engine, Plug and Play, PS3, Sega Master System, SNES, X68000, Xbox 360, ZX Spectrum

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make Street Fighter II inevitable."
--John F. Kennedy

Street Fighter II perfected a new genre -- the 1-on-1 fighting game. With the astounding success of Street Fighter II in 1991, fans and followers of the serious figured Street Fighter III wouldn't be far off. Oh, how wrong they were. Capcom milked Street Fighter II for all it was worth and then some. Capcom has a history of this behavior: Just look at Mega Man, who must be exhausted from suffering Capcom's whip for 20 years. No other videogame character this side of Mario has seen so much action.

In fact, the gaming public would have to wait six years before Capcom would release the "true" sequel to Street Fighter II. Instead, Capcom made painfully incremental revisions to the series. Between SF2's arcade release in 1991 and the 1997 debut of Street Fighter III, Capcom released no less than eight versions of Street Fighter II, including three versions of the more advanced Super Street Fighter II. When Capcom announced Super Street Fighter II in 1993, fighting-game fans collectively stabbed themselves, knowing that Street Fighter III was nowhere closer to coming out. As Capcom twiddled and reconfigured endless variations of SF2, Midway's Mortal Kombat series was giving Street Fighter II a thoroughly good whipping in American arcades, and it made SF2 diehards nervous.

Eventually the naming of the different versions of Street Fighter II grew to ridiculous proportions as Capcom piled on more and more adjectives, culminating in the trainwreck of title that was Street Fighter II Dash Turbo: Hyper Fighting. It rolls right off the tongue. Amazingly, each new word added to each rerelease really helped to distinctly clarify the difference between each version of the game. OK, not really. Such is the nature of the Japanese videogame-naming formula.

The latest in the Street Fighter II line is an upcoming HD remake of Street Fighter II on the PlayStation Network (for the PlayStation 3) with all-new high-resolution artwork. Capcom has said that this would be the last remake of Street Fighter II, but if history is any indicator, that seems fairly unlikely.

Case Study: Prince of Persia
Originally Released: 1989

Official, Noncompilation Versions (19): Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, Genesis, Macintosh, Mobile Phone, MS-DOS, NES, Sam Coupé, Sega CD, Sega Master System, X68000, SNES, Turbo Duo, Xbox 360

"Haste is the mother of failure -- and for failure we always pay a heavy price."
--Artabanus (warning King Xerxes)

After the initial release of Prince of Persia, various console and computer manufacturers must have been falling over themselves in a headlong rush to get this visual stunner on their platforms. With fluid, animated characters unlike any that had come before, Prince of Persia turned heads in computer stores across the country. PC retailers commonly used the game as a graphical demo to show off their machines after its release for MS-DOS in 1990.

Believe it or not, the primitive Apple II hosted the original version of this groundbreaking game. But Prince of Persia purists believe the graphically rich Macintosh version is one of the best. Other notable versions include the upcoming Xbox 360 version, which sports a fully 3D Sands of Time–style graphical update; the SNES version with extra levels; and the Sega CD and Turbo Duo versions with animated, voice-acted cut-scenes between levels.

Case Study: Space Invaders
Originally Released: 1978

Official, Noncompilation Versions (17): Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 800, Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Mobile Phone, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Plug and Play, SNES, Windows, WonderSwan

"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent."
--Carl Sagan

Space Invaders launched the second major video arcade craze after Pong in America. It set its native Japan ablaze, where, for a short time at the height of the mania, enterprising companies created whole arcades devoted to the game. Space Invaders is also notable for being the first killer app of the Atari 2600; it was the game that finally pushed that system into the mainstream and made the 2600 a must-have piece of equipment at the turn of the 1980s.

The Great Devourer of Yen lives on in countless ports across many recent systems despite the fact that the game has definitely seen better days. Unlike other games mentioned here, Space Invaders doesn't quite command the fan devotion that it once did. Taito loves to milk its most famous game for all it's worth, regardless of how primitive it is, so don't expect the iconic parade of marching aliens to end any time soon -- even though Galaga has provided a superior alternative since 1981. Still, if you must play the game that started the vertical shooter genre, pick up the SNES or Game Boy Advance versions, both of which are relatively easy to obtain and have some nifty extra features. The original arcade release of Space Invaders featured black and white graphics with a transparent overlay over the monitor to provide false color. More recent versions on home consoles allow you to either play in color or simulate the original arcade overlay. The PlayStation release of Space Invaders is the most radical, with a complete graphical overhaul. But no amount of fancy graphics can save this antiquated shooter from itself.

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