I think Sonic Heroes might be one. Used to play it on PC back in the day and it would glitch all the time with characters falling through the floor and such. I tried it on Dolphin and it was great.
There are some fan patches that overhaul the PC version to bring back Dreamcast aesthetics. That's the best version of the game.
[https://dreamcastify.unreliable.network/](https://dreamcastify.unreliable.network/index.php/fixing-the-pc-version-of-sadx/)
That’s exactly what I do! IMO the models themselves (sans maybe Super Sonic, although there’s probably mods to adjust the DX quills to be more Dreamcast-like) were the only part of DX that was a definitive upgrade over Dreamcast aside from 60FPS
BetterSADX is pretty old now SADX Mod Installer is way better [https://sadxmodinstaller.unreliable.network/](https://sadxmodinstaller.unreliable.network/)
There are a lot of visual inconsistencies, missing effects and bugs in the DX version.
Some guy did a long-ass video documenting all the issues here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SORYL5J1Heg
Might have been me trying Sonic Adventure on Redream yesterday, but the camera literally cannot keep up with Sonic. Even after adjusting it with the 1st-person view, eventually the camera will lag to the next obstacle or turn.
There are mods for the PC version that add widescreen, better character models, upscaled textures, better audio, better audio mixing, modern button prompts, and a shit ton of other things. Might be worth giving the PC version another shot with mods.
Me too. On pcgamingwiki and also via Reloader you can find mods and tweaks to bring the effects and fmv of the Xbox version. Also you can add widescreen support and restore content like the game expo title logo
In the 7th gen era, many PC ports of licenced games weren't from the PS3 or Xbox 360 version, but from the graphically inferior PS2 and/or Wii versions.
Disney was especially guilty of this: The Incredible Hulk, Toy Story 3, Cars 2...
Disney also broke activation of retail DVD copies of “Split/Second: Velocity” and does nothing about this for years, so the only way to play now is using a cracked version, or emulated PS3 version.
I definitely don't want to play devil's advocate here, but the PC version is purchasable on Steam.
However, the PC version seems to be based on the PS3 build, because it lacks the motion blur and depth of field effect from the Xbox 360 version (which is, btw, playable through Xbox One/Series).
Got me all excited there. I was like "Oh wow they made a sequel?", then looked it up and learned that in North American only, the game was just released as "Split/Second" which is what my copy is.
I was going to say I was really upset that the PC version of Wall-E was the old-gen version instead of the PS3 and 360 version, and that there was no way to play it on PC. Apparently though, it's been fixed on RPCS3, so whoopie!
If we open the can of worms that is "different games with the same title, depending on the platform", we'll be talking forever.
Speaking of Wall-E, it's funny that it's *almost* the same situation as Toy Story 3: the flagship version is for PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii version is a downgraded port, and the PS2/PSP versions are a different game. (And there's also a DS version, just so we are not missing anything.)
The only difference is that Wall-E on PC is a port of the PS2 version, while Toy Story 3 on PC is a port of the Wii version.
That was the case only sometimes.
For instance, the current top comment mentions Sonic Heroes. The PS2 version of that game runs at 30 FPS (with drops), while all the others run at 60 FPS.
Also, the games I mentioned were made with the PS3 and Xbox 360 in mind, with the PS2/Wii versions being a port (and often looking bad compared to games made specifically for them).
RenderWare seems to be incompatible to the PS2 Architecture. Criterion should've gave SEGA more time optimizing the engine. There was probably a dispute when EA tried to acquire Criterion Games. So SEGA doesn't use RenderWare engine again, starting with Sonic Riders, where the game runs flawlessly on every console (60fps).
Iirc there's something weird going on with CPU frequency in that game. Unless your cpu frequency 1:1 matches the 360, the entire game breaks.
Might be the steam deck's proton stuff is tweaked to downclock the CPU to do this.
Tales of Symphonia. Emulating the GameCube version is the only way to play the game on PC at 60fps.
The native PC version's game speed is tied to a 30fps cap since it is based on the inferior PS2 release.
This 100%. You miss out on some of the small additions of the PS2 version but the GCN original is wholeheartedly the best way to play.
Actually playing this with a friend via Steam Remote Play Together. It's a great option if one of you has unreliable internet (which often breaks Dolphin netplay).
Iirc in the PS1 the battle menus run at 60 FPS while the 3D rendering on top runs at 15 fps whereas on any other port everything runs at 15 fps, making the menus feel sluggish
can you explain further? i wanted to play og ff7 before the remakes and the steam version is negatively reviewed with people saying just emulate ps1 instead of playing on windows.
https://7thheaven.rocks/
Mod manager for FF7. Made by, and with many great mods by, the TsunaMods team. You can independently update so many aspects of the game. I didn't watch all of this video, but if you just scrub through it you can see how it looks and sounds. It's worth it just for the upscaled prerendered backgrounds. The OG 240p blurry ass is pretty hard to deal with in 2024.
https://youtu.be/zRZ65QOM-Cg
Edit: again, it's a mod manager and a series of complimentary mods. Don't like the voice acting? Turn it off. Like the voiced dialogue but don't want battle quotes? Cool, turn them off. Don't like the new 3d field characters? Cool, there's like a dozen different character model set mods. Pick the one you like, or don't use one and go with OG models. Up to you. I use a different battle menu than the one in the video, just as an example.
The 7th Heaven mod manager basically fixes all the issues with the PC port and can make it essentially the definitive way to play the game. It's worth getting hold of - you can even play the whole game in full 60fps with higher resolution models, battle textures, world textures, rearranged soundtracks, and there's even a full voiceover mod.
Use of midi was understandable at the time before MP3 took off. The complete lack of source material (such as high res backgrounds) made it a barebones port though.
Even the modern "remaster" of original FF7 for PC has compromises that make it arguably worse, or at least pro/con unclear comparison, with PS1 emulation. Sad stuff...it should be perfect but it isn't.
I wish there was a way to filter this thread by "games whose shitty PC ports are readily addressed by the modding community"
It's an interesting question, but we all know anyone playing Silent Hill 2 nowadays is doing so with the Enhanced Edition fan patch rather than PCSX2 - so it doesn't feel like a relevant example.
Bully. PCSX2 runs it better on low end hardware than the native PC port. But this being said you'll need to go back 10+ years in hardware for it to matter.
Final Fantasy VIII. The original PS1 version is still the only version with actual true analog controls (Remaster just mimics digital input with analog's only contribution being whether you walk or run), and PGXP works really well once configured properly for the game.
The various PC versions could eventually eclipse it with the modding community it has going for it, but for now, PS1 is still the only way to go for analog controls and guaranteed not to be broken minigames.
I'm hoping that mod community picks up steam now that the FFVII scene is very... mature, I guess? When the fan game is full HD 60fps with all new models and textures and even voiced... where do you even go aside from sprucing up a different game? If your goal is fan remastering, FFVII is basically done.
If you manage to mod them tho the experience is much better, I have a copy of San Andreas which took 3 years of meticulous modding and choosing the best ones and now the game is basically perfected, roughly 90 mods which overhaul the game without disrupting its feeling, restoring the iconic ps2 orange feeling, introducing ragdoll, wind, better weapons, better cars, better lighting etc etc and the it's all vanilla friendly. 3 and Vice City have less mods but if you are able to you can get some pretty good mods running on them
Yeah but I meant like without any effort. Emulated versions are easier to set up. PC modded would be better but if you just wanna play GTA SA without any effort, PS2 emulation is the way to go.
First thing, downgrade the game with the SA Downgrader tool.
Then install: https://www.mixmods.com.br/2019/06/sa-essentials-pack/
Then I'd recommend the Proper Fixes mod, SkyGfx, Rosa Project, GInput, Improved Streaming, Project 2DFX, Proper Player, Proper Vehicles, Proper Weapons. All are on mixmods.
Yeah this is a good starting point and probably all you really need, I went slightly forward and now have like 90+ mods but it's all this really vanilla like. I would also include Urbanize as an essential mod, it makes the game world much more alive and is currently in active development
>Any game that was ruined by Windows updates. GTA games would need mods before you can play them on modern OS.
No?
They need DirectPlay, which is a Windows feature. GTA 3, VC and San Andreas work just fine (well, with the same bugs as on release) under Windows 11. Zero mods necessary.
**One Piece Pirate Warriors 3**. The PC port's graphics settings is broken, so it's always on low (it's a shame, it's one of the few games I preordered). It looks more like the PS Vita version than the PS3 version. The PS3 version runs real great on RPCS3 (I get full speed on a measly Ryzen 5 5600g). And of course there's also the Switch version.
**Final Fantasy VIII (not the remastered)** - the PC version uses MIDI soundtrack. It also doesn't support widescreen resolutions (the PS1 version doesn't support widescreen natively either, but with an emu you can have it.)
**Diablo III** Controller support and offline play.
**Spider-Man: Web of Shadows**. The PC version (assuming you can find one) is super buggy on modern OSes.
**Gungrave G.O.R.E.**. The PC version will run great (60fps) even on low/mid modern hardware, but it has a lot of stutter even if installed on an SSD. The Switch version can be emulated, and while it's in 30fps, the framerate is at least consistent so you don't suffer through too much stutter even on busy areas.
>**Final Fantasy VIII (not the remastered)** - the PC version uses MIDI soundtrack. It also doesn't support widescreen resolutions (the PS1 version doesn't support widescreen natively either, but with an emu you can have it.)
PC version/remaster also doesn't support analog movement and 60 fps battle menus.
> Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Are those bugs related to framerate?
According to pcgw, after the removed the 30fps cap, the game show some issues at 60fps and specially higher frame rates
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Spider-Man:_Web_of_Shadows#High_frame_rate_issues
PS3 doesn't have those issues and it's designed for the 60fps... although the Wii version has some extras PS3 lacks (6 unlockable suits)
>**Final Fantasy VIII (not the remastered)** - the PC version uses MIDI soundtrack. It also doesn't support widescreen resolutions (the PS1 version doesn't support widescreen natively either, but with an emu you can have it.)
That barely makes a difference in sound because Uematsu mostly used Roland SC-88 which has roughly the same sounds as GS Wavetable Synth. I can even recall an article calling out Microsoft pirating Roland
I recently tried emulating it after being annoyed by the pc version, upscaling doesn't work at the moment there is the halo/ghosting effect. Hopefully it will be fixed on future versions
I find many games from the 6th gen play better when emulating the console versions over the PC versions. This was before Xinput was a thing so most games only have DirectInput if they even have controller support at all, which can be a pain to map to an Xbox controller. Games from this era can also just have issues running on modern PCs. A couple of years into the 360/PS3 era most PC ports support Xinput, 1080p and were built on more recent versions of DirectX that work better on modern hardware.
Pretty much any arcade style game that was released on microcomputers and consoles. (Ever play Bad Dudes on a 286?) To an extent the same with some old school strategy games, like most anything released in the West developed by Koei; it helps if the console had a mouse and the game was compatible with it.
Loads of PS1 and Saturn games, except if they're titles that were first released on and designed for PC; Diablo on PS1 is an interesting experience, but not recommended. (For an example Virtua Fighter, which wasn't compatible with then-current graphics cards and needed a special SEGA/nVidia developed card to play.)
There are a lot of examples from around the time that new console generations were arriving. It's been pretty common practice over the decades for PC to get the previous gen version of such games designed for the old consoles (presumably to lower system requirements and the bar for entry). GRAW was the first thing that sprang to mind, although that's not *really* a valid example, as the PC and Xbox 360 versions are entirely different games by different studios. The Xbox 360 version is much more technically impressive though (and the better game all-round in my opinion). The Godfather game is a better example. The PS3 version received some major graphical upgrades and extra content, whereas the PC port is based on the PS2/Xbox version. Fortunately, it runs great via RPCS3 and has a 60fps patch available.
I think the original FF7. Iirc the PS1 version has the battle menus running at 60 fps while the 3D rendering on top is obly 15 GOS, but every port of the game has everything dunning 15 FPS, making the menus feel sluggish
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for me. While I had to patch in various ways the pc game, and configure the gamepad without any reference, in Dolphin and PCSX2 is flawless.
The original PC version of Metal Gear Solid 2 was kinda crap, and no amount of mods could fix it. PCSX2 was the way to go until the Metal Gear Master Collection, and even that release was crap and needed a community patch to get above 720p.
There's actually still a bunch of graphical issues such as the rain not being scaled correctly, depth of field not working properly, lighting/color filters being missing, and some skyboxes that are still broken / not present in the Master Collection version.
The only way to see how the game truly looked is still by playing the original Sons of Liberty US release either via og PS2 or through emulation (even Substance has its own graphical bugs such as the entire skybox being missing during the Big Shell intro cutscene.)
MGS3 also has similar issues with the rain & depth of field too unfortunately.
Halo Combat Evolved. The graphical effects on the Xbox version are just better than the original 2003 PC port. Even the MCC version still doesn’t match the Xbox version completely.
Jade empire, the pc port needs multiple patches to run on modern OS
Bully, Emulate literally any console version the pc version is broken in so many ways it’s a waste of money
The ps2 era GTA’s come to mind as well. Also GtaIV, you had to be there for that one haha
Saint’s Row 2… Still waiting on a patch…
I could throw literally hundreds of games here because a lot of times devs just couldn’t get it 100% from platform to platform
SR2 patch is a sad story. Iirc the guy who was getting paid to work on it passed away, and then shortly after that Volition shut down.
It's likely never going to happen at this point :/
It's sound instead of graphics, but Sonic 3 & Knuckles Collection converted the music to midi format and also uses what are commonly referred to as the "prototype" music tracks that were also the basis for the replaced music in Sonic Origins.
Tom Clancys rainbow six Vegas 2 - PS3
I tried both PS3 and windows versions a few months back; PC version crashed a lot on windows 10 and felt like mouse acceleration couldn't be turned off
PS3 version works great and I played through the whole campaign with a friend in local co-op 👍
Ninja Gaiden 2. The original version is a 360 exclusive and what's available on modern platforms and PC is a port of the Sigma 2 version, which was both an upgrade and a downgrade released on PS3.
If not for mods, "Persona 4 Golden"
It's an enhanced version of a PS2 game originally released on Vita, then it got ported to PC in 2020, but with no visual changes, aside upscaling. And "Golden" removed lots of cool effects, particularly use of fog, which MADE the atmosphere of so many scenarios
What happened here applies to many Ps2 games later released on other platforms. If they used Renderware, they had to move engines and that'd just break effects (alongside getting out of the ps2, which was... very unique and ports to other platforms which keep the full visual experience of their ps2 counterparts are rare)
Edit: I mean, technically, not better through emulation, since I'm talking about the vita game, not the ps2 one, but still, a very similar scenario. You get arguably better visuals in some areas by emulating the ps2 version, in exchange to missing lots of content lol
Halo: CE in some ways.
Especially competitively. The competitive community will not even entertain using MCC in tournaments. The shooting is completely different from the original game.
Plus no splitscreen on PC...
The single player is in a fairly good state now at least. They fixed a lot of graphical issues, and unlimited framerates and native 4k is hard to pass up.
MX vs ATV Unleashed can be pushed to widescreen and 60 FPS with cheats in PCSX2, but the PC version is limited to 4:3 and 30 FPS.
Once you bump the resolution, the visuals between PS2 and PC seem to be essentially indistinguishable, so there doesn't appear to be a downgrade in texture quality or similar.
It's a shame the PC port of that game was in a bad state considering its predecessor (Motocross Madness 2) had native widescreen support and behaved very well at high framerates (120 FPS and more). In fact, I've been working on patching Motocross Madness 2 to allow for greater draw distances and it holds up very well for a 24 year old game.
Cars 1 = PC version is based on XBOX OG port not the 360 one.
Bee Movie = same as cars 1 but it's port of PS2 version.
Devil May Cry 1, 2 (😟) & 3 = Because HD Remaster is broken and doesn't have effects of original one.
Godfather 1 = because PS3 version is superior.
There are so many games from 6th and 7th gen that had bad pc ports.
GTA 3 on xemu is the best way to play the "original" for me without heavy modding of the pc version.
Metal gear on duckstation
Mgs2 Substance on xemu
Mgs3 Substance on pcsx2
Strangers wrath xemu (the pc version doesn't like resolutions above 720p)
Soul Reaver.
It's a pain in the ass to get running, and when you do, the music is fucked and the graphics are from the PSX version.
Just emulate the Dreamcast version. Infinitely easier, looks better (higher poly count), and much better sound.
PSX version of “Moto Racer” (1997) looks much better via DuckStation at high resolutions (of course with PGXP improvements enabled in “Settings” → “Enhancements”) than Steam version that doesn’t allow to use anything above 320×240. Same with “Moto Racer 2”.
Shadow Man. The original PC port won't even boot on modern PCs. Until the remaster came out, your best bet was probably to emulate the N64 or Dreamcast version at high resolution.
The Shank games. Won't boot on my PC; work just fine on RPCS3.
Back in the 1990s, there were quite a a few DOS ports of arcade and console games like The Simpsons Arcade, Castlevania, and Ghosts and Goblins. Almost without exception, they were inferior to their console counterparts--which were often playable on emulators for DOS.
Hmmm... hard to answer this, honestly. Spider-Man 2 (2004) is one of those games where it's way better to play via emulation for PCSX2 or Xenia than its PC port because the PC port of Spider-Man 2 was hot garbage. Hell, you're better off emulating the PSP version, in fact.
from my experience playing it on the steam deck, devil may cry 3. The HD collection on steam crashed for me constantly and the fmvs were broken. Emulating the switch version introduced input lag, but the og ps2 version on pcsx2 has been flawless for me.
Metal gear solid. The PC versions feel like ports of the switch version, which I believe is a just OK port itself. I couldn't get it to go fullscreen and this is apparently an issue on screens larger than 720p
iron man movie game, and the hulk movie game. both are meh, but graphically way better on 7th gen console, because somehow they're using the 6th gen version for the PC ports, so they look like ps2 games
For "True Crime: New-York City", the PC, Xbox and GameCube versions were ported by a different company from the PS2 version (it was common back then), but it was poorly handled, they introduced breaking bugs and low framerate, so really the only playable version is the PS2 version, either on real hardware or emulated
Tales of Symphonia, the first Tales title to really take off in the West.
Gamecube version runs at 60fps, beautifully. PS3 version had to be locked to 30fps, but it added some dlc costumes. They based all the future ports off the PS3 version, so all ports are also locked at 30fps.
GC version feels alot better to play, even without the small amount of extra content, simple due to how much better 60fps feels than 30fps for an action title.
I preferred playing Die Hard Trilogy and Return Fire on PlayStation using ePSXe instead of the PC ports. Die Hard Trilogy had better graphics features on PlayStation, and Return Fire's controls were better. With ePSXe's enhancements enabled, the PlayStation versions look just as good as the PC ports.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X on Xemu is the best way to play the game. Runs perfectly with zero issues and has noticeably better graphics than the other console + PC ports.
I saw a video on how running a Switch emulator, on the Switch itself, will make games run smoother than without the emulation. They showcased minecraft, the graphics in the distance load faster and the movement feels smoother, the original non-emulation truly looked like crap side by side.
Basically every SNES 2D remasters.
I need the scanlines and the blur.
Some remasters have scanlines on/off but it's so simple, and nothing close to the CRT shaders.
That said, QoL features are usually better in the remaster. but also usually built in the emulator or can just use cheats.
Here's some. A few were fixed post-launch
- Second Sight - no controller support and poor KB/M controls kill it.
- Rayman 2 - This game is a weird one. No two versions are identical. The PC version is definitely better than the N64 original, but the DC version is the best.
- Spiderman 2 - The PC version is a completely different game, and it's next level bad.
- Resident Evil 4 (Sourcenext) - This one is infamous. While the Ultimate HD version is probably the best these days (especially with the HD mod), it's not the first PC port RE4 received. The port developed by Sourcenext is based on the PS2 version, but is worse in just about every way. The game Europe only pre-patch version of this port completely lacks lighting.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (DOS) - it's literally impossible to beat legitimately due to an oversight in one of the stages.
- Halo CE - Broken shader effects everywhere.
- Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (pre HD patch) - This was completely unplayable at launch. It had broken graphics and an abysmal framerate. The current build is actually okay, and has the visual upgrades from the PS3 port.
- Oddworld Abe's Odyssey/Exodus - This just comes down to compatability issues and lower quality interlaced FMVs. Other than that, it's identical.
- DmC : Devil May Cry - The PS4/Xbone got an upgraded port that fixed a bunch of issues, but not PC.
- Devil May Cry 3 SE - Completely broken port. Probably worse than RE4.
- Dead or Alive 5: Last Round - Based on the arcade version instead of the enhanced PS4/Xbox One versions. It lacks a better skin shader and a few stages.
- Street Fighter X Tekken - The PC version lacks the guest character DLC that was exclusive to PS3. An unfinished version can be hacked back in. But it's buggy.
Many things that were ever released on both PS1 and PC.
For example ESPN Extreme Games or whatever it's called. John Linneman on DF Retro on youtube recently covered it in the PS1 launch games video.
Prince of Persia Sands of Time, Warrior Within and Two Thrones. The PC versions have strange gamepad support and also some visual glitches, just emulate the PS2 versions.
Prince of Persia: sands of time
Pac-Man world 2
Even tho the PC "ports" are actually completely different games with the same title
Spider-man 2 (the movie)
Fairly OddParents: Breakin' Da Rules
The spongebob movie
Any of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater Games. Controller Support is really bad on the PC Ports and you can't even bind the triggers. Pro Skater 1 skipped PC entirely and so did Project 8 and Proving Ground.
Cars Mater-National also comes to mind for me. Steering is completely busted on the PC Version and the PC Version is a port of the Xbox 360 Version. The PS3 Version had enhanced graphics and runs perfectly fine in RPCS3.
Pac-Man World 2 and 3. PC Ports are just awful and they look awful too.
Last but not least (I could go on...) I prefer playing Toy Story 2 on a PS1 Emulator VS the PC Version. Controller Support is better and setting up an Emulator is just way quicker.
Not better graphically but some games especially older ones don't support controllers on PC, most annoying one is dragon age 2, emulating it(however bad graphically) you actually have a better experience with controller
Madden 08. The PC version does have mods, but it's an entirely different beast to the console version. I don't know if I ever got the hit stick working with a controller.
Well this is an interesting question. You can mod SNES games to use the super fx 2 chip so there is no slowdown what so ever so that's pretty damn great.
The simplest answer is anything that's 3d so, Saturn, PS1, N64. Especially N64. Man most of those games look awful and run at 15-25fps on that console. Just running them in an emulator boosts them to 60fps and they are sharp and colorful.
So play Diddy Kong Racing on a 64 emulator. It's beautiful and holds up so damn well today. Even smash bros can run at a great frame rate.
If you are like me (a HTPC user) and refuse to play games with KB/M on PC (extremely uncomfortable on a sofa), i'd say it's pretty much everything before Xinput became, more or less, a standard on Windows.
True Crime: Streets of New York City is a technical nightmare on any and all platforms, but the audio in the PC version is [fundamentally broken](https://twitter.com/__silent_/status/1781298644475412886) in ways that even The Guy That Does The GTA Fan-Patches can only shrug at.
Turok Evolution isn't *broken* broken but it's a pain in the ass to get running in a window, requires an external framerate limiter to avoid physics glitches and has worse graphics and audio than the console versions. You can get a much better experience by combining the Gamecube port with Dolphin and [MouseInjectorDolphinDuck](https://github.com/garungorp/MouseInjectorDolphinDuck).
Codename Tenka's PC port is *hoorrrrrible*, with no coloured lighting, no surround sound, the need for an external FPS limiter to prevent the game from running too fast, mouse controls breaking if the mouse polls at higher than 125hz... it just goes on. Original PS1 version and an older version of DuckStation that MouseInjectorDolphinDuck supports is the order of the day here.
i think i have 2 contenders
Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank. a little fun game by Pop Cap.
the PC version plays fine and its available readily on Steam, but its stuck on hilariously low res since it was a game meant to be played windowed on 2005. the Game has a XBLA release which plays fine on Xenia and has high res assets and twin stick controls that are better than the sole mouse control of the PC version.
(theres also a PS3 physical release and a PS2 version part of a two game pack)
Giana Sisters 2D, this is a strange case since this is a Remake of the NDS original from 2009, the PC version is infamous for having issues, and slowdowns. to the point that you are better off playing the NDS version on an emulator.
this one im not sure yet:
Scarface: The World is Yours , the PC version has a lot of issues, theres a remastered patch that fixes lot of the issues and make it playable, but i guess some people would prefer to track down a PS2 copy of it rather than trying to find the PC version which, to my understanding was only released on retail. (i have it on big box), now the PC version looks remarkably similar to the Xbox version (which i also own) but i havent played the PS2 version so im not sure if theres anything missing.
Pretty much any early 2000s game that was both on, say, 5th Gen consoles and PC. Neversoft's Spider-Man duology is an example - playing the (superior) PS1 version on upscaled 4/5K on DuckStation > PC version.
From my experience Tony Hawk 3, old GTA games and NFS Hot Pursuit 2 plays better than their PC version.
Old GTA games especially are more plug and play experience, with less glitches and bugs.
And what about console games that after many years are released on PC through a compilation, for example in shmup or Capcom games?
I have not seen any game released on these PC ports that has xBRz-type scaling filters or similar, unlike the emulators. They are always crappy filters that simulate the look of a CRT monitor or an old TV. Dont ask me why.
Any game that doesn't have native controller support on the pc version. So most games from the ps2/xbox era in my opinion. The xbox 360 was revolutionary in many ways not least of which was its controller working fluidly with pc games. Xinput is probably the best thing microsoft ever did tbh.
I think Sonic Heroes might be one. Used to play it on PC back in the day and it would glitch all the time with characters falling through the floor and such. I tried it on Dolphin and it was great.
Talking of Sonic, the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure 1 is widely considered to be superior to the DX version that's on PC and Gamecube.
There are some fan patches that overhaul the PC version to bring back Dreamcast aesthetics. That's the best version of the game. [https://dreamcastify.unreliable.network/](https://dreamcastify.unreliable.network/index.php/fixing-the-pc-version-of-sadx/)
The best part is you can even customise it. I revert most of it to the Dreamcast look, but I keep the models from DX.
That’s exactly what I do! IMO the models themselves (sans maybe Super Sonic, although there’s probably mods to adjust the DX quills to be more Dreamcast-like) were the only part of DX that was a definitive upgrade over Dreamcast aside from 60FPS
BetterSADX is a good launcher for the Steam version with tons of built-in tweaks to reverse the game back to the DC aesthetic as well.
BetterSADX is pretty old now SADX Mod Installer is way better [https://sadxmodinstaller.unreliable.network/](https://sadxmodinstaller.unreliable.network/)
Why is that? I'm aware of some changes made to the DX version, but what makes the original better? Genuinely curious.
There are a lot of visual inconsistencies, missing effects and bugs in the DX version. Some guy did a long-ass video documenting all the issues here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SORYL5J1Heg
Long story short, The fps was tied to the mechanics of the game, so when DX upped it,it broke a lot of the game.
Might have been me trying Sonic Adventure on Redream yesterday, but the camera literally cannot keep up with Sonic. Even after adjusting it with the 1st-person view, eventually the camera will lag to the next obstacle or turn.
Nah that’s just Sonic Adventure. Game’s great, but the camera is jank af
Don't forget that Sonic Heroes on Gamecube has more Graphical fidelity compared to PC and even Xbox.
There are mods for the PC version that add widescreen, better character models, upscaled textures, better audio, better audio mixing, modern button prompts, and a shit ton of other things. Might be worth giving the PC version another shot with mods.
A lot of renderware games are like that, the PC ports are dog shit but very moddable
The PC version of Sonic Heroes is actually based on earlier build of the game compared to the console releases despite coming out a year later.
Me too. On pcgamingwiki and also via Reloader you can find mods and tweaks to bring the effects and fmv of the Xbox version. Also you can add widescreen support and restore content like the game expo title logo
In the 7th gen era, many PC ports of licenced games weren't from the PS3 or Xbox 360 version, but from the graphically inferior PS2 and/or Wii versions. Disney was especially guilty of this: The Incredible Hulk, Toy Story 3, Cars 2...
Koei Tecmo games came to my mind where all the PC ports are based on last gen rather than current/next gen
Disney also broke activation of retail DVD copies of “Split/Second: Velocity” and does nothing about this for years, so the only way to play now is using a cracked version, or emulated PS3 version.
I definitely don't want to play devil's advocate here, but the PC version is purchasable on Steam. However, the PC version seems to be based on the PS3 build, because it lacks the motion blur and depth of field effect from the Xbox 360 version (which is, btw, playable through Xbox One/Series).
> purchasable on Steam Yes, Disney could provide a Steam key as a replacement for broken retail DVD version, but they refuse to do this.
Got me all excited there. I was like "Oh wow they made a sequel?", then looked it up and learned that in North American only, the game was just released as "Split/Second" which is what my copy is.
I was going to say I was really upset that the PC version of Wall-E was the old-gen version instead of the PS3 and 360 version, and that there was no way to play it on PC. Apparently though, it's been fixed on RPCS3, so whoopie!
If we open the can of worms that is "different games with the same title, depending on the platform", we'll be talking forever. Speaking of Wall-E, it's funny that it's *almost* the same situation as Toy Story 3: the flagship version is for PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii version is a downgraded port, and the PS2/PSP versions are a different game. (And there's also a DS version, just so we are not missing anything.) The only difference is that Wall-E on PC is a port of the PS2 version, while Toy Story 3 on PC is a port of the Wii version.
Ps2 was usually the base version with all effects intact when compared to other versions, porting the ps2 version makes most sense.
That was the case only sometimes. For instance, the current top comment mentions Sonic Heroes. The PS2 version of that game runs at 30 FPS (with drops), while all the others run at 60 FPS. Also, the games I mentioned were made with the PS3 and Xbox 360 in mind, with the PS2/Wii versions being a port (and often looking bad compared to games made specifically for them).
RenderWare seems to be incompatible to the PS2 Architecture. Criterion should've gave SEGA more time optimizing the engine. There was probably a dispute when EA tried to acquire Criterion Games. So SEGA doesn't use RenderWare engine again, starting with Sonic Riders, where the game runs flawlessly on every console (60fps).
There's more than 150 games on the PS2 that use renderware, many of them offering great graphics at a locked 60fps.
Saints Row 2 since the PC port is garbage and it doesn't have DLCs
Just a bizarre sidenote on this, the game works flawlessly on Steam Deck without any mods at all.
Iirc there's something weird going on with CPU frequency in that game. Unless your cpu frequency 1:1 matches the 360, the entire game breaks. Might be the steam deck's proton stuff is tweaked to downclock the CPU to do this.
I doubt that's a Proton setting, but it is at least possible and quite easy to limit the SD's CPU frequencies, so it can be set to that of the 360.
Tales of Symphonia. Emulating the GameCube version is the only way to play the game on PC at 60fps. The native PC version's game speed is tied to a 30fps cap since it is based on the inferior PS2 release.
Oh this is scummy
This 100%. You miss out on some of the small additions of the PS2 version but the GCN original is wholeheartedly the best way to play. Actually playing this with a friend via Steam Remote Play Together. It's a great option if one of you has unreliable internet (which often breaks Dolphin netplay).
Og final fantasy 7 and 8 ran like crap on any computer. Emulating psx was definitely the way to go
Iirc in the PS1 the battle menus run at 60 FPS while the 3D rendering on top runs at 15 fps whereas on any other port everything runs at 15 fps, making the menus feel sluggish
This actually impacts Squall's Renzokuken, making it much more difficult to time
No longer the case with the 7th Heaven mod suite for PC. That's the way to go nowadays. Not even close.
can you explain further? i wanted to play og ff7 before the remakes and the steam version is negatively reviewed with people saying just emulate ps1 instead of playing on windows.
https://7thheaven.rocks/ Mod manager for FF7. Made by, and with many great mods by, the TsunaMods team. You can independently update so many aspects of the game. I didn't watch all of this video, but if you just scrub through it you can see how it looks and sounds. It's worth it just for the upscaled prerendered backgrounds. The OG 240p blurry ass is pretty hard to deal with in 2024. https://youtu.be/zRZ65QOM-Cg Edit: again, it's a mod manager and a series of complimentary mods. Don't like the voice acting? Turn it off. Like the voiced dialogue but don't want battle quotes? Cool, turn them off. Don't like the new 3d field characters? Cool, there's like a dozen different character model set mods. Pick the one you like, or don't use one and go with OG models. Up to you. I use a different battle menu than the one in the video, just as an example.
ugh upscaled backgrounds is making the game look worse to me. I think I'ma keep with my PS1 copy
The 7th Heaven mod manager basically fixes all the issues with the PC port and can make it essentially the definitive way to play the game. It's worth getting hold of - you can even play the whole game in full 60fps with higher resolution models, battle textures, world textures, rearranged soundtracks, and there's even a full voiceover mod.
Use of midi was understandable at the time before MP3 took off. The complete lack of source material (such as high res backgrounds) made it a barebones port though.
Damn the cell phone I owned a decade ago emulated those like a dream
And let's not talk about how badly they mangled One Winged Angel.
If you somehow had a sound card that supported SF2 soundfonts, (such as AWE64), you actually got proper lyrics for that song.
Even the modern "remaster" of original FF7 for PC has compromises that make it arguably worse, or at least pro/con unclear comparison, with PS1 emulation. Sad stuff...it should be perfect but it isn't.
FF8 worked well on my potato machine though. Well now that you talk of it, there were some graphical glitches 🤔
I wish there was a way to filter this thread by "games whose shitty PC ports are readily addressed by the modding community" It's an interesting question, but we all know anyone playing Silent Hill 2 nowadays is doing so with the Enhanced Edition fan patch rather than PCSX2 - so it doesn't feel like a relevant example.
Bully. PCSX2 runs it better on low end hardware than the native PC port. But this being said you'll need to go back 10+ years in hardware for it to matter.
the PC version has a mandatory mod which I found makes it ultimately better on PC, it bugfixes and unlocks the framerate
What's the name of that mod?
https://github.com/CookiePLMonster/SilentPatchBully
Recently played on RP3 and can attest it was great. I bought it in steam but couldn’t get it running on PC for some reason.
Final Fantasy VIII. The original PS1 version is still the only version with actual true analog controls (Remaster just mimics digital input with analog's only contribution being whether you walk or run), and PGXP works really well once configured properly for the game. The various PC versions could eventually eclipse it with the modding community it has going for it, but for now, PS1 is still the only way to go for analog controls and guaranteed not to be broken minigames.
I'm hoping that mod community picks up steam now that the FFVII scene is very... mature, I guess? When the fan game is full HD 60fps with all new models and textures and even voiced... where do you even go aside from sprucing up a different game? If your goal is fan remastering, FFVII is basically done.
Any game that was ruined by Windows updates. GTA games would need mods before you can play them on modern OS. PS2 versions are easy to play.
If you manage to mod them tho the experience is much better, I have a copy of San Andreas which took 3 years of meticulous modding and choosing the best ones and now the game is basically perfected, roughly 90 mods which overhaul the game without disrupting its feeling, restoring the iconic ps2 orange feeling, introducing ragdoll, wind, better weapons, better cars, better lighting etc etc and the it's all vanilla friendly. 3 and Vice City have less mods but if you are able to you can get some pretty good mods running on them
Yeah but I meant like without any effort. Emulated versions are easier to set up. PC modded would be better but if you just wanna play GTA SA without any effort, PS2 emulation is the way to go.
Can you use a MKB with the PS2 version? I really struggle to play Third Person games without mouse look.
No but you can set your keyboard and mouse to act like a Dual Shock 2 controller probably.
You have a mod list, or a source. I wish to learn of such power.
First thing, downgrade the game with the SA Downgrader tool. Then install: https://www.mixmods.com.br/2019/06/sa-essentials-pack/ Then I'd recommend the Proper Fixes mod, SkyGfx, Rosa Project, GInput, Improved Streaming, Project 2DFX, Proper Player, Proper Vehicles, Proper Weapons. All are on mixmods.
Yeah this is a good starting point and probably all you really need, I went slightly forward and now have like 90+ mods but it's all this really vanilla like. I would also include Urbanize as an essential mod, it makes the game world much more alive and is currently in active development
I have a full blown drive folder with everything you'd need...
Neat
If take 2 didn't c&d the revc / reiii team we may have had a source port for San Andreas
Yeah and I wish they kept the originals. Definitive edition is fixed but I just don’t like how it looks. I love my old games with old models/textures.
>Any game that was ruined by Windows updates. GTA games would need mods before you can play them on modern OS. No? They need DirectPlay, which is a Windows feature. GTA 3, VC and San Andreas work just fine (well, with the same bugs as on release) under Windows 11. Zero mods necessary.
**One Piece Pirate Warriors 3**. The PC port's graphics settings is broken, so it's always on low (it's a shame, it's one of the few games I preordered). It looks more like the PS Vita version than the PS3 version. The PS3 version runs real great on RPCS3 (I get full speed on a measly Ryzen 5 5600g). And of course there's also the Switch version. **Final Fantasy VIII (not the remastered)** - the PC version uses MIDI soundtrack. It also doesn't support widescreen resolutions (the PS1 version doesn't support widescreen natively either, but with an emu you can have it.) **Diablo III** Controller support and offline play. **Spider-Man: Web of Shadows**. The PC version (assuming you can find one) is super buggy on modern OSes. **Gungrave G.O.R.E.**. The PC version will run great (60fps) even on low/mid modern hardware, but it has a lot of stutter even if installed on an SSD. The Switch version can be emulated, and while it's in 30fps, the framerate is at least consistent so you don't suffer through too much stutter even on busy areas.
>**Final Fantasy VIII (not the remastered)** - the PC version uses MIDI soundtrack. It also doesn't support widescreen resolutions (the PS1 version doesn't support widescreen natively either, but with an emu you can have it.) PC version/remaster also doesn't support analog movement and 60 fps battle menus.
PC also has forced bilinear filtering on backgrounds which looks awful.
> Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Are those bugs related to framerate? According to pcgw, after the removed the 30fps cap, the game show some issues at 60fps and specially higher frame rates https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Spider-Man:_Web_of_Shadows#High_frame_rate_issues PS3 doesn't have those issues and it's designed for the 60fps... although the Wii version has some extras PS3 lacks (6 unlockable suits)
the ps3 version doesnt run at 60
>**Final Fantasy VIII (not the remastered)** - the PC version uses MIDI soundtrack. It also doesn't support widescreen resolutions (the PS1 version doesn't support widescreen natively either, but with an emu you can have it.) That barely makes a difference in sound because Uematsu mostly used Roland SC-88 which has roughly the same sounds as GS Wavetable Synth. I can even recall an article calling out Microsoft pirating Roland
Prince of Persia Sands of Time had better gamepad support in emulation than in the native Windows versions.
I recently tried emulating it after being annoyed by the pc version, upscaling doesn't work at the moment there is the halo/ghosting effect. Hopefully it will be fixed on future versions
Legacy of Kain: Soul Eater. The Dreamcast version looks leagues better than any other version, and has a very good-looking upscale mod available.
Soul Reaver is even better
I don't know how I fucked that up. I played this game, like, three days ago. "I am destroyed," so says Raziel.
it happens!
I find many games from the 6th gen play better when emulating the console versions over the PC versions. This was before Xinput was a thing so most games only have DirectInput if they even have controller support at all, which can be a pain to map to an Xbox controller. Games from this era can also just have issues running on modern PCs. A couple of years into the 360/PS3 era most PC ports support Xinput, 1080p and were built on more recent versions of DirectX that work better on modern hardware.
Pretty much any arcade style game that was released on microcomputers and consoles. (Ever play Bad Dudes on a 286?) To an extent the same with some old school strategy games, like most anything released in the West developed by Koei; it helps if the console had a mouse and the game was compatible with it. Loads of PS1 and Saturn games, except if they're titles that were first released on and designed for PC; Diablo on PS1 is an interesting experience, but not recommended. (For an example Virtua Fighter, which wasn't compatible with then-current graphics cards and needed a special SEGA/nVidia developed card to play.)
https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/List_of_notable_ports#Console_versions_of_games_superior_to_PC_counterparts
Chrono Trigger with an MSU1 patch for FMV and arranged soundtracks. The FMV is nice but the redone audio makes a huge difference,
Early 3D Sonic games come to mind. For Sonic Adventure 1 for example you need a lot of mods to restore the original's graphics
It's a port of DX, not the Dreamcast version, and in that respect, it's pretty accurate.
The mods make it by far the definitive version though
Deadly Premonition
Which is better to emulate? The PS3 version or the Xbox 360?
PS3 was a significant downgrade graphic and QOL wise, I beat it on PS3 but I’d still say Xbox is the winner
360 emulation is very janky tho
There are a lot of examples from around the time that new console generations were arriving. It's been pretty common practice over the decades for PC to get the previous gen version of such games designed for the old consoles (presumably to lower system requirements and the bar for entry). GRAW was the first thing that sprang to mind, although that's not *really* a valid example, as the PC and Xbox 360 versions are entirely different games by different studios. The Xbox 360 version is much more technically impressive though (and the better game all-round in my opinion). The Godfather game is a better example. The PS3 version received some major graphical upgrades and extra content, whereas the PC port is based on the PS2/Xbox version. Fortunately, it runs great via RPCS3 and has a 60fps patch available.
Games and TV were in 4:3 because TVs and monitors were in 4:3 (and some 3:2).
The last time I tried to run the native Prototype 2 port it was unplayably broken. RPCS3 is the way to go on PC.
I think the original FF7. Iirc the PS1 version has the battle menus running at 60 fps while the 3D rendering on top is obly 15 GOS, but every port of the game has everything dunning 15 FPS, making the menus feel sluggish
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for me. While I had to patch in various ways the pc game, and configure the gamepad without any reference, in Dolphin and PCSX2 is flawless.
Silent Hill 2-4, although SH2 doesn't count anymore thanks to SH2EE.
The original PC version of Metal Gear Solid 2 was kinda crap, and no amount of mods could fix it. PCSX2 was the way to go until the Metal Gear Master Collection, and even that release was crap and needed a community patch to get above 720p.
There's actually still a bunch of graphical issues such as the rain not being scaled correctly, depth of field not working properly, lighting/color filters being missing, and some skyboxes that are still broken / not present in the Master Collection version. The only way to see how the game truly looked is still by playing the original Sons of Liberty US release either via og PS2 or through emulation (even Substance has its own graphical bugs such as the entire skybox being missing during the Big Shell intro cutscene.) MGS3 also has similar issues with the rain & depth of field too unfortunately.
The native PC version with or without the wrappers, patches and mods that fix its issues?
Halo Combat Evolved. The graphical effects on the Xbox version are just better than the original 2003 PC port. Even the MCC version still doesn’t match the Xbox version completely.
Older PC Games that are a bitch to run on modern Windows.
Jade empire, the pc port needs multiple patches to run on modern OS Bully, Emulate literally any console version the pc version is broken in so many ways it’s a waste of money The ps2 era GTA’s come to mind as well. Also GtaIV, you had to be there for that one haha Saint’s Row 2… Still waiting on a patch… I could throw literally hundreds of games here because a lot of times devs just couldn’t get it 100% from platform to platform
SR2 patch is a sad story. Iirc the guy who was getting paid to work on it passed away, and then shortly after that Volition shut down. It's likely never going to happen at this point :/
You would be correct
forget about SR2, Volition fucked their one employee working on it, the dude passed away, and even volition is no more now.
Tales of Symphonia for GameCube runs at 60fps. The PC runs at 30 fps.
It's sound instead of graphics, but Sonic 3 & Knuckles Collection converted the music to midi format and also uses what are commonly referred to as the "prototype" music tracks that were also the basis for the replaced music in Sonic Origins.
Tom Clancys rainbow six Vegas 2 - PS3 I tried both PS3 and windows versions a few months back; PC version crashed a lot on windows 10 and felt like mouse acceleration couldn't be turned off PS3 version works great and I played through the whole campaign with a friend in local co-op 👍
Ninja Gaiden 2. The original version is a 360 exclusive and what's available on modern platforms and PC is a port of the Sigma 2 version, which was both an upgrade and a downgrade released on PS3.
Diablo 3. The controller version of the game is so pleasant to play while taking conference calls compared to mouse/kbd.
If not for mods, "Persona 4 Golden" It's an enhanced version of a PS2 game originally released on Vita, then it got ported to PC in 2020, but with no visual changes, aside upscaling. And "Golden" removed lots of cool effects, particularly use of fog, which MADE the atmosphere of so many scenarios What happened here applies to many Ps2 games later released on other platforms. If they used Renderware, they had to move engines and that'd just break effects (alongside getting out of the ps2, which was... very unique and ports to other platforms which keep the full visual experience of their ps2 counterparts are rare) Edit: I mean, technically, not better through emulation, since I'm talking about the vita game, not the ps2 one, but still, a very similar scenario. You get arguably better visuals in some areas by emulating the ps2 version, in exchange to missing lots of content lol
Halo: CE in some ways. Especially competitively. The competitive community will not even entertain using MCC in tournaments. The shooting is completely different from the original game. Plus no splitscreen on PC... The single player is in a fairly good state now at least. They fixed a lot of graphical issues, and unlimited framerates and native 4k is hard to pass up.
Definitely all the metal gear games on ps2
007: Nightfire. The PC was a different (inferior) version of the games. Different levels and no vehicle sections.
Chrono Trigger, the ui of the pc version is atrocious
Scott pilgrim vs the world on ryujinx /yuzu doesn't require uplay.
MX vs ATV Unleashed can be pushed to widescreen and 60 FPS with cheats in PCSX2, but the PC version is limited to 4:3 and 30 FPS. Once you bump the resolution, the visuals between PS2 and PC seem to be essentially indistinguishable, so there doesn't appear to be a downgrade in texture quality or similar. It's a shame the PC port of that game was in a bad state considering its predecessor (Motocross Madness 2) had native widescreen support and behaved very well at high framerates (120 FPS and more). In fact, I've been working on patching Motocross Madness 2 to allow for greater draw distances and it holds up very well for a 24 year old game.
Cars 1 = PC version is based on XBOX OG port not the 360 one. Bee Movie = same as cars 1 but it's port of PS2 version. Devil May Cry 1, 2 (😟) & 3 = Because HD Remaster is broken and doesn't have effects of original one. Godfather 1 = because PS3 version is superior. There are so many games from 6th and 7th gen that had bad pc ports.
GTA 3 on xemu is the best way to play the "original" for me without heavy modding of the pc version. Metal gear on duckstation Mgs2 Substance on xemu Mgs3 Substance on pcsx2 Strangers wrath xemu (the pc version doesn't like resolutions above 720p)
Splinter Cell trilogy on rpcs3 is a good example. Most of the titles from ps2 gamecube dreamcast era also.
Soul Reaver. It's a pain in the ass to get running, and when you do, the music is fucked and the graphics are from the PSX version. Just emulate the Dreamcast version. Infinitely easier, looks better (higher poly count), and much better sound.
PSX version of “Moto Racer” (1997) looks much better via DuckStation at high resolutions (of course with PGXP improvements enabled in “Settings” → “Enhancements”) than Steam version that doesn’t allow to use anything above 320×240. Same with “Moto Racer 2”.
GTA IV
Shadow Man. The original PC port won't even boot on modern PCs. Until the remaster came out, your best bet was probably to emulate the N64 or Dreamcast version at high resolution. The Shank games. Won't boot on my PC; work just fine on RPCS3. Back in the 1990s, there were quite a a few DOS ports of arcade and console games like The Simpsons Arcade, Castlevania, and Ghosts and Goblins. Almost without exception, they were inferior to their console counterparts--which were often playable on emulators for DOS.
I'm confused... Shadowman remastered is on steam right now.
I know; that's why I said "until the remaster came out". :) I was trying to imply that the "PC port is inferior" problem had been recently solved.
I misread lol I thought you said until it "comes" out haha
Hmmm... hard to answer this, honestly. Spider-Man 2 (2004) is one of those games where it's way better to play via emulation for PCSX2 or Xenia than its PC port because the PC port of Spider-Man 2 was hot garbage. Hell, you're better off emulating the PSP version, in fact.
Sega am2 games (eg daytona) never really had great pc ports.
The Resident evil 4 PC port was and still is offensively bad and I would rather emulate the PS2 version every day of the week
from my experience playing it on the steam deck, devil may cry 3. The HD collection on steam crashed for me constantly and the fmvs were broken. Emulating the switch version introduced input lag, but the og ps2 version on pcsx2 has been flawless for me.
GTA 3D Universe (PS2) Bully (PS2 and Wii) Tiger Woods PGA Tour (PS3) Cars 2 (PS3) Cars Mater-National (PS3) Tony Hawk games (PS2)
Shadows of the Empire
Metal gear solid. The PC versions feel like ports of the switch version, which I believe is a just OK port itself. I couldn't get it to go fullscreen and this is apparently an issue on screens larger than 720p
iron man movie game, and the hulk movie game. both are meh, but graphically way better on 7th gen console, because somehow they're using the 6th gen version for the PC ports, so they look like ps2 games
For "True Crime: New-York City", the PC, Xbox and GameCube versions were ported by a different company from the PS2 version (it was common back then), but it was poorly handled, they introduced breaking bugs and low framerate, so really the only playable version is the PS2 version, either on real hardware or emulated
Tales of Symphonia, the first Tales title to really take off in the West. Gamecube version runs at 60fps, beautifully. PS3 version had to be locked to 30fps, but it added some dlc costumes. They based all the future ports off the PS3 version, so all ports are also locked at 30fps. GC version feels alot better to play, even without the small amount of extra content, simple due to how much better 60fps feels than 30fps for an action title.
I'm wondering that noone started a website or a Google spreadsheet file with many games since Dreamcast. I'm asking this question myself a lot.
I preferred playing Die Hard Trilogy and Return Fire on PlayStation using ePSXe instead of the PC ports. Die Hard Trilogy had better graphics features on PlayStation, and Return Fire's controls were better. With ePSXe's enhancements enabled, the PlayStation versions look just as good as the PC ports.
At high resolution, DuckTales Remastered looks better on Wii-U emulator Cemu than the PC which is capped at 1920x1080 output resolution.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X on Xemu is the best way to play the game. Runs perfectly with zero issues and has noticeably better graphics than the other console + PC ports.
I saw a video on how running a Switch emulator, on the Switch itself, will make games run smoother than without the emulation. They showcased minecraft, the graphics in the distance load faster and the movement feels smoother, the original non-emulation truly looked like crap side by side.
??? absolute nonsense
Silent Hill 3
Cars 2. The PC version is based on the Wii version so its far better to just emulate the PS3 version because the graphic increase is insane
not really graphics, but FF7 and FF8 in PC have midi audio, which was already very outdated back then. PSX version have much higher audio quality
Basically every SNES 2D remasters. I need the scanlines and the blur. Some remasters have scanlines on/off but it's so simple, and nothing close to the CRT shaders. That said, QoL features are usually better in the remaster. but also usually built in the emulator or can just use cheats.
Here's some. A few were fixed post-launch - Second Sight - no controller support and poor KB/M controls kill it. - Rayman 2 - This game is a weird one. No two versions are identical. The PC version is definitely better than the N64 original, but the DC version is the best. - Spiderman 2 - The PC version is a completely different game, and it's next level bad. - Resident Evil 4 (Sourcenext) - This one is infamous. While the Ultimate HD version is probably the best these days (especially with the HD mod), it's not the first PC port RE4 received. The port developed by Sourcenext is based on the PS2 version, but is worse in just about every way. The game Europe only pre-patch version of this port completely lacks lighting. - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (DOS) - it's literally impossible to beat legitimately due to an oversight in one of the stages. - Halo CE - Broken shader effects everywhere. - Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (pre HD patch) - This was completely unplayable at launch. It had broken graphics and an abysmal framerate. The current build is actually okay, and has the visual upgrades from the PS3 port. - Oddworld Abe's Odyssey/Exodus - This just comes down to compatability issues and lower quality interlaced FMVs. Other than that, it's identical. - DmC : Devil May Cry - The PS4/Xbone got an upgraded port that fixed a bunch of issues, but not PC. - Devil May Cry 3 SE - Completely broken port. Probably worse than RE4. - Dead or Alive 5: Last Round - Based on the arcade version instead of the enhanced PS4/Xbox One versions. It lacks a better skin shader and a few stages. - Street Fighter X Tekken - The PC version lacks the guest character DLC that was exclusive to PS3. An unfinished version can be hacked back in. But it's buggy.
I think the Rayman 2 pc port is really good and better if don't have it on Dreamcast
Many things that were ever released on both PS1 and PC. For example ESPN Extreme Games or whatever it's called. John Linneman on DF Retro on youtube recently covered it in the PS1 launch games video.
Samurai warriors 5. Stutters like hell on native pc version. No stutters on switch emulation but only 30fps.
Prince of Persia Sands of Time, Warrior Within and Two Thrones. The PC versions have strange gamepad support and also some visual glitches, just emulate the PS2 versions.
Prince of Persia: sands of time Pac-Man world 2 Even tho the PC "ports" are actually completely different games with the same title Spider-man 2 (the movie) Fairly OddParents: Breakin' Da Rules The spongebob movie
Any of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater Games. Controller Support is really bad on the PC Ports and you can't even bind the triggers. Pro Skater 1 skipped PC entirely and so did Project 8 and Proving Ground. Cars Mater-National also comes to mind for me. Steering is completely busted on the PC Version and the PC Version is a port of the Xbox 360 Version. The PS3 Version had enhanced graphics and runs perfectly fine in RPCS3. Pac-Man World 2 and 3. PC Ports are just awful and they look awful too. Last but not least (I could go on...) I prefer playing Toy Story 2 on a PS1 Emulator VS the PC Version. Controller Support is better and setting up an Emulator is just way quicker.
Not better graphically but some games especially older ones don't support controllers on PC, most annoying one is dragon age 2, emulating it(however bad graphically) you actually have a better experience with controller
Haunting Ground. Looks better with upscaling!
The PC version of Devil may cry 3 needs a mod to restore hair.
Madden 08. The PC version does have mods, but it's an entirely different beast to the console version. I don't know if I ever got the hit stick working with a controller.
Billy Hatcher
Well this is an interesting question. You can mod SNES games to use the super fx 2 chip so there is no slowdown what so ever so that's pretty damn great. The simplest answer is anything that's 3d so, Saturn, PS1, N64. Especially N64. Man most of those games look awful and run at 15-25fps on that console. Just running them in an emulator boosts them to 60fps and they are sharp and colorful. So play Diddy Kong Racing on a 64 emulator. It's beautiful and holds up so damn well today. Even smash bros can run at a great frame rate.
If you are like me (a HTPC user) and refuse to play games with KB/M on PC (extremely uncomfortable on a sofa), i'd say it's pretty much everything before Xinput became, more or less, a standard on Windows.
True Crime: Streets of New York City is a technical nightmare on any and all platforms, but the audio in the PC version is [fundamentally broken](https://twitter.com/__silent_/status/1781298644475412886) in ways that even The Guy That Does The GTA Fan-Patches can only shrug at. Turok Evolution isn't *broken* broken but it's a pain in the ass to get running in a window, requires an external framerate limiter to avoid physics glitches and has worse graphics and audio than the console versions. You can get a much better experience by combining the Gamecube port with Dolphin and [MouseInjectorDolphinDuck](https://github.com/garungorp/MouseInjectorDolphinDuck). Codename Tenka's PC port is *hoorrrrrible*, with no coloured lighting, no surround sound, the need for an external FPS limiter to prevent the game from running too fast, mouse controls breaking if the mouse polls at higher than 125hz... it just goes on. Original PS1 version and an older version of DuckStation that MouseInjectorDolphinDuck supports is the order of the day here.
Diablo III has controller support on Consoles. Emulating the switch version bring the controller to PC.
Any of the Silent Hill games.
Plants Vs Zombies on Xbox 360 / PS3 is the superior version
They made a port of metal gear solid for PC. Dunno if it's just running in their own emulator or what. But it's pitiful compared to duckstation.
Splinter Cell, don't think I saw that in here. PS3 version is MUCH better. Better graphics options and controller support
i think i have 2 contenders Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank. a little fun game by Pop Cap. the PC version plays fine and its available readily on Steam, but its stuck on hilariously low res since it was a game meant to be played windowed on 2005. the Game has a XBLA release which plays fine on Xenia and has high res assets and twin stick controls that are better than the sole mouse control of the PC version. (theres also a PS3 physical release and a PS2 version part of a two game pack) Giana Sisters 2D, this is a strange case since this is a Remake of the NDS original from 2009, the PC version is infamous for having issues, and slowdowns. to the point that you are better off playing the NDS version on an emulator. this one im not sure yet: Scarface: The World is Yours , the PC version has a lot of issues, theres a remastered patch that fixes lot of the issues and make it playable, but i guess some people would prefer to track down a PS2 copy of it rather than trying to find the PC version which, to my understanding was only released on retail. (i have it on big box), now the PC version looks remarkably similar to the Xbox version (which i also own) but i havent played the PS2 version so im not sure if theres anything missing.
The hobbit for GameCube or PS2 emulated on pc, pc version sucks and is broken.
The hobbit for GameCube or PS2 emulated on pc, pc version sucks and is broken.
Kingdom hearts 1.5+2.5 on rcps3 60fps patch with gravity fix is perfect IT DONT CRASH
Silent Hill 2, Spider-Man 2 , GTA San Andreas ,
This mod fixes Silent Hill 2 on PC: https://enhanced.townofsilenthill.com/SH2/
Soul Reaver 1 on the Dreamcast is better than the PC version.
The Tomb Raider LAU trilogy is generally better on consoles, particularly on Xbox 360.
Really old PC games. There are some games that just had issues with the old hardware due to various reasons—RAM limitations usually being the worst.
Vigilante 8 on N64 looks fantastic, it’s somehow perfectly polished
Rayman 2 007 : Nightfire
Pes 2013... For some reason it just crashes on master league on PC while on rpcs3 works fine...
I significant number of PS2 games look better on PS2 because it was difficult to recreate certain graphical effects on PC hardware at the time.
Hogs of War, the enemy AI doesn't function properly on pc.
Haven't tried it, but GTA 4? Maybe?
Pretty much any early 2000s game that was both on, say, 5th Gen consoles and PC. Neversoft's Spider-Man duology is an example - playing the (superior) PS1 version on upscaled 4/5K on DuckStation > PC version.
From my experience Tony Hawk 3, old GTA games and NFS Hot Pursuit 2 plays better than their PC version. Old GTA games especially are more plug and play experience, with less glitches and bugs.
Outrun on psp Well any 60fps psp game for that matter
Beyond Good & Evil, you should always play a console version, PC version is keyboard only grrrr.
And what about console games that after many years are released on PC through a compilation, for example in shmup or Capcom games? I have not seen any game released on these PC ports that has xBRz-type scaling filters or similar, unlike the emulators. They are always crappy filters that simulate the look of a CRT monitor or an old TV. Dont ask me why.
king of fighters 98 um and 2002 um on PS2 have some extra content a real 3D backgrounds that are better than the ones on PC or other ports
Sonic Heroes comes to my mind. The Gamecube version has an extra fidelity for the water physics and stuff that is absent on PS2,PC and Xbox
Sonic Heroes comes to my mind. The Gamecube version has an extra fidelity for the water physics and stuff that is absent on PS2,PC and Xbox
Any game that doesn't have native controller support on the pc version. So most games from the ps2/xbox era in my opinion. The xbox 360 was revolutionary in many ways not least of which was its controller working fluidly with pc games. Xinput is probably the best thing microsoft ever did tbh.
If speaking on just graphics I recall Deus ex and Half Life looking better on PlayStation.