Need some input on this idea

[dougeff]

I had a great idea for a future project. Port an NES game to SNES.

Better graphics.
Better music.

Is this something anyone would be interested in seeing?

What game do you suggest I try? And don't say something that's already been ported to a better system, like FF1.

[FCandChill]

Comment removed because reasons...

[Jorpho]

Indeed, it seems very safe to say that this is most definitely one of those things we would have seen many, many, many times by now if it was at all easy and/or practical.

One thing that has been done is ports of NES games to the TG16.
http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=14103.0

[ETG]

Do the Lolo trilogy in one cart.
The Guardian Legend, or any other shmup that would benefit from 8+ sprites in a scanline.
Metal Storm, either Batman game, Godzilla, Crystalis.

[Jorpho]

either Batman game

There's actually a prototype SNES port of Return of the Joker already.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/batman/returnofthejoker.htm

[dougeff]

I actually like the Lolo idea. Or maybe Bomberman.

[SunGodPortal]

I actually like the Lolo idea. Or maybe Bomberman.

Unless you're just doing it for the challenge, don't do Bomberman. There are already a ton of Bomberman games on the SNES and B5 is awesome. You'd never top it.

[hanhnn]

Super Robot Wars
Fire Emblem or Fire Emblem Gaiden

[KingMike]

A few of the very small (no mapper) early NES games have been ported to the SNES (I've even seen a review of a bootleg multicart with several of them). No sound emulation though. (as I imagine that to be the one part of the IO you can't replicate exactly. I mean the CPU is compatible and at least theoretically you could write SNES functions to mimic the NES PPU registers. Not sure if the SNES is fast enough to do it without slowdown.)

If you're seriously thinking of trying this, I'd definitely start with small NROM games.
Then worry about something with a mapper (like UxROM or CxROM), let alone something complex like the MMC3.

[SunGodPortal]

A few of the very small (no mapper) early NES games have been ported to the SNES (I've even seen a review of a bootleg multicart with several of them). No sound emulation though. (as I imagine that to be the one part of the IO you can't replicate exactly. I mean the CPU is compatible and at least theoretically you could write SNES functions to mimic the NES PPU registers. Not sure if the SNES is fast enough to do it without slowdown.)

If you're seriously thinking of trying this, I'd definitely start with small NROM games.
Then worry about something with a mapper (like UxROM or CxROM), let alone something complex like the MMC3.

Just something I'd like to mention: While it was not done with emulation, Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei might be a good example of how to translate an NES soundtrack into a SNES soundtrack if one weren't wanting to stray too far from the original. For the most part it just takes the original music and puts it in a SNES game and uses synth-like samples (the NES was a synthesizer after all) with the occasional added harmony and reverb. If one were wanting to go that route KMT might be a good place to mine appropriate sound samples. The soundtrack basically just sounds like an NES but with more depth and warmth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk1uB0zoAp0&list=PLfhw8A1mg64EZdFl1BzQ0t4Vo0dYYL4tX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9wTkU21Upg&index=3&list=PLfhw8A1mg64EZdFl1BzQ0t4Vo0dYYL4tX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhfGTtm0mgs&list=PLfhw8A1mg64EZdFl1BzQ0t4Vo0dYYL4tX&index=4

This may not help with coding but it is an example of an efficient way to translate NES music to the SNES without losing some of the magic of the original.

[FAST6191]

Porting out/remaking old NES games. Cool.

SNES homebrew games. There are easier devices to do it for, indeed most would suggest it more as a means to learn the SNES than make a nice game, and I am not sure the SNES offers anything all that special, but either way still cool.

I am not sure the combination of the two is one that would work though.

[SunGodPortal]

I am not sure the combination of the two is one that would work though.

Doesn't the SNES hardware have some sort of 6502 mode or something like that? I would think that would make some things a little easier.

[MathUser2929]

This is a good idea. Someone ported SMB to Genesis. I tried submitting it to the site but they won't accept it as a homebrew. I hope you find a worthy game to port. If it werent for the difficulty in porting some of the effects a compilation of Castlevania could have been a good port. Like Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. You could just give it richer colors like they did with that one too.

Edit: I should mention someone just ported a bunch of Atari ST games to Jaguar and they are actually selling cartridges in Atari Ages forums.

[FAST6191]

I was not even thinking about making some kind of abstraction layer. I was more thinking some combo of it being like those times we get people join up and want to do a total conversion of something because they think it might be an easier way of making a game (not accusing the OP of that, just similar underlying logic), the effort needed to figure out game logic of a NES game is perhaps less than some modern games but still non trivial and to then "waste" it solely porting it into a SNES game when something nice like those things we see for International Karate if we want to go older or all those nice ports and remakes of DOS and windows 95 era games (more open transport tycoon than actual source release) for newer/more well known stuff.

If it is someone's incentive to learn both NES and SNES hardware then by all means, however as a project to make something better/more playable I would sooner see a more universal reverse engineering or emulator wrapper or something made.

[dACE]

Only one game comes to mind: Super Kid Icarus!

Complete with mode7 flight-sections a la uprising.

When do you think you can have this done?





EDIT:

Seems as if a attempt at porting the NES version to SNES was made years ago.
The duo didn't get very far though - just a title-screen and a scrolling display of (almost) the whole first stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1qse25YHtg

Still - there might be some useful stuff to build upon....who knows...

EDIT:

Apparently a flash-game called Super Kid Icarus was made some time ago, using some existing backgrounds made by a Jon Leung:

http://www.vgmaps.com/NewsArchives/April2007/index.htm#SuperKidIcarus

So there you go - all backgrounds are already finished!

I also found a sprite-sheet for Pit:



Not much left to do - than putting it all together...

/dACE

[dougeff]

If it is someone's incentive to learn both NES and SNES hardware

Yes, the idea is to learn SNES programming better.

Doesn't the SNES hardware have some sort of 6502 mode or something like that

Yes, but unnecessary. All the 6502 Opcodes are valid 65816 Opcodes (in native mode).

[BlackDog61]

Super Robot Wars
Fire Emblem or Fire Emblem Gaiden

Isn't the only SRW entry on the NES the "2nd SRW"? (Which also exists on the GBAand on the PSX. So why bother doing a SNES port?)