Arcade Vs NES - Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja

In Season 16 of Retro Comparisons we take a look every arcade game that made its way over to the NES/Famicom/FDS

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

Between this and Robocop, the sound of Data East was how you knew you were near an arcade. I can only imagine the suffering of arcade owners listening to those sound effects on a loop all day.

[@RetroComparisons]

Lol! There is something so of its time about Data East though that I love even with the flaws of their games.

[@shotgunl]

So, Bill, you know I love the single-plane, side-scrolling beat-em-up Kung-Fu-clone genre. Bad Dudes is not exception. In, fact, it was one of, if not my favorite game in the early 90s once I got it at a flea market in '91. But, a couple of summers later in '93 while I was laid up in bed after follow up surgeries on my leg, I let Tommy, the older kid who lived across the road from me, borrow my copy of Bad Dudes...which he "lost" (sold probably...he ended up, quite literally, a thief and is in prison for double murderer here later in life). So, his dad gave me two of his games in return: Monster Party and Robocop. I liked Robocop for the NES but hated Monster Party. I did eventually get another copy of Bad Dudes, but it wasn't until later on. So, you would think, since I loved Bad Dudes on the NES so much as a kid, I'd be singing it's praises here. But, no, the NES port doesn't come anywhere close to the arcade version. Unlike Robocop, which I played at a bowling alley a few times, I didn't play the arcade version of Bad Dudes until with MAME in maybe '99? Now, I still enjopy Bad Dudes on the NES, but the arcade version is just smoother to play, looks so much better, and had great sound. I prefer the arcade version's music, but I do also really like the NES music too (whew, the 80s ninja games always seemed to have great music..this, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, The Ninja Warriors etc). I've always wished the Genesis got a port of Bad Dudes or maybe the TG-16, but sadly that didn't happen. So, for me, the arcade wins, but I loved the NES version too, especially as a kid...at least while I had it. Either way, I love this genre of games, probably only second to it's decendent the single-plane walk-and-shoot Rolling-Thunder/Shinobi clones. And, yeah, they are always janky in some way, but I still love Data East's games in the genre (especially 2 Crude Dudes). Interestingly, I actually have thought about wanting to sit down and play Bad Dudes here a few times lately, but I haven't been able to do it yet...

[@RetroComparisons]

Wow so first off, that's crazy that your neighbor became a murderer! I think it's for the best that you didn't press him on trying to get it back though considering the name of the game pretty much describes him. I can see why you would have loved the NES game at the time because I think for its era it was pretty solid but considering how many better beat em ups came out in the 16 bit era it's a little more obsolete now. Timing-wise I understand why this didn't get a Genesis port but I never thought about this being on the PC Engine which this would have been perfect for. They probably could have gotten very close to the much superior arcade version. Overall this is a very flawed game but fun nonetheless and as you know I'm a massive Two Crude Dudes fan so I've always had a soft spot for Data East games (well except for Super Real Darwin).

[@SomeOrangeCat]

The NES port is a favorite of mine. I didn't miss the lack of co-op, because most of the time I didn't have a second person to play games with.

[@RetroComparisons]

Being the younger brother I always steered clear of 1 player only games, especially beat em ups because I'd be the victim of a beat em up from my older brother if he didn't get to play for most of the time. Playing this solo even now though is a lot of fun. It definitely has its flaws but being a massive fan of Two Crude Dudes I already had a built in love for this game.

[@chrisbg99]

It is amazing for how not particularly good Bad Dudes is on the NES, it still manages to have a fairly strong classic status for a lot of people.

[@RetroComparisons]

I think the opening title screen alone bumps this up on many people's list. I'm not super familiar with beat em ups on the NES so I don't know where this one ranks but I enjoyed it a lot though I can't see myself playing it when given the choice of this or something like Streets Of Rage or Final Fight.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@@RetroComparisons Double Dragon 2. Mighty Final Fight. River City Ransom. These 3 games are the best of the best, with the Turtles brawlers being a little more controversial back in the day, depending on how you feel about sprite flicker and repetition. But still crowd favorites. Bad Dudes doesn't come anywhere near any of these. It's not even going to compare well to the first Double Dragon, and that one has issues. It's mostly a case of right time, right place. It benefited from a very brief bubble of cool to kids, before hitting meme status cool.

[@RetroComparisons]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I really love those Turtles games though I was never able to beat any of them. The memes certainly did help the reputation of this one as opposed to some of the memes that have harmed the reputation of others like the first Turtles NES game. Not that it's a masterpiece or anything but it's not nearly as bad as the internet would have everyone believe.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@@RetroComparisons Especially since the internet gives the NES Zelda duology a free pass for many of the same 80's tropes it gives everyone else Hell for. Why are they okay in one game, but not another? As for the Turtles brawlers, the extra lives codes are more than fair, considering the reflexes needed to pull them off.

[@MKF30]

Nice job man. I'd probably play the arcade one but the nes version doesnt look bad. I had a friend who had this game "bad dudes" haha that name always cracked me up 😅

[@RetroComparisons]

I'd definitely take the arcade version too because it offers 2 player support and there's nothing better than a beat em up with a friend. Lol the name and especially the opening sequence to this game are hilarious.

[@MKF30]

@@RetroComparisons That's true, a beat em up with at least 2 players is definitely better than just single player. Ahh that still angers me with SNES Final Fight, LOL not sure what Capcom was thinking with that port. The Genesis got a solid port but it's like the SNES port was rushed or something since the follow ups had 2 players, smoother gameplay and even an AI assist option on FF3 which was sweet. Other than that one example rustling my jimmies, I can't complain much with other beat em ups on Nintendo consoles for the most part lol. Yeah it did have an amusing opening lol.

[@RetroComparisons]

@@MKF30 I'll never understand that with Final Fight 1 either. Considering the 2nd and 3rd game both could handle 2 players it makes no sense as to why they couldn't do it for that one. That computer assisted 2nd player in FF3 is such a cool feature that I wish more games offered. I agree though that outside of that the SNES had some incredible beat em ups.

[@MKF30]

@@RetroComparisons Yeah for sure that ai assist was pretty cool. I dont think other games have that or if they do not many.

[@KenMasters.]

• Bad Dudes • Datsugoku: P.O.W. • Double Dragon I, II & 3 • IKARI I, II & III • Mighty Final Fight • NARC • Ninja Turtles II & III • Spartan X 1 & 2 These Top 8 late-80s arcade brawlers should've been for the 16-bit Super NES, because they are too big and graphically impressive to fit on the limitized 8-bit NES.

[@RetroComparisons]

I would have loved to have seen how a lot of those turned out for 16 bit consoles. We got a somewhat decent port of Double Dragon on the Genesis but the less said about the Double Dragon 2 port on the Genesis the better.

[@mtshark7]

I'm going with the arcade.

[@RetroComparisons]

The NES is a valiant effort but yeah the arcade is just so much better here.

[@mikec3260]

This is a game I remember thinking it was going to be the greatest. I ended up sucking at it much like Rush 'n Attack... lol I do not remember playing the arcade even emulated due to my NES experience. lol Winner: Not my experience Other Winner: Arcade If I remember right you are solid at beat em ups. You got further than expected as this one is not easy to pick up!

[@RetroComparisons]

Lol you didn't miss out on much. It doesn't hold up that well though I wouldn't say it's bad necessarily. Beat em ups are my thing but I did get thoroughly wrecked pretty quickly. I would like to go back to it someday though to see how far I can get after a few tries. The biggest downside to the NES version is that it's 1 player only which is always a huge bummer for the genre.

[@user-ek7hp2er8v]

The Arcade Game Is Literally The Most Playable One, The NES Has Age Badly Like Double Dragon (For Arcades), And Its Choppy! Its Good But Arcade Blew It Away

[@RetroComparisons]

I'm sure the NES game was fine for its time but yeah the arcade port blows it away. This would have been a prime candidate for a 1990 Genesis release, it's too bad we didn't get that.

[@oldfan4049]

A neat game on both platforms, but obviously NES port just can't outdo the arcade original in terms of graphics and sound department. Also with sprites so small there's too much empty space on levels imho contrary to the original game, where even though sprites were really big there was no feel of claustrophobia, which is good^^ P.S. Oh....so the hero is SO COOL that he can be as fast as a track even by just standing? XDDD Now I'm interested to know, could he do the same in the original game or the fall from a track there meant an imminent death?^^

[@RetroComparisons]

Very well said my friend! For its time I think the NES port was really good and would have been a great game to own as long as you were ok about not having 2 player support. It has enough flaws though that it doesn't hold up as well as many of the 16 bit beat em ups that followed. Lol now that is one bad dude to be able to do that! That's a great question, I'm not sure if he could do that in the arcade version without dying. I checked my footage and that scenario didn't happen during my gameplay.

[@sobesons]

No me gusta este juego. Like.

[@RetroComparisons]

This is certainly not a game for everyone and it does feel outdated when compared to 16 bit beat em ups.