Regional Differences [54] RPM Racing (USA vs JPN) SNES vs SFC (Region Comparison) VCDECIDE

VCDECIDE | Region Comparison of RPM Racing (Rock n' Roll Racing predecessor) between the original american version that uses high resolution (512x448) and the japanese version that uses the common resolution (256x224) in snes.
Left-Side = American Version (1991/ High Resolution)
Right-Side = Japanese Version (1992/ Low Resolution)

[@dsmania]

Explanation of what's going on here and why there's no speed up un the japanese revision. User @KnabiOI has recommended me to put my answer in another comment more widely available so I'll try to. The USA version is in 448i, in which the "i" represents it's interlaced, meanwhile the japanese version is 224p. An interlaced video format is that in which in even frames you paint even lines, and in odd frames you paint odd lines. For this reason, in computational terms, in both cases in every frame only 224 lines are painted. Interlaced allows higher resolutions, yes, but also introduces a visual artifact which consists in a blinder effect when the image has changes: if you pause the image when they accelerate on a slope, or if you focus on the changing numbers of the time count, dark lines can be seen alternating with the expected image, these are the ones from the previous frame that are unchanged. For this reason also the texts in the american version are thicker: they had to duplicate the thickness so the artifact is less noticeable. In CRTs this effect was not a big issue because the image had a slower decay than in modern displays, producing a ghosting that made the blinder effect less noticeable. CRTs also have an extra effect and is that they blur the image because the pixels are not just dots/squares (well, neither are in modern displays, but much less noticeable) and because how the light diffuses. This blur eases the pixellation and thus a higher resolution is not that of a big gain as would be nowadays. What about the horizontal resolution? In the american version it's double indeed, that means double the video memory, but not strictly much more computation is required (this is debatable but in general but there are no visual effects, just scrolling the terrain map, which is cheap), so using 224p would not save enough resources that would help accelerate the japanese version. Also is worth noting that the vehicles in the US version seem at lower resolution compared to the terrain (they are the same in both versions) and this is because their pixels are duplicated horizontally, making them low res. On the other hand, since they had double the video memory, they had the chance to add textures for bushes and rocks. In my opinion, when playing this on a CRT, the interlacing is not noticeable but higher resolution is not a big gain either, meanwhile the rocks and bushes give a better finishing, and that might be the reason they changed this in the revision.

[@ssg-eggunner]

Is the reason to why the vehicles pixels are duplicated due to being made that way?

[@240pgames4]

Não consigo livrar a minha mente da sensação de "jogo-beta" que esse jogo me passa...

[@AngeloFrLuck]

E fica parecendo beta mesmo, um ano depois lançaram Rock'n Roll Racing que é bonito e frenético.

[@eduardodias9922]

Pensei a mesma coisa

[@pedropenaforte1893]

Tech demo também. "vamos ver se dá pra fazer um jogo em alta-resolução no SNES".

[@mrnicktoyou]

I don’t know what the purpose of the higher resolution is in the US version since the trucks themselves look exactly the same as the low res version. It’s the same assets.

[@CplEthane]

That's because while the background layer can operate at 512x448i hi-res, the sprite layer is limited to 256x224 regardless of the resolution of the background. This is why we didn't see too many games using this mode during actual gameplay (more on this in a bit). This mode (as well as 512x224 used on some games, that Aerosmith game comes to mind) gave us a few games with flashy title screens and the like. This is also a flip-flop of the 1982 Nintendo Popeye coin-op hardware, which had a vertical 256x224 background layer and a vertical 512x448i sprite layer. This is why the sprites in the Popeye arcade game are so incredible for the time (and arguably one of the first video games with high definition graphics.) Anyway, the NA version of RPM Racing is the only NA game I can think of that ever tried using the fullest extent of the hi-res mode during the actual gameplay itself. This isn't because developers just refused to do anything with it, it's because they were very limited with _what_ they could with it. IIRC, using hi-res mode means being restricted to a single background layer. This doesn't work out for that generation of games, but when it came to displaying a lot of kanji or handling a game with simple but intricate details like Mahjong (of which the Japanese side of the market was very well represented, to say the least) then you can see why the included such a mode.

[@iwanttocomplain]

@@CplEthane I Selye thought Where’s Waldo should have been in high res. Or Civilisation. But maybe there are colour limitations. The background layer in this game appears to just be green. Seems a waste if high res to just use one green flat colour. It might as well be a resolution of 1 pixel.

[@Nikku4211]

The Japanese version still uses 512x448 for menus. But yeah, they took advantage of the lower resolution of 256x224 for more unique tiles and the game looks better. The reason the North American release was in 512x448 in the first place was because it was a decision from the higher ups, who overestimated the SNES' video memory.

[@mattwolf2000]

Of course it's going to do more in low res. Resolution wasn't a big deal back then. It is nice to see that the Snes can support the Resolution.

[@SpeedyGoneFroglegs]

That's interesting, I know the game but never realized it was only the NA version that used the high res mode.

[@historiarevista]

Incrível como os americanos conseguiram deixar ainda mais sem graça. O japones pelo menos ainda tem mais detalhes.

[@aryasmayodi8115]

this game was made in 1992. should be even better on the SNES Console which is already 16 Bit. The graphics and sound effects are HORRIBLE.. even TOP GEAR series is more fun to play than this very Horror RPM Racing

[@RafaelCastro47]

Jogo entediante em 512x448 ou 256x224…

[@bildo1977]

RPM Racing is actually a remake of a game called Racing Destruction Set.

[@PixelzNcreatureZ]

& prequel to R&R Racing

[@bildo1977]

@@PixelzNcreatureZ Not a prequel because it came out before Rock N’ Roll Racing. In order for anything to qualify as a prequel, it has to be released after a previous release in a series but take place before the events of the previous release. For example, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom is a prequel to Raiders Of The Lost Ark because Ark was released in 1981 and took place in 1936 while Temple Of Doom was released in 1984 but took place in 1935. 🙂

[@milfilosofia4994]

Esse seria o único jogo de snes a rodar em 480i? Interessante que eu acho que o PS1 não roda nenhum jogo nessa resolução, apenas 240p. Pelo menos eu acho, se não estiver falando besteira

[@marcosvander2479]

*SUPER NINTENDO É INCRIVEL* JÁ USAVA RESOLUÇÃO DE 512-448 EM 1992 VALE LEMBRAR QUE O KZbin EM 2005 AINDA SO USAVA 240P ... Impresionente o snes cada dia a gente descobre mais

[@marcosvander2479]

@KnabiOI a mesma coisa não é , ja que o MEGA DRIVE é imcapaz de rodar qualquer game em 448i Resolução de 448i tem que ter e fazer essa Resolução a Imagem tem que ter o Redimenção de 448P tem que ter So se faz 448i se a imagem estiver em 448p A resolução é 448P no snes mas a Imagem é mostrada 1 Linha de atualização por vez INTERCALANDO - ou seja tem quer as 448 Linhas Progressivas para se gerar os 448I Onde uma linah é atualizada e a outra não. Se vc fizer 448I no Mega Drive é Impossivel 224p não é =448I Então um Jogo que esta Rodando a 224p e outro a 448I não é a mesma coisa O de 448i tem que ter mais imagem mais resolução , mais capacidade embora seja mostrado os mesmo 224P por vez Mas tem que ter uma resolução MAIOR de 448p para se mostrar o 448I 448I é uma coisa 224p é outra Coisa Se vc pegar uma foto em 448I ela terá a resolução a Redimensão de 448P TAMANHO TERÁ 448P já agora a qualidade será interlaçada 224p vc não pode colocar algo de 448I nela , pois ela so terá 224p e NUNCA atingirá os 448i/448p do tamanho da resolução Tanto é que se pode colocar uma imagem em 448P em numa resolução de 448I basta ela deixar e ser interlaçada chamais dara para colocar uma imagem de 448i em 224p pois ai sempre o QUADRADO terá 224p Mas eu entendi o seu ponto de vista. Problema é que 448I tem A MESMA resolução de 448p po que diferere é apenas o INTERLAÇAMENTO e não o Tamanho da resolução ;)

[@marcosvander2479]

@KnabiOI Snes pode gerar 448P POIS COMO te falei é impossivel ter 448i se o espaço nao for de 448p Então se o game for bem otimizado pode se rodar um game em 512-448p Problema que esse modo de resolução está dentro do MOD5 se não me engano e o MOD 5 só permite 4 Cores por tela Pois o modo SUPER RESOLUTION do snes não era feito para o GAME e sim para Fundos textos efeitos etc Os caras da blizzard que quiseram fazer o Jogo nessa resolução ultra Alta

[@marcosvander2479]

@KnabiOI MANO VC TA FALANDO UMA COISA E EU OUTRA. 448I não é = a 224P Vou te dar um EXEMPO ABRA O PHOTOSHOP E VC TERÁ QUE FAZER UMA IMAGEM EM 480I OK A PROPORÇÃO DESSA IMAGEM VAI TER 448P CORRETO? O QUE VAI ESTAR DENTRO SIM TERÁ 224 LINHAS INTERCALADA MESMO TENDO 224 LINHAS A IMAGEM É OBRIGADO A TER 448P É OBRIGADO SEM TER OS 448P não tem como INTERCALAR NADA. A REDIMEÇÃO DA IMAGEM É 448P TODO O 480I 1080I É OBRIGADO A TER O TAMNAHO / RESOLUÇÃO DE 1080P/480P É OBRIGADO A RESOLUÇÃO DO SNES ESTÁ EM 480P MAS ESTÁ PREENCHIDO COM 224 LINHAS DENTRO DA RESOLUÇÃO 448I POR ISSO QUE NÃO É A MESMA COISA 448I NÃO É IGUAL A 224P 224P A IMAGEM TERÁ O TAMNAHO DE 224P 448I A IMAGEM TERÁ O TAMNAHO DE 480P PORÉM COM A METDADE DA RESOLUÇÃO EM QUALIDADE DE IMAGEM E O SNES JÁ TRABALHOU SIM EM 512X448P EM VARIOS JOGOS , SENDO USADO EM TEXTOS E IMAGENS SIM ESSES MODOS DE ALTA RESOLUÇÃO QUE O MEGA DRIVE NÃO SUPORTA É PARA SRE USADO EM TEXTOS ONDE OS KANSJI FICA MAIS FACIL DE ENTENDER , EM IMAGENS ETC. NÃO É UM MODO FEITO PARA JOGOS POIS FICA LIMITADO A 4 CORES POR QUADRADO. ALIAIS O SNES PODE ATE COLOCAR UMA RESOLUÇÃO MAIOR ISSO VALE PARA AS CORES QUE O LIMITE É DE 256 CORES EM TELA E EM DONKEY KONG É COLOCADO 500 CORES 800 CORES E ATÉ + DE 1000 CORES EM TELA A ALTA RESOLUÇÃO ELA NÃO ESTÁ ALI PRA SRE O PADRÃO É UMA OPÇÃO MAXIMA QUE CABVE A CADA DESENVOLVEDOR FAZER A SUA MANEIRA. VALE LEMBRAR NAO ESTOU FALANDO QUE 448I TEM A MESMA QUALIDADE DE IMAGEM DE 448P MAS QUE É IMPOSSIVEL COLOCAR UMA IMAGEM DE 448I EM 244P É , POIS AI SERIA 244P APENAS O TAMANHO SERIA 224 LINHAS POR 320 LINHAS 480I TEM 480 LINHAS IGUAL O 480P POREM PRENCHIDA UMA LINHA POR VEZ

[@marcosvander2479]

@KnabiOI Toda resolução INTERCALADA tem o Dimensão igual a Progressiva uma imagem de 480i terá o Dobro do Tamanho de de uma de 224P O tamanho e não a qualidade

[@marcosvander2479]

@KnabiOI Mas nas especificações do snes ta 512-448p Creio que o Secret Of Evemore usou a resolução maximo em caixa de textos Em games o maximo que usou foi o RPM racing mesmo com os 480i (mas nao sei to falando sem saber) Do mega vai até 320x480i Nçao seria o contrario 480 Largura que é maior que o comprimento não?

[@Marcos_1983]

viper its about to blow !!!!

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

American version: A great demonstration of why good programmers and state of the art hardware are no replacement for a competent art team. Japanese version: A great demonstration of why good programmers and state of the art hardware are no replacement for a competent art team. Fortunately, the next game would improve things.

[@AntonioCardenasT]

Its not so much the lack of competent art team, but the fact that the higher resolution would tank performance if it had all the details.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@@AntonioCardenasT The Japanese version is in low resolution, and they still can't draw their tree/rock blobs in perspective. Also, when system limits restrict your detail? Lean into that. River City Ransom on the NES is practically cel-shaded, and it's aged better than a lot of early 16-bit titles. There's nothing that says you need to fill up every inch of the screen with texture noise. Hell, there are Atari 2600 titles that embrace shiny + smooth aesthetics, because it looks great, avoids repetition, and it's the least taxing thing you can put on the screen.

[@AntonioCardenasT]

@@juststatedtheobvious9633 the japanese version has details that the western version lacks, like thode tree/rock blobs. And yes system limits restrict level of detail, sometimes the simplified artwork works to mitigate stuff like that, for example the kunio games 8 bit aesthetic is generally better received than the 16 bit aesthetic. There's a reason why high res mode in snes is mainly used for status screens as opposed to entire games like this one. Normally you have less detail in lower resolutions because of the detail available in the resolution but in this case the restriction also works the others way by having high res snes mode unavailable to deal with too many sprites.

[@cainansena]

Versão USA: Alpha Versão JPN: Beta Rock n Roll Racing: Versão definitiva

[@nathanielenochs1843]

What Consoles did you play these versions on?

[@GERALD_786]

Japan version looks more high graphics, i dont know what is the purpose of the high res on the usa version

[@joaohenrique3796]

Parece rock in roll racing

[@burnermanx]

É o percursor dele. Foi feito pela mesma desenvolvedora.

[@WanderleiSilva29]

Regardless what region it is.... It's nice to see the porn music was universal...... The guitar twangs at :35 is the best part.

[@milfilosofia4994]

Basicamente 480i é o mesmo que 240p em termos de qualidade gráfica. O pessoal se confunde e acha que 480i é o mesmo que 480p kkkkkkkk

[@Mittens0407]

But 480i is a 480p image, just interlaced.

[@Mittens0407]

@KnabiOI Yes, and those two fields give you a higher resolution. Calling 480i the same as 240p is implying that you're getting the same picture from both, which isn't true.

[@Mittens0407]

@KnabiOI Aside from any interlacing artifacts, you are.

[@Mittens0407]

@KnabiOI No, I consider it 1080i. But aside from the detail being split between two fields, you're getting as much detail as 1080p from the overall image aside from any interlacing artifacts.

[@Mittens0407]

@KnabiOI Interlaced video is only allowing the console video output to put out a higher resolution, any games that are interlaced are almost always rendered as progressive internally.

[@metalder7734]

Interessante vc decide podia fazer mais regional diferences curto muito principalmente nes master mega drive snes

[@mauriciob8089]

A versão Japonesa é bem mais bem acabada e parecida com o Rock in roll racing.

[@alanaranha3151]

O som desse game no SNes tá maravilhoso

[@oliveiraoliveira3543]

Lento .....

[@callcarman1835]

WINNER IS U S A!!

[@lumtaroc]

I can't believe people put so much time Into such a stupid boring game.