i'm wondering..

[Tatsujin]

..why didn't they used more original tiles, sprites, BGs etc. from the arcade to the console ports during the 16 bit era?

99% of any arcade ports on the PCE, MD, SFC etc. are completely redrawn..but why? why not just take the original templates, re-color and resize it for the specific hardware, et voila?

would have looked much more accurate as well saved time and money!

games like bikkuriman or forgotten worlds on pce showed how it could be done.

ok, one issue would have been the less space on the cartridges to store all the details etc. from the arcade pendant. but this could have still be done by erasing some of the details, rather than redraw everything from scratch.

ports on computers like the x68k didn't use any redrawn BGs etc. they took the graphics 1:1 over from the arcade. less effort for much better results.

[guyjin]

I can think of 3 possible reasons:

1) copyright Licence issues. For whatever reason, the makers of arcade games were unwilling to share their graphics.
2) money. The arcade game maker may have wanted too much money for the original graphics: it was cheaper to remake them.
3) size. Console game makers may have thought that the original graphics were too big to put on a cartridge (or a cheap cartridge), so they made new, small ones.

how likely these are, I dunno.

[Tatsujin]

some good points there guy. still wondering how they managed to get the 1:1 BGs for bikkuriman, while they couldn't use its original title name and the used caracters from the original?

so did the x68k game developer always had the big cash to buy all the BGs, sprites etc. from its origin maker? if it was just a matter of money.

[Necromancer]

I buy guyjin's size limitation argument, but I don't think that copyright issues were the problem; something doesn't have to be an exact copy of the original to infringe upon intellectual property rights; it only has to be "substantially similar".  Considering that the redrawn console versions usually looked more or less the same as the originals (at least to the point that it was obvious what game it was supposed to be), the maker of the arcade game still could've sued and won.

I'd guess that graphics were sometimes redrawn to avoid shrinking the viewable area and/or keep the correct proportions.  I may be wrong in my assumptions, but most arcade games ran at a higher resolution than what the consoles were capable; had the graphics not been redone, the big drop in resolution would've required clipping and resulted in distortion when stretched to fill the screen.  Here's my feeble attempt at an example:



Trimmed to SNES size (256x224) on the left and arcade original (384x224) on the right - both scaled to fit a 4:3 screen.

[guyjin]

I don't think that copyright issues were the problem; something doesn't have to be an exact copy of the original to infringe upon intellectual property rights; it only has to be "substantially similar". 

That's not quite what I meant. Ferinstance, if they gave a licence for a reproduction of the game, but that licence says they just can't copy the original graphics.

I'm gonna go back and edit my first post.

some good points there guy. still wondering how they managed to get the 1:1 BGs for bikkuriman, while they couldn't use its original title name and the used caracters from the original?

so did the x68k game developer always had the big cash to buy all the BGs, sprites etc. from its origin maker? if it was just a matter of money.

Maybe, since they charged so damn much for Japanese computer games back then. Or maybe the arcade game makers were less strict with computer game makers. (they'd almost have to be, since the PC game market was {and is} chock full of play-alikes.)

I'd guess that graphics were sometimes redrawn to avoid shrinking the viewable area and/or keep the correct proportions.  I may be wrong in my assumptions, but most arcade games ran at a higher resolution than what the consoles were capable; had the graphics not been redone, the big drop in resolution would've required clipping and resulted in distortion when stretched to fill the screen.  Here's my feeble attempt at an example:

(snip image)

Trimmed to SNES size (256x224) on the left and arcade original (384x224) on the right - both scaled to fit a 4:3 screen.

Makes sense to me.

[Necromancer]

That's not quite what I meant. Ferinstance, if they gave a licence for a reproduction of the game, but that licence says they just can't copy the original graphics.

Gotcha.  I'd buy that logic for a dollar.

[Arkhan]

that or the licensee's didnt have access to the actual originals.

I doubt like, Taito goes "HERE!" and hands them a disc/k with all the artwork