Since today is my one day off during the week right now, I went out and managed to track down a copy of Exile for Genesis locally(
although I had to pay extra for the luxury).
I played through both games, clearing a stage/area on one version and then the other. I was surprised both by just how great the graphics are in the Turbo version(
some of the best for Turbo/PCE) and by how big of a hit they took in the Genesis version. At least the Genesis version still uses the same artwork for almost everything and still looks nice.
I like the music in the Genesis version as much as or more than the Turbo's CD tunes(
I'm partial to system generated music). I like how much of the cinemas are intact on the Genesis version too, even though I think that Valis III kept more.
Both versions have a tiny amount of flicker that only happens in a couple areas. When it happens on the Turbo version, part of it is from enemies that are off screen. The Genesis version had a floating pixel in front of Sandler's head in at least one area(
forgot to keep track of it after that) and a glitchy flickering foreground piece in another. In the first dungeon on the bottom floor, part of the ground acts as foreground, even though it shouldn't, and cuts off the enemies. The PC Engine version glitches during fade in & outs. Frozen Utopia Beta testers will know what I'm talking about.
The biggest difference between the two is gameplay. The Turbo version pauses before jumping, to do the antic animation, while the Genesis version jumps almost instantly. I'd rather lose the frame of animation altogether if it meant quicker a response. The camera screws you over more on the Genesis version, getting the player stuck near the edge of the screen more often.
The Genesis version feels weird moving the player through the air during jumps. I tried the Mode button, but it makes no difference. The enemy layout is different and the Genesis version has many areas with fewer enemies, but lots of cheap placement. Like an archer standing in front of a door, so when you come back out you automatically take a hit.
The Genesis version is way easier overall(
my memory had it backwards), but a couple bosses in particular are stupid difficult in the Turbo version. It took me forever to try to beat the bird boss. I went up a few levels and bought a ton of healing items and still couldn't kill it after what seemed like a half hour of constant hits using the best equipment. So I realized that there must be one more event to trigger to remove the boss's invincibility or something... three hits later he actually died.
So what happened when I tried it on the Genesis version with weaker equipment, several levels lower? It died in
two hits.
Once it got late and I neared the end, I played only the Turbo version through the last few areas. Once I reached the final boss, it was the bird boss situation all over again. I maxed out my level, had the best equipment in the game and as many healing items as I could hold. I must've given him over a hundred hits each time before dying.
So on a hunch, I tried loading my save file with the PC Engine version(
which has a cool Reno intro cinema). You'll never guess what happened...
he died in like 6 hits.
Wow. I like Working Designs' games and appreciate what they've contributed to the 'community' and everything, but they really wrecked some of their games with their difficulty 'fixes'.
I really appreciate WD taking Exile's localization seriously, except for a few lines. It just goes to show the great job they could do when not joking around and the difference it makes to games that aren't supposed to be pop cutlture or low-brow wacky.
I like how the third to last boss is Simon Belmont and the second to last boss is the final boss from Zelda II.
Both games kick ass and I can't recommend them enough.