Current Events > Game series with the biggest leap from its best 8-bit game to first 16-bit game

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So basically, think of the best 8-bit game in a series. Then compare it to the first 16-bit game in that series. Going off this criteria, which series had the biggest leap from the 8-bit generation to the 16-bit generation?

Im disqualifying games that debuted on 16-bit consoles, and later had 8-bit releases (like Sonic, which started on Genesis and later had a Master System release).

Im thinking Super Metroid will likely get the most attention, but here are games that I could think of to add to the discussion (feel free to add games that I didnt include - there are bound to be plenty more, although I think I covered most of the essentials):

Super Mario World (Super Mario 1, 2 USA, 3)
Zelda: LttP (Zelda 1 & 2)
Super Metroid (Metroid)
Donkey Kong Country (DK, DK Jr, DK3)
Kirby Super Star (Kirbys Adventure)
Earthbound/Mother 2 (Earthbound Beginnings/Mother 1)
Super Punch-Out! (Mike Tysons Punch-Out!)
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (2 Famicom NES games)
Tecmo Super Bowl (Tecmo Bowl)
Ghouls n Ghosts (Ghosts n Goblins)
Super Double Dragon (Double Dragon 1-3)
Revenge of Shinobi (Shinobi, Shadow Dancer)
Phantasy Star II (Phantasy Star)
Super Castlevania IV (Castlevania 1-3)
Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy 1-3)
Dragon Quest V (Dragon Quest 1-4)
Mega Man X (Mega Man 1-6)
Contra III: Alien Wars (Contra, Super C)
TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (TMNT 1, 2, 3)
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! (Tiny Toon Adventures 1-2)

I personally think the biggest leaps on that list are LttP, Super Metroid, DKC, and Final Fantasy IV. Mario is rough because of how good SMB3 was. And as great as Mega Man X is, I hold MM2 & 3 in super high regard, so X isnt on my short list.

Not sure just yet which of those games gets my overall vote.

Curious what others think.

Castlevania 3 to 4.
Not that 3 was bad by any means but 4 was mind-blowing.

The Messenger

BoomerKuwanger posted...

I haven't played all of them, but I'd probably say DK, but it feels almost like cheating since the prior DK games were old arcade games rather than proper NES games.

Yeah, I was considering that when making the topic. But ultimately, they decided to not make a anything truly new for the series for 11 years (DK3 in 1983, DKC in 1994), so part of it comes down to them having faith to return to the series as a whole and using that series to implement the whole make sprites from 3D rendered characters idea on a series that had been dormant for so long. I think that counts for something.

Fire Emblem

definitely Metroid to Super Metroid imo

The difference in quality between the two is absolutely staggering. Metroid 1 is a janky mess that's been made entirely irrelevant by its remake, while Super Metroid is one of the best games of all time, period

Pitfall is a contender for this. Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is a good but not amazing game. However, Super Pitfall on NES is dreadful and so The Mayan Adventure is a huge step up comparatively.

There's just no comparison between DK and DKC. Not just a huge leap, completely different types of games.

DK to DKC feels like cheating. Like, it's essentially a spin-off with the same name. But if it counts, it's definitely that.

Assuming, as others have said, that we don't count DK, then it's probably Metroid or Zelda.

Tecmo SuperBowl was also an 8 bit release

I really dont know if DKC is the default best answer, although its up there. The quality of story telling in FFIV and LttP was a huge jump from the NES games. And Super Metroid in general is on a lot of peoples short lists for best game of all time - something that the OG Metroid is far from (a good game in its own right).

Yea, DK to DKC doesn't feel fair.

I'm going to say FF IV and LttP

it's gotta be metroid

the original metroid is nigh-unplayable: the maps suck, the controls suck, the password system sucks, respawning at 30 hp out of 600 and having to farm enemies for 10 minutes before doing anything sucks

meanwhile super metroid still holds up in quality to this day

kirbymuncher posted...

meanwhile super metroid still holds up in quality to this day

I played it for the first time just in either 2021 or 2022, and I was shocked at how it feels like a modern 2D game in so many ways. Really ahead of its time.

at the time, as a kid, i remember being really hyped into the huge upgrade that Contra got from going 16-bit. it was a thing to talk about. i didn't even like contra, but that was what was regarded as a huge leap, clearly remember.

You've started on the wrong footing with this thread. A lot of those games were never 8-bit. If a game started on the arcade, then the NES doesn't count as being a legit version. That's just a home conversion.

Ghouls n Ghosts (Ghosts n Goblins) - you might have a point with this one.

Double Dragon - only DD1 and DD2 were good. Everything else was shit. None of them were 8-bit.

Shinobi - I wouldn't count the first game as 8-bit anyway.

Metroid.

The original is an obsolete pos unplayable by modern standards.

Super Metroid is a timeless classic.

Metroid is easily the best example.

The original Metroid is an incredibly ambitious attempt at something that just wasn't possible to do well on the NES. It should be applauded for what it tried to do but frankly it just isn't all that fun to play.

Super Metroid was actually able to take the concept and turn it into not just a functioning game, but an excellent one.

Something like ALttP was also a giant step up from LoZ, but LoZ was a functioning game that was able to execute its vision into an enjoyable, if now dated, experience.

Outside of Metroid, I think Fire Emblem is probably a good shout. It isn't quite as pronounced as Metroid, but they are similar in that they are mechanically complicated games that kinda outreached the consoles capabilities. I think Fire Emblem did a better job of being a more complete experience but it was still pretty rough and the sheer number of QoL improvements that FE3 brought over makes replaying FE1 really, really rough.

So I brought this up to a friend, and he responded with Street Fighter 2020 to Street Fighter II.

Thats arguably a winner.

Mega Man to Mega Man X

>_>

The_Popo posted...

So I brought this up to a friend, and he responded with Street Fighter 2020 to Street Fighter II.

Thats arguably a winner.

Depends on whether we're counting the TurboGrafx as 16-bit. If we are then the first 16-bit Street Fighter game was the TurboGrafx-CD port of Street Fighter 1 which was released under the name Fighting Street.

The original LoZ is still fun, the original Metroid is not. Metroid is a good choice,

DK is cheating because the rest are 3rd gen to 4th gen, when DK is 1st gen to 4th gen. It wasn't a transition, it was a new series. And the Donkey Kong is actually a Mario game, not a Donkey Kong game.