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View topic - Comparing the SMS and GG versions of Castle of Illusion

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  • Joined: 12 Aug 2021
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Comparing the SMS and GG versions of Castle of Illusion
Post Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:13 pm
As part of a discussion on Discord about Game Gear games running in SMS mode, the specific case of Castle of Illusion having an "ugly but more legible" font on Game Gear was mentioned.

I got interested by the topic and decided to run the SMS and GG versions of the game back-to-back on my own Game Gear. Here are some comparison pictures, taken to the best of my abilities...

The changes involve a bit more than just text. There are some palette and art changes done as well, to bring out a more contrasted or colourful image when displayed on the game gear's screen.

I'm tempted to play both versions further to study how the changes actually mattered on real hardware. Not sure if anyone has done this yet ? I think it's interesting.
Story Text Comparison.jpg (669.89 KB)
The font is different on GG but at least it's less blurry for many letters
Story Text Comparison.jpg
Title Screen Comparison.jpg (679.92 KB)
Obvious palette changes, more spaced out "Press Start Button" message and other minor adjustments
Title Screen Comparison.jpg
Intro Comparison.jpg (724.8 KB)
Palette changes, RIP message box art, to allow space for the font
Intro Comparison.jpg
Hub World Comparison.jpg (686.28 KB)
Note the text UI positioning change, probably due to the bigger font needing a bit of space to breathe
Hub World Comparison.jpg
Why would you do this.jpg (371 KB)
The GG version font loaded in GG mode. Yep. Just out of curiosity.
Why would you do this.jpg

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  • Joined: 11 Jul 2022
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:25 pm
Wow. Definitely really interesting. The legibility difference in the intro text seems fairly noticeable from the pictures. Sadly I've never held a Game Gear, but fill follow along with interest. Love seeing these types of comparisons.
The Game Gear screen seems a hard thing to replicate, even for preservation purposes with "ghosting" etc.
It's very cool you can do the comparison.
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  • Joined: 25 Jul 2007
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 11:48 am
It's easy to replicate, it's been extensively documented by myself and others. It's just no one seems interested in emulating it for preservation purposes because it's heavily derided for being ugly and not worth the effort (not my personal opinion though).
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  • Joined: 24 Mar 2021
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:28 pm
Could we have a link to the page that describes how the GG scales 192/224/240 scanlines down to 144?
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  • Joined: 25 Jul 2007
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 12:17 pm
The information is spread across different posts, Discord, and my HDD.

I don't have wiki access I don't think to create a page on it but I could start a new post with the information.
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  • Joined: 05 Sep 2013
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 12:18 pm
yes please, collect all the information here! :)
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:04 pm
Last edited by Bock on Thu Aug 04, 2022 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
lidnariq wrote
Could we have a link to the page that describes how the GG scales 192/224/240 scanlines down to 144?


There's some information here:
https://www.smspower.org/forums/9562

Quote
I don't have wiki access


I gave you access now! (you only need to ask)

I'm generally sad about the Discord, would be nice to keep gathering info here :)
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:24 pm
I'm unsure what category to put it under, there's no Hardware category on the Development wiki

https://www.smspower.org/Development/Index

Then there is the following category which doesn't appear to be linked from any main menu or index

https://www.smspower.org/Hardware/Index
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 3:32 pm
Everyone has access to edit the dev wiki.

Out categorisation is a bit wacky but I’d put it under https://www.smspower.org/Development/VDP-Index as it’s display-related.
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:33 pm
Bock wrote

I'm generally sad about the Discord, would be nice to keep gathering info here :)


I couldn't agree more
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  • Joined: 29 Jun 1999
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Post Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 4:59 am
I always thought it was the same ROM as the SMS one running in compatibility mode.
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Post Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 7:31 am
It's not, one of the most apparent differences is that one of the throwable blocks has an "M" on it in the Master System version, but it doesn't in the Game Gear version.
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Post Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:29 am
A few other differences I've noticed:

SMS version:
* Enters straight into the game, no Sega logo (as the Sega logo would have already been shown by the BIOS on an SMS)
* Button1 / button 2 can be used to skip intro text and begin the game
* Defaults to "Practice"
* Text-labels at the top of the status bar
* Dark castle bricks when choosing the level
* Sit-attack is jump (button 2) then press button 1 while in the air
* When paused, the status-bar still has a border

GG version:
* Sega logo with blue background shown before game
* Start button required to skip intro text / begin the game
* Defaults to "Normal"
* Text-labels at the bottom of the status bar
* Light castle bricks when choosing the level
* Sit-attack is pressing jump (button 2) twice
* When paused, the status-bar has no border

Plus various cosmetic changes to sprites, such as a darker outline on rocks and a different sprites for chests and tries
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 6:50 am
Oh there are more changes, I've played both last week and there are more graphical changes across the stages.

Two interesting:

- Gem in the library is in a different location
- The yellow knight from the sms version was replaced with a ghost in the last castle.
mickeysms.jpg (85.83 KB)
mickeysms.jpg
mickeygg.jpg (81.4 KB)
mickeygg.jpg
mickeygg2.jpg (213.65 KB)
mickeygg2.jpg

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Post Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 6:55 am
Btw here's a nice video showing both side by side

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