Ultima 6 Gameplay Graphics Comparison
To celebrate the release of Ultima 6 on Good Old Games today, it seems fitting to look at the differences in the gameplay graphics between the various ports of the game.
The PC DOS original
The Amiga port
The Atari ST port
The FM Towns port
The PC98 port
The SNES port
The Commodore 64 port
The PC DOS original with CGA Graphics
The PC DOS original with EGA Graphics
As you can see, some of the ports of Ultima 6 simply did not look as good as the PC DOS original, due to the fact that the targeted systems simply didn’t have the hardware or horsepower to support the game’s vastly improved graphics and sound (let alone its scale). The Super Nintendo port of the game is more well-regarded than the NES port of Ultima 5, although it too suffered from various changes that were made for reasons of both censorship and technical limitations.
Basically, if you want to enjoy Ultima 6 in its best form, play the PC version (which just happens to be what Good Old Games is selling). The FM Towns port is also worth trying, since it features some excellent music (but also features some truly awful voice acting done by various Origin Systems personalities).
Aww, no screenshots of the Commodore 128 version?
Not yet!
Update: Yet!
Well, actually, it’s the Commodore 64 version, but it still demonstrates the awfulness that the Commodore ports were. That, and even Mobygames didn’t have a screenshot from the C128 port.
Actually according to the Codex of Ultima Wisdom, there was no C128 port, only a C64 version. I actually tried that one on an emulator, and it was rather interesting.
I must say I’ll always have a soft spot for the Super NES version. It had a few missing features, but it looked gorgeous (I’d argue better than the PC version due to the less reddish tint and full screen graphics) and sounded awesome.
Is that the Commodore 64 version at the bottom? (If so, I think you mis-labelled it…) It looks horrendous.
I think the SNES version looks the best, but I have no idea how it plays.
The SNES version is quite close to the PC version on the whole, except it has a somewhat reduced interactivity and a few missing/different features.
The main flaw I would say, is that it lacks the character portraits of the PC version.
In some ways, it also feels more like Ultima V – you’re limited to six party members, when you have a death in your party their “ghost” stick with you to ressurect (rather than having to carry the body), and monster loot works by them randomly spawning chest upon death rather that searching through their body. There was a tad of censorship (no prostituion there) and a few other difference, but on the whole it was a rather faithful port – clearly the most faithful to be released in on a Nintendo console!
Some PC fans tend to dislike this version because of these changes, but personally I felt it was really great. Having only known Ultima VI through the horrid Atari ST port, when I finally got the game on SNES in the mid-90′ this felt like a revelation. Certain great fun in any case.
C64 looks pretty amazing, considering. (yeah, mis-labelled)
Label fixed.
Wow if thats what the C64 version got stripped down to, Im glad they didnt try and make it for the Apple II!
Kinda reminds me of 2400 AD..
Well, we actually put every port through testing.
The C64 port is a surprise, considering the limitations of the system, but only something for hardcore fans. Read our detailled acticle: http://codex.ultimaaiera.com/wiki/C64-Port_of_Ultima_VI
The various other ports on computers have different quality. Of the 16-bit ports, the Atari ST got the ugliest graphics with color artifact and a reddish tint. http://codex.ultimaaiera.com/wiki/Computer_Ports_of_Ultima_VI
The SNES port might be in fullscreen, but it is heavily censored, has countless cuts and the manu design will drive you crazy if you’ve played it on the PC before touching this port. http://codex.ultimaaiera.com/wiki/SNES-Port_of_Ultima_VI
Hey Guys,
Don’t forget the CGA, EGA and Hercules graphics modes for the original DOS version.
We had a hercules monitor on our family computer when I purchased ultima 6. I remember looking at the pretty VGA screenshots on the back of the box on the car ride home. Then booting up the game to a horrible green and black mess. It was pretty much unplayable. I’m not sure why they even included herc as a gfx option. 😉
Eric
I’ll try grab some screenies for those modes later this evening.
Heh. A U6P screenshot would’ve been interesting for the amusement factor.
Wow, PC CGA screenshot is horrible.
“The C64 port is a surprise, considering the limitations of the system, but only something for hardcore fans.”
The port could be much better. It’s clear they really didn’t put much effort into making it specific to C64, which I totally understand from a corporate viewpoint. This is backed up by the various statements that Origin wanted an 8bit port so they’d have the full trilogy to sell.
Hahaha Im gonna go replay U6 in CGA now and see how long it takes before my eyes give out!
I agree…the CGA graphics are just bloody awful. I wonder what it looked like with Hercules two-colour graphics?
I’d find out myself, but iDOS on my iPhone doesn’t support the Hercules colour mode, it seems.
Personally, I think U6 on the C64 represents one of the most remarkable programming accomplishments of the era. The fact the programmers could take a game of this scale and complexity and cram it into an unexpandable 8-bit computer, while keeping the essential character of the game and still being a commercially-viable product, is quite frankly an amazing feat, no matter that the port is somewhat lacking to say the least. It also speaks well of the C64 itself, and how it could be pushed to limits that would have — and in fact, given the stillborn Apple II version, did — overwhelm its lesser contemporaries.
It probably shouldn’t have been done in the first place, but credit should go to all involved parties for finding a way to make it happen. It’s the classic case of P.T. Barnum’s talking dog; the point isn’t how well the dog can talk, but that it can talk at all.
I played Ultima in Hercules monochrome mode, 1991. But also in a XT 4 Khz machine with 2 disk drives. That was a labour or love! (Good, good times really, I miss that old days)