Mech Warrior DOS vs PC-98 versions. really perfectly encapsulates the US vs Japanese aesthetic in the 80s/90s. - ThreadSky

Although strictly not Mech Warrior.

I spent may if my formative years playing Battletech on DOS.

Loved you could knock out a enemy Mech by killing the pilot and salvaging it for parts, or reparing it to add to your lance.

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dangervince.bsky.social•170 days ago

*many of my formative years...

Also

I miss playing games in DOS...

And listening to my PC make happy machine spirit noises as it worked away...

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doublecakes.bsky.social•170 days ago

Miss me with that DOS colour palette
I'll take the JP version anyday

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rorydropkick.bsky.social•481 days ago

The difference in mech design. Gosh I love the work that the Japanese artist did there to show scale. Also the colors really are something for the color palette available.

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cozmicaztaway.bsky.social•400 days ago

The funny thing is this was back in the era where they used a lot of licensed Japanese designs. The Battle Master up there is originally from Fang of the Sun Dougram if my memory serves me correctly

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nocatsnomasters.bsky.social•83 days ago

Post #1, Image #1 is of BattleTech's BattleMaster, which was based on an original design from Dougram Fang of the Sun called the Soltic HT-128 Big Foot. The "Dougram" itself became BattleTech's Shadow Hawk.

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nocatsnomasters.bsky.social•83 days ago

Source: https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Unseen#Fang_of_the_Sun:_Dougram

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urzasrage.bsky.social•481 days ago

I kind of like those Apogee vibes though

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daveparisi.bsky.social•481 days ago

Lost so many hours of my life to this game!

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brandon.insertcredit.com•481 days ago

Extremely fun to look at these things side by side.

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darktetsuya.bsky.social•481 days ago

I just saw the 'battle of the ports' episode on that game I honestly never knew there were Japanese PC ports, but suppose like the US RPGs that got released over there I shouldn't have been surprised!

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iankumohara.bsky.social•481 days ago

big "Kirby frowning vs Kirby smiling" vibes

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riainceol.bsky.social•170 days ago

Battle Tech’s a great name.

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brandon.insertcredit.com•170 days ago

And now here's a review from @kimimi.bsky.social! https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-reverse-localization-of-pc-classic-mechwarrior-shows-just-how-far-ahead-japanese-pc-tech-was-in-the-early-90s/

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brandon.insertcredit.com•481 days ago

Also JUST in case it's not clear, I like both of these.

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marcsh.bsky.social•400 days ago

Arrrgh!

I want to play the US translation of the Japanese version!

But as close as possible to the intent, vs 'this sells well in the US'

A dear friend of mine would go through the difference between US mechs and Japanese mechs in great detail and spoiled me

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mattontech.bsky.social•479 days ago

me too

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golgarifield.bsky.social•400 days ago

I really like that landscape in the fourth picture

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gisbravehaart.bsky.social•170 days ago

Down to the different depictions/styles of the mechs and the pilots. This is very cool!

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hypercubexl.bsky.social•400 days ago

emotionally this feels like seeing live action remakes of anime, or pacific rim 2 vs pacific rim

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brandon.insertcredit.com•399 days ago

Except in this case the western one was first!

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hypercubexl.bsky.social•399 days ago

well damn, there's a glow up

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armandorivera.bsky.social•170 days ago

Always loved the Japanese take on the Battletech universe. Would love to get a hold of one of these old rule books.

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brandon.insertcredit.com•170 days ago

It's gettable! I've seen it in a mandarake before

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togusarusso.bsky.social•479 days ago

And much more colors.

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cousinmike.bsky.social•478 days ago

It's also fun to see how much the west would alter game covers in the 80s/90s- even though it entirely clashed with the actual game's visuals.

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xanainternet.bsky.social•479 days ago

Yeah, Japan won this battle. But i think that's just a matter of the PC-98 being more powerful to begin with.

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kyleor.land•479 days ago

Man I forgot how ugly DOS palettes were

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thrinagabheart.bsky.social•111 days ago

Yeah, even EGA wasn't too pretty to look at. CGA? Fuggedaboutit

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rangerdonald.bsky.social•112 days ago

USA Action Extreme Team Original.

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tapirfortuna.bsky.social•481 days ago

Both are just wonderful. Okay, the western guy seems a bit sketchy, but I just love the Mechs EGA-look.

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handle.invalid•481 days ago

escape from rungistan

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samkostka.bsky.social•112 days ago

lmao using the Apple II as a comparison is a bit unfair considering that it first came out in 1977

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handle.invalid•111 days ago

still a pretty sick comparison tho right

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chatomaltes.bsky.social•481 days ago

There's an interview with the Daisenryaku creators and one mentioned working in a computer shop and having people hanging around and doing fanart w/ the exposition PC88s.

People were pushing the Insane Retro CG™ meta just for fun, it's funny to see the culture disparity lol

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whydoisay.bsky.social•479 days ago

Another fun point of comparison is the SNES version with completely different robots than either and then the Studio Nue version of the actual game book with yet another set of robots. Perhaps the coolest.

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nocatsnomasters.bsky.social•83 days ago

The Studio Nue interpretations of the classic 3025 designs is an absolutely glorious experience for mecha fans. They completely captured each design, complete with accurate weapon loadouts, while being totally novel.

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whydoisay.bsky.social•76 days ago

Yeah, stellar work. Not sure if it was a group effort or Miyatake or what? Seems like Kawamori was not part of Studio Nue anymore by then, but they do kinda look similar to his '90s Armored Core, Omega Boost, and Tech Romancer designs.

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hoistgamedev.com•481 days ago

The SNES version was where I first engaged with the game. Neat to see the comparison!

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shambrook.bsky.social•479 days ago

I feel like the difference comes down to Japan wanting to show the mechs as heroic while America wanted them to be mundane. The American one they're just, a tool, the dudes that pilot them is just a dude. The Japanese ones are heroes.

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brandon.insertcredit.com•479 days ago

Hmm that goes against American exceptionaliam though, I think it's supposed to be heroic in both

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shambrook.bsky.social•479 days ago

I hate applying incompetence to something that could be explained by it just having a different intention. It feels dishonest. So either they're just shit at making it feel heroic or they meant something else. I'd rather give em. The benefit of the doubt.

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shambrook.bsky.social•479 days ago

I think I prefer the direction of the American one more but its cool to see different takes and visual goals presented for the same basic thing.

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