Double Dragon NTSC VS PAL (NES)

[MrPhil55au]

50fps vs 60 fps

[TheRetroactiveGamer]

I have a pal nes (with lockout snipped) and i tried playing an ntsc double dragon....it plays poorly, screen flashes at times and just doesnt run the way it should....mach rider the same.

[mysteriouskazakh]

There are actually some tunes that feel better in PAL speed. Listen to the Bridge theme from Sonic on Master System. The speed of the NTSC version just kills it.

But yeah, 50Hz is a bitch.

[CongDanhVip]

NTSC have better speed, better color, better video quality. PAL have higher resolution in height but slower speed, worse color, worse video quality.

[iNils1]

Living in Scandinavia, I play all european games on PAL speed while i play NTSC games on the... NTSC speed!

It´s tradition.

[TheAviator211]

I am from europe and i have a NES my games sound slower from the NTSC versions but with some games it is almost the same speed.

[KilleRotom]

@TheAviator211 Some companies (like Sunsoft, for example) actually modified the music of their games so the PAL music is the same as the NTSC music

[moscodeldengue]

halo? god of war? haaaaaaaaaa!

double dragon rules.........

[Daandude1]

also some games actually got modified to run the music faster. Like in blaster master or startropics just to name a few. The speed was slower yes but they cranked up the speed of the music by a few percent so it would look like it was the original track.

[Daandude1]

For me, a european guy, it's nothing special. Sure its sad that this was the case back in the day. But also back in the day, we didnt know any better.

There was no internet to compare it to, we also didnt know anyone from across the sea that could tell us this.

So wether or not people are crying that its slower, it just doesnt matter.

As long as you grew up with the PAL games you wouldnt mind the difference.

[Apb420]

At least the GRIGR is still there :)

[MrClarkyson]

the pal version produced more colour information then the ntsc also regarding speed if your from europe and play pal theres no comparison so it wouldnt have seemed slow at all

[Bylga]

PAL 4 life!

[PolyBrow]

The PAL version is slower than the NTSC version because of the number of frames-per-second used. NTSC uses 29.97 fps while PAL uses 25 fps. Nothing to do with power (60 Hz/50 Hz).

[airix10]

the music in the PAL version was making me nauseous.

[drkamilz]

@emotionalpunk

it's because of you might using RCA cables

Use component (USA) cables (for EU it's Scart)

and you'll get color back. Unless your TV is not made on Stone Age.

Other trick is use a capture card, like Avermedia, it supports all SD systems. You'll use PC monitor (in a window or Fullsc.) instead.

[BigBlueBeast]

This is a trip down memory lane.

[maddyzebra]

how come the pal version is slower?

[lakanman]

PAL is 50hz and NTSC 60hz

[maddyzebra]

oh well im an idiot ha ha XD thanks

[gooyzit]

i see no difference between the versions

[lakanman]

turn your sound on ;)

[emotionalpunkboy]

i got a NTSC tv and my Pal Ps2 game wont work . It all looks black and white

[AndrewFaulds]

well get a pal tv OR a newer VCR which supports PAL and NTSC (plug the PS2 into the back of the VCR, set the VCR to NTSC and plug it into the TV)

[98770]

what you can do is play it through a video projector and the projector automatically sets to PAL. if you have one

[AndorTheAnnihilator]

Who the hell has a video projector? I've never known ANYONE to own one, except schools and businesses that do presentations.

[EdgarIX]

pal FUCK

[title26]

SECAM is the best I hear.

[SgtThom]

Speed.

[Games5522]

It's good that these days more developers modify their games so that they run equally as well on PAL as NTSC.

[JackCloudVanneDave]

Thank god this is no longer an issue

[zedrein18]

So PAL versions now run everything at 60Hz and 60 frames per second now?

[JackCloudVanneDave]

I mean in terms of quality. When you look at PAL and NTSC versions of games today there is little to no difference. It's a shame really that this issue was never sorted out in the days of the NES but from SNES onward quality was met all around.

[Nuftetuft]

*facepalm*... NO.

most of the games are made in japan / tokyo,

(eastern japan), and there it is 50hz / 100V.

[zedrein18]

hmm, pretty sure Japan has the same format as us, and that would be 60Hz / 120V

[Nuftetuft]

I facepalmed of your comment, PAL is still 220 -240V at 50hz, they didn't change the whole powernetwork all over europe too 50hz / 100-120 V :p

US have 100-120V (110V). And no, Eastern Japan have 50hz / 100V. Western japan (Not so populated as eastern) has 60hz / 100.

[nerdydesi]

I thought that was well? : 0

[karmapocalypse]

The entirety of Japan uses NTSC. No part of Japan uses PAL. Where did you even get that they did?

[Nuftetuft]

I've never said that japan used PAL ?

Try to read.

[Nuftetuft]

btw NTSC = National Television System(s) Committee.

Japan uses NTSC-J. so it aint the same.

The US uses NTSC 3

[karmapocalypse]

Japan's NTSC-J and NTSC-M (which the US, as well as every other NTSC-using country, uses) are only different in how they broadcast. Both use 60hz framerate. Furthermore, the entirety of Japan uses NTSC-J.

[iamnot8bit]

who gives a damn

[notjustanotherface]

WE give a damn, bitch! :kicks the xenophobic, elitist bastard named iamnot8bit in the crotch for their insolence and arrogance.

[MarcusSDA]

@zedrein18 On newer games you can choose between 50Hz and 60Hz if you play on PAL. In 50Hz it's still 50fps but they have speeded it up so it runs the same speed as 60Hz/fps. They probably just have the 60Hz option in case there's a speed difference. Some Gamecube games are not speeded up in 50Hz so you just change to 60Hz. It's very disappointing that they didn't fix the speed difference on Virtual Console.

[thecomputerist]

@JackCloudVanneDave do you mean it doesn't happen to newer gaming consoles or if you play a nes on a new tv this will not happen ?

[JackCloudVanneDave]

@thecomputerist I was talking about newer consoles. Don't get me wrong the slow down is annoying but I have an NTSC Nes which works fine so at least we're not missing out

[th3planetsghost]

these are ROMs.....you are not comparing the hardware at all. The PAL version ran at 50hz and was like a slow motion version of the NTSC version. Which i find hilarious.

[SgtThom]

The roms do a good job emulating the pal and ntsc.

[rell2tru]

Aw man this was the GAME!! Look at their faces when they get hit LOL!

[Agozer]

This game was made during a time when game publishers either didn't know how or simply didn't care about actually making proper PAL conversions - so yes, every PAL release until fairly late in the PSX era was inferior to the NTSC counterpart. Many gamers didn't mind black bar on screen, either.

Nowadays, many bigger publishers optimize games for PAL, resulting in a games that are almost indistinguishable from the NTSC version while still running at 50hz refresh.

[kameltass]

yes ofcourse, what else could it be?

[cyanidebreathmintz]

Hey can you tell me if all games are universal for NES or are there PAL and NTSC region incompatibility issues?

[lakanman]

No NES have region lock. The NES Top Loader is region free. But it is easy to modify your nes to play all regions. Just open your NES and cut one leg off from a chip. Just google it. If you have ha PAL console and modify it to play NTSC game it will go in PAL speed anyway :(..

[notjustanotherface]

But NES Top Loading systems, which essentially look like a third generation Famicom system, are hard to come by and only about two million of them were ever made in the USA, I think, lakanman.

[DGMRuadeil]

@lakanman yea but somehow all my pal games run at the same slow shitty speed. Even the mario series. You'd figure they fix up the speed on the pal cardridges.. but nope. I don't get it

[drag0n666]

Is it me or is one version slower than the other?

[lakanman]

yah.. thats why i did this video.. PAL sucks.

[XDoverlordXD]

too bad i live in the u.k :(

[ededdandeddymaster]

PAL doesn't suck... that's bullshit. pal had better quality than NTSC. but the only prob. is that it's slower. but since the sega dreamcast PAL can almost play every game released round that time in 60Hz. but speed doesn't really matter, it is what you prefer.

[79902625]

what a shittty game!!

[TenguGuy]

The SMS conversion of Double Dragon kinda looked like shit IMO. But yes most games look better on the SMS.

[wamoejenou]

Pal is always better, we get all the extra's NTSC games don't have (like bosses in FFX)

Besides pal sounds more like a friend :P

[azurekenshin]

yeah we just lose 25% speed unless an option is (rarely) given >.> so much better for us eh?

[wamoejenou]

Stop acting like a baby, I've never played a game and thought to myself: Oh my God can this BE anymore slower?? i'd rather have tons of extra's, glitches removed and getting europian extreme with MGS than playing a little bit faster. PAL Rocks U.S. Sucks.

[azurekenshin]

it's hardly acting like a baby. It's not that i'm that bothered about it being slow..it's that it's "slower" slower than the game was intended to be. having dark aeons and so fourth is nice but you'd think a 50hz/60hz option would be more critical and then do extras and plus normally we get a cardboard box and artwork for our "special editions" it's rare we get extra game content...if the game gets released at all because they gotta step it down to 50hz for us.

[notjustanotherface]

To the people bashing PAL or NTSC versions of the game, I have a solution for you. (whips out his rail gun and empties a few hundred rounds into the people that are having the argument) Now since all of you pathetic, e-penoring, sorry ass fucking bastards can not fucking have some mother fucking FUN while you played this mother fucking game, you forced me to kill off ALL of your fucking asses and thus ruin MY day and MY fun that I was going to have on MY day, you sorry fucking ass clowns!

[NesyDan]

dude,sega lost.give up.

[gregory06]

Im a huge genesis fan, but even ill tell you... nes games are shit tons better than master system...

[saiyoucho]

It really bugs me that the difference between 50/60Hz was ever brought up in the first place. Before you people knew there was a difference, there was nothing wrong when playing PAL games. But now when you see how "slow" they really are, it can make you feel sick. -.-

[roflpizza]

dont know the difference so america shut your goddamn hole :) btw kanker amerikanen dat ze maar allemaal dood gingen -_-

[luiszepeda68]

mm great game every afternon i used to play this games 15 years ago ,, iremembere every song every ,,,, thief.

[johneymute]

but ntsc does,nt look fine and crisp as pal does!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Progfan1978]

So what? The PAL version´s speed is absolutely okay.

[VideyoJunkei]

PAL does have one advantage put to use by demo/game coders on the amiga...since the frame rate is lower, there is more TIME per frame for game/demo code, allowing for more effects. MANY demos/games for the amiga computer would not run AT ALL on NTSC for this reason!!!

[NeoandGeo]

OMGWTF What an advantage!!1!

/sarcasm

[WeskerSega]

You sure you are playing a true PAL version? It should say "Licensed by Nintendo" on the title screen instead of "Licensed by Nintendo of America Inc".

[DNchap1417]

don't you mean "Licenced by Nintendo" ?

[WeskerSega]

Nope. It's really "Licensed".

[DNchap1417]

I know the other shown here ISN'T PAL, but NTSC formatted to PAL. You're probably not using Jnes as that one is dynamic and adjusts to what ever frame the rom uses. Besides, had it be pal, at least they should spell properly (British spelling).

[WeskerSega]

Every single PAL game goes with the way of "Licensed by ... (Nintendo, Sega, etc)". You can check that yourself. I can't remember just one using the British spelling.

[lakanman]

I use emulator and switch between NTSC and PAL. But i got the PAL cart and its as slow as the video.

[5p3c7r0]

pal sucks

[therandyrandall89]

Well considering most games are made with NTSC in mind, NTSC is better for games. We typically dont get any benefit from the extra resolution. Remember the huge borders on some games? Sonic 1? Final Fantasty X? Thats the extra lines of unused Pal resolution. I'd rather have full screen, full speed games as they were meant to be played rather than crippled PAL versions.

[Tashyp]

Yeah NTDC was faster an all. I live in UK so i have pal. Still i love the games.

[TheMightyPhoenix]

PAL DVD's have a compelling advantage over NTSC DVD's. PAL DVD's have 576 pixels of vertical resolution versus 480 pixels of vertical resolution. That's a 20% increase in resolution for a PAL DVD as compared to an NTSC DVD. Increased resolution translates into a better looking image. It's common knowledge that PAL labelled VG's present a sharper picture on your screen in comparison with NTSC labelled VG's.

Conclusion : PAL > NTSC

Have a nice day =)

[VaderNES]

Not really. Your games are mostly the correct speed on NTSC, and actually sound correct. And the scrolling on Famicom/NES games on PAL systems is total ass (look at the PAL Castlevania III vs the US NTSC Castlevania III and the Japanese Akumajo Desetsu.

[LUGIA249PRODUCTIONS]

@TheMightyPhoenix NTSC Speed is much better that the SLOW PAL SPEED.

[EvtimDjerekarov]

NTSC has lower resolution than PAL, but the PAL NES draws only 16 scanlines more than the NTSC(ON NTSC, the top and bottom 8 lines are hidden). So essentialy, the resolution is the same. The reason for the slow gameplay, is that the game is originally written for NTSC, and is not optimized for PAL. This problem concerns the game developers, not the television broadcast standard.

[RobbyRubbish]

NTSC is much better and faster. After palying NTSC versions PAL seems like it's in slowmotion! :(

[dasez111]

thats because PAL resolution is higher , therefore slower framerate , but on the ps2 games , pal 50 hz always looks better hence higher res