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Do all old PAL games run slower then their NTSC versions?
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[Deleted User]
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Nowadays PAL versions of games always ran just as fast as their NTSC counerparts. But whit older games NTSC often runs faster then PAL. But not all the time it seems. Sonic 1 is slower in PAL then in NTSC but Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles isn't. This makes me confused about if how many and which PAL games is slower. I buy old games off the virtual console and it's always the PAL versions i get since i live in a PAL region. This is a issue becuase if all old PAL games is slower i don't want to use the virtual console anymore and stick to NTSC emulators. I really want to play the games on my TV whit a controller instead off the computer whit a keyboard but if the console versions all is slow the faster computer versions is better. Do all old PAL games run slower then their NTSC versions?
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50hz PAL on modern console games has been obsolete for over a decade, first with 60hz PAL, then with HDMI, where the terms PAL and NTSC no longer apply. Which is why there is no longer a speed difference. For older 50Hz PAL games, they normally ran slower unless specifically optimised.
As for the Megadrive Sonic games, they all ran slower. They may have fixed the slower music after Sonic 1, but the games themselves still ran slower. On the other hand, there were a few games (Super Mario Kart on the SNES for one), that were optimised for PAL regions. There was also a demo disc included with the PAL Sega Saturn with an unoptimised demo of the title sequence of Virtua Fighter 2, which ran slower. The demo promised that it would be fixed in the final version, which it was.
And elsewhere, I recall Lemmings 2 on the Amiga let you switch between PAL50 and PAL60 in-game by pressing a button.
Okay thanks for informing me about the subject. Now i have more of a clue if i want to use the slower virtual console or use 60hz emulators.
I admit that the PAL version of Devil May Cry on the PS2 was not good, with Dante looking short and fat compared to the NTSC versions. But I thought PAL version of Resident Evil 1 on the PS1 was better, as the slower pace matched the game atmosphere.
Personally, for nostalgic reasons, I like older games to run, just as I remember playing them for the first time.
An interesting factoid of the day is that NTSC games on PSX sometimes had more textures, because the spare VRAM compared to the PAL version could be used for other textures.