While (barely) graphically superior to the NES version, the arcade version is inferior in all other ways. Those that enjoyed the NES iteration will recall its Metroidvania like arrangement, multiple points of view, and RPG elements. As one would expect, the arcade experience is much more straight forward than that, as the act of playing a game in an arcade didn't allow for the time and space to support a design with more open exploration. And to compare is unfair. Slugging beasts with the diskarmor in this version brings some joy, but it's the repetitive level design that holds it back.