Games Where Choosing the Right Edition Changes the Experience

The PlayStation Portable edition lets you play as a female protagonist whose route changes social links, events, and relationships. On PlayStation 2, the FES edition offers The Answer, a separate epilogue starring Aigis. One offers a different school year, the other a story set after the main campaign.

The original PS2 Snake Eater often frames the jungle from above. In Subsistence, you can rotate the third-person camera to see the space ahead, or switch back to the original view. If the first release left you fighting the camera as often as watching patrols, this is the PS2 edition to try.

The DS original asks one player to manage battles on two screens at once. Choose that version if the divided attention sounds like part of the fun. Final Remix moves combat onto one screen, with touch controls in handheld mode or a Joy-Con each for two-player combat. Switch also adds a chapter, so there is a story reason to revisit it.

Pick the original arcade version for the tournament as it first played, or the original PlayStation version for something else to play between matches. That port adds Tekken Force, a side-scrolling brawler, and Tekken Ball, plus fighters including Gon. The home disc gives the same group several different ways to play with the roster.

Stick with the Nintendo 64 release for Mario's analog movement through the original 120-star game. The DS edition gives you 150 stars, touch-screen minigames, and courses that make use of Luigi, Yoshi, and Wario's separate abilities. Movement on the handheld uses the D-pad or a touch-screen control option, an important difference if you know those jumps by feel.

The original Japanese Mega-CD and North American Sega CD discs each have their own regional score. The 2011 Xbox Live Arcade port puts the U.S. and Japanese scores in one release and adds widescreen and unlockable Tails. Use the newer version to compare the moods of a familiar stage, or keep the original disc if you want its period presentation.

The original PS2 release gives you the school year that Rockstar first built. Scholarship Edition, released on Wii and Xbox 360 in North America on March 4, 2008, adds missions and classes. If returning to Bullworth means finding unfamiliar assignments, look for Scholarship on the cover.

The Super NES original keeps menus and battles together on a TV screen. The Nintendo DS cartridge offers both that familiar battle layout and a two-screen layout with touch controls. It also adds the Lost Sanctum. Pick the DS edition if you want the extra trip or the option to play either layout.

Pick the original PS2 Final Fantasy XII for its shared License Board, which lets the party develop along similar paths. The Zodiac Age lets you eventually assign each character two jobs from twelve choices. Making one character your Knight and another your Black Mage shapes what each can do. Pick The Zodiac Age if planning distinct party roles is part of the appeal.

The original Western PS4 release presents the adventure in 3D. XI S adds a 2D presentation and more story material about party members. Choose XI S if you want to see the journey in pixel art, and give that choice some thought at the start. Switching modes later means selecting a story point to resume from.

Choose the original PlayStation game for the mansion as it appeared on a TV. The DS cartridge includes a Classic mode and a Rebirth mode that adds touch-screen puzzles and changes some encounters into first-person sequences. Rebirth is the reason to pick up this particular version if you already know the old route.

If you want to learn the enemy placements of the original Dark Souls II, play that release. The PS4, Xbox One, and DirectX 11 PC editions of Scholar of the First Sin change where enemies wait. A corridor you remember as a breather can play very differently. Check the platform because the older consoles also had a release with the Scholar name.

The original PC Diablo III is the choice for mouse-and-keyboard play. On PS4, Ultimate Evil Edition supports a shared couch session, and Apprentice Mode boosts a lower-level character when they play with someone further along. That makes it a better fit for two players who want to play together without first matching their levels.

Choose the Wii disc if you want the original motion-control rhythm, including a shake for a roll. The Nintendo 3DS version puts actions on buttons, adds a Cloud world, and offers a mode with three hearts instead of two. It is the better fit when you want more room to practice difficult jumps without replaying as much.