Spectrum - The base detail here is pretty high, probably the highest out of every version, with particularly good textures for the biological themed areas as well as loads of detail apparent in the pipe sections. Some things that do need to be mentioned however is that a handful of screens are a little more sparse in the respect of environment graphics compared to the C64 version (check out the plants on the 3rd picture down) as well as a few enemies being much less impressive than the redesigned ones in the C64 port (2nd picture) also the shading seems cruder than in the Amstrad and C64 versions. After taking into account that the C64 extra's only effect a handful of screens whilst the Spectrum's superior biological textures are always there I'm going for the Spectrum version having the best detail (though it's extremely close between the Spectrum, Amstrad and C64 as they all have their strengths and weaknesses in this area)

Amstrad - Pretty good, not quite as good as it is in the Spectrum version but the difference isn't massive. The biological textures are not as well defined as those in the Spectrum original but still look pretty good, the pipes have less detail but do however have better shading which helps to add to their overall look.

C64 - The base level detail of the graphics is not as good as it is in the Spectrum and Amstrad versions but the shading to my eyes looks better in this version than any of the others, a few screens here and there have some extra minor elements and some of the enemy types now look much more impressive. Something that's always given me a minor annoyance is the fact that the end of level pad doesn't automatically centralize you like it does in the other versions, a minor detail admittedly but something I wanted to mention.

NES - For the most part it looks as though the developers for the Nintendo version of Cybernoid were using the C64 version as their point of reference so here again we get bigger redesigned enemies and the less detailed pipes. However everything seems to have lost something in the transition, the pipes are now even less detailed than on the C64, the shading is worse and the biological textures look cruder with a more noticeable repeating tile pattern.

Spectrum - The biological texture I keep talking about has some great colour use, this is the only instance between versions where two colours are being used and they both blend together very well. Colour clash is virtually non existent here as the game was designed around the Spectrum's limitations from the outset and so backgrounds are always black. On the other side however are the main player sprite which is monochrome (to avoid colour clash) making it look a little more basic than the other version sprites, and the yellow piping sections which I feel stand out in contrast to the rest of the levels way too much giving more of a garish look.

Amstrad - Very colourful graphics though not with colour choices that clash like those in the Spectrum version, the Biological textures are in my opinion not as good as those in the Spectrum version but are still not bad. I think the colour use is much better and more consistent in this version than on the Spectrum.

C64 - I've been going back and forth between this and the Amstrad version in an attempt to work out which has the better colour use and it's a pretty impossible task, the problem is that the two games have such different looks to them that it becomes hard to compare them. The C64 version is very conservative in it's colour use and as such it has more of a serious look to it, whereas the Amstrad version is much more colourful and has a more cartoony look to it, This makes the decision more of a choice of personal preference. Being forced into making a decision I'm going to go for the C64 version as having the best use of colour, as in my opinion a more serious look suits the game theme better.

NES - The colour use on the Nintendo looks like a mixture of the C64 and Amstrad versions for the most part and so in this area doesn't really stand out from the other versions much, there are however occasions where there's deviation, but unfortunately when this happens it's usually for the worse (check out the enemy and floor in the second picture down)

Spectrum - pretty good animation on the enemies and some moving environmental sections which are a nice touch.

Amstrad - much worse animation than the other versions, most of the enemy animations are now completely absent, some have just been replaced with colour flashing sections.

C64 - good animation on enemies and environments, also in this case your main gun is animated too, the only thing I would say is that the volcanoes in this version most definitely look at lot less impressive here than in other versions, though taking into account that this only effects a handful of screens, the main gun being animated just about pushes it past the other versions in this area

NES - The animations in the NES version are pretty good and can easily hold they're own against the Spectrum and C64 versions, I would've put them about on par with the Spectrum if not for one important element, the death animation on the Nintendo is particularly crude and pathetic in comparison to the Spectrum versions multiple explosions effect. The volcanoes are animated better here than in the C64 but poor colour choices (the flying rocks are now blue) lower the general look of them.

Cybernoid is a flick screen game so none of the ports have any scrolling.

Spectrum - The original Spectrum version's music is very good, it's a cool tune but doesn't in my opinion fit the game quite as well as the C64's music, still excellent though.

Amstrad - The Amstrad version uses the same music as the Spectrum's

C64 - The Commodore port had it's own tune specifically made for it, and what a good job was made too!, few would argue that Cybernoid's tune is one of the C64 sound chip's defining moments, it goes for a more over the top and epic sound and fits very well with the game.

NES - The Nintendo version has no music at all! not only this but for some reason in it's place is a pretty annoying buzzing sound that doesn't stop for the entire time you're playing!

Spectrum - The sound effects are pretty good, nothing special but they do the job pretty well

Amstrad - The same as the Spectrum versions.

C64 - The first thing that needs to be mentioned here is that in the C64 version you cannot have both music and sound effects simultaneously, you have to choose one or the other before you begin the game. So whilst the C64's sound effects are pretty good in themselves, I've decided that due to the fact that most people will choose music (meaning no in-game sound effects) to deduct points in this area.

NES - This version's sound effects are a little on the crude side but are certainly not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, they do their job.

Spectrum - Cybernoid is a frenetic shooter with a very high emphasis on strategy, it basically has you negotiating through what is for all intents and purposes an assault course of death. Like all good shmups you can acquire power-ups as you go which help you to decimate the enemy, but even more important here are the five weapon types that you start the game with, each weapon is useful in certain situations (except the mine which I don't personally see any use for) and to be able to play Cybernoid it is paramount to understand and use each weapon to it's full capacity, you've got a screen of enemies? use the bounce shot to give you cover, an enemy on the far side of the screen firing bullets? go for the search weapon. This brings a level of strategy to the game that was not commonly seen in other shmups of the time and really helps to give it more identity.

Amstrad - The Amstrad version plays very faithfully to the Spectrum version, the only points against it in this area are that it has more slowdown, and there's an issue with the colour of your bounce bullets, now they are the same colour as some of your enemies bullets which makes it harder to distinguish between which bullets are safe and which are dangerous.

C64 - Firstly I'd like to point out that this port of Cybernoid controls faster than the other versions, which in my opinion helps to make it a more action packed and fun experience, this also means that getting past gun emplacements is now less of a hassle. Another element worth mentioning is that in the Commodore version you can get two protective weapons circling you instead of the one you are limited to in other versions. There is one relatively noteworthy flaw with the Commodore version though, for some reason the amount of time allocated to you for each screen is now a lot less, which makes collecting the required amount of pirate cargo much harder, and in truth not really even worth trying, you're better off just blazing through the screens and taking the 1 life penalty at the end of the level.

NES - To be quite frank I don't feel that the programmers of the Nintendo version of Cybernoid had enough of an understanding of how the game works to do it justice, whilst a beginner can expect to find Cybernoid frustrating, once you acquire a proficiency at changing secondary weapons you can start to take control of the screens with a certain level of confidence, this never really happens with the NES version, you could play it for all eternity but still consistently take cheap hits in certain screens. There are a few good points though, the double protective weapon from the C64 version is here, and having access to a controller with more buttons allows you to change secondary weapons much easier.

Spectrum, C64, Amstrad - Menu screen with a pretty nice scrolling border effect.

NES - The menu screen has some little diagrams which show the technical specifications of the ship, and a game over screen with a mad looking women looking at you, based on these two elements and the fact that the NES version already lost points for it's lack of music in that specific section I'm going to call a win here for the NES.

The NES version starts you off with more lives than the other versions, giving you 9 from the beginning, the increased cheapness of the game makes short work of these extra lives though.

The NES version replaces the Mine power-up with a weapon which destroys all enemies on screen.

The NES version gives you 3 different levels of difficulty, most people would have trouble with the game play even on easy though which makes the other difficulty levels a bit pointless.

Firstly, the NES version never really had a chance in this comparison, it is inferior to the three computer versions in multiple areas and was obviously a bit of a rush job. Instead of the developers going to town on improving the graphics and using the most of the NES' hardware resulting in a superior experience, they've delivered similar graphics with inconsistent use of animation, diabolically bad buzzing instead of music and compromised game play.

This has been a cool comparison to do in respects to the computer versions as I always find it interesting to look at different versions of a game when it's clear that all of them have had a certain level of care and attention at the development stage for their particular format. All the computer versions do their format proud here and have their own strengths but the added speed to the C64 version I feel coupled with the excellent music pushes this version a little ahead of the others.