All of the following is observed on real hardware, not emulators.
If you compare the NES version of Balloon Fight to the VS arcade version and pay attention to the bird flapping sounds, the VS sounds are better, and I think it's because on the VS version their frequency is successfully modulated up and down to give that satisfying chirp effect.
Another quirk with modulation is in Clu-Clu Land. The ebullient percussive sweeps that are supposed to play at the end of a round of Clu-Clu Land sound sound like scratchy plunks on an 8 Bit marimba, unless by luck the player is sending out a sonar wave simultaneously with the ending of the round. However this happens on both home and arcade versions so this one might have nothing to do with it being on a different system.
According to raphnet, aside from the existence/non-existence of lock-out chip, dip switches, and coin switch, the main functional differences between VS Unisystem and NES relate to graphics: 2KB more for the PPU with different color palette. Of course also the memory map given that one uses cartridges and the other ROM chips. But there is no mention of sound hardware differences.
I am not a game hardware expert, so apologies ahead of time if the following questions may come across as absurd and ignorant.
If the VS and the NES have the same sound hardware, couldn't that mean that the sound code in Balloon Fight NES and VS Balloon Fight are identical?
If so, why doesn't the home version chirp?
Could the cause of no chirping be the same as what prevents the sweeps in Clu-Clu Land?
Can NES Balloon Fight be patched to chirp?
Can Clu-Clu Land be patched to always sweep?
If you compare the NES version of Balloon Fight to the VS arcade version and pay attention to the bird flapping sounds, the VS sounds are better, and I think it's because on the VS version their frequency is successfully modulated up and down to give that satisfying chirp effect.
Another quirk with modulation is in Clu-Clu Land. The ebullient percussive sweeps that are supposed to play at the end of a round of Clu-Clu Land sound sound like scratchy plunks on an 8 Bit marimba, unless by luck the player is sending out a sonar wave simultaneously with the ending of the round. However this happens on both home and arcade versions so this one might have nothing to do with it being on a different system.
According to raphnet, aside from the existence/non-existence of lock-out chip, dip switches, and coin switch, the main functional differences between VS Unisystem and NES relate to graphics: 2KB more for the PPU with different color palette. Of course also the memory map given that one uses cartridges and the other ROM chips. But there is no mention of sound hardware differences.
I am not a game hardware expert, so apologies ahead of time if the following questions may come across as absurd and ignorant.
If the VS and the NES have the same sound hardware, couldn't that mean that the sound code in Balloon Fight NES and VS Balloon Fight are identical?
If so, why doesn't the home version chirp?
Could the cause of no chirping be the same as what prevents the sweeps in Clu-Clu Land?
Can NES Balloon Fight be patched to chirp?
Can Clu-Clu Land be patched to always sweep?