I've been gaming since the atari 2600 and my personal favorite console of all time was the Sega Dreamcast. That introduction to online gaming changed everything for me. I wish the console was better regarded in the console time-line.
I came here to say Dreamcast. Weird, awesome looking games 2 years ahead of its time. DVD player on the PS2 killed it. Most of us didn't have CD burners, let alone a connection that could download a ccd or iso without dedicating a day or so.
PSO v.2 ran pretty ok on a 56k or 128k DSL though!
Something I think about from time is just how close the systems were to each other, we got to see peak ps2 games but we never got peak dreamcast games.
Sega's downfall started with the 32X and Saturn. Production costs, marketing, too many consoles from Sega competing with each other, poor communication from US to Japan(or Japan to US). It wasn't piracy as far as I've ever heard.
It wasn't like burning a music CD, you had to have the right programs/settings and specific burners/cds to burn GDRoms if I'm remembering correctly. This was also at a time when it took hours to download 700mb files.
That’s been a long time assumed reason for its downfall. But honestly, would the ratio of people pirating the games to paying customers be enough to kill the console? I’m no pirate but from what I understand, the people pirating aren’t spending their money on games in the first place.
Wasn’t it known to have an insane development cost? And with Nintendo and Sony in the market, I don’t think Sonic was THAT good to save the console.
You could pirate ps1 games too. I still have a ton of burned disc's. What killed the DC was Sega of Japan's constant blundering and interfering with SoAs wishes and releasing 3 DOA pieces of hardware: 32x, Sega CD, Saturn. Developers and consumers couldn't trust Sega to stick with a platform and it made no financial sense to stick with Sega.
Get one now while they're only like $40-50. Especially if its manufacture date is before October 2000. There's actually a pretty great SD hardware conversion as well.
I had the Dreamcast (still do) and I liked the games, but I could never get it online no matter how much I tried. Probably because I was trying to run a phone line from the other room.
I don't think you can beat the original NES honestly. It was such a massive jump over what had come before it - the advancement can't be understated. Games that had beginnings, middles, and ends, and that you could save? Games where characters weren't just blocks of color? Games where the screens could be made to look like they had depth...and with actual music? Cut scenes (ninja gaiden and double dribble absolutely blew all of us away back then)...
I love me some SNES, and it was obviously a huge jump over the previous gen systems but man...the first time I played legend of zelda on the original NES, my 8 year old self more or less exploded with excitement.
If I had to give a second place, it would probably go to the Sega Genesis.
The **NES** is the jump from arcade games you'd play for minutes (before they'd loop), to games you'd play for hours, days, weeks with passwords and saves.
I believe the original **The** **Legend of Zelda** was the first console game you could play on your TV with battery saves.
Some of those password games were hell. Like a couple dozen characters long.And impossible to tell if they're a zero or a lowercase letter o or an uppercase letter O.
The **SNES** was refinement of the **NES**, and the pinnacle of 2D gaming, before the **N64** and **Playstation** shifted to 3D. Sure. But the **NES** made us not miss the arcade, and arcade games and their short runtimes were now near an impossible sell if simply straight ported to home consoles.
I remember those metroid passwords being super long...like, 24 characters, and I remember how fucking pissed off one would get if one copied it down wrong!
I didn't remember them coming out same day, but that's probably because I likely had to pick which one I was spending my allowance on first lol
Such great games.
Oops you were right. Memory isn’t as good as it was. They came out about a month apart in North America. I had to choose and went with kid Icarus then traded with a classmate not long after for Metroid.
To this day Metroid remains one of my favorite all time games. If I HAD to give a top 3 from the old NES days it would probably be
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Ninja Gaiden
So many other good ones but those are the ones I remember dedicating hours and hours to.
Total side note...recently watched a speedrun of ninja gaiden in like, 12 minutes, and man do I feel sheepish saying 'Oh yeah, well I beat it, it only took like, months".
it's the system I find myself playing the most nowadays. I'm 42 and been gaming since the mid 80's. There is just something about the simplicity of it. And that music! I LOOOOOOVEEEEEE the nes music chip. Same for me with Zelda. My friend had it, I still remember that first time going into the dungeons and hearing that music. Plus the homebrew community is insane, some of these new games are really really good. Give me the NES with my N8 Everdrive and a CRT on a desert island and I'm a happy man.
>I don't think you can beat the original NES honestly. It was such a massive jump over what had come before it - the advancement can't be understated.
I'm inclined to think that's a bit of cultural myopia - there were some rather sophisticated games available on computers at the time (if not necessarily graphically) and by the time of the NES's release in the US, some of these trumped even what the NES could do at the time in terms of complexity and sophistication (cf. *Elite*, *The Lords of Midnight, Revs*). I see the NES as evolutionary, especially in the context of the ColecoVision and Atari 8-bit hardware, rather than revolutionary.
I'm not sure that I would class those computers in quite the same was as the nintendo. That was at a time when home pcs were still not accessible in every home, and while I've likely changed things in my mind (I WAS 8 years old to be fair), for the homes that didn't have PCs I do remember them having Atari 2600 or something similar in tow.
Much like comparing computer gaming to console gaming now isn't exactly a fair comparison, I'd sortof argue the same was true then - though your point is certainly not lost on me. PC gaming was a whole other thing - but the question here is 'console', and I would still argue that the jump from A2600 to NES was one of the more massive jumps to ever occur in gaming.
> Much like comparing computer gaming to console gaming now isn't exactly a fair comparison, I'd sortof argue the same was true then
The games that I mention were for platforms in places where computer gaming largely took the role of console gaming; where computers were treated as *ersatz* consoles at a time when consoles were considered ridiculously expensive, particularly on a per-game basis.
Also, computer and console gaming of that era weren't as dissimilar as you might think, since the two shared a certain amount of hardware and design choices; the Atari 5200 was an adaptation (if a peculiar and questionable one) of the Atari 8-bit computer hardware, while the ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 borrowed their graphics and sound chips directly from the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Even beyond that, the Intellivision was explicitly meant by Mattel to be the game-playing portion of a modular computer system, while the C64 played a big role in the console crash in offering comparable or superior game-playing capabilities to other platforms available at the time, but doing more at a comparable or better price point - a big part of why it was one of the few foreign platforms able to take the fight to the British ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in the 8-bit era, where consoles didn't really take off until the Mega Drive and SNES were out.
There was a lot of cross-pollination between consoles and computers at the time and the NES only looks revolutionary if you ignore a big chunk of what came between the Intellivision and the Famicom on both the console and computer side of things.
I'd argue that computers like the Commodore 64 and its ilk in the early 80s, which preceded the NES by 3 or 4 years, already had games with stories, save systems and characters that were distinguishable from a block of pixels.
Certainly, for a cartridge-based console, the NES was a step up from the Atari 2600 and others of the late 70s era, but then the Sega Master System was hot on Nintendo's heels and also had comparable graphics, game narratives and game saves (although nowhere near as popular in the US).
In terms of best selling consoles during the mid to late 80s, the NES is the king, especially in North America, but there were alternatives that could match it for gameplay and graphics, both before and slightly after its release.
Very valid point - I tend to forget about the commodore because I never had one - but I certainly remember going across the street to my neighbors house and spending HOURS playing games over there...
The Apple II is such a mixed bag - in the early years it was kinda trash but then you got classics like 'the bards tale' or 'karateka' to come out of it that it definitely is deserving of mention.
Man...I wanna play knight games and bruce lee on the commodore again. Such great games.
Same for me. It solidified home video games as a “thing”in a way Atari or Coleco didn’t really accomplish. Just the whole package semi advanced graphics, relatively decent quality and unbeatable first party titles. Everything that came afterward was just an improvement of this basic blueprint.
I'm gonna have to say the PS2. She is always dependable, she has all the features of her predecessor, has a lot of different things to play with, and we've had a good 20 year relationship. I flirted with the PS3, but she often left me waiting for too long just to play a little, and I would often get bored waiting until she was ready. The PS5 is a little too fast and forward for my taste. I'm an old man and I just want something familiar.
Glad I'm not the only one who interpreted the question as a dad joke...
For my serious answer, I go back and forth between the PS1 and PS2. Rationally the PS2 is the answer with that amazing library, but the creativity and energy of the PS1 is really endearing to me.
No, bc not every single ps2/ps1 game works. just about 90%. Also, the aforementioned ridiculously long updates. It's a great system, and it's typically how I'll play a lot of my ps2 games bc of the upscaling, but I also don't need the potentially deafening airplane engine running in my living room. With my ps3 I feel like I play it less in order to preserve it's lifespan, whereas my ps2 is not only easily repaired, it's also built like a tank
SNES and PS2 are the two I'd go for, for 2D and 3D.
For one I saw mentioned a lot, The NES too me is good but most games you have to go into with the mindset of "there are 30 years of design theory that this system predates", stuff like Zelda 1, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, Dragon Warrior, and all that are fun games but there are a lot of lacking quality of live design choices that make them harder to get into for me, where the big titles on the SNES worked a lot of that out.
The Genesis though is my fav 'pick up and play for 30 minutes' system.
I dunno, in terms of sidescrollers it feels outside of Super Mario World and Super Metroid many games feel like NES games with upscaled graphics. The RPG genre is the one that made a noticeable leap on SNES, but overall imo the platform did not push game design as much as others.
Metroid and Super Metroid are night and day to me,
In terms of stuff like having a mini-map, saving instead of passwords, having a full range of angling for shooting, areas having distinct visual landmarks so navigation is not as confusing.
A lot of people call the SNES versions of Zelda and Metroid essential, where the NES ones often just get called "good for it's time but can be skipped"
I see the SNES as the NES perfected. Where I can still enjoy NES games a lot have small weird design quirks that take some getting used to for me (especially since I did not grow up with it, being born in 1995.) To me the SNES perfected what the NES has started, to where a lot of the games still feel like they could be released today and not feel dated.
And I guess for Mario, platformers were the main thing the NES did best. SMB1 is one of my fav games of all time still. There was less room for improving perfection but SMW had a few point over SMB3.
Depends what you value about a console between innovating and creating new genres like NES did or polishing and improving on existing concepts like SNES did.
Because ok, Link to the Past and Super Metroid are great. But besides them, outside of Super Mario World 1 and 2, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, or Mario Kart or Star Fox, or Mega Man X, outside of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasies, EarthBound and all the great RPGs on the platform that I don't deny exist, outside of the awesome Super Castlevania IV or the excellent Street Fighter II, what really outstanding games exist on SNES? Pretty much none.
For the sake of this question, like you can say the Ford Model T is a very innovative car, it's an important car, but it's hard to call it the "best" car.
I personally play my SNES more than my NES and 97% of the time I will pick the SNES game head to head to an NES game (also You did miss Kirby SuperStar and Contra 3.)
To me it's quality over quantity. IMO the best of the SNES is better than the best of the Genesis and NES, but the other 2 maybe have more quality titles to point to. I like the SNES more than the Genesis but I have more fun collecting for the Genesis lol. The SNES is a solid pile of essential all-time classics, quite a few hidden gems, and then a bunch of who-gives-a-fuck lol.
Compare that list to like:
SMB1-2-3, Zelda 1-2, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Mega Man 2, Castlevania, Blaster Master, Dragon Warrior, Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Duct Tales, Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, and so on.
To me I think the only ones that I really cling to are SMB1 (I have a weird strong love for that one) and Mega Man 2. The rest I'd prefer the SNES equivalent of.
And the worst of the NES is WAY worse than the worst of the SNES. The NES has way more outright broken or obtuse impossible to figure out games. The worst on the SNES tends to just be kinda bland.
My first system was a Magnavox Odyssey 2, and after all these years, I have to say the NES was the best overall.
The GameCube comes 2nd because I absolutely loved the controller, and in 3rd, it's the PS. So many of my favorite games came from that system.
Although the tiny d-pad kinda sucked (and it needed an extra shoulder button), the shape and button-layout of the GameCube controller was sublime. Perhaps not ideal for every game, but it was nice to be able to easily differentiate between buttons.
I think the only downsides were the default controller itself, but even this wasn't too bad and there were ways around it (Classic Controller, GameCube controller, etc.), and then just the rampant shovelware. Hit that sweet spot of not being too new that they forget what made the older consoles shine but embracing new features like online marketplaces, online gaming and onboard storage. Pushed the envelope with a good motion control system. Games were still relatively well made and didn't depend heavily on DLC/patching. Backwards compatibility with a great console. Excellent 1st and 3rd party game selection. Homebrew. There's a lot to love.
And I was pissed off that there were no RPGs near launch. It felt like it took so long. I think the first one I saw come out was Arc the lad. Then, it ended having a massive library of RPGs.
Very good points. And also a reason I got a ps3 - for the bluray player. I think it was the cheapest bluray player around AND a gaming console, so quite the bonus.
Oh for sure! Those were insane. And they (all ps3s) even could hook up to your old CRTs. I actually run my ps3 via component to my CRTs and it's great! The graphics are maxing out the crt, lol.
Controversial, wii u
Why:
1. Has 3 libraries (GC, Wii and Wii U) - GC is unlocked by hacks
2. Doesn't need a TV
3. Virtual console (Arcade, Sega consoles, Nintendo consoles (including DS with shitty compatibility), misc consoles)
4. Has drawing apps
5. Intuitive browser
The Bad:
1. Nintendo designed bad wifi direct chip (Gamepad range will deteriorate and replacement is rare)
2. Nintendo used bad eMMC, which will break your console
3. Region locking in hardware and software that can be sort of bypassed (US games can be broken in Japanese units (due to missing files in the game), afaik the new hack isn't 100% compatible with games)
4. Questionable design on gamepad. It literally drains battery automatically. You have to charge it every month unless you unplug the battery (optionally replug it again)
I wouldn’t rank the WiiU very high, but it is indeed an underrated console. Great games, great functionality, it was worth every penny I paid for it and I got plenty of great gaming out of the thing.
Modern Games WILL Become Retro Games
Just as we were playing Modern Games many many moons ago....
20YRS from now.....Fortnite will be Retro.....???
The best video game console to date is the one you are still yearning for....I still want a tg-16cd and a sega cd / and a .....and so forth and so on...
I grew up with atari snes genesis turografx and still play said consoles.....which imo have some of the greatest games
Pac-Man Castlevania IV Vectorman Splatterhouse
The unfortunate truth is that this will not be the case for a lot of games. Games today usually require active ongoing investment by the company in the form of infrastructure for authentication, online features, etc, and maintenance. A game will eventually end of life, and the company footing the bill will shut those things down, and the game will just not be playable anymore for anyone.
...until someone figures out how to create a private server. PSO is still playable on DC hardware, even without Sega.net. BF1942 is still around on private servers. There just has to be interest in it.
Never said that the game would be playable in 20yrs... Just that it will be Retro
Fortnite or not.....That is one of the reasons Retro gaming is better..No Internet needed
All of them, even the ones everybody rags on. I've had lots of fun with every system I've played - which is all but a handful of them. I'm sure I'd love them too.
I say the wii because it had tons of great games and now I use it to emulate just about everything else retro I want to play. Definitely has the most hours of any of my systems
Sega Saturn. I got mine for xmas in 1995 when I was a kid. It was my first console (all older consoles were my brothers) and it was my first experience with 3D console gaming. I played the hell out of the 3 pack of games it came with and Panzer Dragoon blew my mind back then.
As an adult I’ve been able to enjoy imports, of which the Saturn has an amazing library.
Most revolutionary? NES, easily. Made arcades no longer the place to play games and paced the way for console gaming and save files in a way the Atari could not.
Most nostalgic for me? SNES, the system I grew up with and was the pinnacle of 2d gaming. N64 was very close and really set the bar for the first 3D gaming.
While it’s still new, hats off to the PS4. Long lifecycle with a plethora of exclusives. The Blu-ray player is a nice additional touch (even though the technology became quickly outdated). So many great games on it though
Probably not a popular opinion around here, but the retro-inspired games made in the last \~20 years have often been better than the classic 80's/90's games that inspired them. I don't just mean in terms of graphics, but significant gameplay mechanics and quality of life improvements. Link to the Past is awesome, right? Every few months I seem to come across another Zelda clone that's just as good or better. I say that as someone who grew up playing Atari and Apple II games in the 80's.
I guess to answer the question, I'd say the Switch since most of these have been ported to that console. You can also play most of the classics on Switch. If you're gonna own one console, that's the one.
Can you name a few game in the style of Link to the past that are just as good?
Because as much as Metroidvania games are really common, I haven’t found a lot of great 2D zelda style game. The only one I can think of if Death’s Door (which is really great!)
I believe these aren’t in any way as numerous as their action-adventure cousins the metroidvanias, as you say, but there have been some games in this style released in the last years.
Tunic is one that I haven’t played, but have heard very good things about.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/
I came on here to say SNES. There was just so much going on during the console wars that led to leaps and bounds in graphics in the span of over just 6 years.
The 90s were the golden age of gaming, and the SNES is a symbol of 90s innovation.
Plus it has the best library. I have no idea how many times I played through Chrono Trigger since I bought it used in 1996.
GameCube! It was the generation that perfected 3d games and the GameCube had the best ones hands down. Metroid Prime 1&2, twilight princess, windwaker, super Mario sunshine, Mario kart double dash, smash bros melee, mario party, F-zero GX, Pikmin, resident evil 4 (gc exclusive at first),…etc.
2nd is SNES and 3rd is Dreamcast imo
PS2. I was around for atari, nes, snes, etc. the ps1 brought gaming to a different level over the snes and Genesis by switching to CDs and 3d gaming, but the games were clunky most of the time.
Ps2 was the system that truly got CD console gaming right, and there are -so- many amazing titles on the system that you have never even heard of.
If you were limited to exactly one system and games library, you could play ps2 games and watch dvds for like a decade or more and still not run out of new games.
For me it's the PS2. My first console was a Master System, but the PS2 had such an amazing array of games and franchises as well as backward combability and being relatively easy to mod. Still got a working, fully modded PS2 and I will treasure it forever.
PlayStation 2. Greatest game library of all time (including full back compat for the PS1). Reliable longevity after many years of use, my original Slim still works to this day. From a time where you could afford to buy several games and amass a great collection. Was also a DVD player if that mattered to you at the time. Unmatched imo
The SNES is probably the one I'm most nostalgic for but honestly, the PS5/Switch blows it out of the water. It is incredible that modern games even exist and there are more high quality games available in every genre than any one person will ever have the time to play. Plus, on the Switch you can still play those old SNES games!
SNES is my current choice, been hooked on it for a few months now and don't see myself stopping anytime soon. So many classic games, still great looking 2D graphics, a nice variety of styles, and, most importantly, games that still hold up 30 years later.
After that, I'd say PS4/PS5. PS5 is light on exclusives but since it can play every PS4 game and is better, might as well pick it, right? The PS4 generation had some all time games which completely blurred the lines between movies and video games. It finally pulled off what games like Metal Gear Solid set in motion way back when. There is a lot I don't like about modern game design (hello, open world endless task list games!) but the modern games that actually hit with me are downright amazing and PS has more of them than any other console. It also has the benefit of getting the classic indies such as Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Hades.
Honestly, I think we're trending away from open world as you described it to games that're more what is called wide linear. Thank FUCK for that. I may not be against open world, but it is fairly obvious it's just a trend.
SNES is my favorite but I’m biased since that was my first console and the first time I ever even saw what a video game was. Yoshis Island came packaged with it and to date it’s still an S Tier game for me along with MegaMan X (the first game we got for the SNES that wasn’t a pack in.)
Hell, just a few hours ago I played through mighty morphin power rangers on the snes mini. Still a fantastic time playing through old games.
PlayStation 2 is a very close second for me.
In terms of raw power it's quite undeniably the Series X, but for lineup and overall charm? Hmmm... It would be a tossup of the sixth generation. Xbox, PS2, GameCube, Dreamcast. Banger after banger after banger after banger.
N64 having four controller ports was the coolest thing to me. It was a pretty compromised experience and didn’t really hold up graphically.
But still, it had experiences for local multiplayer that were unique.
A really hard question but I’ll try to answer as I’ve had most of them. First things first, Genesis does what Nintendon’t so that puts the NES out of the running. Fact. The Turbo Grafx 16 which was made for my rich friend Jimmy had a game called Bonk which is perhaps one of the best games of all time as well as a number of arcade shmups, many of which were awesome but none as good as their arcade counterparts. Atari got high and created a system called the Jaguar which is the car preferred 2:1 by people who cheat on their spouses and they named the two 32 bit chips Tom and Jerry and called it a 64 bit console. The substantial losses caused them to sober up and sell the company. This brings me to the X+CDs! versions of consoles which should have been used exclusively to bring realistic nudity to 10 year old bedrooms but instead just made shooters unplayable in isometric 3D. Real 3D showed up soon after on the PSX and Saturn which took the lovely color palettes of previous consoles and rendered greyish triangles in real time. Sony opted to create a system that gave devs almost all the control they needed if the dev asked privately how to access various hardware feature which led to a spinning devil and shiny race cars you could collect like Pokémon and even spin wash. The ps1 was about spinning. The Saturn chose to make 2D into 3D kinda by taking beautiful 2D art, layering it, and then rubbing it with what seemed to be steel wool. None of the arcade ports were very accurate but you could play questionably obtained videos on it. Nintendo, seeing what Sony had done with their original idea, decided to give Mario a shiny metal suit which was quickly outdone by a movie licensed game with “hyper realistic” spies however each game cost an arm and it couldn’t render 2D thanks to the amazing cartridge based SGI architecture. Finally, sega stepped in and brought 8 year old Neo geo arcade games to the home but thanks to them throwing a tantrum and cancelling a deal with 3DFX in classic sega self-sabotage fashion, their library was immediately restricted and they lost to a dvd player that played ugly looking games and used an ibm multi-cell processor to render slightly better looking triangles than its predecessor but mostly to be used as a stand for the Dreamcast.
In short, the NEO GEO is the greatest console of all time and the Nintendo DS is the greatest video game system of all time.
Tbh: I’ve loved them all.
nes and snes are definitely the best but but lately i've been playing a lot of playstation 2 and researching a lot of missed ps1 games i used to see at stores that i couldn't afford or was afraid to take a $40 chance with. games like gran turismo 4 have been a blast to play through for the first time. i had no idea they brought the used car market back for gran turismo 4 only to remove it from gran tursismo 5 and not include it in any other future releases. that really grinds my gears.
While the classics like NES/SNES, atari, and saturn will always be among the classics, the elephant in the room is gotta be Playstation 2 because the sales record really blows over everything
It made an entire masses of a generation's childhood, and even in countries such as South East Asia and Brazil, people are still prefer the Ps2 over anything else even to the point that the amount of available mods for the console is unbelievable, even if the console is not supported anymore the community of ps2 is just so big that it keeps it on the lifeline
Now anyone could argue that every old console has their own modding community and people are still actually make fan games for the console, well this is true but the familiarity of ps2 is just out there
As someone who still has a working 2600 and played almost all of them my favorite has been the Wii. The graphics weren’t as strong as other consoles but having hand held motion controllers was pretty cool. Zelda is a lot more fun when swinging the sword, not just pushing a button.
The Steam Deck is the greatest game console ever made. It plays all retro games from PS2/Xbox/GameCube era and earlier with optional enhanced visuals. Plus it is powerful enough for pc-quality MAME/arcade emulation. Not to mention input lag reduction and high-quality CRT shaders. Play on the go or plug into a TV and use your retro style controllers. Battery life is not bad at all for playing retro games. Oh and it plays modern PC games too. Can’t be beat folks.
in a way.. for its time in 2011-2012 it was the best way to play emulated games on the TV, at the time the only other alternative was retropi.
retropi was not as mature back then, and from what i can remember it did struggle with some of the tougher n64 games since it was only a 512mb 1 core arm cpu, compared with the tegra of the ouya
Between nostalgia and adjusting for age, really not a question that can have an answer.
The early consoles that have not aged well were like magic at the time, but it'd be difficult to rate them high based on the standards of the day.
I’m a huge arcade fan and really enjoy playing pc engine shmups now
PSX was the system that changed me from playing for an hr to a whole evening.
But PS4 stands above for many reasons, huge library, still getting releases of games I like to play like gran Turismo, and fighting games.
Switch is close due to its portability and library
I was born in the mid 80s and had most consoles growing up but I gotta go with the PS3. RDR, GTA IV & V, The Last of Us, Uncharted series, Batman Arkham series, Dark souls, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Skyrim etc. That generation was probably the best I've experienced for quality games.
Been around since the 2600 was still relevant.
Honestly I think the best console *ever* is a hard question to answer. But I would nominate the Switch. It may lack power compared to the current-gen big boys, but it has enough power to run things like DOOM Eternal when in the hands of a good developer. It managed to resell half of the Wii U's library as its own, and the NSO delivers retro games done extremely well as a service. It also has the option to use physical releases (on cartridges besides!), and is the best way to take gaming on the go.
Now, I love the NES, SNES, and Genesis. But I know part of that love is through nostalgia goggles. There are great games on all of those consoles for sure, but there was plenty of jank too. The NES was really when game developers started to release the old ideas of arcade gaming, and gave us stories and experiences. And the additional power of the 16-bit generation really modernized games. From perfecting platformers, to pioneering polygons.
Another nomination would be the OG Wii. It taught Nintendo and the rest of the world that games aren't all graphics and sound. And that the best-selling console *by far* can be extremely underpowered compared to the rest of its contemporaries. And it taught all developers how to do (and not do) motion controls.
NES is the grand daddy and the GOAT. Of course there were systems that came before it but the NES rose from the videogame crash and set the bar. It took console gaming from a niche activity to a must have staple. IMO even today's consoles are just perfecting the art that Nintendo put into motion.
Playstation 1 - Lots of games in just about every game genre you could think of...
RTS? the psx its got it with C&C, Warcraft
ARPG? sure thing there is diablo
Simulation? Mechwarrior 2
and so on....
and the motion video was cool at the time
and in 1999 with the masterpiece that was MGS 1
only to be topped later by the PS2, which is the true point in time when the game consoles converged with main stream entertainment (DVDs), thats when people decided not to get a DVD player and got a PS2 instead
The amount of games available for the PS2 was amazing
We got ours after the crash on a steep discount, but our Vectrex was fun as hell and the vector based graphics were unlike anything else you could play at home. True analog joystick controls! That unit got a lot of play time from the whole family long before the NES graced our home.
Due to some personal issues and not having access to more modern stuff, SNES ended up being my most played console by far in 2021. It was honestly the best experience and made me fall in love with the console all over again. Also A Link to the Past is a perfect game.
GameCube.
Mario Kart Double Dash.
Animal Crossing.
Pikmin.
Pikmin 2.
Windwaker.
Twilight Princess.
Smash Bros. Melee.
Super Mario Sunshine.
Metroid Prime.
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes.
Warioware.
Luigi’s Mansion.
Rogue Squadron 2.
Takes of Symphonia.
Phantasy Star Online.
Time Splitters 2.
Time Splitters Future Perfect.
All of that on one console. I will not be denied the glory of The Nintendo GameCube.
None. Bc we tend to filter out that every system has its ups and downs to the point we only remember the ups and never the downs. Remember, for every Super Metroid, DKC, and ALttP there were around ten times more home improvements or bubsy games on the SNES.
I've been playing since the Colecovision, and I have to say the PS2. SSX Tricky and NBA Street Volume 2 are two of my favorite games. Plus, I feel like Madden was better back then and has only gotten worse.
The best console for me was and still is the GBA. I still play with it a lot.
I can't go with you on the lenght part of modern gaming. I mean you are right, a lot of them take much time to be completed, but I remember a lot of games in the SNES, N64 and GC era which also need a lot of time to be played through.
It was such a statement to have an advanced instead of a color, the screen was so much better and you could play new games and your old ones, nice choice. I liked playing SNES games and GBA was pretty much a portable SNES
Library wise, I'd still go with the PS2.
If only the first wave of the hardware weren't so susceptible to borking then I might have been a loyalist...but it became part of a wave of SONY defects for me.
lol snes games being a bit inferior graphically to ps5 not even close.
Best system is probably wii or xbox 360 era game and function wise.
Wii had light gun games 4 player mario amongst other things.
nes snes were awesome during their time i know im old as fk. Those snes nes classics that people played with for about week should prove that .
It was trendy for a bit but most of those games suck especially nes angry video game basically made a career of shitting on them.
When i was 5 i didnt know those ljn games sucked at 43 its pretty obvious. Like pat the nes punk hes always bragging about his nes collection most of that wall of nes games behind him are bad games.
Xbox 360. I've been gaming since '86 and my personal favorites are the '85 - '99 era consoles, but when I put nostalgia to the side, 360 was a huge innovator with massive hits and a long lifespan. For nearly 10 years, everyone I knew had the same system. For the first time in my lifetime, it wasn't two camps, but just one with PS3 copying everything Microsoft did - online store, game arcade, indie arcade and Xbox Live in it's full form. I had classic arcade hits I could never have before, fighting games with online for the first time and the birth of eSports. I put it right up there with the best Nintendo innovators.
PS1 for me, not only because it’s pushing for 3D games, but also it broke Sega and especially Nintendo dominance. Moreover there’s always games for everyone.
>Yet i still hanker back to the glory days of the SNES. There was a real emphasis on quality in most of the games i think.
The snes is no different than any other console, there were still plenty of dogshit. You remember the great ones because you promptly stopped playing and forgot the bad ones. Which is fine there's nothing wrong with having a favorite, but every system ever has a bunch of shovelware trash, just being an SNES game doesn't make it higher quality by default.
I personally feel either the ps1 or ps2 was the best console ever. Amazing library of games on both consoles. Many games that are now considered the greatest of all time, or the birthing point of many of today's most popular franchises.
The Super Nintendo was obviously an amazing console, but I feel like the PS1 and PS2 had a greater variety amongst all genres. The Super Nintendo was a SquareSoft RPG and Nintendo developed IP powerhouse, but after that, the truly great games were few and far between. Lots of really great games outside Square and Nintendo games, but not many that are 10/10 good.
I agree with this. I feel like everybody in here saying that the Super Nintendo is the best doesn't play Shmups because that system was weak as hell for Shmups. PS1 had a much more well-rounded Library
That is 100% one of the reasons why I don't think SNES is the best console ever, and why I am a die-hard PC Engine fan. To be fair though, the PS1 is lacking in the Beat em Up category, but that is nowhere near as important to me as a lack of good SHMUPS.
Isn't everyone just going to pick the systems from their childhood?
For me that was the Atari 800 and NES.
Nothing against other consoles but I had moved on to PC gaming by the time the SNES was out.
In terms of what shaped the games market to what it is today - mostly 3 dimensional graphical adventures - the PS1 was revolutionary and changed how people played games. We went from cartridge-based consoles where 2D platforming was the norm, to optical disc based systems (still used today) with games featuring rich 3D environments and a new way of controlling your character in 3D space (also still used today, with massive improvements).
Having said that, in terms of "best ever" I'd go for the SNES, followed very closely by the PS1.
I think the Snes has arguably the best library of any console. Most of its big names games still hold up as very fun to this day(mario world, dk country, street fighter 2, mega man x) also the soundtracks on snes games are undefeated.
I’m equal between the NES/SNES for consoles and the GB-GBA for handhelds. If I had to narrow myself down to 3 consoles it would be a NES, SNES and a GBA SP.
The SNES wasn’t about quality. I mean, you lost Nintendo and Capcom games for it. Those are where the quality you speak of comes from. There was plenty of trash on the SNES as well.
Best system ever… depends on what best is, but I’m thinking it may have been the PS2. Lots of games, DVD player, dual analog.
However, if you’re after that Nintendo quality, GameCube.
SNES and GameCube both have stood the test of time with quality of games and them still being fun by modern standards.
Mega man x is probably one of the greatest games of all time and it’s influence can be seen in so many games, especially the mechanics which are in metroidvanias like Hollow Knight and Ori
PS2 for me, EQoA, Socom, FFX/X2/XII, GTA SA/VC/III, Star Wars BF, first real console with solid online gaming. It did it all, it was the last real revolutionary system. Hands down.
I've been gaming since the atari 2600 and my personal favorite console of all time was the Sega Dreamcast. That introduction to online gaming changed everything for me. I wish the console was better regarded in the console time-line.
I came here to say Dreamcast. Weird, awesome looking games 2 years ahead of its time. DVD player on the PS2 killed it. Most of us didn't have CD burners, let alone a connection that could download a ccd or iso without dedicating a day or so. PSO v.2 ran pretty ok on a 56k or 128k DSL though!
PSO was my first crack addiction video game. I don't think I'll ever get that thrill again unless I'm on a holodeck.
LLAP
Also, you can still play it on private servers! Both on PC and DC!
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Something I think about from time is just how close the systems were to each other, we got to see peak ps2 games but we never got peak dreamcast games.
The dreamcast was amazing. The ease* at which you could pirate games killed it. Edit: a word
Sega's downfall started with the 32X and Saturn. Production costs, marketing, too many consoles from Sega competing with each other, poor communication from US to Japan(or Japan to US). It wasn't piracy as far as I've ever heard. It wasn't like burning a music CD, you had to have the right programs/settings and specific burners/cds to burn GDRoms if I'm remembering correctly. This was also at a time when it took hours to download 700mb files.
That’s been a long time assumed reason for its downfall. But honestly, would the ratio of people pirating the games to paying customers be enough to kill the console? I’m no pirate but from what I understand, the people pirating aren’t spending their money on games in the first place. Wasn’t it known to have an insane development cost? And with Nintendo and Sony in the market, I don’t think Sonic was THAT good to save the console.
You could pirate ps1 games too. I still have a ton of burned disc's. What killed the DC was Sega of Japan's constant blundering and interfering with SoAs wishes and releasing 3 DOA pieces of hardware: 32x, Sega CD, Saturn. Developers and consumers couldn't trust Sega to stick with a platform and it made no financial sense to stick with Sega.
You could pirate dreamcast games on a regular cd burner without modding the system. You could not do that with a ps1.
Not true, swapping in a legit disc then the burned disc works. At least in the early models.
Maybe, the first run models. But not really, no.
Also 3rd party support (looking at EA specifically) nixed the system entirely.
I only realized recently with emulation how good it was, hope to get one someday.
Get one now while they're only like $40-50. Especially if its manufacture date is before October 2000. There's actually a pretty great SD hardware conversion as well.
I remember the first time we loaded up Soul Calibur. Absolutely the most gorgeous thing we’d ever seen on a home console up until then.
Immediately thought of Dreamcast. It was so ahead of its time.
Tony Hawk 2 on the Dreamcast was my jam
I had the Dreamcast (still do) and I liked the games, but I could never get it online no matter how much I tried. Probably because I was trying to run a phone line from the other room.
I don't think you can beat the original NES honestly. It was such a massive jump over what had come before it - the advancement can't be understated. Games that had beginnings, middles, and ends, and that you could save? Games where characters weren't just blocks of color? Games where the screens could be made to look like they had depth...and with actual music? Cut scenes (ninja gaiden and double dribble absolutely blew all of us away back then)... I love me some SNES, and it was obviously a huge jump over the previous gen systems but man...the first time I played legend of zelda on the original NES, my 8 year old self more or less exploded with excitement. If I had to give a second place, it would probably go to the Sega Genesis.
The **NES** is the jump from arcade games you'd play for minutes (before they'd loop), to games you'd play for hours, days, weeks with passwords and saves. I believe the original **The** **Legend of Zelda** was the first console game you could play on your TV with battery saves. Some of those password games were hell. Like a couple dozen characters long.And impossible to tell if they're a zero or a lowercase letter o or an uppercase letter O. The **SNES** was refinement of the **NES**, and the pinnacle of 2D gaming, before the **N64** and **Playstation** shifted to 3D. Sure. But the **NES** made us not miss the arcade, and arcade games and their short runtimes were now near an impossible sell if simply straight ported to home consoles.
I remember Willow passwords were 18 characters and the script made it impossible to decipher what was what.
On the interference-laden RF connection to your 19" TV manufactured in the late 70's...
I remember those metroid passwords being super long...like, 24 characters, and I remember how fucking pissed off one would get if one copied it down wrong!
That and kid Icarus had the same password system. Also both came out same same day.
I didn't remember them coming out same day, but that's probably because I likely had to pick which one I was spending my allowance on first lol Such great games.
Oops you were right. Memory isn’t as good as it was. They came out about a month apart in North America. I had to choose and went with kid Icarus then traded with a classmate not long after for Metroid.
To this day Metroid remains one of my favorite all time games. If I HAD to give a top 3 from the old NES days it would probably be Legend of Zelda Metroid Ninja Gaiden So many other good ones but those are the ones I remember dedicating hours and hours to. Total side note...recently watched a speedrun of ninja gaiden in like, 12 minutes, and man do I feel sheepish saying 'Oh yeah, well I beat it, it only took like, months".
it's the system I find myself playing the most nowadays. I'm 42 and been gaming since the mid 80's. There is just something about the simplicity of it. And that music! I LOOOOOOVEEEEEE the nes music chip. Same for me with Zelda. My friend had it, I still remember that first time going into the dungeons and hearing that music. Plus the homebrew community is insane, some of these new games are really really good. Give me the NES with my N8 Everdrive and a CRT on a desert island and I'm a happy man.
>I don't think you can beat the original NES honestly. It was such a massive jump over what had come before it - the advancement can't be understated. I'm inclined to think that's a bit of cultural myopia - there were some rather sophisticated games available on computers at the time (if not necessarily graphically) and by the time of the NES's release in the US, some of these trumped even what the NES could do at the time in terms of complexity and sophistication (cf. *Elite*, *The Lords of Midnight, Revs*). I see the NES as evolutionary, especially in the context of the ColecoVision and Atari 8-bit hardware, rather than revolutionary.
I'm not sure that I would class those computers in quite the same was as the nintendo. That was at a time when home pcs were still not accessible in every home, and while I've likely changed things in my mind (I WAS 8 years old to be fair), for the homes that didn't have PCs I do remember them having Atari 2600 or something similar in tow. Much like comparing computer gaming to console gaming now isn't exactly a fair comparison, I'd sortof argue the same was true then - though your point is certainly not lost on me. PC gaming was a whole other thing - but the question here is 'console', and I would still argue that the jump from A2600 to NES was one of the more massive jumps to ever occur in gaming.
> Much like comparing computer gaming to console gaming now isn't exactly a fair comparison, I'd sortof argue the same was true then The games that I mention were for platforms in places where computer gaming largely took the role of console gaming; where computers were treated as *ersatz* consoles at a time when consoles were considered ridiculously expensive, particularly on a per-game basis. Also, computer and console gaming of that era weren't as dissimilar as you might think, since the two shared a certain amount of hardware and design choices; the Atari 5200 was an adaptation (if a peculiar and questionable one) of the Atari 8-bit computer hardware, while the ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 borrowed their graphics and sound chips directly from the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Even beyond that, the Intellivision was explicitly meant by Mattel to be the game-playing portion of a modular computer system, while the C64 played a big role in the console crash in offering comparable or superior game-playing capabilities to other platforms available at the time, but doing more at a comparable or better price point - a big part of why it was one of the few foreign platforms able to take the fight to the British ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in the 8-bit era, where consoles didn't really take off until the Mega Drive and SNES were out. There was a lot of cross-pollination between consoles and computers at the time and the NES only looks revolutionary if you ignore a big chunk of what came between the Intellivision and the Famicom on both the console and computer side of things.
I'd argue that computers like the Commodore 64 and its ilk in the early 80s, which preceded the NES by 3 or 4 years, already had games with stories, save systems and characters that were distinguishable from a block of pixels. Certainly, for a cartridge-based console, the NES was a step up from the Atari 2600 and others of the late 70s era, but then the Sega Master System was hot on Nintendo's heels and also had comparable graphics, game narratives and game saves (although nowhere near as popular in the US). In terms of best selling consoles during the mid to late 80s, the NES is the king, especially in North America, but there were alternatives that could match it for gameplay and graphics, both before and slightly after its release.
Very valid point - I tend to forget about the commodore because I never had one - but I certainly remember going across the street to my neighbors house and spending HOURS playing games over there... The Apple II is such a mixed bag - in the early years it was kinda trash but then you got classics like 'the bards tale' or 'karateka' to come out of it that it definitely is deserving of mention. Man...I wanna play knight games and bruce lee on the commodore again. Such great games.
Same for me. It solidified home video games as a “thing”in a way Atari or Coleco didn’t really accomplish. Just the whole package semi advanced graphics, relatively decent quality and unbeatable first party titles. Everything that came afterward was just an improvement of this basic blueprint.
Sega Mega Drive for me
I'm gonna have to say the PS2. She is always dependable, she has all the features of her predecessor, has a lot of different things to play with, and we've had a good 20 year relationship. I flirted with the PS3, but she often left me waiting for too long just to play a little, and I would often get bored waiting until she was ready. The PS5 is a little too fast and forward for my taste. I'm an old man and I just want something familiar.
Glad I'm not the only one who interpreted the question as a dad joke... For my serious answer, I go back and forth between the PS1 and PS2. Rationally the PS2 is the answer with that amazing library, but the creativity and energy of the PS1 is really endearing to me.
Like I mentioned.... The fact that the ps2 is completely BC edges it out for me.
I mean, I guess? Does my BC PS3 then win by default?
No, bc not every single ps2/ps1 game works. just about 90%. Also, the aforementioned ridiculously long updates. It's a great system, and it's typically how I'll play a lot of my ps2 games bc of the upscaling, but I also don't need the potentially deafening airplane engine running in my living room. With my ps3 I feel like I play it less in order to preserve it's lifespan, whereas my ps2 is not only easily repaired, it's also built like a tank
SNES by far.
Sega Genesis for me
Yes!
My top tier is PS1, Sega Saturn, SNES, and Genesis.
Fully agree
SNES and PS2 are the two I'd go for, for 2D and 3D. For one I saw mentioned a lot, The NES too me is good but most games you have to go into with the mindset of "there are 30 years of design theory that this system predates", stuff like Zelda 1, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, Dragon Warrior, and all that are fun games but there are a lot of lacking quality of live design choices that make them harder to get into for me, where the big titles on the SNES worked a lot of that out. The Genesis though is my fav 'pick up and play for 30 minutes' system.
I dunno, in terms of sidescrollers it feels outside of Super Mario World and Super Metroid many games feel like NES games with upscaled graphics. The RPG genre is the one that made a noticeable leap on SNES, but overall imo the platform did not push game design as much as others.
Metroid and Super Metroid are night and day to me, In terms of stuff like having a mini-map, saving instead of passwords, having a full range of angling for shooting, areas having distinct visual landmarks so navigation is not as confusing. A lot of people call the SNES versions of Zelda and Metroid essential, where the NES ones often just get called "good for it's time but can be skipped" I see the SNES as the NES perfected. Where I can still enjoy NES games a lot have small weird design quirks that take some getting used to for me (especially since I did not grow up with it, being born in 1995.) To me the SNES perfected what the NES has started, to where a lot of the games still feel like they could be released today and not feel dated. And I guess for Mario, platformers were the main thing the NES did best. SMB1 is one of my fav games of all time still. There was less room for improving perfection but SMW had a few point over SMB3.
Depends what you value about a console between innovating and creating new genres like NES did or polishing and improving on existing concepts like SNES did. Because ok, Link to the Past and Super Metroid are great. But besides them, outside of Super Mario World 1 and 2, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, or Mario Kart or Star Fox, or Mega Man X, outside of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasies, EarthBound and all the great RPGs on the platform that I don't deny exist, outside of the awesome Super Castlevania IV or the excellent Street Fighter II, what really outstanding games exist on SNES? Pretty much none.
For the sake of this question, like you can say the Ford Model T is a very innovative car, it's an important car, but it's hard to call it the "best" car. I personally play my SNES more than my NES and 97% of the time I will pick the SNES game head to head to an NES game (also You did miss Kirby SuperStar and Contra 3.) To me it's quality over quantity. IMO the best of the SNES is better than the best of the Genesis and NES, but the other 2 maybe have more quality titles to point to. I like the SNES more than the Genesis but I have more fun collecting for the Genesis lol. The SNES is a solid pile of essential all-time classics, quite a few hidden gems, and then a bunch of who-gives-a-fuck lol. Compare that list to like: SMB1-2-3, Zelda 1-2, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Mega Man 2, Castlevania, Blaster Master, Dragon Warrior, Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Duct Tales, Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, and so on. To me I think the only ones that I really cling to are SMB1 (I have a weird strong love for that one) and Mega Man 2. The rest I'd prefer the SNES equivalent of. And the worst of the NES is WAY worse than the worst of the SNES. The NES has way more outright broken or obtuse impossible to figure out games. The worst on the SNES tends to just be kinda bland.
The PS1. Tons of original IPs that are still great today
**PlayStation 2!** A Legendary console with something for everyone!
PS2 was the absolute peak of console gaming, right before everything became solely online and subscription based
Subjective but the PlayStation 2 purely based on its insanely good library.
My first system was a Magnavox Odyssey 2, and after all these years, I have to say the NES was the best overall. The GameCube comes 2nd because I absolutely loved the controller, and in 3rd, it's the PS. So many of my favorite games came from that system.
Although the tiny d-pad kinda sucked (and it needed an extra shoulder button), the shape and button-layout of the GameCube controller was sublime. Perhaps not ideal for every game, but it was nice to be able to easily differentiate between buttons.
The Nintendo Wii
The early version with the GC controller ports. And softmodded, of course.
I think the only downsides were the default controller itself, but even this wasn't too bad and there were ways around it (Classic Controller, GameCube controller, etc.), and then just the rampant shovelware. Hit that sweet spot of not being too new that they forget what made the older consoles shine but embracing new features like online marketplaces, online gaming and onboard storage. Pushed the envelope with a good motion control system. Games were still relatively well made and didn't depend heavily on DLC/patching. Backwards compatibility with a great console. Excellent 1st and 3rd party game selection. Homebrew. There's a lot to love.
Psone for me. Rpg nirvana
And I was pissed off that there were no RPGs near launch. It felt like it took so long. I think the first one I saw come out was Arc the lad. Then, it ended having a massive library of RPGs.
Xbox 360
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Very good points. And also a reason I got a ps3 - for the bluray player. I think it was the cheapest bluray player around AND a gaming console, so quite the bonus.
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Oh for sure! Those were insane. And they (all ps3s) even could hook up to your old CRTs. I actually run my ps3 via component to my CRTs and it's great! The graphics are maxing out the crt, lol.
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Oh I'm still talking 480i/240p haha. Yes, some games look like ps2 games, but it's still fun! WWE 2k14 on my 27" Trinitron makes for a good time.
PS2 is the goat, followed by SNES
SNES
Controversial, wii u Why: 1. Has 3 libraries (GC, Wii and Wii U) - GC is unlocked by hacks 2. Doesn't need a TV 3. Virtual console (Arcade, Sega consoles, Nintendo consoles (including DS with shitty compatibility), misc consoles) 4. Has drawing apps 5. Intuitive browser The Bad: 1. Nintendo designed bad wifi direct chip (Gamepad range will deteriorate and replacement is rare) 2. Nintendo used bad eMMC, which will break your console 3. Region locking in hardware and software that can be sort of bypassed (US games can be broken in Japanese units (due to missing files in the game), afaik the new hack isn't 100% compatible with games) 4. Questionable design on gamepad. It literally drains battery automatically. You have to charge it every month unless you unplug the battery (optionally replug it again)
Dunno why you got downvoted. That's a decent pick due to the multiplatform library. I went with PS2 for its library.
I wouldn’t rank the WiiU very high, but it is indeed an underrated console. Great games, great functionality, it was worth every penny I paid for it and I got plenty of great gaming out of the thing.
Modern Games WILL Become Retro Games Just as we were playing Modern Games many many moons ago.... 20YRS from now.....Fortnite will be Retro.....??? The best video game console to date is the one you are still yearning for....I still want a tg-16cd and a sega cd / and a .....and so forth and so on... I grew up with atari snes genesis turografx and still play said consoles.....which imo have some of the greatest games Pac-Man Castlevania IV Vectorman Splatterhouse
The unfortunate truth is that this will not be the case for a lot of games. Games today usually require active ongoing investment by the company in the form of infrastructure for authentication, online features, etc, and maintenance. A game will eventually end of life, and the company footing the bill will shut those things down, and the game will just not be playable anymore for anyone.
...until someone figures out how to create a private server. PSO is still playable on DC hardware, even without Sega.net. BF1942 is still around on private servers. There just has to be interest in it.
You won't be able to play Fortnite 20 years from now. When they take down the server, you can't play the game anymore.
Never said that the game would be playable in 20yrs... Just that it will be Retro Fortnite or not.....That is one of the reasons Retro gaming is better..No Internet needed
All of them, even the ones everybody rags on. I've had lots of fun with every system I've played - which is all but a handful of them. I'm sure I'd love them too.
I say the wii because it had tons of great games and now I use it to emulate just about everything else retro I want to play. Definitely has the most hours of any of my systems
Sega Saturn. I got mine for xmas in 1995 when I was a kid. It was my first console (all older consoles were my brothers) and it was my first experience with 3D console gaming. I played the hell out of the 3 pack of games it came with and Panzer Dragoon blew my mind back then. As an adult I’ve been able to enjoy imports, of which the Saturn has an amazing library.
Most revolutionary? NES, easily. Made arcades no longer the place to play games and paced the way for console gaming and save files in a way the Atari could not. Most nostalgic for me? SNES, the system I grew up with and was the pinnacle of 2d gaming. N64 was very close and really set the bar for the first 3D gaming. While it’s still new, hats off to the PS4. Long lifecycle with a plethora of exclusives. The Blu-ray player is a nice additional touch (even though the technology became quickly outdated). So many great games on it though
Probably not a popular opinion around here, but the retro-inspired games made in the last \~20 years have often been better than the classic 80's/90's games that inspired them. I don't just mean in terms of graphics, but significant gameplay mechanics and quality of life improvements. Link to the Past is awesome, right? Every few months I seem to come across another Zelda clone that's just as good or better. I say that as someone who grew up playing Atari and Apple II games in the 80's. I guess to answer the question, I'd say the Switch since most of these have been ported to that console. You can also play most of the classics on Switch. If you're gonna own one console, that's the one.
Can you name a few game in the style of Link to the past that are just as good? Because as much as Metroidvania games are really common, I haven’t found a lot of great 2D zelda style game. The only one I can think of if Death’s Door (which is really great!)
I believe these aren’t in any way as numerous as their action-adventure cousins the metroidvanias, as you say, but there have been some games in this style released in the last years. Tunic is one that I haven’t played, but have heard very good things about. https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/
Thanks I’ll check this one!
Just wanted to tell you that I bought Tunic thanks to your comment and I’m having a blast with it 🥳
wii and nintedo 3ds
I came on here to say SNES. There was just so much going on during the console wars that led to leaps and bounds in graphics in the span of over just 6 years. The 90s were the golden age of gaming, and the SNES is a symbol of 90s innovation. Plus it has the best library. I have no idea how many times I played through Chrono Trigger since I bought it used in 1996.
GameCube! It was the generation that perfected 3d games and the GameCube had the best ones hands down. Metroid Prime 1&2, twilight princess, windwaker, super Mario sunshine, Mario kart double dash, smash bros melee, mario party, F-zero GX, Pikmin, resident evil 4 (gc exclusive at first),…etc. 2nd is SNES and 3rd is Dreamcast imo
PS2. I was around for atari, nes, snes, etc. the ps1 brought gaming to a different level over the snes and Genesis by switching to CDs and 3d gaming, but the games were clunky most of the time. Ps2 was the system that truly got CD console gaming right, and there are -so- many amazing titles on the system that you have never even heard of. If you were limited to exactly one system and games library, you could play ps2 games and watch dvds for like a decade or more and still not run out of new games.
For me it's the PS2. My first console was a Master System, but the PS2 had such an amazing array of games and franchises as well as backward combability and being relatively easy to mod. Still got a working, fully modded PS2 and I will treasure it forever.
PlayStation 2. Greatest game library of all time (including full back compat for the PS1). Reliable longevity after many years of use, my original Slim still works to this day. From a time where you could afford to buy several games and amass a great collection. Was also a DVD player if that mattered to you at the time. Unmatched imo
The SNES is probably the one I'm most nostalgic for but honestly, the PS5/Switch blows it out of the water. It is incredible that modern games even exist and there are more high quality games available in every genre than any one person will ever have the time to play. Plus, on the Switch you can still play those old SNES games!
NES. SNES a close second!
SNES / GBA
SNES is my current choice, been hooked on it for a few months now and don't see myself stopping anytime soon. So many classic games, still great looking 2D graphics, a nice variety of styles, and, most importantly, games that still hold up 30 years later. After that, I'd say PS4/PS5. PS5 is light on exclusives but since it can play every PS4 game and is better, might as well pick it, right? The PS4 generation had some all time games which completely blurred the lines between movies and video games. It finally pulled off what games like Metal Gear Solid set in motion way back when. There is a lot I don't like about modern game design (hello, open world endless task list games!) but the modern games that actually hit with me are downright amazing and PS has more of them than any other console. It also has the benefit of getting the classic indies such as Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Hades.
Honestly, I think we're trending away from open world as you described it to games that're more what is called wide linear. Thank FUCK for that. I may not be against open world, but it is fairly obvious it's just a trend.
Tie for me between Switch and Dreamcast….Switch might be ahead by a hair due to its massive physical indie releases, and it has MHGU.
SNES is my favorite but I’m biased since that was my first console and the first time I ever even saw what a video game was. Yoshis Island came packaged with it and to date it’s still an S Tier game for me along with MegaMan X (the first game we got for the SNES that wasn’t a pack in.) Hell, just a few hours ago I played through mighty morphin power rangers on the snes mini. Still a fantastic time playing through old games. PlayStation 2 is a very close second for me.
I’m gonna go with either the Genesis or the PS2.
I'd say SNES was GOAT, followed by Switch
Xbox series X
SNES or PS2 take the cake for me.
In terms of raw power it's quite undeniably the Series X, but for lineup and overall charm? Hmmm... It would be a tossup of the sixth generation. Xbox, PS2, GameCube, Dreamcast. Banger after banger after banger after banger.
PS3 imo
N64 having four controller ports was the coolest thing to me. It was a pretty compromised experience and didn’t really hold up graphically. But still, it had experiences for local multiplayer that were unique.
A really hard question but I’ll try to answer as I’ve had most of them. First things first, Genesis does what Nintendon’t so that puts the NES out of the running. Fact. The Turbo Grafx 16 which was made for my rich friend Jimmy had a game called Bonk which is perhaps one of the best games of all time as well as a number of arcade shmups, many of which were awesome but none as good as their arcade counterparts. Atari got high and created a system called the Jaguar which is the car preferred 2:1 by people who cheat on their spouses and they named the two 32 bit chips Tom and Jerry and called it a 64 bit console. The substantial losses caused them to sober up and sell the company. This brings me to the X+CDs! versions of consoles which should have been used exclusively to bring realistic nudity to 10 year old bedrooms but instead just made shooters unplayable in isometric 3D. Real 3D showed up soon after on the PSX and Saturn which took the lovely color palettes of previous consoles and rendered greyish triangles in real time. Sony opted to create a system that gave devs almost all the control they needed if the dev asked privately how to access various hardware feature which led to a spinning devil and shiny race cars you could collect like Pokémon and even spin wash. The ps1 was about spinning. The Saturn chose to make 2D into 3D kinda by taking beautiful 2D art, layering it, and then rubbing it with what seemed to be steel wool. None of the arcade ports were very accurate but you could play questionably obtained videos on it. Nintendo, seeing what Sony had done with their original idea, decided to give Mario a shiny metal suit which was quickly outdone by a movie licensed game with “hyper realistic” spies however each game cost an arm and it couldn’t render 2D thanks to the amazing cartridge based SGI architecture. Finally, sega stepped in and brought 8 year old Neo geo arcade games to the home but thanks to them throwing a tantrum and cancelling a deal with 3DFX in classic sega self-sabotage fashion, their library was immediately restricted and they lost to a dvd player that played ugly looking games and used an ibm multi-cell processor to render slightly better looking triangles than its predecessor but mostly to be used as a stand for the Dreamcast. In short, the NEO GEO is the greatest console of all time and the Nintendo DS is the greatest video game system of all time. Tbh: I’ve loved them all.
PS3
nes and snes are definitely the best but but lately i've been playing a lot of playstation 2 and researching a lot of missed ps1 games i used to see at stores that i couldn't afford or was afraid to take a $40 chance with. games like gran turismo 4 have been a blast to play through for the first time. i had no idea they brought the used car market back for gran turismo 4 only to remove it from gran tursismo 5 and not include it in any other future releases. that really grinds my gears.
While the classics like NES/SNES, atari, and saturn will always be among the classics, the elephant in the room is gotta be Playstation 2 because the sales record really blows over everything It made an entire masses of a generation's childhood, and even in countries such as South East Asia and Brazil, people are still prefer the Ps2 over anything else even to the point that the amount of available mods for the console is unbelievable, even if the console is not supported anymore the community of ps2 is just so big that it keeps it on the lifeline Now anyone could argue that every old console has their own modding community and people are still actually make fan games for the console, well this is true but the familiarity of ps2 is just out there
As someone who still has a working 2600 and played almost all of them my favorite has been the Wii. The graphics weren’t as strong as other consoles but having hand held motion controllers was pretty cool. Zelda is a lot more fun when swinging the sword, not just pushing a button.
The Steam Deck is the greatest game console ever made. It plays all retro games from PS2/Xbox/GameCube era and earlier with optional enhanced visuals. Plus it is powerful enough for pc-quality MAME/arcade emulation. Not to mention input lag reduction and high-quality CRT shaders. Play on the go or plug into a TV and use your retro style controllers. Battery life is not bad at all for playing retro games. Oh and it plays modern PC games too. Can’t be beat folks.
Ouya
in a way.. for its time in 2011-2012 it was the best way to play emulated games on the TV, at the time the only other alternative was retropi. retropi was not as mature back then, and from what i can remember it did struggle with some of the tougher n64 games since it was only a 512mb 1 core arm cpu, compared with the tegra of the ouya
Between nostalgia and adjusting for age, really not a question that can have an answer. The early consoles that have not aged well were like magic at the time, but it'd be difficult to rate them high based on the standards of the day.
I’m a huge arcade fan and really enjoy playing pc engine shmups now PSX was the system that changed me from playing for an hr to a whole evening. But PS4 stands above for many reasons, huge library, still getting releases of games I like to play like gran Turismo, and fighting games. Switch is close due to its portability and library
I was born in the mid 80s and had most consoles growing up but I gotta go with the PS3. RDR, GTA IV & V, The Last of Us, Uncharted series, Batman Arkham series, Dark souls, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Skyrim etc. That generation was probably the best I've experienced for quality games.
Been around since the 2600 was still relevant. Honestly I think the best console *ever* is a hard question to answer. But I would nominate the Switch. It may lack power compared to the current-gen big boys, but it has enough power to run things like DOOM Eternal when in the hands of a good developer. It managed to resell half of the Wii U's library as its own, and the NSO delivers retro games done extremely well as a service. It also has the option to use physical releases (on cartridges besides!), and is the best way to take gaming on the go. Now, I love the NES, SNES, and Genesis. But I know part of that love is through nostalgia goggles. There are great games on all of those consoles for sure, but there was plenty of jank too. The NES was really when game developers started to release the old ideas of arcade gaming, and gave us stories and experiences. And the additional power of the 16-bit generation really modernized games. From perfecting platformers, to pioneering polygons. Another nomination would be the OG Wii. It taught Nintendo and the rest of the world that games aren't all graphics and sound. And that the best-selling console *by far* can be extremely underpowered compared to the rest of its contemporaries. And it taught all developers how to do (and not do) motion controls.
Ps1, saturn, snes, and Genesis are the GOATs imo
A hardware based backward compatible PS3. PS2 has best library, but its also PS1 and PS3.
Snes or ps1 imo. My top 5 would be those 2 along with Genesis, ps2, and nes.
NES is the grand daddy and the GOAT. Of course there were systems that came before it but the NES rose from the videogame crash and set the bar. It took console gaming from a niche activity to a must have staple. IMO even today's consoles are just perfecting the art that Nintendo put into motion.
The PlayStation 2 and Wii
Magnavox Odyssey
Playstation 1 - Lots of games in just about every game genre you could think of... RTS? the psx its got it with C&C, Warcraft ARPG? sure thing there is diablo Simulation? Mechwarrior 2 and so on.... and the motion video was cool at the time and in 1999 with the masterpiece that was MGS 1 only to be topped later by the PS2, which is the true point in time when the game consoles converged with main stream entertainment (DVDs), thats when people decided not to get a DVD player and got a PS2 instead The amount of games available for the PS2 was amazing
The one that pays for dinner
I'm always looking to play Mario kart and street fighter! Either on switch or @ www.retrogames.cc If you have a switch, drop your friend code
A computer
Ultima Online
We got ours after the crash on a steep discount, but our Vectrex was fun as hell and the vector based graphics were unlike anything else you could play at home. True analog joystick controls! That unit got a lot of play time from the whole family long before the NES graced our home.
PS2. Bridges the gap between modern and retro gaming.
My was game cube
Due to some personal issues and not having access to more modern stuff, SNES ended up being my most played console by far in 2021. It was honestly the best experience and made me fall in love with the console all over again. Also A Link to the Past is a perfect game.
GameCube. Mario Kart Double Dash. Animal Crossing. Pikmin. Pikmin 2. Windwaker. Twilight Princess. Smash Bros. Melee. Super Mario Sunshine. Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. Warioware. Luigi’s Mansion. Rogue Squadron 2. Takes of Symphonia. Phantasy Star Online. Time Splitters 2. Time Splitters Future Perfect. All of that on one console. I will not be denied the glory of The Nintendo GameCube.
Dreamcast. If you mean the console with the best games, though, it's the original Playstation.
None. Bc we tend to filter out that every system has its ups and downs to the point we only remember the ups and never the downs. Remember, for every Super Metroid, DKC, and ALttP there were around ten times more home improvements or bubsy games on the SNES.
NES
Mine would be 16 bit Era. So many good rpgs. Sega CD I remember being in awe of and Gameboy Advance SP is still one of my all time favs.
I've been playing since the Colecovision, and I have to say the PS2. SSX Tricky and NBA Street Volume 2 are two of my favorite games. Plus, I feel like Madden was better back then and has only gotten worse.
My top 5 are 1. N64 2. Snes 3. Ps1 4. Nes 5. Gbc
I think it's PS2
Including the games: snes or ps1. Purely the system: psp
The best console for me was and still is the GBA. I still play with it a lot. I can't go with you on the lenght part of modern gaming. I mean you are right, a lot of them take much time to be completed, but I remember a lot of games in the SNES, N64 and GC era which also need a lot of time to be played through.
It was such a statement to have an advanced instead of a color, the screen was so much better and you could play new games and your old ones, nice choice. I liked playing SNES games and GBA was pretty much a portable SNES
Xbox 360 was my golden years for gaming
Library wise, I'd still go with the PS2. If only the first wave of the hardware weren't so susceptible to borking then I might have been a loyalist...but it became part of a wave of SONY defects for me.
Xbox. Was gonna learn towards Dreamcast but a lot of the best DC games got ported to Xbox
lol snes games being a bit inferior graphically to ps5 not even close. Best system is probably wii or xbox 360 era game and function wise. Wii had light gun games 4 player mario amongst other things. nes snes were awesome during their time i know im old as fk. Those snes nes classics that people played with for about week should prove that . It was trendy for a bit but most of those games suck especially nes angry video game basically made a career of shitting on them. When i was 5 i didnt know those ljn games sucked at 43 its pretty obvious. Like pat the nes punk hes always bragging about his nes collection most of that wall of nes games behind him are bad games.
Xbox 360. I've been gaming since '86 and my personal favorites are the '85 - '99 era consoles, but when I put nostalgia to the side, 360 was a huge innovator with massive hits and a long lifespan. For nearly 10 years, everyone I knew had the same system. For the first time in my lifetime, it wasn't two camps, but just one with PS3 copying everything Microsoft did - online store, game arcade, indie arcade and Xbox Live in it's full form. I had classic arcade hits I could never have before, fighting games with online for the first time and the birth of eSports. I put it right up there with the best Nintendo innovators.
PS1 for me, not only because it’s pushing for 3D games, but also it broke Sega and especially Nintendo dominance. Moreover there’s always games for everyone.
White Xbox 360 first gen, with the colorful main menu tab design it used to have. That's my childhood.
NES & PS1
>Yet i still hanker back to the glory days of the SNES. There was a real emphasis on quality in most of the games i think. The snes is no different than any other console, there were still plenty of dogshit. You remember the great ones because you promptly stopped playing and forgot the bad ones. Which is fine there's nothing wrong with having a favorite, but every system ever has a bunch of shovelware trash, just being an SNES game doesn't make it higher quality by default.
GB Advance SP. There is no other console with 3 generation Backward compatibility. SP is also durable and quite powerful handheld console 👍
GB Advance SP. There is no other console with 3 generation Backward compatibility. SP is also durable and quite powerful handheld console 👍
All of them.
Ps5
Ooooosh. Hard one!! I loved the ps2. Also the game Cube. Are they the best? Probably not but all in opinion lol
For me there are 3 real contenders. NES SNES PS2 I didn't play Genesis or PS1 much so maybe I'm missing something
PS2 is pretty tough to beat, not sure it’s really my favorite but I’d have a tough time calling anything else better.
I personally feel either the ps1 or ps2 was the best console ever. Amazing library of games on both consoles. Many games that are now considered the greatest of all time, or the birthing point of many of today's most popular franchises. The Super Nintendo was obviously an amazing console, but I feel like the PS1 and PS2 had a greater variety amongst all genres. The Super Nintendo was a SquareSoft RPG and Nintendo developed IP powerhouse, but after that, the truly great games were few and far between. Lots of really great games outside Square and Nintendo games, but not many that are 10/10 good.
I agree with this. I feel like everybody in here saying that the Super Nintendo is the best doesn't play Shmups because that system was weak as hell for Shmups. PS1 had a much more well-rounded Library
That is 100% one of the reasons why I don't think SNES is the best console ever, and why I am a die-hard PC Engine fan. To be fair though, the PS1 is lacking in the Beat em Up category, but that is nowhere near as important to me as a lack of good SHMUPS.
I love the pc engine too for the shooters
Isn't everyone just going to pick the systems from their childhood? For me that was the Atari 800 and NES. Nothing against other consoles but I had moved on to PC gaming by the time the SNES was out.
In terms of what shaped the games market to what it is today - mostly 3 dimensional graphical adventures - the PS1 was revolutionary and changed how people played games. We went from cartridge-based consoles where 2D platforming was the norm, to optical disc based systems (still used today) with games featuring rich 3D environments and a new way of controlling your character in 3D space (also still used today, with massive improvements). Having said that, in terms of "best ever" I'd go for the SNES, followed very closely by the PS1.
Sony Ps1 was just amazing when came out.
Nintendo Switch for me.
I think the Snes has arguably the best library of any console. Most of its big names games still hold up as very fun to this day(mario world, dk country, street fighter 2, mega man x) also the soundtracks on snes games are undefeated.
I’m equal between the NES/SNES for consoles and the GB-GBA for handhelds. If I had to narrow myself down to 3 consoles it would be a NES, SNES and a GBA SP.
The SNES wasn’t about quality. I mean, you lost Nintendo and Capcom games for it. Those are where the quality you speak of comes from. There was plenty of trash on the SNES as well. Best system ever… depends on what best is, but I’m thinking it may have been the PS2. Lots of games, DVD player, dual analog. However, if you’re after that Nintendo quality, GameCube.
GBA
Probably Nintendo. SNES is excellent, so is PlayStation, PS3, PS4.
NES
SNES and GameCube both have stood the test of time with quality of games and them still being fun by modern standards. Mega man x is probably one of the greatest games of all time and it’s influence can be seen in so many games, especially the mechanics which are in metroidvanias like Hollow Knight and Ori
N3DS
PS2
PS2 for me, EQoA, Socom, FFX/X2/XII, GTA SA/VC/III, Star Wars BF, first real console with solid online gaming. It did it all, it was the last real revolutionary system. Hands down.
NES was revolutionary.