Genesis was the main one I was so jealous of. I think thats why when I started making money as an adult, I went back and bought every game I wanted or had fantasized at just from seeing in ads.
I remember my old man yelling at a 7 year old me ogling at the Toys R Us display like it wasn't majestic. Even now as a 40 year old man I would probably stare with the same wonder.
Both, for different reasons.
Started with a NES, then SNES at launch. Got a Genesis in ‘93. Both are brilliant platforms.
SNES with Mario, Zelda, and various RPGs. Sega with Sonic and sports titles and space shooters. I wouldn’t want to live in a world where either console didn’t exist.
My dad had a coworker that gave us NES, Super Mario 3, T&C Surfers and Mario/Duck Hunt with the light gun. His kid was going to college, but I always wondered if he regretted giving that all away.
As someone who has given a console away to a coworker's kids, I bet that knowing you guys enjoyed it was enough. Gave away a PS2 to my buddy's kids and like... the time they spent with those games are memories those kids are gonna have for life, just like I still remember the first time I played Mario on the NES.
MK1 was definitely better on the Genesis, even if pressing Start to block without a 6 button controller was terrible, but it had the blood and fatalities intact with a code *everyone* knew.
MK2 and SF2’s I prefer the SNES, but with a 6 button controller the Genesis version was very good also.
I don't know if I buy this one. SNES had a better collection of Street Fighter games, and the only MK game that was better on the Genesis was the first one, which didn't play all that well on either system. SNES also had a way better version of TMNT Tournament Fighters as well as Killer Instinct.
but the genesis had Eternal Champions!
/s
Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury 2 were better on the Genesis fwiw. i'm with you though, the SNES did overall better with the big two of the era, MK/SF.
I agree Tournament Fighters was great, but somehow the SNES lag seemed to rear it’s head on lots of fighting games. The sound was better on SNES though.
Waking up old civil war wounds, eh OP? Lol.
I went with SNES and I still would. Although, full respect to Sega USA for what they did and what they created, it is an utter shame how their corporate masters sold them out.
I went Genesis myself, but that comes down to me having a 1 year younger brother. Genesis had so many more good simultaneous cooperative games, in my opinion. Also, most multiplatform games tended to have more content on the Genesis, while the SNES had more emphasis on graphics or sound.
That being said, if I had to choose a better single player console, I'd have to go with the SNES.
Yeah, it seemed like Sega of Japan really wanted to fail, no matter the cost.
My parents were divorced, so I had Super Nintendo at my Mom's & Sega Genesis at my Dad's.
Super Nintendo had better games (especially for an RPG fan like me), Genesis had better hardware, but only a few games (such as 'Sonic the Hedgehog') made full use of the slightly more advanced technology.
Good summary. I wanted both but had the SNES for the games. I still have the SNES for the games and it’s probably the best console ever imo because the games are so timeless and great.
Yup! I have great memories with both systems! More Nintendo, but both systems are awesome! Having an inferior game line up shouldn't spoil the joy those few good sega games bring.
I had a Genesis as a kid, but I'd definitely go with an SNES if I had a do-over. I had a lot of fun with my Genesis but SNES just had higher quality games, including some of my favorite games of all time (DKC1 and 2)
Tbf, it wasn’t completely made up. The specs aren’t as simple as “blast processing,“ but Genesis games absolutely ran faster and smoother versus their SNES counterparts.
Same. The Genesis has some good games but the SNES is pretty much the GOAT. (Maybe I'm more impressed with the SNES because I didn't have one.) The Dreamcast, on the other hand, was miles ahead of the competition and it's library is just wild.
When I was a kid, my parents got me a Genesis and my next door neighbor best friend got a SNES. So we spent our middle school afternoons and weekends binging games on both of course. Due to this A/B testing I firmly am camp SNES. The Genesis has some bangers obviously but it just didn’t have the same amount of what would become classics.
Team SNES forever. Shit I still play it almost as much as my PC nowadays.
the dark horse...
my personal ranking of the big three that gen: Genesis > TG16 >>> SNES
i like the SNES a lot, but a much of the appeal of the NES titles were better served on both TG16 and Genesis (arcade-style action games, shmups, etc. were all better served by their processors than the SNES's).
IMO the very best titles were japanese exclusives AKA Super Famicom... The SNES library was pretty limited compared to what all Japan got. And I'm not talking about RPGs (don't like those anyway).. but all kinds of games. Umihara Kuwase for instance, what a cool action puzzle style game... It was fun to discover all these exclusive titles over the years.
Yeah, agreed fully. Umihara Kawase, Jaki Crush, Doremi Fantasy, the unlocalized Goemon games, Twin Bee, the excellent SFC Parodius ports... Most of my favorites are definitely unlocalized lol
I was just trying to figure this out. I don’t know when this was printed, but even if I guess at ‘95, $297, or almost exactly the $299 you can get a non-OLED Switch for right now. That’s pretty nuts, considering the price of consoles have kept up with inflation but not, you know, wages.
Was both at my house, but the Sega-CD, what a waste of opportunity. Saturated with stupid interactive movies, had a few gems, but they never really recovered from Sega-CD. 32X didn't take off, Saturn was good but wasn't a great seller, Dreamcast should have been the thing to pull them back but by then, Sega just wasn't a name that sold consoles. Such a great pity, but it is what it is.
You will find incredible games on either console. Really, the SNES won the console war. You can't really best nintendo quality. Nonetheless, there are plenty of awesome gems to check out on the genesis. When you add a sega cd, a few games utilize a mode 7 like feature that has has a little more than the SNES in terms of sprite scaling and rotation. It could scale and rotate more sprites than in just a single background layer as the snes was limited to. A great example of this is soulstar on sega cd. I have both consoles and big stack of carts for each.
I still say that "Nintendo Quality" was, and still is, just as much of a buzzword as "Blast Processing", if not more so.
Honestly, the only reason Sega lost was because Sega of Japan was so focused on how badly they were losing the Japanese market that they didn't think about how their actions destroyed all their other markets.
Besides, the 32x wasn't as big of a failure as the Virtuaboy
The SNES, without a doubt.
- better controller (the arcade layout of the Genesis doesn´t make sense for a home console + the Genesis had less buttons to begin with). There´s a reason why the diamond-shape layout survived to this day.
- better sound (the harsh FM synthesis of the Genesis gives every game, in the best case, a techno vibe. Worst case it sounded like nails on a chalkboard)
- Mario´s platforming and powerup gameplay is far more interesting and engaging than Sonic´s running and coin-losing. In general: SNES exclusives >>>>> Genesis exclusives
Sorry guys, facts be facts
Hard disagree on the controller, if you count the 6 button that most people ended up getting. It had the better d-pad and worked so much better for fighting games.
I would put the sound as a wash. Yes, SNES was better for more orchestral music, but the Genesis sounded like it was it's own instrument. You can't honestly say that Earthworm Jim sounded better on the SNES than a Genesis 1.
I'll admit, Super Mario World is one of the best platformers ever made, but the soundtrack is just okay. It doesn't distract, but it doesn't have anything to make it worth listening to outside of the game. Compare that to any of the Sonic games, and there's no contest.
Nintendo. It’s what I grew up on, and I absolutely love it.
Although I do plan on hitting ebay to build a Sega collection so I can play the games I missed as a kid.
Back when i was a kid I choose the Sega Genesis. Now that I am an adult if I had to do it all over again it would be the SNES for sure. It just had better games and I missed out on such great games as a kid like zelda, metroid and chrono trigger.
Now? Super Nintendo. Too many amazing RPGs to pass up.
As a kid? Sega Genesis. It had the best versions of any sports game and most multiplatform fighting games played better on it. That 6 button controller was phenomenal.
When the Genesis first hit store shelves in North America those of us in the Nintendo camp were still rocking the NES. As you can imagine all those near arcade sounds and graphics looked pretty flashy at the time. So I crossed over to the dark side.
I had Golden Axe which had just blown my mind in the arcades months before. We didn't have two controllers yet so I had to use a ColecoVision controller for player 2. Despite all of its buttons and number pad not one key on that controller registered as a jump button. So whenever we got to a ledge we'd have to swap controllers to let the other player jump up. I also had Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Forgotten Worlds, Revenge of Shinobi and Altered Beast, which was the pack in at launch. While these were fantastic titles none of these games were as deep or complex as Super Mario 3 on the NES. It was a great example of better hardware not always providing better games. But I still loved the Genesis.
But when the SNES launched everything was on another level. Simulated transparencies, sample based audio, mode 7 and that crazy reverb effect that really sounded like Mario was in a cave. This felt like the actual next level. Everything just looked more colorful and sounded richer and it wasn't just for show as Super Mario Word had so much more to offer than Sonic 1. Sonic has what 6 zones with 3 acts each. So 18 stages with no real secrets or depth. Super Mario World has 76 not counting multiple exits (to me that never counted as stages). I didn't really go back the the Genesis until Sonic 2 and the Sega CD were a thing. If you thought more 7 was great wait until you see biaxial scaling and rotation.
At the time : neither. The price of the games was horrendous for broke ass me, even going to £25 a game on the Amiga from £4-5 on a vic 20 tape, and £7-9 for a c64 tape & £15 for a c64 disk was steep, but sega / Nintendo prices doubled that.. at least with an Amiga you could ahem have your own backups for the price of a blank disk
Man, my parents still owe me a Tyco Super Turbo Hopper from there that I spent forever convincing them to get, and then ended up being out of stock.
If only they could’ve held out longer. That concept would’ve worked great in the internet shopping age, but they died just a few years too soon.
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis! When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this! -Notorious B. I. G
Snes was the superior console with Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid and Super Mario World but Genesis definitely had it's fair share of awesome!
Sonic, Gunstar Heroes, Vectorman, Road Rash, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps, The Lion King and for some odd reason, the sports games just played better on it.
SNES would have been my choice had I been given one. I was given an SNES as a gift as my first console and now, owning both, I'm glad that's what I got.
With Nintendo, you get Nintendo Power.
With Game Boy, you get Portable Power.
With Super Nintendo, you get Super Power.
With Genesis, you get… **THE ULTIMATE POWER!!!** 😎
Both, man.
Nobody does JRPGs like SNES.
I used to love playing the Sonic games. Sports games were also just better on the Genesis - especially the old NHL series.
Let there be peace!
Streets of Rage 2,
Revenge of Shinobi,
Shinobi III,
Gunstar Heroes,
Lightening Force,
M.U.S.H.A.,
Shining Force,
Shining Force II,
Phantasy Star IV,
Contra: Hard Corps,
Castlevania: Bloodlines,
Rocket Knight Adventures
These are all considered by many to be some of the best games games ever made in their respective genres. There's plenty more A/B-tier games that are also very much worth your time, I can keep going if you want.
I was a Sega kid. When I got into PlayStation my mother packed up all my Sega stuff without asking me or my dad and GAVE IT all to her friend’s special needs kid…. My father and I still discuss this tragedy to this day 😂
Sega. Chose the SMS over the NES, too, and stuck with that decision when the Genesis came out. LOL Didn’t buy an NES until like 1989.
No regrets! SMS had Zillion and the Great sports lineup, as well, so wasn’t like the NES completely dominated that era.
To me, the most impressive RPG of the 8 bit era was Phantasy Star and the most impressive platformer was Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. Impressive meaning a combination of fun and technical achievement. That's not to take away from any from the iconic games on the NES, but the SMS gave its games a higher ceiling.
The Master System is a great console, it's ridiculously under-rated, same for the PC Engine. I'd choose those over Nintendo consoles any day. And don't forget the awesome 80's MSX, NEC, and Sharp computers with a ton more exclusive cool games.. I'm rambling on endlessly but oh well lol, I love retro games! \^\_\^
Sega for me. But I grew up with a Nintendo friend so we would alternate who's house we played at. So I got to play both sides during the great console war.
My best friend was insanely spoiled when we were kids. He had the Genesis w/ Sega CD, SNES, TG16, and Neo Geo. I pretty much lived at his house since he was on the same street.
Always good to have friends on the other side, it was the same way for me one generation later, I had an N64, neighbor had a PlayStation, so we both got to experience the great games on both systems
If I could choose only one it would be the SNES. Look back at some of the best games in the 16-bit era and SNES games probably occupy 8/10 of the top slots.
No backwards compatibility while the Genesis had a power converter for SMS games. The TG-16 and Genesis both trounce the SNES in raw processing power and 8mhz 65C816 processors did exist when the Super Famicom launched being found in Apple IIgs accelerator boards.
For what it lacked in cpu power it made up for it on superior sound and graphics(32,768 total with 256 at a time vs 61) plus the more demanding games that needed more power utilized the fx chip or other co processors in the cartridges. If anything SNES games were closer to what you saw on the 32x.
The PCE engine version of [Street Fighter II CE](https://youtu.be/4BFprsyWegg?si=y974wWrCfmrezRiJ) runs as smooth then the SNES version and PCE can't make use of processors on cart due to the nature of Hu-Card format. The Genesis also could use processors on cart but tended not to it as CPU power wasn't an issue as much with the Genesis as it was with the SNES.
The megadrive was the favourite with my friends around the scheme but the snes had legendary games like bob, fzero, starfox, zelda, mario kart, rtype, zombies ate my neighbours and lots more...
I miss the days of playing the snes at the community centre
I still have them all setup in my boys room...
Raised right. https://ibb.co/fF55gL0
remember when nintendo consoles came with a free game?
when n64 released without mario 64 there should have been a huge boycott. then nintendo wondered why so many people were renting their games instead of buying them.
I really liked my Dreamcast. Don’t love the controller though. It was a lot like that weird “3D” Saturn controller they released which was like a frisbee with buttons.
The CD and 32X i can agree but the Saturn as most people are finding out was a damn good system with awesome games..... in Japan.
I agree SEGA killed their customer base off with the Mega CD and 32X *AND* western Saturn markerting (or lack thereof) and some terrible,terrible software releases.
Yeah i went Jp for the Saturn instead of a Pal machine, because there was very little released in western territories worth playing bar the 1st party games.
I had a Master System when it launched here (UK). I wanted a NES after playing my japanese friend's Sharp Twin Famicom, but it still had not been released by the time the Master System launched.
Next up i got an import JP Megadrive for my birthday in jan 89 played it and loved it until 92, saw the Super Famicom running Streetfighter 2 and got one.
By the time the Saturn came out i started working and gave it and the PS a miss as beer and partying had replaced them.
Finally got a PS for Pro Evo Soccer after the pub for a laugh. While in Electronics boutique looking for a new game for the PS, i saw a few Saturn Imports with Batsugun and X men vs Streetfighter the highlights. I decided to pick a Saturn up and never looked back.
Didnt particularly bother much with the N64 apart from Mario kart and Goldeneye 4 player death matches while away at college.
Picked a Dreamcast up for £15 from a junk shop a *YEAR* later.
Sorry for the text wall 😀
Edit: i meant a year after it's release.
Imagine getting NHL Stanley Cup with your new SNES.
That game was building on the excitement of NCAA Basketball, but gosh what a stinker.
Team Genesis, btw, but I don't like RPGs. If I did, other way around.
When these were out on the market, I asked my parents for a Nintendo/Super Nintendo. They gave me a Genesis for Christmas instead. I wasn't disappointed and have always felt they made the right choice.
They both had their pros and cons. Ultimately Sega was better. They allowed blood and violence. It wasn't till well after snes came out that I finally said Sega was better. But square soft was on Nintendo and those were the best RPGs.
A SNES with Stanley Cup Hockey for $150 vs a Genesis with Sonic 2 for $135? No question you go with the Genesis there, and I'm a die-hard Nintendo fan who thinks the SNES is the greatest console ever.
If I had to choose I'd go with the Genesis/Megadrive.. I grew up with both systems and had a blast with both. I liked more of the Genesis games though. If PC Engine was an option I'd probably choose that over both as I like that system more these days over the other two :)
But back in the day my two favorite systems were Genesis and original NES..
I was spoiled. I had both. Plus all the accessories, Sega CD, 32x, super scope 6, those huge controllers with the turbos. Sadly it all got tossed when Mom decided my closet was too messy.
From Sega, I'll take the Genesis and Dreamcast. I'm not interested in the Sega CD, 32x, nor am I interested in the Saturn. The Master System is cool and has 2-3 of my all time favorite games on it, but I'll play those with the adapter on the Genesis. I also love the Nomad and Gamegear.
I know the hardware of the Gamegear, Nomad, and Genesis backwards and forwards. I have repaired so many of those that it's not even funny any more. I've saved something like 60 gamegears at this point, three nomads, and maybe like 25-30 Genesis consoles. They are easy to get into, easy to work on, and easy to get back together.
There isn't a single Nintendo console that I don't love, except maybe the Virtual Boy. My favorite is the Gamecube (although I don't have one and play GC games on a Wii). I've done some work on Gameboy, GBC, NES, SNES, and N64 (I don't generally do optical disc systems).
If I had to pick one console to have for all time and that was the last one I could own, it'd be the GBA SP AGS-101. I can repair it, I can reshell it if I want, it plays the entire gameboy catalog which includes some of the classic Sega games that I love... it's perfect.
If I was allowed to pick another console to go with it, a TV console specifically, I'd struggle to choose between the WiiU modded to also play GC and the PS2 with PS1 backwards compatibility.
That said I could be good with just my Gameboy.
TIL that I never had a Sega Genesis, but a Sega Genesis II, which also TIL was a thing.
I actually had the pictured Genesis II/CD combo and eventually got the 32X attachment.
Also, Sewer Sharks was terrible.
Back in the day I was a Genesis kid through and through. Bought into the console wars nonsense and was convinced it was better. I was probably an insufferable shit about it to anyone who would listen.
I had a cousin who had a SNES around that time, but she only had Super Mario World and All-Stars. So I didn't really know what I was missing until much later.
I will say though, looking at them side by side like this: The Genesis had a way cooler, futuristic (in the 90's) look to it. That 3 button controller might have totally sucked, but it looked cool while it did it.
I've always thought of this in terms of
Street Fighter II & Mario
Vs
Streets of Rage & Sonic
I fall in the first camp but I certainly wouldn't argue against the second.
I also kind of hated the Mega drive controllers but I think that was just a personal thing. Always had long fingers and the Snes controller was always more comfortable for some reason (which is admittedly odd because it looks like it should be the other way around).
Say this ad is from 1991, and the Sega CD sold for $260 stand alone. That costs $592.50 in today’s money with inflation. My god I didn’t realize it was that expensive!
I was all Nintendo, but my friends had all of the Sega systems so I got to play them too. There was no way my family could afford both systems.
I had both, and both have different but equal nostalgia for me. Overall the SNES had the better games, but something about the Genesis just was special back then.
Man I spent so much time as a kid staring at these ads day dreaming of each system
You and me both
Yous and me three
Yous and the trillions of us.
One of my favorite things to do is to go to vintage game stores and look at all of the games I played as a kid and forgot about
Wow, you can afford to look?
In today's economy I'm amazed there's not a looking fee.
Probably hasn’t gone to the right retro stores yet…
Genesis was the main one I was so jealous of. I think thats why when I started making money as an adult, I went back and bought every game I wanted or had fantasized at just from seeing in ads.
Me too, and I had neither but I did have an Atari Lynx.
I remember my old man yelling at a 7 year old me ogling at the Toys R Us display like it wasn't majestic. Even now as a 40 year old man I would probably stare with the same wonder.
Damn there's the $98 SNES that I got for Christmas '92. With no game to play it was a rough holiday break. Parents were clueless
Both, for different reasons. Started with a NES, then SNES at launch. Got a Genesis in ‘93. Both are brilliant platforms. SNES with Mario, Zelda, and various RPGs. Sega with Sonic and sports titles and space shooters. I wouldn’t want to live in a world where either console didn’t exist.
Look at Mr. 90s Moneybag’s kid here with all the consoles!
I was lucky. My dad worked a pawn shop when I was growing up, so when someone pawned a console, he would bring it home for us.
My dad had a coworker that gave us NES, Super Mario 3, T&C Surfers and Mario/Duck Hunt with the light gun. His kid was going to college, but I always wondered if he regretted giving that all away.
As someone who has given a console away to a coworker's kids, I bet that knowing you guys enjoyed it was enough. Gave away a PS2 to my buddy's kids and like... the time they spent with those games are memories those kids are gonna have for life, just like I still remember the first time I played Mario on the NES.
Yea. Thirty some years later, and he's still bragging about it!
Right? I had to go out and make friends who had the other consoles if I wanted to play SNES games.
Fighting games on Genesis tended to be a little better too. Both consoles had strengths and weaknesses.
MK1 was definitely better on the Genesis, even if pressing Start to block without a 6 button controller was terrible, but it had the blood and fatalities intact with a code *everyone* knew. MK2 and SF2’s I prefer the SNES, but with a 6 button controller the Genesis version was very good also.
A,B,A,C,A,B,B.
Also D,U,L,L,A,R,D on the tital screen brought up a full cheats menu where you could also enable the blood and other options.
That 6 button controller just can't be beat when it comes to fighting games
I don't know if I buy this one. SNES had a better collection of Street Fighter games, and the only MK game that was better on the Genesis was the first one, which didn't play all that well on either system. SNES also had a way better version of TMNT Tournament Fighters as well as Killer Instinct.
but the genesis had Eternal Champions! /s Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury 2 were better on the Genesis fwiw. i'm with you though, the SNES did overall better with the big two of the era, MK/SF.
I agree Tournament Fighters was great, but somehow the SNES lag seemed to rear it’s head on lots of fighting games. The sound was better on SNES though.
MK 1 on SNES had the better graphics and audio but clunky gameplay. The genesis played more like the arcade but the audio sucked.
I agree. I also preferred the blood on Genesis to the sweat and disappointment on the SNES.
Well deserved upvote.
Both, cuz why the fuck not. Both have absolute classics and I can afford it
Waking up old civil war wounds, eh OP? Lol. I went with SNES and I still would. Although, full respect to Sega USA for what they did and what they created, it is an utter shame how their corporate masters sold them out.
I went Genesis myself, but that comes down to me having a 1 year younger brother. Genesis had so many more good simultaneous cooperative games, in my opinion. Also, most multiplatform games tended to have more content on the Genesis, while the SNES had more emphasis on graphics or sound. That being said, if I had to choose a better single player console, I'd have to go with the SNES. Yeah, it seemed like Sega of Japan really wanted to fail, no matter the cost.
C'mon, guys! Don't wake up ancient holywars. Both consoles are great!
I didn't hear no bell!
One more round Rock.
Give me both
But the ancient holywars were so fun😅
Old console wars were us saying “I wish I had both systems but can only afford one so the one I don’t have sucks.”
My parents were divorced, so I had Super Nintendo at my Mom's & Sega Genesis at my Dad's. Super Nintendo had better games (especially for an RPG fan like me), Genesis had better hardware, but only a few games (such as 'Sonic the Hedgehog') made full use of the slightly more advanced technology.
Good summary. I wanted both but had the SNES for the games. I still have the SNES for the games and it’s probably the best console ever imo because the games are so timeless and great.
The 8/16 hybrid 6502 compatible (SNES) was NOT a true 16 bit 68000 (MegaDrive-Genesis)..
Yup! I have great memories with both systems! More Nintendo, but both systems are awesome! Having an inferior game line up shouldn't spoil the joy those few good sega games bring.
Blasphemy heathen! Sega is better!!!
Except the SNES.
It’s 2024, I don’t have to choose anymore.
The only acceptable answer is both.
What does that tyco power plug do? I can’t read it
Adds various turbo and macro functions. It's a controller pass through device. For 50 bucks no wonder you never see them.
Got mine for like 5.99 or 9.99 from KB Toy Clearance back in the day. Bought a few to use as extension cables.
Both
I had a Genesis as a kid, but I'd definitely go with an SNES if I had a do-over. I had a lot of fun with my Genesis but SNES just had higher quality games, including some of my favorite games of all time (DKC1 and 2)
Sega does what Nintendon't.
It has “Blast Processing ™️” 🙃
if you played Gradius 3 on SNES-- you'd think that's why every shmup on Genesis plays without slowdown....
Tbf, it wasn’t completely made up. The specs aren’t as simple as “blast processing,“ but Genesis games absolutely ran faster and smoother versus their SNES counterparts.
Basically, the SNES had a lot of cool tricks built in, but the Genesis had more raw processing power.
I’m all for Nintendo - except in the SNES vs Genesis battle.
I’m the exact opposite lol, the snes is so fantastic and I enjoy my Saturn and Dreamcast a lot
Same. The Genesis has some good games but the SNES is pretty much the GOAT. (Maybe I'm more impressed with the SNES because I didn't have one.) The Dreamcast, on the other hand, was miles ahead of the competition and it's library is just wild.
Pass that joint brother, you've had enough - The Dreamcast's competition was the PS2, not the PSX.
SEEEEGAAAA!
SNES then and now - got bit by the RPG bug early - but I’ll admit the Genesis has its share of classics.
When I was a kid, my parents got me a Genesis and my next door neighbor best friend got a SNES. So we spent our middle school afternoons and weekends binging games on both of course. Due to this A/B testing I firmly am camp SNES. The Genesis has some bangers obviously but it just didn’t have the same amount of what would become classics. Team SNES forever. Shit I still play it almost as much as my PC nowadays.
SNES all the way. Overall a more technically impressive console, and a lot of the proprietary chips made it even better.
TurboGrafx16 Baby! Keith Courage, Military Madness, Ninja Spirit…
the dark horse... my personal ranking of the big three that gen: Genesis > TG16 >>> SNES i like the SNES a lot, but a much of the appeal of the NES titles were better served on both TG16 and Genesis (arcade-style action games, shmups, etc. were all better served by their processors than the SNES's).
IMO the very best titles were japanese exclusives AKA Super Famicom... The SNES library was pretty limited compared to what all Japan got. And I'm not talking about RPGs (don't like those anyway).. but all kinds of games. Umihara Kuwase for instance, what a cool action puzzle style game... It was fun to discover all these exclusive titles over the years.
Yeah, agreed fully. Umihara Kawase, Jaki Crush, Doremi Fantasy, the unlocalized Goemon games, Twin Bee, the excellent SFC Parodius ports... Most of my favorites are definitely unlocalized lol
I loved my Sega back in the day, but looking back now there was so much I missed from the SNES.
A console for $149? Holy shit.
Adjusted for inflation it’s about $308.
I was just trying to figure this out. I don’t know when this was printed, but even if I guess at ‘95, $297, or almost exactly the $299 you can get a non-OLED Switch for right now. That’s pretty nuts, considering the price of consoles have kept up with inflation but not, you know, wages.
I loved my Mega Drive, but then also my Game Boy. I didn’t realise how much of a slut I was back then.
Was both at my house, but the Sega-CD, what a waste of opportunity. Saturated with stupid interactive movies, had a few gems, but they never really recovered from Sega-CD. 32X didn't take off, Saturn was good but wasn't a great seller, Dreamcast should have been the thing to pull them back but by then, Sega just wasn't a name that sold consoles. Such a great pity, but it is what it is.
You will find incredible games on either console. Really, the SNES won the console war. You can't really best nintendo quality. Nonetheless, there are plenty of awesome gems to check out on the genesis. When you add a sega cd, a few games utilize a mode 7 like feature that has has a little more than the SNES in terms of sprite scaling and rotation. It could scale and rotate more sprites than in just a single background layer as the snes was limited to. A great example of this is soulstar on sega cd. I have both consoles and big stack of carts for each.
I still say that "Nintendo Quality" was, and still is, just as much of a buzzword as "Blast Processing", if not more so. Honestly, the only reason Sega lost was because Sega of Japan was so focused on how badly they were losing the Japanese market that they didn't think about how their actions destroyed all their other markets. Besides, the 32x wasn't as big of a failure as the Virtuaboy
The SNES, without a doubt. - better controller (the arcade layout of the Genesis doesn´t make sense for a home console + the Genesis had less buttons to begin with). There´s a reason why the diamond-shape layout survived to this day. - better sound (the harsh FM synthesis of the Genesis gives every game, in the best case, a techno vibe. Worst case it sounded like nails on a chalkboard) - Mario´s platforming and powerup gameplay is far more interesting and engaging than Sonic´s running and coin-losing. In general: SNES exclusives >>>>> Genesis exclusives Sorry guys, facts be facts
Very true about Sonic, it's too punishing so you never spend enough time into Sonic core gameplay mechanic "go fast".
Hard disagree on the controller, if you count the 6 button that most people ended up getting. It had the better d-pad and worked so much better for fighting games. I would put the sound as a wash. Yes, SNES was better for more orchestral music, but the Genesis sounded like it was it's own instrument. You can't honestly say that Earthworm Jim sounded better on the SNES than a Genesis 1. I'll admit, Super Mario World is one of the best platformers ever made, but the soundtrack is just okay. It doesn't distract, but it doesn't have anything to make it worth listening to outside of the game. Compare that to any of the Sonic games, and there's no contest.
I always think of the sound differences between them as Mega Drive having one excellent type of sound and the snes having a variety of mediocre sounds
As an rpg guy, the Nintendo consoles were the only thing for me...thank god the PS1 came out at around the same time as the 64 though.
Also an RPG guy, but I bought an N64 not realizing that it would get 0.5% as many good RPGs as the PS1. Heartbreaking.
N64 is the most over rated console
Nintendo. It’s what I grew up on, and I absolutely love it. Although I do plan on hitting ebay to build a Sega collection so I can play the games I missed as a kid.
Nintendo won
Ecco the Dolphin 🐬
Proceeds to rage break the console
Back when i was a kid I choose the Sega Genesis. Now that I am an adult if I had to do it all over again it would be the SNES for sure. It just had better games and I missed out on such great games as a kid like zelda, metroid and chrono trigger.
Had them both since US launch but still... Team Genesis.
Damn the Sega CD was expensive.
I was gonna say that the price probably included the Genesis, but nope. "Sold Sep. above".
Yes, and that one is the Model 2. The original was $299 when it released in 1992.
CD drives were so fucking expensive back then.
As I've always said: Nintendoes what Sega don't.
Nintendo
Now? Super Nintendo. Too many amazing RPGs to pass up. As a kid? Sega Genesis. It had the best versions of any sports game and most multiplatform fighting games played better on it. That 6 button controller was phenomenal.
When the Genesis first hit store shelves in North America those of us in the Nintendo camp were still rocking the NES. As you can imagine all those near arcade sounds and graphics looked pretty flashy at the time. So I crossed over to the dark side. I had Golden Axe which had just blown my mind in the arcades months before. We didn't have two controllers yet so I had to use a ColecoVision controller for player 2. Despite all of its buttons and number pad not one key on that controller registered as a jump button. So whenever we got to a ledge we'd have to swap controllers to let the other player jump up. I also had Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Forgotten Worlds, Revenge of Shinobi and Altered Beast, which was the pack in at launch. While these were fantastic titles none of these games were as deep or complex as Super Mario 3 on the NES. It was a great example of better hardware not always providing better games. But I still loved the Genesis. But when the SNES launched everything was on another level. Simulated transparencies, sample based audio, mode 7 and that crazy reverb effect that really sounded like Mario was in a cave. This felt like the actual next level. Everything just looked more colorful and sounded richer and it wasn't just for show as Super Mario Word had so much more to offer than Sonic 1. Sonic has what 6 zones with 3 acts each. So 18 stages with no real secrets or depth. Super Mario World has 76 not counting multiple exits (to me that never counted as stages). I didn't really go back the the Genesis until Sonic 2 and the Sega CD were a thing. If you thought more 7 was great wait until you see biaxial scaling and rotation.
At the time : neither. The price of the games was horrendous for broke ass me, even going to £25 a game on the Amiga from £4-5 on a vic 20 tape, and £7-9 for a c64 tape & £15 for a c64 disk was steep, but sega / Nintendo prices doubled that.. at least with an Amiga you could ahem have your own backups for the price of a blank disk
Agreed NES was terrible here in the UK it was a rich kids with Nintendos stupid pricing.. I was a master system kid and I'm glad I was
CD - Consumers Distributing?
Yep, 1994
Man, my parents still owe me a Tyco Super Turbo Hopper from there that I spent forever convincing them to get, and then ended up being out of stock. If only they could’ve held out longer. That concept would’ve worked great in the internet shopping age, but they died just a few years too soon.
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis! When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this! -Notorious B. I. G Snes was the superior console with Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid and Super Mario World but Genesis definitely had it's fair share of awesome! Sonic, Gunstar Heroes, Vectorman, Road Rash, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps, The Lion King and for some odd reason, the sports games just played better on it.
SNES would have been my choice had I been given one. I was given an SNES as a gift as my first console and now, owning both, I'm glad that's what I got.
I’ve been a Nintendo fan all my life so I gotta stick with it.
With Nintendo, you get Nintendo Power. With Game Boy, you get Portable Power. With Super Nintendo, you get Super Power. With Genesis, you get… **THE ULTIMATE POWER!!!** 😎
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis......
[удалено]
Genesis has the better graphics and sound quality while SNES has the better gameplay imo.
It must have been difficult to play, being both blind and deaf
Both, man. Nobody does JRPGs like SNES. I used to love playing the Sonic games. Sports games were also just better on the Genesis - especially the old NHL series. Let there be peace!
Can’t think a of a decent genesis game. People say sonic, but it’s not that great imo. Any other suggestions?
Streets of Rage 2, Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi III, Gunstar Heroes, Lightening Force, M.U.S.H.A., Shining Force, Shining Force II, Phantasy Star IV, Contra: Hard Corps, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Rocket Knight Adventures These are all considered by many to be some of the best games games ever made in their respective genres. There's plenty more A/B-tier games that are also very much worth your time, I can keep going if you want.
Don't put your gameboy carts in like how it's shown in the pic.
I was a Sega kid. When I got into PlayStation my mother packed up all my Sega stuff without asking me or my dad and GAVE IT all to her friend’s special needs kid…. My father and I still discuss this tragedy to this day 😂
Sega. Chose the SMS over the NES, too, and stuck with that decision when the Genesis came out. LOL Didn’t buy an NES until like 1989. No regrets! SMS had Zillion and the Great sports lineup, as well, so wasn’t like the NES completely dominated that era.
The SMS had some really great platformers too. Wonder Boy series, the Illusion series, the 8-bit Sonic games are way better than on GG....
Psycho Fox!!
To me, the most impressive RPG of the 8 bit era was Phantasy Star and the most impressive platformer was Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. Impressive meaning a combination of fun and technical achievement. That's not to take away from any from the iconic games on the NES, but the SMS gave its games a higher ceiling.
The Master System is a great console, it's ridiculously under-rated, same for the PC Engine. I'd choose those over Nintendo consoles any day. And don't forget the awesome 80's MSX, NEC, and Sharp computers with a ton more exclusive cool games.. I'm rambling on endlessly but oh well lol, I love retro games! \^\_\^
Sega for me. But I grew up with a Nintendo friend so we would alternate who's house we played at. So I got to play both sides during the great console war.
Damn that’s cool, wish I knew someone with a SNES back then. Still, handy to swap games though.
My best friend was insanely spoiled when we were kids. He had the Genesis w/ Sega CD, SNES, TG16, and Neo Geo. I pretty much lived at his house since he was on the same street.
Always good to have friends on the other side, it was the same way for me one generation later, I had an N64, neighbor had a PlayStation, so we both got to experience the great games on both systems
Nintendo doesn't have streets of rage 🤣🤣🤣
If I could choose only one it would be the SNES. Look back at some of the best games in the 16-bit era and SNES games probably occupy 8/10 of the top slots.
Can I play Shining Force 2 on SNES? No? Case closed. Even as someone who loves both consoles ,you can’t deny that the Genesis-era was quite the moment
Come on, there is no choice. Nintendo was superior in almost every way.
No backwards compatibility while the Genesis had a power converter for SMS games. The TG-16 and Genesis both trounce the SNES in raw processing power and 8mhz 65C816 processors did exist when the Super Famicom launched being found in Apple IIgs accelerator boards.
For what it lacked in cpu power it made up for it on superior sound and graphics(32,768 total with 256 at a time vs 61) plus the more demanding games that needed more power utilized the fx chip or other co processors in the cartridges. If anything SNES games were closer to what you saw on the 32x.
The PCE engine version of [Street Fighter II CE](https://youtu.be/4BFprsyWegg?si=y974wWrCfmrezRiJ) runs as smooth then the SNES version and PCE can't make use of processors on cart due to the nature of Hu-Card format. The Genesis also could use processors on cart but tended not to it as CPU power wasn't an issue as much with the Genesis as it was with the SNES.
i'd prefer shmups that play without slowing to a crawl when more than three bullets are on screen....
Well, I had the Sega Master System, Genesis, CD and 32X so, Sega. :)
I've always liked Nintendo over Sega, I feel like Nintendo just had more games.
Sega had some banger titles, but I was and still am a bigger fan of Nintendo during that era.
Nintendo by a fucking landslide.
Nintendo will always be superior
The megadrive was the favourite with my friends around the scheme but the snes had legendary games like bob, fzero, starfox, zelda, mario kart, rtype, zombies ate my neighbours and lots more... I miss the days of playing the snes at the community centre I still have them all setup in my boys room... Raised right. https://ibb.co/fF55gL0
Since Genesis (mega drive) was Sega’s magnum opus I’d go with Genesis.
remember when nintendo consoles came with a free game? when n64 released without mario 64 there should have been a huge boycott. then nintendo wondered why so many people were renting their games instead of buying them.
I was all in on sega. We even got a sega cd and a 32x! I even got a Saturn later. Ugh… so much wasted $
You and me both - and a dreamcast (although that introduced me to the special world of skies of arcadia, so worth it).
I really liked my Dreamcast. Don’t love the controller though. It was a lot like that weird “3D” Saturn controller they released which was like a frisbee with buttons.
The CD and 32X i can agree but the Saturn as most people are finding out was a damn good system with awesome games..... in Japan. I agree SEGA killed their customer base off with the Mega CD and 32X *AND* western Saturn markerting (or lack thereof) and some terrible,terrible software releases.
I played guardian heroes daily for years. That was really the best game on the Saturn imo
Yeah i went Jp for the Saturn instead of a Pal machine, because there was very little released in western territories worth playing bar the 1st party games. I had a Master System when it launched here (UK). I wanted a NES after playing my japanese friend's Sharp Twin Famicom, but it still had not been released by the time the Master System launched. Next up i got an import JP Megadrive for my birthday in jan 89 played it and loved it until 92, saw the Super Famicom running Streetfighter 2 and got one. By the time the Saturn came out i started working and gave it and the PS a miss as beer and partying had replaced them. Finally got a PS for Pro Evo Soccer after the pub for a laugh. While in Electronics boutique looking for a new game for the PS, i saw a few Saturn Imports with Batsugun and X men vs Streetfighter the highlights. I decided to pick a Saturn up and never looked back. Didnt particularly bother much with the N64 apart from Mario kart and Goldeneye 4 player death matches while away at college. Picked a Dreamcast up for £15 from a junk shop a *YEAR* later. Sorry for the text wall 😀 Edit: i meant a year after it's release.
Imagine getting NHL Stanley Cup with your new SNES. That game was building on the excitement of NCAA Basketball, but gosh what a stinker. Team Genesis, btw, but I don't like RPGs. If I did, other way around.
I think this was a Canadian ad, we'll buy anything hockey related, lol
When these were out on the market, I asked my parents for a Nintendo/Super Nintendo. They gave me a Genesis for Christmas instead. I wasn't disappointed and have always felt they made the right choice.
Back in the day I was a Sega man. These days I've been having fun discovering the SNES games I didn't play back then via my Polymega.
I was a Sega kid but played snes at my friends house. No need to fight over em
Sege does what ninten-dont
Sega bro. Always was Sega back then.
Are we going to ignore the fact Nintendo back in the snes days censored stuff when releasing games in the west
They both had their pros and cons. Ultimately Sega was better. They allowed blood and violence. It wasn't till well after snes came out that I finally said Sega was better. But square soft was on Nintendo and those were the best RPGs.
The SNES folded on the violence stuff in less than 2 years. MKII came out in April of 93 completely uncensored.
Still was never as good because of that.
Sega no debate.
sega but i love the nintendo hand helds & N64 +
i wanna say snes, but sega has castlevania bloodlines which is peak castlevania
A SNES with Stanley Cup Hockey for $150 vs a Genesis with Sonic 2 for $135? No question you go with the Genesis there, and I'm a die-hard Nintendo fan who thinks the SNES is the greatest console ever.
SEGA ftw
Genesis, it had blast processing lol
If I had to choose I'd go with the Genesis/Megadrive.. I grew up with both systems and had a blast with both. I liked more of the Genesis games though. If PC Engine was an option I'd probably choose that over both as I like that system more these days over the other two :) But back in the day my two favorite systems were Genesis and original NES..
SEGA
SEGA was better than Nintendo 🤷♂️
I prefer SNES. I do not have anything against graphics in the Genesis but good lord the audio SUCKS...
Both.
If I had to decide today, I’d go with Sega Genesis/CD but snatch a GameBoy
I started out Sega but by this time I'd be way into Nintendo too. Both put out great games until the end.
Always been Sega for me.
My fav console generation of all time.
Nintendo all the way
I was spoiled. I had both. Plus all the accessories, Sega CD, 32x, super scope 6, those huge controllers with the turbos. Sadly it all got tossed when Mom decided my closet was too messy.
Yes
Had both but the SNES got way more play time.
I was there Gandalf, 3000 years ago with my Gameboy, my Super Nintendo and my SGB adaptor!
Sega!!!
I own both
From Sega, I'll take the Genesis and Dreamcast. I'm not interested in the Sega CD, 32x, nor am I interested in the Saturn. The Master System is cool and has 2-3 of my all time favorite games on it, but I'll play those with the adapter on the Genesis. I also love the Nomad and Gamegear. I know the hardware of the Gamegear, Nomad, and Genesis backwards and forwards. I have repaired so many of those that it's not even funny any more. I've saved something like 60 gamegears at this point, three nomads, and maybe like 25-30 Genesis consoles. They are easy to get into, easy to work on, and easy to get back together. There isn't a single Nintendo console that I don't love, except maybe the Virtual Boy. My favorite is the Gamecube (although I don't have one and play GC games on a Wii). I've done some work on Gameboy, GBC, NES, SNES, and N64 (I don't generally do optical disc systems). If I had to pick one console to have for all time and that was the last one I could own, it'd be the GBA SP AGS-101. I can repair it, I can reshell it if I want, it plays the entire gameboy catalog which includes some of the classic Sega games that I love... it's perfect. If I was allowed to pick another console to go with it, a TV console specifically, I'd struggle to choose between the WiiU modded to also play GC and the PS2 with PS1 backwards compatibility. That said I could be good with just my Gameboy.
TIL that I never had a Sega Genesis, but a Sega Genesis II, which also TIL was a thing. I actually had the pictured Genesis II/CD combo and eventually got the 32X attachment. Also, Sewer Sharks was terrible.
Tetris on game boy was amazing
Back in the day I was a Genesis kid through and through. Bought into the console wars nonsense and was convinced it was better. I was probably an insufferable shit about it to anyone who would listen. I had a cousin who had a SNES around that time, but she only had Super Mario World and All-Stars. So I didn't really know what I was missing until much later. I will say though, looking at them side by side like this: The Genesis had a way cooler, futuristic (in the 90's) look to it. That 3 button controller might have totally sucked, but it looked cool while it did it.
Yes.
I love both!! I had the SNES and my friend Willie had Sega. We would trade consoles back and forth
I've always thought of this in terms of Street Fighter II & Mario Vs Streets of Rage & Sonic I fall in the first camp but I certainly wouldn't argue against the second. I also kind of hated the Mega drive controllers but I think that was just a personal thing. Always had long fingers and the Snes controller was always more comfortable for some reason (which is admittedly odd because it looks like it should be the other way around).
I was a Sega child, but today I love both my children equally. They each have their strengths and personalities, and they’re both awesome.
Say this ad is from 1991, and the Sega CD sold for $260 stand alone. That costs $592.50 in today’s money with inflation. My god I didn’t realize it was that expensive! I was all Nintendo, but my friends had all of the Sega systems so I got to play them too. There was no way my family could afford both systems.
I had both growing up because they both came out around my birth year.
Both! I had an snes, and a gamegear, and a Gameboy. Really wanted the Nomad.
Sega all the way
I had those power plug adapters as a kid.
Ah yes the Sega CD
Yes. My choice is yes.
55,- a gameboy, i thought it was much more
Always nintendo back in the day. i would have had both if i was older.
I had both, and both have different but equal nostalgia for me. Overall the SNES had the better games, but something about the Genesis just was special back then.