22 years on and the debate still rages on...

I think it's a testament to the era that some people still debate SNESFC VS Megasis as to which was better. now with Duel consoles the debate can be renewed. I don't think that there was ever a hotter time in Gaming than the 16 bit era. Nintendo was onfire, Sega was fighting and unless you were a spoiled brat you only had one or the other. Shocking at it may sound me being the Nintendo hater I am I was in the SNES Camp. saved up an entire summer to get an SNES and SF II Turbo My cousin the spoiled brat for a time mostly just had a Genesis (he'd eventually get both) we would spend HOURS debating which was better, more powerful which was more popular. Games oddly never came into play. then we'd just go back to playing Sonic 2 with Me relegated to being Tails.

Now we're all adults we probably have both, maybe multiples of both. I really just wanted to make a thread to tribute the days when we fought the console wars on the playgrounds, and in the classrooms.

I don't think we will ever crown a winner of the 16 bit wars. But we can like a bunch of old grizzled war vets relive the days when we did debate with our peers over which was better. Kids can debate Playstation VS XBOX all they want. But it won't ever be like it was for us back in the day.

 

SNES.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Genesis. But I don't really see how the Genesis could be considered the superior console.

Graphics? SNES.

Sound? SNES. Some people prefer the Genesis' sound chip, but I don't know how anyone could say it was superior quality. Everything sounded so tinny.

Controller? Eh, depends on the game. SNES had one more button though, so I guess SNES?

Third party games? SNES. With a few notable exceptions, multi-plat games almost always looked and sounded better on the SNES. Plus the SNES had so many great JRPGs.

First party games? As much as I love Sonic, I've always been more of a Mario guy. The Genesis did have some really great first party games, so I can certainly see why some would prefer it over the SNES.

 

the Genesis did better Neo Geo Ports the few ones it had. JRPGs? Shining force and Phantasy Star, Thrid Party games? Sunsoft gave the genesis some LOVE. Shmups? Genesis had TONS but so did the SNES every ever Thunder Force there was an Axelay, Darius or Macross.

They're more evenly matched than anyone would let on.

We could just say debate over because of this but still. It's an unwinnable debate. They both Sold pretty much the same. They both have Amazing games. I don't think rekindling the debate here is going to go anywhere. Just remembering the debates we used to have.

 

I admittedly didn't know that, so I'll take your word for it. Majority of the ports in my experience favor the SNES.

Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean, Earthbound, Breath of Fire, Super Mario RPG, and Dragon Quest, plus all the other JRPGs not officially released in the US/UK. SNES, easily.

 

Sega went from total underdog in a Nintendo monopoly world to actually overtaking Nintendo's market share in under a decade.

They are the goddamn winner. Games on both consoles were amazing but Sega did something right in a market that they should've died in before even coming to market.

 

Everyone loves an Underdog, that's one of the reasons the Megasis still burns in our hearts.

 

I think this debate depends on the kind of games you like. I love run n gun shooters and genesis had amazing titles such as the rolling thunder series which were sega exclusive. Sega also had the best third party support compared to snes. All you need to say is EA sports. I prefer genesis personally as I just like the game lineup better.

Snes was the underdog at first actually for awhile as super mario world was good but not a total knock out game. It wasn't until street fighter was ported to snes that it became a must own console. Now people have grown to love the snes but its really a console for hardcore platformers or jrpgs. If thats your thing then snes is the winner.

The best 16 bit console though? Gameboy Advance. Portable snes graphics with a more epic library.

 

And again it saddens me to see, that the PC Engine again doesn't even get involved into these kind of discussion(s).

Yeah, now come out those guys of your rabbit holes who say it's just a silly 8-bitter and was fighting the NES and SMS etc...le lol.

It did better shoot 'em ups than both SNES and Genny together (showed the real arcade power behind).
It did all around better Sega arcade ports than the Genny.
It did MUCH better Neo Geo ports than both SNES and Genny together.
It had uncountable great RPGs (so much more graphics, great settings/colors and cinematics with real audio that a SNES could only have dreamed of). It would have kicked the SNES of its throne with ease, if more of them were translated into western language.
It only lacked sport games, which IMHO is a big plus.
And the story goes on..

 

..and was a 32-bit handheld :topsy_turvy:

 

The PC Engine always struck me as the hardcore hobbist console, like the NEO GEO only more affordable. It gets left out of the debate becuase the PC Engine was only awesome in one country, Japan. In the States it was the Turbo Graphix and nurfed version of Japanese games ruled the roost and all the good shit stayed in Japan. It just never had a prayer of being Mainstream. Awesome Console? YES on equal ground with the SNES or Megasis? not really at least in terms of school yard debates.

 

In Japan, it was mainstream. Got almost more games than the Mega Drive/Genesis there, even if you include Mega CD and 32X. Only to the West it was negligible.

 

Gunstar Heroes. Debate over.

 

It's a difficult debate to go into, having played plenty of games on both SMS/NES & other systems back in the day I wasn't massively pro-either really, I was mostly interested in the games.
It was the SNES that had the line-up that interested me the most, so that was what I went with. Both of the systems had their strong points and you could go back and forth endlessly,
for me it comes down to this. I think technically the Megadrive was a stronger system in some regards, but that the SNES was capable of better results when well utilized. The Megadrive
had some fantastic first party and exclusive titles, but in terms of sheer volume of quality titles the SNES beats it hands down, especially, as has been said earlier, for a JRPG nut like I was
back then.

That said you're missing out on a hell of a lot of quality titles if you throw your hand exclusively in either camp!

 

In France the PC Engine had a pretty good popularity compared to the SNES and MD to the point that even mainstream supermarkets (for a while) were selling PC Engine consoles, even the Supergrafx!!! I hesitated a long time between a Jap MD and a Coregrafx back in the early 90s, I would spend a lot of time drooling over the PCE every time I went to the supermarket, those were the days!!!

As for MD vs SNES, the MD wins... always ;p Nah!!! I love all 3 MD/SFC/PCE

 

SEGA all day long but i am biased, grew up with the Master System and MegaDrive, and there's nothing more badass than a MegaDrive and some Awesome MegaDrive games.

knowing what i know now, changes none of that, i do like the SNES but not as much as the MD, if we were more aware of the PCE in them days we'd have probably loved it too, but it just wasn't marketed nor available like the others

 

Hated the design of the SNES console and pads. The SNES just seemed childish while the Mega Drive was very mature and cool. LOVED the tunes of Mega Drive games. Hated the colour palette in many SNES games.

Liked Super Mario All-Stars & F-Zero and loved Super Mario Kart but that was hardly enough to counter the Streets of Rage series, the Sonic series, Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, Aladdin, World of Illusion..etc.

Even the Mega Drive boxes were better and more stylish. Oh and the MEGA-CD was just sexy.

 

This pretty much sums up the typical Sega child from my point of view. Brainwashed through tv ads.
If you are playing video games to be mature and cool you're doing it wrong xD

 

After being a Mega Drive fanboy for so long and using a SNES, I have to say...
Well let the sounds speak for themselves.

SNES version - Just wait till the 40 second mark... best bit ever!


Mega Drive version - Not as good, but very metal!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlQUFKH5fko (wah, wah, wah, don't let me post two videos at once why don't ya!)

Why doesn't the Mega Drive version say TOUCHDOWN? :sorrow:
I guess the SNES had time to tweak their hardware while the Sega was too busy eating up their marketshare anyway! :tranquillity:
They are both winners in my eyes now, but Sega hardware is black - so it wins by having a greater coolness factor! :friendly_wink:

Check out the NHL 96 intros, the Mega Drive version makes me cry! EA - It's in the game! (The SNES version actually SAYS that! Wow!)

 

I too bought in to the mature and cool factor of the Genesis. Everyone I knew had one and all they did was shamelessly clown the SNES. Back in those days there was no choice. If you wanted to play, trade and talk about games with friends then you got a Genesis. Then one winter day in 1994 I got to play SSFT2 Turbo, Super Metroid, and Donkey Kong Country and quickly realized the error of my ways.

 

If I had to do it all again, I'd probably get a SNES. I had a mega drive back in the day and loved it don't get me wrong, but I always loved playing mario kart (multiplayer all day long), star fox, street fighter 2 turbo (I know the MD had a port, but I preferred the SNES) and donkey kong ect.

I still consider myself a SEGA fanboy, but the grass always seemed greener, I suppose if I had a SNES back then I'd have lusted after a mega drive.

I didn't have Streets of Rage 2 back then as well since I was a kid and couldn't buy my own games, I only got to play it years later on emulator, feels like I missed out on one of the best games from the entire 16bit era!

Though I do remember some of my class mates in primary school (elementary) 'roll playing' in the playground as characters from the newly released SOR2 game and thinking they were a bunch of wierdos - now I realise why they seemed obsessed with it...lol