The Top 10 Consoles of All-Time According to You

[Original_Name]

Going with the Japanese names, 'cause that's how I roll.

10. Sega Mark III

One can't help but be fascinated by a console which has such a solid library despite being carried almost exclusively by a single company, particularly one which was still experiencing some severe growing pains in its transformation from an arcade giant into a home console manufacturer. For a Segaphile like myself, the console just oozes with its own unique charm, but for most people it's a forgotten gateway to a small but essential library of underrated classics, completing gaming's 8-bit identity. Every classic gaming enthusiast owes it to themselves to play the greatest 8-bit RPG, Phantasy Star. The ports of Yu Suzuki's stellar arcade classics, OutRun, Space Harrier, and Afterburner were sights to behold in their time. Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the Fantasy Zone series, Shinobi, and Doki Doki Penguin Land should be well-known classic gaming icons. The few third-party titles available on the system (their rarity of course caused by Nintendo's shameless third-party policy) add even more life to the library with classics like Ghouls n' Ghosts, Ys: The Vanished Omens, R-Type, and Power Strike II. Finally, Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap is, in my humble (and by humble I mean elitist) opinion the best 8-bit video game on any console. Context is key here, though -- Sega was playing at a severe disadvantage to the House of Mario, but managed to deliver a console which could satisfy any gamer regardless of their tastes.

9. NEC PC Engine/CD

The PC Engine/CD, unfortunately called the TurboGrafx-16/CD in western regions, may very well be the most underrated video game console of all time. The PC Engine somehow just plain carries the essence of old-school video games. The whole library is stuffed to the brim with the manifest of a late 80's anime fetishist's wet dreams. High-octane, intergalactic warfare in the cockpit of mecha super-weaponry is represented in perfect form with the console's endless library of classic shoot-'em-ups while the cutesy bizarre-o-rama, dripping with Japanese strangeness, oozes out of the console's resident mascots (Bonk, Zonk, Bomberman, Cotton, et cetera). The unmistakably Japanese gameplay and anime-styled intros and soundtracks to the Ys series, Far East of Eden series, Valis series, Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Snatcher, Hellfire, and Lords of Thunder are tailor-made for hardcore retro gamers and anime fans.

8. Nintendo Gamecube

Let's get this out of the way, I think Nintendo's an unreasonably overrated company as a video game developer, but while they did not enjoy the robust third-party support as they had in the past with the Gamecube, they truly moved forward as a first-party developer in terms of their ability to question and challenge the traditional game-design which they themselves had been a predominant force in defining years before. In years past, Nintendo's approach to handling sequels had been to take the most obvious approaches possible -- make things bigger and better looking with the Super Famicom, and put them into 3D on the Nintendo 64. A comparative lack of success in sales (particularly in Japan) with the aforementioned console pushed Nintendo to not only upgrade franchises, but re-imagine them, whether you liked it or not. Nerds hate change, and new approaches to the Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Starfox, Kirby, and Donkey Kong series brought a great deal of dissatisfaction to Nintendo-faithfuls, but seeing the most iconic name in gaming push their boundaries was a very exciting moment in video games -- it also saw the introductions of Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and Chibi-Robo. The latter two are significant, in particular, for attempting to use games to communicate messages which carried weight outside of the game itself, an approach completely out of the ordinary for the games-for-games'-sake mentality traditionally employed by Nintendo.

7. SNK Neo-Geo

The Neo-Geo is the coolest fucking thing ever, understand? SNK developed a system which stood as the apex of 2D visuals for its entire decade-long lifespan. Despite being driven by a graphics chip constructed in 1990, the Neo-Geo pumped out some of the most graphically stunning titles of all time, including Metal Slug 3, Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, The Last Blade 2, Art of Fighting 3, Blazing Star, Sengoku 3, and The King of Fighters 2001. While more advanced consoles have come along in the Neo-Geo's relative absence, and a few sparse titles individually have more impressive 2D graphics, the Neo-Geo has more stunning works of art in greater volume than any other console, achieving this through the sheer artistry and dedication of the console's relative few developers. And for hardcore arcade gaming on a home console, you'll never find better than the Neo-Geo and its bottomless library of direct conversions of brutal arcade classics, stuffed with more classic fighters than one could ever hope to master and many of the most intense action gaming experiences ever crafted.

6. Sega MegaDrive/Mega CD

The Sega MegaDrive was hands-down the greatest achievement in all of video games, followed by perhaps its greatest tragedy. To crawl from a 5% to a 65% market share over the course of a few short years, against a company which was going to purely exploitative lengths in order to maintain dominance, is a feat which will never again be repeated by a company who played the game as fairly and honestly as Sega. By the sheer force of great games and an awesome approach to marketing, Sega achieved their short pinnacle of popularity, in which they delivered some of gaming's most iconic franchises and took the industry's first major steps into more mature approaches to conceptual design in games. When one reflects on the mature concepts put forward in the Phantasy Star, Ecco the Dolphin, and even the surprisingly environmentalist Sonic the Hedgehog series, as well as the dingy grit of Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Eternal Champions CD, and bloody Mortal Kombat, it's hard not to give Sega credit for trying to cut gamers' umbilical cords. Oh, and if you happen to like RTS games, you owe more than you might think to the MegaDrive and its resident Herzog Zwei and Dune II: Battle for Arrakis. Unfortunately, the incredible gaming and story-telling potential of the Sega CD (see: Snatcher, Lunar: Eternal Blue, and The Secret of Monkey Island) was cut short along with the company's reputation as a result of Joe Lieberman's crusades, and Sega soon after completely over-extended themselves in their obsessive pursuit of innovation at all costs -- while I say the MegaDrive thwarted the Super Famicom for the majority of its existence, the Super Famicom has widely been viewed the victor by default after Sega moved on to bigger and less successful things before the 16-bit race was really over.

5. Nintendo Super Famicom

It pains me to put the Super Famicom above the MegaDrive on account of all the extenuating circumstances involved in the greatest of all console races which worked against Sega's favor, but it's difficult not to laud the praises of a console which saw Nintendo, SquareSoft, Konami, Capcom putting out much of their most critically-acclaimed work under one hallowed roof. Nintendo has received overwhelming praise for taking the golden foundations laid with their classic Famicom franchises and blowing them up to epic proportions on the powerful 16-bit console, and although I did not experience it myself, I can just imagine a 90's youth's excitement when graduating from Metroid to Super Metroid or The Legend of Zelda to A Link to the Past. SquareSoft's presence on the console is in my mind the Super Famicom's greatest asset, as Final Fantasy VI may well be the most sophisticated game to appear on any console during the 16-bit era. The console's great success overseas attracted several very compelling Japanese developers, leading to the appearance of games like EVO: Search for Eden and ActRaiser, which adopted incredibly unique and diverse approaches to game design which, despite not getting their deserved praise, continue to be unsung inspirations to game developers to this day.

4. Sega Saturn

If you speak Japanese, the Sega Saturn is in my opinion the greatest console of all-time in terms of pure gameplay. Unlike their counterparts, Sega and their motley crew of obscure Japanese third-parties did not allow overblown presentation to stand in the way of unbelievably awesome gameplay which built upon the unadulterated intensity, charm, and craftsmanship of 16-bit gaming. Gaming in the mid-90's saw a great deal of praise directed towards superficial advances in video games such as overwrought cutscenes, usually plastered over ultimately linear gameplay experiences; the Sega Saturn went against the grain and placed its focus on solid, inspired gameplay, sometimes in lieu of modern presentation altogether. Even games which did place a large focus on presentation, such as Grandia, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Sakura Taisen, Gun Griffon, Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Dragon Force, Princess Crown, and Shining Force III are also home to some of the most solid gameplay ever in their respective genres. For the most part though, the Saturn offers pure arcade-centric fun without interruption with a healthy dose of Japanese obscura, such as Fighters Megamix, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Street Fighter Zero 3, Soukyugurentai, Layer Section, Elevator Action Returns, Bulk Slash, Sega Rally Championship, Battle Garegga, Virtual On: Cyber Troopers, Puyo Puyo Sun, Dungeons & Dragons Collection, Virtua Cop 2, and Die Hard Arcade. Add further classics such as NiGHTS into Dreams, Guardian Heroes, Saturn Bomberman, Burning Rangers, and the obscure classics you'll constantly dig up, such as Astra Superstars, Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari, and Tengai Makyou IV: The Apocalypse as well as a number of "Oh, that was on Saturn, too?" moments with Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Shin Megami Tensei, and Suikoden, and you have gaming's best-kept secret.

3. Sony PlayStation/2

Although the PlayStation marked the beginning of a bad turn for the industry, and it's unfortunate that a company like Sony ended up possessing the boxes which hold the lion's share of the most important games ever made, it's clear to see that third-party developers such as Konami and SquareSoft have graced Sony's formative game consoles with the most essential moments which took video games a fresh step forward into becoming a more sophisticated artistic medium. Gamers who take the medium seriously owe the contributions of Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Xenogears, and Silent Hill immeasurably, regardless that they tended to exhibit cinematic or literary advances rather than innovations (or even relevance) to gameplay, they proved that gamers were ready to tackle the philosophical and the disturbing. While many gaming enthusiasts clamor for a "Citizen Kane of Video Games" Sony clearly accomplished this six years ago after their assembled first-party Team ICO created Shadow of the Colossus. Although I'm expressly not a fan of companies with endless pockets simply putting out a box with their name on it for other developers to craft an identity for, and Sony's strategy is dangerously close to that excluding a few saving graces (which is more than I could say for shitty Microsoft), the PlayStation brand has been home to many of the greatest moments in gaming.

2. Nintendo Famicom

The Nintendo Famicom set gaming's greatest precedent, and while it's hard to hear a recount of their history which doesn't dance around in sickening hyperbole, the Famicom's influence and its stable of classics such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Contra, and Dragon Warrior cannot be doubted. Everything about the Nintendo Famicom was forward-thinking upon its release in 1983, and the console deserves its credit for reviving a dying industry and setting the foundation for many young gamers who would grow up to contribute to the industry or just plain be fanatics like us. The Nintendo Famicom has provided such great exposure to such an extensive quantity of games that it's difficult to find any games that have not experienced their due time in the spotlight. Outside of a few unfortunate omissions such as Gimmick!, Journey to Silius, Life Force, Crystalis, Crisis Force, Little Nemo, Metal Storm, River City Ransom (which will continue to be underrated until it's in everyone's top 5 favorite Famicom games), and until recently Kid Icarus, the popularity of the Famicom has meant that nearly every game of value has been played, reviewed, and owned by perhaps more gamers than on any other console. You won't find many great Famicom games undervalued, sitting in bins, and collecting dust, because the excitement generated by the console has equated to a rabid fanbase which places a high value on every piece of history borne by the classic and iconic console.

1. Sega Dreamcast

If Nintendo's Famicom set the precedent for what a game console should be, I believe that the Sega Dreamcast incorporated elements of what made it and its successors the legends that they were (a dash of Super Famicom, a sprinkle of Sony PlayStation, a helping of SNK Neo-Geo) with the legacy of gaming's most daring company, at a super-human state of inspiration, creativity, and above all else BALLS in the face of their inevitable demise and took that tradition as far as it will ever be taken. Gaming has changed since the Sega Dreamcast -- as a person who has legitimately been deeply inspired by Sega in my life, I chalk this up to the industry's absence of a fearless maverick in the fray. Regardless of the cause, it's plain to see that the industry has morphed into one which is unashamedly content with appealing to the less passionate designs of the casual, the conservative, and the corporate above anything that could be mistaken for an unbridled passion for crafting games. Sega's soul just oozes out from the Dreamcast in every aspect, starting with the rampantly innovative hardware; sophisticated online support, motion controls, voice-recognition, and visual memory cards all completely changed the video gaming experience for the Sega Dreamcast, and the former two have become the biggest staples of the gaming industry. Marry this innovative spirit with incredibly forward-thinking game design and you get experiences which could not be mistaken with any other; when you pillaged a dungeon with a friend from 12 time-zones away in Phantasy Star Online, or when Seaman told you "I think, therefore I am" when you told him with your own voice that you thought he didn't exist, or when you actually had fun fishing, or when you landed that maraca pose and confetti rained on Samba to celebrate, or when you took your Chao with you to raise his stats, there could be no mistake -- you were doing it on the Dreamcast. The Sega Dreamcast also made it a point, perhaps more than any other system, to provide experiences which imparted deep and moving philosophical musings through video games rather than in tandem with them. Rez, Ikaruga, Shenmue, Seaman, and Lack of Love all delve into startlingly robust and moving concepts in ways which could only be delivered through an interactive experience. Considering the console's tragically short lifespan, the sheer quantity of must-play games is absolutely staggering -- and a few classics that didn't appear on the Dreamcast such as Virtua Fighter 4, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and Super Monkey Ball are actually Dreamcast code running on other consoles. Blaring the Segagaga March, Sega walked into what would ultimately be their demise for all intents and purposes in an industry which has progressively made games themselves a secondary concern, but not before leaving us with the most comprehensive taste of what video games could have been in the right hands.

[Original_Name]

Uh... I'm an English writing major who's off for the summer, so... sorry for writing so much, haha.

[NeverGoBak]

Top 10 is too tough, and I'm too unfamiliar with so many games that I'll keep it to a top 5.

Like him, I haven't really owned enough stuff, I'll do a top 6. Not counting backwards compatibility though.


1: Nintendo DS
It's like it was designed with me in mind or something, it has such a large amount of quality titles. It's mostly personal taste weighing in though. There's still an giant amount of quality games I haven't gotten the chance to try, but I've liked the Kirby games, Elite Beat Agents, Pokemon Ranger, Mystery Dungeon and Lock's Quest the most so far.

2: SNES
Quite the common answer, Snes is just perfection for the 16 bits it has. My favorite genre is more prevalent here more than anywhere else, 2D platforming. DKC, Mario, Plok, Zelda Kirby's Avalanche and NBA Jam get a lot of play.

3: Nintedo Wii
A great selection of games, I've loved SSBB, Mario Galaxy, MySims games and Tatsunoko VS Capcom, it has the most games I still want to buy on it though. I'm going to be getting what seem to be some of the best games on the system soon though.

4: PS1
5: GBA
6: PS2

I feel like my list might change within the next half decade or so, perhaps a lot.

[lisalover1]

Uh... I'm an English writing major who's off for the summer, so... sorry for writing so much, haha.

No need to apologize. That... That was beautiful.

[SwooshBear]

1. Super Nintendo
2. Sony Playstation
3. Playstation 2
4. Nintendo Gamecube
5. Sega Genesis
6. Nintendo Entertainment System
7. Gameboy Advance
8. Playstation Portable
9. Original XBox
10. Nintendo 64

Tried not to include current gen consoles because retro games are where it's at.

[Breetai]

Going with the Japanese names, 'cause that's how I roll.

If I can be a prick ('cause that's how I roll)...

You said the Sega Mark III, but did you know that the Master System was actually released in Japan and called... The Master System? Yes, the Mark III was the first version of it, but all Japanese SMS games that came out after the black console was released had Master System written on them. The Japanese SMS also had a better sound chip than the Mark III (and the SMS in every other region). The Wii VC in Japan also calls it the Master System.



You technically got one more system name wrong; the Nintendo Famicom. The real name is the Family Computer. Famicom is just a shortened name.



One more thing, with your bit on the Neo Geo:

[it is] somewhere between the Super Famicom and Sega Saturn in terms of two-dimentional rendering capabilities

I disagree. It exceeded the Saturn with 2D overall, although there are some things the Saturn does do better.

Don't forget that both the PC Engine and Mega Drive were actually better in some areas graphically than the Super Famicom was.

Ok, still one more thing: in some of your descriptions, you seem to be focusing on only the US end of things (ie. your Mega Drive description), yet you insisted on using the Japanese names. You've falsified your own writing in doing so!


Of course, I'm aware that you might very well know this stuff and that it's just semantics. I just thought I'd be a prick. I actually appreciated reading your post.



As for my top 10... I don't know if I can do it. I'll just pick the first 10 that come to my mind, which will probably be in a sort of "favourite first" order. I'll even do the Japanese name thing, to honour "original_name":


1. Sega Saturn
2. Super Famicom
3. Family Computer
4. PC Engine (and all the variations)
5. Mega Drive/Mega CD
6. Playstation
7. Playstation 2
8. Neo Geo
9. Nintendo 64
10. Master System


Somehow I thought of the Dreamcast after all this stuff. 3DO, too! I honestly do not find myself playing the DC very often. Despite the amazing library of 2D fighters and shoot 'em ups, I enjoy the offerings on the Saturn much more. Perhaps it is the controller? Yeah, it's probably the controller... and the fact that I have a massive hard-on for the Saturn. I am in love with that system. It is the best looking console IMO (well, tied with the PC Engine), and I have own and sold many models of it, including:

US Sega model 1 (bought when it was new in 1995)
US Sega model 2
JP Sega model 1 (grey)
JP Sega model 2 (white)
JP Sega model 2 (skeleton)
JP Victor model 1 (the best looking version IMO)
JP Victor model 2
JP Hitachi model 2

[Inazuma]

I'm exclude anything current gen. This list was damn hard to make.

1. Nintendo 64
2. Sega Dreamcast
3. Sega Saturn
4. Super Famicom
5. Playstation 2
6. Game Boy Advance
7. Mega Drive
8. Family Computer
9. Playstation
10. Neo Geo MVS/AES

[Original_Name]

Hm, that's strange. I could've sworn I made some mention about the Mark III being "called the Master System in the west and in later Japanese iterations". I may have originally said something along those lines, but started over without thinking to reinsert the phrase. You're absolutely right, though, it wasn't called Mark III for long or by many people, but I just like using that name 'cause it conjurs up images of that awesome-looking white console with the FM synth add-on.

Haha, and I knew Famicom was a portmanteau of Family and Computer -- I suppose referring to it by its full name would have been more accurate (I'm also realizing that I didn't specify that I was talking about the AES either with the Neo-Geo), but then they officially adopted "Famicom" for the "Super Famicom", so I just called them both that. Plus I just think that Famicom sounds cooler than Family Computer... that barely even sounds like a video game console to me, haha. I didn't mean to look like an elitist when I said I was using the Japanese names for the consoles -- I was just using the names I preferred, which all happened to be Japanese monikers.

Is it really more powerful than the Saturn overall in terms of 2D? I hadn't heard that -- I really appreciate the information. Regardless, I think that a massive part of the Neo-Geo's continued relevance (Metal Slug 3, for instance, merited a standalone port on the more modern Xbox) lies just as much if not more in the incredible amount of artistic effort Neo developers put into their games than the Neo's brute strength.

Hm... I wouldn't say using the Japanese console name falsifies an American perspective so much as it treats hardware as universally the same console despite superficial changes in title, region-coding, exterior design, et cetera. In terms of the Genesis/MegaDrive thing I guess I could point out that Sega had originally wanted to call their 16-bit console the MegaDrive in the US region as well, but the name was already copyrighted over here so they went with Genesis instead, but honestly I just like the name MegaDrive better even though the console I've played my whole life has "Genesis" written on it. Yeah, I would've loved to go into deeper detail about differences between regions, but I was already going on and on...

By the way, could you tell me why exactly the MegaDrive was so unpopular in Japan? Was it just because of the Nintendo brand-power and stronger focus on RPGs, or was there something else to it?

One other thing -- the V-Saturn's your favorite? Wow, I'm totally in favor of the JP white and skeleton model 2's!

[ZenErik]

1. Dreamcast
2. Saturn
3. PlayStation
4. PC Engine
5. Genesis/Sega CD
6. PlayStation 2
7. Super Nintendo
8. PlayStation 3
9. Wii
10. NES

[BRIK]

Dreamcast x9
PSone