NES vs SNES vs N64 vs GameCube vs Wii vs Wii U vs Switch

[Yoshi178]

snip

I?m surprised you don?t have an opinion on this if you love Nintendo a lot - or are they all equally good in your eyes?

they are good for different reasons.

for example, N64 imo, probably had the highest quality games library but the library was really small. but what was there was fantastic.

Wii had some great games and is even home to one of my favourite games of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles. however the quality of other Nintendo platforms is better than the Wii library imo. that said, the Wii also has the highest quantity of great games imo.

i own more games for my Wii than i do for any other platform.

currently, the Gamecube has the best mixture of both N64 type quality games, but also has a pretty high quantity of great games.


Each Nintendo console could be considered "the best" for different reasons. The Switch hasn't been out long enough to be worth involving in this conversation imo though.

 

[Ravenbom]

SNES in my heart is always going to be my favorite console. Personally, I think that the DS library is stronger (if I'm trying to be objective) and the DS mostly built on the best parts of the SNES.

But here's my case for the SNES:

The controller - It's the basis for all modern controllers. Comfy where the NES pad was not. You can say that the NES is, but it's not. It made the D-pad an essential part of all controllers, but the SNES is a modern controller built for 2D.

Games - Every franchise that made the NES popular was basically better on the SNES. I might argue Kirby peaked on NES though. UN Squadron was the first time I remember that an arcade game was actually BETTER on console than in arcade. Also, the launch window months were pretty solid.

Price - Same as the NES but better in every way.

Art styles - It was just the right amount of resolution and colors to allow many different, complex art styles to depending on the game including Chrono Trigger's DBZ art direction. The many art styles were so strong that it's the basis of virtually all pixel art today.

Music - Just enough channels to open fidelity from the NES with enough restrictions to demand creative solutions. Miles ahead of the clanging of the Genesis and noise channel rhythm section of the NES, it has some of the best chip tunes to this day. Like the art styles, it's the basis of all chip tunes and retro style gaming music we here today.
Even Undertale which pulls its art style more from the Commodore, pulls its tunes from the SNES era.


NES is the framework for modern consoles but the SNES was the refinement of home consoles into things that still persist today through GBA and DS eras and into PC indies.

 

[dscross]

snip

I?m surprised you don?t have an opinion on this if you love Nintendo a lot - or are they all equally good in your eyes?

they are good for different reasons.

for example, N64 imo, probably had the highest quality games library but the library was really small. but what was there was fantastic.

Wii had some great games and is even home to one of my favourite games of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles. however the quality of other Nintendo platforms is better than the Wii library imo. that said, the Wii also has the highest quantity of great games imo.

i own more games for my Wii than i do for any other platform.

currently, the Gamecube has the best mixture of both N64 type quality games, but also has a pretty high quantity of great games.

Each Nintendo console could be considered "the best" for different reasons. The Switch hasn't been out long enough to be worth involving in this conversation imo though.

I loved the N64, GameCube, SNES and NES games. I feel like the Wii and Wii U games I can take or leave mostly, except the Mario games and Sonic Colours which were pretty decent (I never played Xenoblade - I have it on 3DS but I haven't got around to it. Most of the Wii Zelda games I didn't like as much as the older stuff). It seems like the Switch could have a good library from the trend we're seeing at the mo. Do you have an opinion on the 2D consoles?

 

[Yoshi178]

snip

I?m surprised you don?t have an opinion on this if you love Nintendo a lot - or are they all equally good in your eyes?

they are good for different reasons.

for example, N64 imo, probably had the highest quality games library but the library was really small. but what was there was fantastic.

Wii had some great games and is even home to one of my favourite games of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles. however the quality of other Nintendo platforms is better than the Wii library imo. that said, the Wii also has the highest quantity of great games imo.

i own more games for my Wii than i do for any other platform.

currently, the Gamecube has the best mixture of both N64 type quality games, but also has a pretty high quantity of great games.

Each Nintendo console could be considered "the best" for different reasons. The Switch hasn't been out long enough to be worth involving in this conversation imo though.

I loved the N64, GameCube, SNES and NES games. I feel like the Wii and Wii U games I can take or leave mostly, except the Mario games and Sonic Colours which were pretty decent (I never played Xenoblade - I have it on 3DS but I haven't got around to it. Most of the Wii Zelda games I didn't like as much as the older stuff). It seems like the Switch could have a good library from the trend we're seeing at the mo. Do you have an opinion on the 2D consoles?

i was too little to appreciate the NES and SNES. my first consoles were my PS1, N64 and Game Boy Color.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

the Switch, even though I don't own one. But I can sense some sort of childhood memory trying to force a decision here for me that does not add up at all, and that can fuck right off into a multi-lane pile-up of fuel tankers and school buses

it has successfully modernised and combined Nintendo's strengths, while giving access to their past libraries. So it has been very impressive so far and i feel confident in guessing the future of its' prosperity, because I don't care enough to worry about being perceived as wrong

 

[dscross]

i was too little to appreciate the NES and SNES. my first consoles were my PS1, N64 and Game Boy Color.

Surely you must have played some of the games on the Nintendo Virtual Console or brought out as games on the newer consoles? Like some of the amazing SNES RPGs like Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Mana, Earthbound, Terranigma or FF6 - for example?

 

[Yoshi178]

i was too little to appreciate the NES and SNES. my first consoles were my PS1, N64 and Game Boy Color.

Surely you must have played some of the games on the Nintendo Virtual Console or brought out as games on the newer consoles? Like some of the amazing SNES RPGs like Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Mana, Earthbound, Terranigma or FF6 - for example?

started Earthbound but i'm only up to the 2nd town. haven't touched the others.

i have played stuff like Mario World, DKC and Super Metroid though.

 

[Wakey87]

The NES is the only Nintendo console I have ever owned.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

I was born in '92 so I missed the NES just about. Just as I was old enough to start gaming, my dad had moved on from his NES and was super into the SNES. Some of my best memories in gaming are from the SNES. Super Mario World; Yoshi's Island; TLOZ: A Link to the Past; Harvest Moon; Mario Kart; Donkey Kong Country; Zombies Ate My Neighbours; Mega Man X and Super Metroid. Hell I played Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 on All Stars before I played the originals on NES. The only console coming close for me was the GameCube. It had a phenomenal library and I really got into a lot of the GBA cross play features for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles; Pok?mon Colosseum; TLOZ: Four Swords Adventures. Not to mention hours I spent with friends playing Super Smash Bros. Melee; Kirby Air Ride or Mario Kart: Double Dash.

It's really close at the top but, here goes:

1. GameCube - When the GameCube launched my school holidays were spent with a group of my close friends and we just went crazy on four player titles. Some of the best times I ever had on a home console.
2. SNES - My first console. It's like a childhood sweetheart, whatever bad there was I've blocked out over time. It was colourful, it was smooth and it introduced me to RPGs.
3. Wii - I feel like I liked the Wii for a lot of the reasons I liked the GameCube, but it also had Metroid 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and functioned as two consoles.
4. N64 - I like my N64, I'd go as far as to say I loved it. I was never into Goldeneye because most of my playtime at this age was solo. But it was here that I played Ocarina of Time; Mario 64; Star Fox Lylat Wars; Banjo-Kazooie and F-Zero X.
5. NES - I feel like if I played it first, I'd probably rank it higher. But after only ever having played it after getting an N64, I feel like I can't judge it accurately. But personally, this is where it ranks.

I never bought into the WiiU and I won't have a Switch until June, so I've left them out of the rankings.

 

[GalanDun]

Out of the ones I've used, Wii U>Original vertical Wii>GameCube>N64>SNES>Switch>NES>Wii Family>Wii mini.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I think my favorites will always be the GameCube and SNES followed closely by the N64 and NES. I haven't had the opportunity to try a Switch yet.

 

[Rangaman]

For me, this is really a case of SNES vs N64.

The NES, while important to the history of videogames, isn't worth going back to today. The games on it are far too primitive to be considered "the best", IMO.

The GameCube is...alright. I know some of you guys love it, but I just can't. Not after seeing the competition.

The Wii had a fantastic library. It's just a shame the actual system was a pile of shit.

Buying a Wii U might be my biggest mistake as a consumer so far in my life. And I bought a classic car that needs major restoration, so that's saying something.

Obligatory "It's too soon to comment on the Switch" noises.

So yeah. The SNES vs the N64.

The SNES definitely has the best controller of the two. And the best third-party support. And some awesome games to. Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong Country 1&2, Earthbound, Final Fantasy IV-VI, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Zelda: ALttP, F-Zero...the list goes on and on. Logically it's the best system...

...but at the same time, there's just something...special about the N64. Maybe it's because of how different it is. I mean the SNES is fantastic and well designed. The N64 isn't. At all. The controller is a joke and it was still stuck on cartridges FFS. The library is tiny as well. Yet the games it has just brilliant. Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Paper Mario, F-Zero X, Star Fox, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, etc. Not only that but there's just...something about the N64 that makes it feel warm and welcoming.

So I'm gonna go with...the N64. And if you've skipped everything I just wrote because all anyone wants to see is a top ten (or top six in this case):

[ol]
[li]N64[/li]
[li]SNES[/li]
[li]Wii[/li]
[li]GameCube[/li]
[li]NES[/li]
[li]Wii U[/li]
[/ol]

There you go. Peace out!