Favorite Systems of All Time

[ghataa]

Being a Gen X'r, I have had my share of video game systems over the years. As a kid, the 2600 was transformative and I particularly liked the Activision games but quickly preferred the Intellivision sports and strategy games. I owned a NES in high school but the SMS was my favorite in that period, especially when I got my hands on Phantasy Star! Then the TG16/CD came out and to this day it has been my favorite system (Ys, Military Madness, Thunders, Etc). I got my sports fix with the Genesis and also cherry picked some RPG's. The SNES didn't really do it for me (not sure why) and the 3DO was a dud (still have it with several games). The PC held my interest in the 1990's and 2000's with fantastic games from LucasArts and Blizzard while the PSs and N64/GameCube for me were just OK. The modern systems are fun and enjoy the online gaming but of all the retro systems it has always been TG for me. I can't explain it but it always pulls me back!

[CrackTiger]

My favorite consoles per generation:

Intellivision
SMS
TG-16
Saturn
Dreamcast
360

32-bit has a big drop off of magic for me and the diminishing returns continue after that.

<16-bit is where it's at.

PC Engine is my favorite overall, closely followed by SMS.

[Arkhan Asylum]

PC Engine, Playstation, Dreamcast


PPD PPD PPDDDDDDD


edit: if computers count and MSX to this.   I didn't think computers counted.

[ToyMachine78]

Mine are:

Atari 2600/5200
NES
TG16
N64
PS2
360
PS4

5th Gen was the weakest for me. It spanned my HS/College years, and I just wasn't as into gaming. In HS 92-96 I was mostly playing the SNES and TG16. In college I got an N64, but really only played Mario Kart, Ocarina, and Golden Eye.

I didn't have the time or money for games really.

I really got back into gaming after college with the PS2 and 360. Loved both of those consoles.

My all-time favorite is the NES. So many great games, so many great memories.

[Gypsy]

PCE
Saturn
Dreamcast

GBA
DS

Some random musings...

Gen 7 blurs together for me in terms of console identity and that includes PC. This carries over into gen 8 as well of course. 360 for me as a system is more enjoyable than PS3 based on the controller, read/install times and honestly the VGA cable is super convenient too. Great for playing older XBLA games as well as disc copy shmups on a monitor. The exclusives between PS3 and 360 are a toss-up for me. I enjoyed at least 8 exclusives on both. I like modern games, there just...isn't console identity beyond Nintendo.

Many years ago I would have said Genesis for gen iv but I barely play my Genesis anymore, only kept a smattering of games for it too. Whereas I fire up PCE quite a bit.

Like just about any other gamer I played a bunch of PS1 and PS2. The PS2 is just a piece of shit in general though. Both great software because well they got a shit ton of games. However I really love the great arcade conversions on Saturn and Dreamcast as well as their unique libraries especially when factoring in Japanese only releases puts them over the top for me personally. Also I find it ridiculous as shit the amount of PS2 games that can not do 480p.

In college I got an N64, but really only played Mario Kart, Ocarina, and Golden Eye.

That's honestly kind of the story for everyone. Maybe not those specific three games but the system is extremely top heavy then a pile of puke.

[Michirin9801]

My 3 favourites are the GBA, the SNES and the PCE.

The SNES was not only my childhood passion, it still is my passion to this day! There's just so much good stuff on the system that I'm still discovering new things to play and love on it! I also find that so many of its games have aged beautifully, with 2D graphics that look so good that you could release a SNES game today and it wouldn't look any worse than it did back in the day, and the sound is the perfect middle-ground between chiptunes and real music, it's still limited enough that it sounds like chiptunes, but it also sounds more advanced than its predecessors and competitors! Love it!

The GBA is like a handheld SNES on-steroids! It can do practically everything the SNES can, and then some, but without any slow-down, and you can play it anywhere you want without having to worry about your battery dying so soon! cough3DScoughSwitch
As if playing excellent conversions of some of my favourite SNES games anywhere I want isn't already good enough, the system is chock-full of original titles that are just as good as, if not better than some of the best 3rd and 4th gen classics! I've also made it no secret that I LOVE GBA sound, I know a lot of people don't, but I can't help but to find its unique mix of bit-crushed samples with GB chiptunes to be absolutely delightful! I like to say that it was the last game system to have its own "sound identity" because of that, but I guess to most people that's for the better...

The PCE is one I've discovered later, (Thanks Wii!) but it's blown me away with the sheer quality of so many of its titles! I'm a big fan of games that push hardware limits, and the PCE is the perfect middle-ground to have limits being pushed left and right while still managing to make games that look, sound and play great! Because of that, I like to think of the PCE as the most impressive game system that I've played... And of course, I can't not mention the sound! The CD audio was good and all, but the chiptunes are where it's at! They're kinda like NES and GB tunes, but taken to the next level! Having the ability to make your own waveforms, as well as more sound channels not only opens so many possibilities, but it's also MUCH easier to work with and get the sounds that you want than, say, the FM synth you get on the Mega Drive... I'm proud to be a dedicated PCE chiptuner ;3

Honourable mentions: Wii, 3DS, Mega Drive, X68000, Game Boy/Colour, NES, PSP.

[MNKyDeth]

All of my gaming nowadays is either PCE/TG16, Windows, or emulated, and maybe some segacd from time to time.
I say windows instead of PC as PC can reference to Macs and Linux based computers.
PC = personal computer and a Mac or Linux PC is a personal computer.

So my overall favorites from the 80's and 90's are

1: windows - this includes ms-dos based games.
2: pce/TG16
3: segacd
4: Genesis
5: Nes
6: Intellivision
7: Saturn
8: snes
9: Jaguar
10: N64

[Arkhan Asylum]

Honourable mentions: Wii, 3DS, Mega Drive, X68000, Game Boy/Colour, NES, PSP.

Don't fall victim to lumping computers in with consoles!

[Michirin9801]

Honourable mentions: Wii, 3DS, Mega Drive, X68000, Game Boy/Colour, NES, PSP.

Don't fall victim to lumping computers in with consoles!

Umm, the thread says: "Favourite Systems", it doesn't specify they have to be consoles...

[TR0N]

This thread should have been in chit-chat or console ghataa.Still for past systems these are some of my favorites.

1.Famicom
2.TG16/PCE
3.Genesis
4.Neo-Geo
5.Saturn
6.PS2
7.Dreamcast
8.SNES
9.PS1

[Bloufo]

9: Jaguar

That's an interesting one. Usually you don't find the Jag mentioned much in any kind of general or even personal "best of" list.

Incidentally, there's a guy working on a flash cart for it. Last I checked, he was making good progress.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Consoles:
Atari 2600
NES
Turbob Grafx
Neo Geo
Jaguar
PS1
PS2
PS3
PS4

Portables:
Game & Watch
Lynx
GBC
GBA
PSP
Vita

[MNKyDeth]

9: Jaguar

That's an interesting one. Usually you don't find the Jag mentioned much in any kind of general or even personal "best of" list.

Incidentally, there's a guy working on a flash cart for it. Last I checked, he was making good progress.

I had two jaguars, two dooms and the link cable. Doom multiplayer with friends on a console was really amazing fun at the time.

Oh and that super shitty game. Club drive. My friends and I played it nearly non stop in tag mode.

I had a lot of fun with theme park. Trying to make everyone throw up and such. Then cannon fodder, Rayman, attack of the killer mutant penguins... I thought were all good games.

[spenoza]

Apple II
NES
TG16
Saturn
Dreamcast
Gamecube
Gameboy Advance
Windows PC with Steam

Those are my favorites for each respective generation  ;)

[turboswimbz]

My List:

PC Engine
PCE CD/DUO
PCE GT / LT
TG-16
TG-16 CD/DUO
TG Express
Supergrafx

#OBEY, #PCE, #HUDSON, #NEC, #FANBOY, #FANGIRL, #TURBOBS4LYFE, #THELITTLEENGINETHATCOULD, #ALLOUTTAHASHTAGS

[Flare65]

Nes
Tg-16/pce
Snes
PSP
Ps Vita

[jlued686]

Mine are:

TurboDuo
Dreamcast
Nintendo DS

Some of my others are the Saturn, PS2, and the Switch is quickly climbing the ranks. The era of DS and PS2 was crazy, in my opinion. Tons of diversity in those software lineups.

[NecroPhile]

Heh, swim knows what's up.

Here's my list:

Turbobs - all time favorite
PSP and Vita - love 'em mostly for Lego games, Falcom goodies, and goofy and mildly pervy JP games.
PC - Dune, C&C, Heretic, Doom, Quake, GTA, Wolfenstein, and Falcoms (especially going forward)
2600 - I had a lot of fun with it as a kiddo, but I wouldn't lose any sleep if I never touched one again.
Gameboy - similarly, it was fun for a few years when I had one but I don't really miss it now.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Tandy CoCo2 (piss off Ark)
NES
Turbografx/PCE
Saturn
Dreamcast/Xbox (I know right?...it's a hack machine)
Wii
PS3/360 I guess
Switch/Ouya?

After the 16-bit/2D/Arcade era I totally stopped caring as much.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Honourable mentions: Wii, 3DS, Mega Drive, X68000, Game Boy/Colour, NES, PSP.

Don't fall victim to lumping computers in with consoles!

Umm, the thread says: "Favourite Systems", it doesn't specify they have to be consoles...

given the fact everyone was dropping console names, it's in the TG subforum (thats maybe a mistake), and it's generally short for game system, I figured that was what we were going with.

If we're throwing PC platforms in there, time to add MSX to my list lol.

Spenoza's over here with his Apple II.  Gross.

Apple II

I BET YOU WISH YOU HAD A COMMODORE 64 SO YOU COULD KEEP UP WITH IT AND HAVE THE WONDER COMPUTER OF THE 1980S

or was that the VIC-20. 

lol.


What was it like growing up with an Apple II and it's lack of sound/etc. compared to other machines back then, honestly?

[xcrement5x]

Humm, this is a hard one.

I really really like the SegaCD because that is one of the first systems I really got a chance to dive into the library of when I had time when I was younger.  It always has a soft spot in my heart, so it's really a favorite in the more nostalgic sense, I still enjoy lots of the games as well, there just aren't as many to enjoy.

PC Engine/TG16 is much more up my alley today due to the game variety and play-styles, same thing with Genesis/MD so they are about on par there. 

[spenoza]

The Apple II is all I knew at that time. Didn't matter if the Apple speaker sucked. Accolade's Test Drive made it talk, though. It would load for 2 or 3 minutes off the floppy and then say "Accolade Presents" all scratchy-like and then load for another 2-3 minutes before letting you actually play the game.

The Apple II is partially responsible for the JRPG. Japan was fascinated with Wizardry and Ultima, which both were created for the Apple. Tons of great stuff to play on it, as long as you didn't need really responsive action, and even then, a few games did still manage to deliver: Lode Runner, Boulderdash, Prince of Persia. For a kid whose only console options were a 2600 and a ColecoVision, the Apple II was fantastic.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Yeah, I like the Apple II for the adventure and RPG games.  The action stuff outside of like, DROL, mostly sucked though.

Prince of Persia is a pretty amazing feat on that machine.  So was Karateka.  and it has that hilarious part where you can back off the cliff and die at the start.   

Cleveland schools all had Apple IIs, but my family was all Commodore except the one cousin that had a TRS80 and probably hated his life.

It's like Apple II had a solid run until the Commodore showed up and bitch slapped it, and it didn't sort itself back out until the IIGS

the IIGS was fucking sweet.


but then the Amiga existed, so there that went...

funny, too, since Commodore fucked EVERYTHING UP SOMEHOW.

How do you have the Amiga and not win.  It's like bringing a machine gun to a knife fight and somehow losing because you're too busy waving it around talking about it, but you're also holding it upside down, forgot to put bullets in it, and didn't realize what it even does.

[GoldenWheels]

NES
Turbo/PCE
N64 (tons of the games are ass but I put more multiplayer time into a small handful of games on that system than into any other system period)
Atari 7800 (basically for a great version of Joust and 99% 2600 compatibility)

[turboswimbz]

The Apple II is all I knew at that time. Didn't matter if the Apple speaker sucked. Accolade's Test Drive made it talk, though. It would load for 2 or 3 minutes off the floppy and then say "Accolade Presents" all scratchy-like and then load for another 2-3 minutes before letting you actually play the game.

The Apple II is partially responsible for the JRPG. Japan was fascinated with Wizardry and Ultima, which both were created for the Apple. Tons of great stuff to play on it, as long as you didn't need really responsive action, and even then, a few games did still manage to deliver: Lode Runner, Boulderdash, Prince of Persia. For a kid whose only console options were a 2600 and a ColecoVision, the Apple II was fantastic.

Hmm perhaps I should take out my apple II and see if the thing runs . . . and try to fix er up.   I found it all alone one day about 10 years ago and haven't tried setting it up yet, although it's on a list of things to get to one day.   

[spenoza]

There are so many Apple II games that would work great on PCE. It's just a matter of getting around that tiny work RAM and sprite and tile limits. Always bothered me that the PCE Lode Runner used 16x16 characters. I think the original used like 8x8 everything, so replicating that on PCE would require some kind of sprite and tile compositing on the back-end. But the game is so CPU-light that that shouldn't be an issue. Boulderdash would also be fun on PCE. I think that was originally an Atari game. I had lots of fun with that. That did use 16x16 objects, I think, so that would be simple.

[Arkhan Asylum]

There are so many Apple II games that would work great on PCE. It's just a matter of getting around that tiny work RAM and sprite and tile limits. Always bothered me that the PCE Lode Runner used 16x16 characters. I think the original used like 8x8 everything, so replicating that on PCE would require some kind of sprite and tile compositing on the back-end. But the game is so CPU-light that that shouldn't be an issue. Boulderdash would also be fun on PCE. I think that was originally an Atari game. I had lots of fun with that. That did use 16x16 objects, I think, so that would be simple.

Using 16x16 for Insanity was a mistake.  It would have played better with little duders.

But, you don't need any special tricks.  Just use 16x16 sprites and only fill 8x8 of it, and math accordingly.



Ultima II would be fun on PCE.   We had talked about doing it a few different times.  Paul even did a goofy mockup.

[spenoza]

I was wrong. On the Apple the tiles were 10 x 11 (weird, eh?) So in order to preserve the original level sizes and designs, PCE would have to be run at 320x240 and tiles couldn't be any bigger than 11 x 11. Probably better to stick to 10 x 11, same as the original assets. So tiles would have to be composited. Sprites would be fine.

[Arkhan Asylum]

10x11, lol.  sweet.


wonder why that is a thing.

[spenoza]

Probably to be able to get good-looking color graphics from the Apple II. You really want a mindfuck you should read about how Apple's high resolution graphics mode generates color on an NTSC signal by using just black and white dots. 10x11 fills out the Apple's 280 horizontal resolution with 28 tiles, and on black and white those graphics are detailed, but black and white. On a color display the screen appears roughly 140 horizontal resolution, so each character will kinda seem to be 5 fat pixels wide, but in reality they are more detailed than that. So it's weird.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Yeah, the Apple II's display in general is fucking weird.

nothing about it is normal.    Including the great color modes:  Green and Purple smear, and Orange and Blue smudge.

Sometimes, it's kind of nice and crisp, and looks fast for some reason.  There's often lots of visual stimulation when its animating/drawing.  More than you get on sprite/tile setups.


Alot of times though, it's kind of a mess.

[Winniez]

I'm not a fan of making top lists and ranking things but for the sake of the conversation I'll try to compose something. Favourit meaning favourit, not the best by any objective measures, just systems I have had most fun with.
1.DOS/Windows/IBM PC
2.NES/Famicom
3.SNES/SFC (double edged sword, amazing game library but the hardware itself leaves a lot to be desired, hate the slowdowns and general slowness of many games, also not the best soundchip)
4.PCE
5.GB (including Color and Advance)
6.DS
7.3DS
8.Megadrive
9.WiiU
10.Wii

Honorable mentions: Master System, Neo Geo, Gamecube, Xbox 360

[exodus]

Honourable mentions: Wii, 3DS, Mega Drive, X68000, Game Boy/Colour, NES, PSP.

Don't fall victim to lumping computers in with consoles!

you didn't seem to have a problem with it when windows/dosbox was mentioned in the post directly after!

[exodus]

Mine, by generation:
- intellivision
- none (didn't care for NES or SMS)
- pce/tg-16
- saturn
- dreamcast
- 360
- PS4

for handhelds:
- game gear
- wonderswan
- PSP
- Switch (though this is cheating since it's sort of also a console)

[Arkhan Asylum]

Honourable mentions: Wii, 3DS, Mega Drive, X68000, Game Boy/Colour, NES, PSP.

Don't fall victim to lumping computers in with consoles!

you didn't seem to have a problem with it when windows/dosbox was mentioned in the post directly after!

Hnn.  I didn't see that one yesterday, since I replied directly to Michirin. 

I have a habit of hitting "reply" and not actually finishing what I am doing/typing right away.    So, I end up posting to find that there's more posts than when I last refreshed.

I've noticed a few other DOS/PC throw-ins here, but it seems old-ass-computers are definitely in the minority.

[PukeSter]

PC Engine
SNES
N64 (best multiplayer console, best 1st party)
PS2
360
PS4 (or really PC)

Trying to explore Playstation and Genesis some more. I don't like the nes apart from the megaman games.

[NecroPhile]

No PC-FX lovers?  I like mine, but it's too gimpy to claim it as an all time favorite.

[Arkhan Asylum]

No PC-FX lovers?  I like mine, but it's too gimpy to claim it as an all time favorite.

yeah anyone that claims it's their favorite anything of all time aside from doorstop is full of shit.

[Green]

Pc engine, neo geo, nes, Genesis/cd

All I need.

[SignOfZeta]

I love all four 16-bit consoles. I can't pick a favorite. The SNES doesn't have that many games I care about but the ones I like I absolutely love. The MD just kinda sucks overall but it also has some I love. The PCE has the biggest library of games I like but living without a Neo Geo would be impossible since it's simply smashes all the others with its top fuel funny carts.

Then handhelds, since they still make OG games for those. Every Gameboy/DS and PlayStation portable thing is really good. The last new game I bought was Super Robot Wars V for Vita...in like March, I think.

[nectarsis]

Turbo/PCE
PSP/Vita
PS2/Neo Geo

[gojira1954]

Favs in order, I've started selling off the systems that don't get played

pce
snes
gb
ps1
saturn

[nopepper]

SNES/SFC (double edged sword, amazing game library but the hardware itself leaves a lot to be desired, hate the slowdowns and general slowness of many games, also not the best soundchip)

That's almost exactly how I feel about the SNES, except I find myself not wanting to play it just because of the flaws you state.

Since I am mostly into shooters, I usually go for PCE or Genesis, then go for the NES for action platformers. Still, with games like Super Metroid, Mega Man X, Actraiser, Final Fantasy III and Super Ghouls and Ghosts, it's hard for me not to keep it around. It just always feels a bit sluggish to me, so I prefer the crispness of the PCE or even the NES.

With that said, I like the PCE, Genesis, NES and Neo Geo almost equally, with the SNES closely behind, so as long as I can keep those, along with one modern console (either 360 or PS3), I'd probably be happy.

[Gypsy]

It's worth it to play the absolute classics the SNES has. Though I suppose you could just emulate them.

[cr8zykuban0]

My top 5 favorites are
1. Sega genesis
2. Neo geo aes
3. Nintendo 64 (please dont hate me)
4. Pc engine
5. Ps2

[ToyMachine78]

My top 5 favorites are
1. Sega genesis
2. Neo geo aes
3. Nintendo 64 (please dont hate me)
4. Pc engine
5. Ps2

Unacceptable

[Gypsy]

My top 5 favorites are
1. Sega genesis
2. Neo geo aes
3. Nintendo 64 (please dont hate me)
4. Pc engine
5. Ps2

I won't hate you, but why?

[Winniez]

Well, you can have lots of fun with the N64 and even more nostalgia towards it. Don't judge.

[SignOfZeta]

PLEASE DON'T BEAT ME UP YOU HATE MONGERS!!!

[schweaty]

by generation:

1.  intellivision - this is what we had as a kid.  never had a 2600, but the intellivision kicks the shit out of it so no loss there
2.  NES
3.  Turbo
4.  PC  (my gpa in college wouldve been a half a grade higher if blizzard never existed)
5.  GC  (still holds up)
6.  360
7.  PS4