| Author
|
The ultimate showdown: SNES vs Genesis
|
Slim Slimer
Ghosthead
Joined: Oct 21, 2001
|
 Posted: Jun 19, 2003 9:10 PM
I'm surprised that someone hasn't made a thread about this yet (And if someone did, don't send a link or bump it up. Let it die.).
Sometime in 1990 around the release of Game Boy and Super Mario Bros 3, I saw a tiny picture in my issue of Nintendo Power with a picture of an early beta build of Super Mario World. At the time, of course, I did not know that and I was nonentheless excited about this 16-bit Mario. It seemed a new videogame system was going to hit North America, and it was highly anticipated by me. The graphics were great as I found out in future issues and looked much better than Sonic the Hedgehog which I played at my friend's house a lot. I didn't have a Genesis, since I was such a a Nintendo fanboy (So was my brother; when we got Game Gear for Christmas the first thing he did when he saw it was moan, "Sega?"), however I got a Genesis in 93 because Aladdin looked real cool for it. However, when I scratched the surface a bit more and bought a few more games, I realized Genesis is really an excellent system.
Christmas of 91 came, and so did the legendary battle. More legendary than XBox vs Gamecube vs PS2 or PS1 vs N64, the battle of SNES vs Genesis.
I decided to resurrect the old battle and review each system in many categories to see what system is the best.
DESIGN:
SUPER NES
Super Nintendo's US system was ass ugly. The purple buttons and grey shell was very boring next to the sleeker Super Famicom in Japan. The boxes were cardboard, so any kid who didn't throw it away after they got it would end up ruining it. The cartridges inside were nice, though. The controller is probably one of the best controllers ever. Some might say the Playstation 2's controller is better since it pretty much ripped off of Nintendo's design except for 2 more buttons and an 2 analog sticks. Those 2 extra buttons were nice, but the analog sticks were way too sensitive for it's own good. So for performance, SNES's controller kills any and all competition.
GENESIS
Sega's system was very cool looking. The original looks rather large and somewhat outdated, but the Genesis 2 and 3 are very badass. It's black, so it matches with the rest of your home theater. The boxes were great, too. It went from the boring black graph paper design to the cool Genesis logo on the side of the cover. The best part was that it was plastic. It was much more durable than those ratty SNES boxes. But when Sega lost so much money from Sega CD and 32X, their boxes went cardboard. Still, the plastic cases are great.
The controllers were a bad idea from the start. Only 3 buttons? C'mon Sega! The 6-button controller became very necessary for games like Mortal Kombat (It's guranteed that you lose if you use a 3-button) and saved Genesis from having some really crummy fighting games.
Another comnplaint was the lack of A/V cables. Instead it's an RF box. Why? Do only white trash own Genesis? I think it's safe to say that in the early 90's most people had A/V ports on their TV.
OVERALL:
Super NES had a better controller and A/V cables, but an ugly system and crummy boxes prevent it from winning.
WINNER:
Genesis
GRAPHICS:
SUPER NES
Sega definately got a head start on the 16-bit system-making by releasing Genesis years before SNES. As a result, the graphics on SNES are much more crisp, and can support up to 256 colors on the screen at one time.
GENESIS
Like I said, Sega's graphics were great at system launch, but lack some of the charm that Super NES's graphics has. The system can only support 74 colors on screen and the graphics are rather muddy.
OVERALL:
There were a few times when Sega's graphics on a game looked better than SNES's graphics on the same game, due to poor programming.
WINNER:
Super NES
AUDIO:
SUPER NES
Awesome. Clear, great MIDI support and able to capture digitized voices very well. Not much to say here.
GENESIS
Play Earthworm Jim on Genesis then play it on SNES. What one's better in terms of audio? The Super NES. Sometimes, Genesis's music sounds like something out of NES. Once again, good for it's time, but not now.
OVERALL:
Easy answer.
WINNER:
SUPER NES
GAMES:
SUPER NES
Didn't have a Super NES back in the day? Tis a shame, since you missed out on some of the best videogames ever created. Nintendo probably is the best video game developer there is. The have set so many standards and perfected already existing standards. Games like Super Mario World, Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Star Fox, Donkey Kong Country, Pilotwings, the Super Star Wars Trilogy, and Yoshi's Island are the best of the best. Any game that was on both systems ended up being Super NES's version of it was superior. From better music, sharper and more colorful graphics, and perhaps eve tighter control, Super NES pretty much beat Sega in every game except whatever was exlusive to Sega. Except one - but we'll get to that later.
GENESIS
You'd think that since Genesis was around longer, there would be a larger amount of good games for it, right? No, not really. There are a lot of great games just worth buying a Genesis for. The Sonic games all just have incredibly appealing graphics and design, as did Aladdin. Hell, Virgin's take on Aladdin looked better and was much more fun than Capcom's take. There are a lot of cult games that mostly Sega made, including Shinobi, Golden Axe, and Columns. Still, knowing that there is a better version out there of whatever 3rd party game you're playing on Genesis makes Sega's box inferior.
I won't even delve into Sega CD or 32X, since most of the games for those "systems" sucked.
OVERALL:
Buy Genesis for Sonic, Aladdin, and a few other gems, but buy SNES for everything else.
WINNER:
Super NES
TUDE:
Note: I created this category since that's why most gamers bought Genesis instead of Super NES. I also created it because Sega's getting their ass handed to them in this thread.
SUPER NES
Mario never wore cool sneakers like Sonic. Donkey Kong never did funky breakdancing moves like Vectorman. Little bells and whistles like these is what kept Sega going. But it wasn't until Mortal Kombat came out that Sega's stance on video games really started to come about. Nintendo's policy on no-superviolent games really hurt them when they released a bloodless Mortal Kombat. Nobody wants to see Rayden feel somebodys chest and balls. They want him to electrocute someone and kill them! Thankfully, they released an uncensored Mortal Kombat II but that change to Mortal Kombat has tarnished Nintendo's image and has lasted all the way to Gamecube.
GENESIS
Read above. Sega was a helluva lot cooler.
OVERALL:
Hedgehogs are more "hip" than plumbers.
WINNER:
Genesis
AND THE OVERALL WINNER IS:
Super NES!
It's just a better system. It has better graphics, a better controller, and better sound. Also, Nintendo simply makes better games than Sega does.
I definately think Genesis appealed to the casual gamer more than SNES did. Regardless, SNES was the place to be for great games. Anybody who said SNES has no good games or the graphics on Genesis were better are the same people who bought XBox because it's green and black and has an X on it.
_____________
---
KaZaA: More sources needed.
|
|
|
|
 
|
slimer 3:16
Ghosthead
Joined: Feb 24, 2002
|
Posted: Jun 19, 2003 9:29 PM
Very Good Slim.I'm impressed on your knowledge of the "vintage" systems.And i see that you did NOT go into the death of Sega,with the Dreamcast.I think that was the most ulgy controller i have ever seen.And most of the games had Sonic in them so there wasn't any real choice of games.
I have gotten every nintendo system since the SNES except the virutal boy(shudders)up to the GameCube.
_____________
"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."
"If you want to see me blow up this 100 ft. marshmellow man,give me a hell yeah!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
wingsnut25
Moderator
Joined: Jul 15, 2001
|
Posted: Jun 20, 2003 12:11 AM
SNES is the way to go...
_____________
Derek Jenkins
Bustin' Ghosts In Da Moonlight
www.jjason.com/goodrich
Detroit Redwings
36,37,43,50,52,54,55,97,98,02
Stanley Cup Champions
|
|
|
    |
|
Peter Kong
Ghosthead
Joined: Mar 10, 2002
|
Posted: Jun 20, 2003 10:48 AM
SNES. But I'd still take the NES over it any day.
My top 3 consoles:
1. NES
2. SNES
3. Genesis
no other system can come close
_____________
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey kiiiiiiiiiiiiiids!" - Binky the Clown
|
|
|
|
|
evil_toaster
Ghosthead
Joined: Oct 05, 2002
|
Posted: Jun 20, 2003 10:52 AM
I agree with Peter Kong. As much as I love SNES, NES is the way to go. I'll always be a NESkimo.
_____________
Why are you reading this? GBN's closing in 20 mins. Go read something more important, like the farewell thread. Really. Come on people, stop reading my sig! Right now! I mean it! Ah, what's the use, damn yuppie larvae...
|
|
|
|
|
JohnnySparks
Ghosthead
Joined: Jul 02, 2002
|
Posted: Jun 20, 2003 11:53 AM
Games were just better back in the day compared to today's standards. I say NINTENDO is the King Of GAMING
_____________
Just because you are dead doesn't mean I am finished with you.....
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Info
|
|
|
|
|
|
