SNES. Other than the wide variety of top level games, the controller felt very good in the hand, with just the right amount of buttons, in the right places.
What counts as retro these days anyway? It still kind of blows my mind that some people consider the PS3 / 360 retro now.
I can understand the PS360 argument. It was probably the last generation where most games were actually playable off the disc without a bunch of patches.
With how common DLC and stuff was becoming that generation, though, I feel like it’s sort of a soft boundary for retro. I can equally accept retro being anything before the PS360, or before/including that generation.
I don’t look forward to the days where “retro gaming” refers to “any console with physical releases at all”.
It doesn’t feel right to count that generation as retro, for reasons like GTA 5, which was initially released for those consoles, yet it’s still considered a current game, with no significant overhaul beyond graphical fidelity. It’s the greatest example of how games haven’t drastically evolved since then.
Compared to the jump from SNES to N64 and PS1, or from PS1 to PS3, we haven’t had any major breakthrough, just moderate incremental improvement.
I’m not sure that means much. Many really old games hold up from like the SNES or PS2.
It’s not about holding up, it’s about playing pretty much the same, while mostly just looking prettier.
While lines are never quite so clear cut, from SNES to N64/PS1 we unlocked a whole variety of 3D games, and by PS3/XB360 we added open-world games, immersive sims and console MMOs to our repertoire. But what new horizons were unlocked by technological advancements since? Only battle royales come to mind.
Surely today’s games are larger, more beautiful and have embraced QoL aspects that we discovered along the way. But today’s games don’t feel as markedly different as any previous leaps.
I agree it’s not clear cut. The PS2 generation defined many core concepts of 3D games; Like Gran Turismo 7 plays the same as Gran Turismo 4.
The 360 gen did define a lot of the more complex concepts.
I agree that it doesn’t feel right, but I can understand the justification, haha
“Retro gaming” is a pretty broad description, anyways. There were probably people who didn’t want to include the 3D consoles, and even those who didn’t want to include cartridge-based consoles, haha
15 years for me. :)
That seems reasonable, but oof it makes me feel old lol.
I mean it makes sense, I remember around 2006 everyone referred to the SNES as “retro” and no one questioned it. That’s a smaller time gap than 360 era to now.
For sure, though I think a couple of things make it weird to me. Games changed a lot more in that early period, I think. Plus a lot of games in the PS3 / 360 era seem to just get rereleased slightly differently every few years which kind of makes it seem like we never left that generation.
That is true, it was the first truly modern console generation.
Ultimately I think retro gaming is rooted in nostalgia. People will always gravitate to the consoles they grew up with, making them “retro.” Probably why those rereleases do well.
I’m curious to see what happens in 10-15 years when games-as-a-service hits that point, and how the retrogaming community deals with that. With games like Halo 3 being a stretch now, I can’t imagine a world where Fortnite and Super Mario World exist in the same category.
Videogames (also) do get “older” so the “retro” bar tends to raise.
Asked differently, “what console did you have as a kid?”
Nah, I had each of them and the SNES was best. Super Mario World, karts, RPG’s.
No SMB3 though :(
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I knew there was a wii version, but not an SNES version.
TiL
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Definitely SNES. A few years ago I might have said N64, but I’ve realized that there were very few good games for the 64.
The 5th gen consoles are a great time capsule of everything developers didn’t understand about 3d gaming. If you don’t have a strong sense of nostalgia for them, most of the games aren’t worth bothering with and even the ones that still hold up were mostly dead ne better on the 6th gen consoles.
The fact that most of the great 2d games were intentionally withheld from the North American market is a real shame since the ps1 and Saturn were amazing at 2d.
If Atari was the infancy of video games, then the N64 must be the awkward puberty years.
5h gen consoles are basically the 3d equivalent of the Atari.
I was teetering toward the Super Nintendo also with Earthbound, MK2/MK3 Ultimate, and Super Mario World. The roaming around in Super Mario 64 and flying non-stop with the birdman suit in Pilotwings 64 won me over with the N64 in the end though.
That’s where I was until about 5 years ago when I bought a used N64 so I could play those greats again, and after about a week, I never touched it again. Still playing my Super though!
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I’m sad no one else has said Dreamcast.
To the top with ye!!!
Best console ever.
I’d still take the snes but DC is my second choice since I’m a big fan of fighting games
FYI, retro means something new with inspiration from the past. The word you’re looking for is vintage.
Setting that aside, it’s gotta be the SNES. The games from that generation have aged far more gracefully than the early 3d games of the fifth and sixth generation consoles.
The Retro/Vintage thing drives me crazy. Not that I mind words altering their meaning over time, that’s just a fact of language. But searching for things when the two words are used interchangeably half the time is a chore 😂 From what I’ve seen, other hobbies do it a bit better than video games do.
But I’m going to completely agree with the SNES. Early 3D aged so horribly, if you ask me. As much as I loved my N64 back in the day, it is easily my least used console and mostly just collects dust.
In german this differentiation is only valid for furniture (and sometimes clothing), everything else is always just Retro. 😮💨 People are unwilling to change their minds on that. I had that discussion often enough to give up and just accept it. Sometimes neo-retro is used for inspired new stuff, seems to be easier to create new words the to use the correct ones it seems. 😫
Nice counter, lol
I suppose it depends on how much I can bend the rules…
If I’m allowed to use the console only ‘as-is’, then probably the Nintendo DS. This gives me DS games (which are great), but also GBA games as well (though you’ll miss out on GBC/GB games, which is a bit sad); this also nets you a smattering of NES/SNES ports to boot, so that’s nice. But most importantly, it gets me Chrono Trigger and a bunch of my favorite Castlevania games all in one place (sad that SotN doesn’t get here, but…)
If I’m allowed to use the console with no hold’s barred, then Playstation Vita. Mod that little sucker and you’ve got access to a ton of stuff… PSV games obviously, but emulated PS1, PSP, GBA, GBC, GB, NES, SNES, and Genesis also (and maybe more, I don’t think I’ve tried any others though).
GBA. Most games are very solid, and even the top 200 are great.
Plus it’s compatible with every DMG and CGB game.
Super Nintendo, or SNES. The Mario and Zelda games were great, and so was Mario Kart, but there were loads of great third party games too, like Castlevania and Super Probotector (Contra?).
Same - how could I turn my back on the system that gave us Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Metal Combat, Mega Man X?
Is the PS2 old enough yet to be considered retro? That would be my pick, if so.
I dont want to accept it however I’m pretty sure that it is considered retro. I would also pick ps2 not only does it have an massive library of games but there are alot of insanely good ones
Yeah, some of my favorites of all time are PS2 games. Plus, not only does it have a huge library on its own, but it can play PS1 games as well
Exactly! Honestly the birth of some series starting on PS2 and some were skyrocketed because of the PS2. It’s truly perfect system. The fact that it’s one of the few systems you could buy and have endless hours on it spread across multiple games is still amazing.
PS3 is considered retro now
Hey! This was a nice civil chat you didn’t need that hostility!
Joking aside sadly I read that as well and it’s mind blowing at first.
SNES or PS1. Tough call either way. So many games that really did it for me on both of those. I haven’t cared about consoles since really.
Does wii count? Hacked with all emulators and virtual console stuff downloaded.
That allows one to play pretty much everything good up to wii sports and stuff, lots of options
Would be my choice as well. The Wii had an amazing library by itself and could also play GC games out of the box, it’s a pretty good deal even without hacks.
Can I pick a PC? x86 is retro, right? /joke
But seriously, probably the PS2. Mainly because it’s the only console I got as a kid and also because it’s the last console before games and consoles started wanting to phone home over the Internet. I have PS3 games that I’m pretty sure are permanently hampered or unplayable because their servers are offline, but I feel confident I can still boot any PS2 game I own and play it without issues.
Original NES. Mario 1, 2, 3. Just about every 1st party game was legendary, but the sports games were great too. There have never been better arcade versions of their sports than Tecmo Bowl and Baseball Stars. Shit, there have been like zero real improvements ever made to the original formula of the launch title Golf. Then there was the amazing 3rd party support. Everything from Jaws to Jackal to Top Gun to Maniac Mansion, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and on and on. Hell, it even has a couple of all time racers with Excitebike and RC Pro Am.
The hidden gems catalog for NES would be bigger than the catalog for like half of consoles out there.
No brainer. NES.
didn’t even mention startropics and that shit with the manual
