Not a massive fan of the MegaDrive

[Tom Salter]

I got a MD on import from Japan when it came out with the games Strider, Ghouls + Ghosts, ThunderForce 2, Alex Kid, Hang On, Shinobi + few other titles, these games where cool but from then on only Sonic1 and ThunderForce4 really grabbed me

You're complaining about the MD when you have THAT game!? I haven't played anything on my Saturn except that game, and that's reason enough to love the Saturn!

[2FreshRecords]

You're complaining about the MD when you have THAT game!? I haven't played anything on my Saturn except that game, and that's reason enough to love the Saturn!

Ghouls & Ghosts for MD

No i don't have that game any more

Yes its an excellent game (better than the SFC version) shock!!

Yes I think the saturns an excellent console and there are many games that make me think that about it

You're complaining about the MD

not complaining just saying i don't rate it very much

[Team Andromeda]

Naahh the MD just loses flat out in every aspect against SFC its an unfair battle

Think the SFC should really being going up against the PCE its a more worthy opponent

I liked my Snes more than my Mega Drive. And to a point you are right untill you talk about Shooters, Sports games, and Streets Of Rage II.

Where then it becomes not a fare battle becasue the MD kicks ass

[Team Andromeda]

The thing is, all the top developers for the SFC were on fire. They seemed so enthused by the machine, the quality of output has never been equaled.

All the SFC obsession and excitement was electric. Games were not only graphically amazing, but new genre's were being created and it was like the industry was going into overdrive. Every game from Nintendo was AAA, they were so hot NCL nearly caught fire. This atmosphere inspired so much creativity within the industry, people just loved to make games for the machine.

The SFC was the last of the Nintendo machines to attract major third-party support. The amount of development was phenomenal, just look at Goeman and its four incarnations. All over the world, people embraced SFC development, even British Softcos enjoyed and pushed the machine with games like Equinox, Plok and DonkeyKong.

There is little doubt in my mind that the SuperFamicom will be remembered as the true masterpiece of the 90's and be seen as prove that Nintendo at their best can rule the console market.

The MD without Sonic though would probably be seen as just another bygone console. Imagine if the Americans had never had Madden, that says a lot.

It doesn't matter that people like the MD and that it does have a selection of great games because it will always be in the shadow of the might SFC.

You could say the same about the Snes in the WestThat without Street Fighter II the MD would have kicked it's ass. Also In JP while the Snes was king and developers backed the machine with loads of titles.

In the West the MD gave as good as it got and if anything had more backing.

Do agree thought NCL were something else back then. They made all other developers look so useless with their games. Mario 4 still is the best platfrom game I've played. Along with Exhumed it got the most perfect Level desgin too

[2FreshRecords]

In the West the MD gave as good as it got and if anything had more backing.

I think you've touched on a key point there, the only games i've ever liked are games with japanese styling and origin, and i would say my tatse in games is like that of the general japanese gamers.
As opposed to western tastes.
Western stlyed games that do well in the west nearly always don't do well in Japan.
Maybe thats why i wasn't so keen on the MD.

[Team Andromeda]

Good well be mate.

Though I will say this Revenge of Shinobi is almost as good as any game on the Snes.

[2FreshRecords]

Though I will say this Revenge of Shinobi is almost as good as any game on the Snes.

mmmmm........

[Duddyroar]

There's no 'mmmmm' about it mate, ROS is complete platform perfection!

I prefer Japanese games myself and I don't agree with the idea that the MD wasn't well supported in Japan. The likes of Treasure, Tecnosoft, Masaya, Toaplan and of course the mighty Sega themselves (you talk about Nintendo being on fire then - Sega were also knocking out some sterling software) were all releasing amazing games - many (like Langrisser) were on the MD first.

But like someone said earlier it all comes down to taste and if you can't change someone's perception after over a decade then you never will. Just enjoy the console and stop thinking about it so much.

[Wild_Cat]

In the end it all comes down to what kind of games you like most. Some developers were on fire on both machines (I'm thinking of Konami there -- Parodius and TMNT4 on one side, Rocket Knight Adventures and Tiny Toons on the other). But if you wanted Squaresoft RPG goodness, you had to have a SNES, whereas a number of kickass shooters (Gaiares, Gley Lancer, Thunderforce 4 to name but a few) were only released on the MD, and so was the best beat 'em up ever (Streets of Rage 2 -- although SNES Turtles in Time comes a close second).




Oh, also, the SNES actually has a higher resolution than the MD. In addition to 256*224, it also has a high-rez 512*448 mode -- which of course required more CPU time, and thus was more fitted to slower-paced games such as RPGs. Donkey Kong Country, however, did make use of this mode, and, thanks to some clever programming tricks, displayed a whopping 4096 simultaneous colors. Gorgeous.

[Leon Retro]

Please people, understand one thing, I am talking about an NTSC SFC through RGB. The Pal machine was total crap, and most people used composite which added further insult to injury.

Anyone with good eye sight can see the MD had a much lower image quality than the SFC. I don't know why it's 320x240 resolution looked bad, but it did.

All this talk of the SFC being the Playstation of its day is the biggest insult against the machine ever.

The MD was designed in 1988 and it shows. Whereas it looked good for a year or two, once the SFC was shown, everyone realised how lacking the MD was.

For me the MD was never a cool console to own. After the thrill of Sonic faded away people were left yearning for a SuperNintendo. The Snes had more innovation, more thrills and was the machine to own by 1992.

Whats the point in saying the SFC had lots of crap games? Every machine should be judged on it's A grade games, and this is where the SFC shined against the MD.

I like the MD, in fact I like it more now than I did back in the day. There are lots of great games that I am starting to appreciate. The thing is back then the SFC was a revelation, a true marvel, it had the games, the graphics and amazing sound. People went crazy for the machine because it was genuinely deserving of purchase, it delivered something new and fresh with a steady stream of magnificent genre defining games.

[Wild_Cat]

The PAL SNES did output RGB, and shipped with an RGB cable as the default. At least, it did in France (and so did the Megadrive).

(this is one of the reasons why I hate Sony: ever since the PS1 -- DC aside -- *all* consoles now ship with a f***ing composite cable -- of the crappiest possible quality, may I add -- and you have to pay extra to get an image quality you should have had to begin with)

[Leon Retro]

The pal snes was crap though, and I never met anyone that used RGB. It did'nt come with RBG Scart, if I remember correctly my mates came with a composite scart adapter.

Anyone that was really into consoles purchased an NTSC machine, but then again I was lucky my parents understood my videogame obsession, and even though my mates called me spoilt at least they got to play all my games.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

SFC > MD

Mario > Sonic

Fire Emblem > Langrisser

Zelda > Landstalker

FF > Phantasy Star

Area 88 > Thunder Force

Super Bomberman > Mega Bomberman

What about Metroid, Starfox, Goemon 2, Akumajo Dracula & Mario Kart? Nothing on the MD can compare.

Also, the SFC is the only system that has had me play games like Metroid, Mana & Zelda from start to finish in one sitting

The thing is, I'm betting most of you have never played alot of the SFC gems that were never imported. Nangoku Syonen Papuwa Kun is a million miles better than it's nearest MD equivalent, Ristar. Yes I like the MD, but as my name suggests, the SFC will always be my fave system.

Both had their fair share of crap, but what you have to remember is, most of that crap were games developed in the west.

Just thinking about games released on both systems, look how much closer to the arcade the SFC version of Mortal Kombat was. Crisper graphics & faster gameplay.

Sadly, we will never see another system like it, which upsets me. It truly was gamings golden age, a time of running down the local games shop first thing on a saturday morning to buy that new release, an excitment you just don't get these days.

I love the SFC and in my eyes, it will always be the KING of consoles.

[Leon Retro]

8) I agree, the SuperFamicom is without doubt the best console ever made.

From day one it had a handful of AAA classics. The buzz surrounding the machine was immense, and totally justified. Nealy every developer was making games for the machine, it just inspired so much creativty.

Nintendo were making hit after hit, SquareSoft were at their best, and it seemed like every devco in the world wanted to join the party.

Even the experimental and graphics dominted games such as Pilotwings and F-Zero are still a joy to play today. People still enjoy the RPG's, mainly because not only were many of them well designed, the graphics and sound are still effective.

There were lots of dodgy games released for the machine, and lot's of people realised that even the Japanese can make turkeys. A lot of American games were garbage and many UK developers were basically porting MegaDrive stuff.
Its the amount of great games that count though, and between 91 and 96 there were a constant supply of fantastic titles.

I like everything about the SFC. The machine looks really Japanese and cool. The joypad is a classic, it just felt so right and the colour coded buttons just looked so perfect. Graphically the machine could produce titles no other machine could handle, and the best games were truely mind-blowing. The SFC soundchip was rock-solid, from day1 people were blown-away by what it could output.

I like the Megadrive, Sonic, MickeyMouse, Crying, SOR, MagicalHat, and many others are great games that still deserve to be played . The thing is back in the day, wherever you turned there were people salivating over the prospect of owning a SFC. It completely overshadowed the MegaDrive in every department, and thats why it will be regarded by most people as the true king of the 90's console scene.

[Duddyroar]

Just thinking about games released on both systems, look how much closer to the arcade the SFC version of Mortal Kombat was. Crisper graphics & faster gameplay.

Yeah, and no gore or fatalities! POINTLESS!!!

The thing is back in the day, wherever you turned there were people salivating over the prospect of owning a SFC. It completely overshadowed the MegaDrive in every department, and thats why it will be regarded by most people as the true king of the 90's console scene.

I think you're probably overstating it a bit there, chum. For starters, the Megadrive was a massive success in the UK, and I recall people being just as excited about the MD as the SNES (even more so, in some cases). Games like Toy Story and Ranger X looked as good as SNES releases (although they didn't sound as good). The SNES didn't overshadow the MD in terms of shooters, that's for sure. Axelay, Area 88 and Super Aleste were all top-quality, but the MD had even better shooters and more of them, too (some would say probably too many). Streets of Rage II has already been mentioned - nothing on the SNES came close really, but then by that point the world had forgotten about scrolling fighters and had become totally obsessed with one-on-one brawlers. For all the technical tricks the SNES could do there's no game on Nintendo's machine that impresses me as much as Gunstar Heroes - the MD shouldn't be able to do those kind of effects!

To be honest both machines were worth owning but I wouldn't go as far as to say the SNES 'overshadowed' the MD, because if this was the case it would have been 'game over' for Sega once the SNES hit the market - as it happens, the MD was market leader for some time after that.