I had posted this earlier, but I took it down at the time due to other ongoing topics, that way it didn't get lost in the shuffle. After seeing the lists of everyones favorite console games. I compiled a list of my 5 favorite gaming consoles. They are in no particular order.
1. PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16/CD - This was the first "16-bit" system I owned (yes I know it has an 8-bit CPU). What drew me to this system was that it felt very different than everything else at the time. It was the first system to use CD-ROMs, the games were in credit card size chips instead of cartridges, its portable system, the Turbo Express used the same games as the home console, thus making it the first true portable console, and it had one of my favorite gaming mascots, Bonk. This was a vastly underrated system in the US (though very popular in Japan) and could've been up there with the Genesis and SNES if it had 3rd party support. I think Nintendo at the time had blocked 3rd party companies for making games for other systems. The TG-16/CD was capable of doing very high quality ports of arcade games such as Street Fighter II and R-Type. The TG-16 had a much higher onscreen color palette than the Sega Genesis. Some of my favorite titles/series include
Ys I-IV, Bonk, Dungeon Explorer, Gates of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Bomberman, Legendary Axe, and Crush pinball series.
2. Neo Geo - The Rolls Royce of gaming consoles. The only true home arcade console. While other systems at the time boasted of arcade quality graphics, this system didn't need to make that claim. It was the freaking arcade. This system was way ahead of its competition at the time in terms of graphical and sound quality. We really have not seen a system since that has stood out in graphical capabilities in comparison to its competition. (i.e. you can't compare PS3 vs. PS2, you would have to compare PS3 to systems within it's generation) Some of my favorite titles include
Neo Turf Masters, Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, and Baseball Stars.
3. PlayStation - This system made my list, becuase of all the great RPGs that were made. In my opinion, though others may disagree, this was my favorite system for RPGs. It was also in this era where we started to see compilations of classic arcade games from 1980's realeased. Some of my favorite games/series include:
Lunar, Suikoden, Vandal Hearts, Alundra, Final Fantasy VII and Tactics, and Wild Arms.
4. NES - No explanation necessary. Favorite titles include
Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Castlevania, Double Dragon, and DuckTales.
5. Atari 2600 - This was the first gaming console I hever had. There is something about block characters, bleeps and bloops that do more for me in gaming than 1080p rendered worlds. One of my favorite features of the 2600 was the ability to select different game modes and difficulty switches on the system. These features gives the games a high level of replay value. Some of my favorites include
Solar Fox, Space Invaders, Kaboom, Video Olympics, and Demon Attack.
Systems that just missed the cut include the SNES, Sega Genesis/Sega CD, and Sega Dreamcast
What are your favorites?
