Super Nintendo: Eighteen Years Later and Still Better than the Genesis.

Xenogears of Bore

Depending on who you listen to, the SNES launched sometime between mid August and very early September of 1991 and proceed to crush the ever loving hell out of the Sega Genesis, unless you really liked shitty 16bit Sports games, or were too poor to get a real man's system.

SNES had it all. Four Face Buttons, Triggers, Good games, more colors, Super FX, better scaling and rotation effects, better audio, Mario right in the box. Who could ask for anything more?

Sure, the Genesis was an okay improvement over an aging Nintendo Entertainment System and a sideways upgrade over the obscure as fuck TG-16, but being as good as the SNES, that would take Sega Ages.

This would be the part of the thread where I take time listing all the awesome games that the Genesis didn't have and the SNES did. But I'm not going to. You all know them all already. The best games on the best system in the best generation of gaming.

Sir Platypus

That is all.

Zxerol

We had that fuckin robot man. What the fuck did they have? Interlocking cartridges? Pffft. Okay, so that was the nes, but still. fuckin robot!

I kinda got sad when my mom sold my SNES and all the games without telling me. I still have a controller though, which may be my cousin's, I'm not sure. That shit was wild when I was eight, seeing all those goddamned buttons and thinking "holy fucking shit you can press a and Mario spin jumps fuuuuuuuck." I'm going to find some wires and some diodes and a computer with a parallel port, wire it up, and play some bullshit or something for the memories.

Zombiemambo

Axelay, the best 16 bit shooter of all time.

But honestly, did we need this thread?

Xenogears of Bore

I really do have a soft spot in my heart for Star Fox on the SNES despite never really getting too deeply involved with SF 64.

Something about the simple but awesome 3D of the game. Also maybe the fact that I borrowed it from a buddy of mine for two or more years and that it was one of three SNES games in my house at that time.

I foolishly rented SNES games throughout the mid 90's and bought PC games with any saved money. I had to spend hundreds of dollars at the end of the previous decade to build up the library of my youth with all those rare as fuck all (not really rare, just kinda expensive!) JRPGs and Nintendo classics.

I did eventually get the motherload of common games from a yard sale in 2001. All the sports titles, all the Disney titles, all the major Nintendo releases, and a working Super Scope for a tenner!

Ticaldfjam

Ya know, the OP's thread title would've lead to fistcuffs back in the day..

"Say what Nintendon't boy? OUTSIDE!!!"

Man lives were lost during the Console Wars. Ah, to be such a part of rich history.

temperature!

I love the SNES and still have mine hooked up. I still think it's the best console ever released, but that's just my opinion.

Xenogears of Bore

Three buttons like some sort of cute baby toy.

Also that system was built like a tank. I know that if I go into my parent's attic and look around enough I'll find two non working Gennies, one model 1 one model 2. I know that if I go into my old room at home, dig into my drawer, dust my original SNES off, wonder why it is so off color, plug it in to my old CRT with ten channel tuner that it will fire up on one go.

No blowing in, no bent pins, no blown up AC units, no RROD, no nothing. Just some good old Super Mario World or whatever game I left the last time I visited.

Monsty

Best thread ever because it's so much more correct than any other.

I'm currently plowing through Chrono Trigger for my buddy. He doesn't game too much so the best way for me to show him the old masterpieces is to play them for him. I forgot how many awesome mysteries that game is packed with. Every two minutes I'm like "whoa, wonder what that means" to put on a proper show and to direct his attention to important shit.

We're also slowly working our way through Secret of Mana. I'm just sad that, after that, he will have seen the entirety of my SNES collection. It's fun letting these unfortunate souls experience the best games ever for the first time.



But I am envious we didn't get blast processing.

Zerokku

Nintendo is what genesisn't.


I grew up on the SNES. Super Mario All Stars+ World, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Super Bomberman (With multitap for 8 player action), Final Fantasy IV, Kirby Super Star, and so on were the games that defined my childhood. Hell to this day I can beat Link to the past in half a day with one hand tied behind my back.

If it wasn't for the SNES and gameboy, I may not even be a gamer today.

LewieP

No matter how much I love the Mega Drive (and make no mistake, I love it to bits), the SNES is clearly the superior console.

Chrono Trigger is still one of the best JRPGs going.

Mutha Fucking E.V.O.

Yoshi's Island is still gorgeous.

Megaman X is kickass too.

redraptor

Is that star fox art just a great realistic piece, or is there truly somewhere on this planet a set of muppet star fox characters?

Xenogears of Bore

Even a poor deprived UKer knows the score. SNES victory total.

I wonder just what would have happend if NoE had their act together in either the NES or SNES eras.

Frem

Ticaldfjam wrote: »

Ya know, the OP's thread title would've lead to fistcuffs back in the day..

"Say what Nintendon't boy? OUTSIDE!!!"

Man lives were lost during the Console Wars. Ah, to be such a part of rich history.

You make a good point. Despite advanced blast processing technology, the Genesis was incapable of rendering nearly the amount of sweat displayed by the SNES in Mortal Kombat.

The Dude With Herpes

Yeah, there are muppets out there.

That level of CGI wasn't remotely possible at the time of Starfox.

redraptor

They must be recovered.

Monsty

I am here to share a sad tale. I have somehow lost a bunch of great SNES games over the years. I don't know if people stole them or what. These are just the ones I can remember:

Super Metroid (replaced)
Final Fantasy 2 (replaced)
Link to the Past (replaced)
Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Mortal Kombat 2
Super Castlevania 4
Turtles in Time

I have plenty of classics to keep me warm but it's hardly any consolation. I'm certain there were more I've lost but I must depart. I'm choking back tears right now...

(This is all true but the crying part--not that any of you would fault me for it)

EDIT:
Super late spell check.

randombattle

redraptor wrote: »

They must be recovered.

I'm sure some furry bought them all off ebay or something.

Zxerol

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Axelay, the best 16 bit shooter of all time.

But honestly, did we need this thread?

this is used to determine who the Cool Kids™ are. it's to separate us from those losers who posted in the sega genesis thread.

also, axelay is the snizbombbity.

The Dude With Herpes

randombattle wrote: »

redraptor wrote: »

They must be recovered.

I'm sure some furry bought them all off ebay or something.

They're probably just ragged remains punctured thoroughly.

redraptor

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

randombattle wrote: »

redraptor wrote: »

They must be recovered.

I'm sure some furry bought them all off ebay or something.

They're probably just ragged remains punctured thoroughly.

I just hope you know who got it first.

Slippy Toad: "Fox! Get this guy off me!"

randombattle

redraptor wrote: »

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

randombattle wrote: »

redraptor wrote: »

They must be recovered.

I'm sure some furry bought them all off ebay or something.

They're probably just ragged remains punctured thoroughly.

I just hope you know who got it first.

Slippy Toad: "Fox! Get this guy off me!"

Falco would be all over that. "Hold still and lemme shoot you!"

UnbreakableVow

While I have a preference for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation, respectively, the SNES absolutely dominated my life from its launch in 1991 until I got the PS1 (1998).

If anything, it had the longest good lifespan of any system (shit like PS2 doesn't count right now when they're just throwing out godawful ports of next-gen games).

Mikesta

I held back on this in the Genesis thread because I didn't want to shit all over people's nostalgia, but Genesis games, 9 times out of 10, had awful music and even worse sound effects. The SNES wins by a mile when it comes to sound. And graphics. And gameplay, simply because the games were better by far on the SNES. Shit, the SNES wins in every category except commercials.

Gilder

Monsty wrote: »

I am hear to share a sad tale. I have somehow lost a bunch of great SNES games over the years. I don't know if people stole them or what. These are just the ones I can remember:

Super Metroid (replaced)
Final Fantasy 2 (replaced)
Link to the Past (replaced)
Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Mortal Kombat 2
Super Castlevania 4
Turtles in Time

I have plenty of classics to keep me warm but it's hardly any consolation. I'm certain there were more I've lost but I must depart. I'm choking back tears right now...

(This is all true but the crying part--not that any of you would fault me for it)

Now I'm a huge Goemon fan, but I think you're betting off having lost Legend of the Mystical Ninja. "Kid Yin" and "Dr. Yang" weren't exactly at their gameplay peak in the first game. However you do have my condolences for losing such a fantastic soundtrack.

My favorite thing about the super nintendo was spending birthday/holiday money on that one special game when I could finally get it. I think Mario RPG was the last SNES game I bought that way. It was beautiful.

DarkDragoon

My old college roommate and I had epic arguments over which console had the better Sunset Riders port (SNES version, of course). He stubbornly insisted upon his inferior Genesis version that had to cut out two characters and its levels up in half, but I think I broke his spirit some.

Frem

Mikesta wrote: »

I held back on this in the Genesis thread because I didn't want to shit all over people's nostalgia, but Genesis games, 9 times out of 10, had awful music and even worse sound effects.

Isn't that mostly due to shoddy porting jobs? Or perhaps because you had to use an adapter to get stereo sound out of the thing (which was stupid, I agree)?

Mikesta wrote: »

And gameplay, simply because the games were better by far on the SNES.

Extremely subjective. Granted, the SNES had more games which I enjoy (and was the unrivalled king of RPGs until the PlayStation), but both systems had some great titles.

Mikesta

I don't know why, but almost every Genesis game I've played has had awful sound effects. And, oftentimes, awful music. I don't know if it's due to shoddy porting jobs or what. My guess is that the Genesis had an inferior sound chip, but I really don't know.

LewieP

Bad SNES games are definitely better than bad Mega Drive games.

UnbreakableVow

ActRaiser
ActRaiser 2
Bass Masters Classic
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Chrono Trigger
Disney's Aladdin
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble
EarthBound
Final Fantasy II (IV)
Final Fantasy III (VI)
Final Fight
Final Fight 2
Illusion of Gaia
Kirby Super Star
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Lost Vikings
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
Mega Man X
Mortal Kombat II
Ms. Pac-Man
Star Fox
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Adventure Island II
Super Bases Loaded
Super Bomberman 2
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Super R-Type
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
Toy Story
WWF Raw
WWF Royal Rumble
WWF Super WrestleMania
WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game

This is my childhood in list form.

Mind you, there are great games missing from the list that I never even played (or just weren't particularly for me).

Mikesta

Okay, I think it's time for some beautiful SNES screenshots:

Bullio

Back then the choice between Genesis and SNES boiled down to one question for me: which has the better X-Men game? When I got my Genesis I believe Mutant Apocalypse wasn't even out yet, so the decision was easy. And then X-Men 2: Clone Wars came out. I did end up getting an SNES a while later though. It was towards the end of it's lifespan though. It might have even been on clearance at Toys R Us now that I think about it.

But I remember being SUPER pissed when the Power Ranger games came out and the Genesis got a crappy fighting game when the SNES got the infinitely better brawler. At least the situation was made right when the Power Ranger Movie games came out and the Genesis got a brawler.

MarioG

It would have ben more appropriate to wait 2 more years. Unless this is some sort of coming -of-age thing.

Viscountalpha

I would have to say some of the Squaresoft RPG's on the snes were/are fantastic. FF2 sold my brother on the SNES. And FF3 was great back in the day. I will say breath of fire did a great job with what they were limited to. Some of the artwork still feels solid and well done.

Its like Snake rattle and roll for the nes. The put quite a bit of effort into the graphics and it showed. I loved the snes, But I always was platform agnostic. I never really bought into the console wars.

The Dude With Herpes

It's criminal that Rock 'n Roll Racing still isn't on VC.

TOPolk

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

It's criminal that Turtles in Time still isn't on VC.

fix'd

The Dude With Herpes

That's not even remotely fixed.

Rohan

Mikesta wrote: »

I don't know why, but almost every Genesis game I've played has had awful sound effects. And, oftentimes, awful music. I don't know if it's due to shoddy porting jobs or what. My guess is that the Genesis had an inferior sound chip, but I really don't know.

Take Desert Strike, for example.

Mega Drive

Agh! Agh! What is this awful assault on my ears?!

SNES

Ahhh... much better.

The SNES produced works of art when it came to games. Don't get me wrong, the Mega Drive produced it's own classics, but the SNES was something special, and everything it touched turned to gold. The graphics were more colourful, more vibrant. The sound... oh God, the sound! Though it was midi, it was awesome. Too many to mention or list here but I'll post a few -

A Link To The Past

Donkey Kong Country

To this day, I still listen to this soundtrack. Aquatic Ambience is just achingly beautiful.

Blackthorne/Blackhawk

Oh, if only Blizzard would make games like this today.

Starfleet Academy

There was so much atmosphere to SNES games, too. Take the opening of A Link To The Past, for example. Not even the mighty Ocarina of Time can claim to have such a powerfully atmospheric opening.

Zxerol

The sound chip of the SNES (which was made by Sony) was essentially a programmable co-processor on the SNES, and the music it processed had more in common with tracker music (like .MOD or ScreamTracker .s3m, or oldschool Amiga fans) than MIDI. Basically, waveform samples for instruments or whatever are loaded into memory and then mixed and played back. The processor had its own 64k of memory it can work with to hold compressed samples and machine code to play them, and could apply all sorts of snazzy effects in realtime.

Incidentally, this is why when you download .spc SNES rips to play on your computer, they're always about 64k in size.

Rohan

Zxerol wrote: »

The sound chip of the SNES (which was made by Sony) was essentially a programmable co-processor on the SNES, and the music it processed had more in common with tracker music (like .MOD or ScreamTracker .s3m, or oldschool Amiga fans) than MIDI. Basically, waveform samples for instruments or whatever are loaded into memory and then mixed and played back. The processor had its own 64k of memory it can work with to hold compressed samples and machine code to play them, and could apply all sorts of snazzy effects in realtime.

Incidentally, this is why when you download .spc SNES rips to play on your computer, they're always about 64k in size.

I don't suppose you know of any sites where you can download .spc files? Because all I have is the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack and I'm hankering for more classic SNES tunes.

DonaldRumsfeld

Uniracers