Genesis VS SNES VS TG-16

[Lesko900]

In regards to the poll, it's a tough call. I owned a Sega Genesis as a child and I loved it. (Technically, it wasn't my first console, because I remember playing my Master System when I was very young). My aunt had an SNES and I'd remember enjoying it greatly when I went over her house, though my own household was decidedly, and randomly, very anti-Nintendo. My uncle hated Nintendo products for some reason, so I stuck with Sega; Sega CD, Sega Saturn, until moving on to a PlayStation 1. I truthfully didn't even know about the T6-16 until maybe... 2000 or so? I've never even played it. Back when I was little, I rarely got game magazines and had minimal internet access, so. I'm choosing Genesis, because all of my best younger video game memories come from it.

[Jay See Double You]

Wow! It looks like this thread has been dead for quite some time! I thought it'd be better to revive it than the create a new one though (especially when I discovered how limiting the poll options were on Sega 16)

This is an interesting question for me. Whenever I try to give a robust answer to this question it comes out as a book that would probably be better in chapter and verse format.

Video games in general are definitely not my favorite subject of conversation and for lack of a better term, meditation, but under the umbrella of all things video games, there is not a single subject that I find more enjoyable to discuss and debate and ponder than the comparative hardware merits/demerits of the SNES vs the Genesis (TG16 is a more than welcome guest to these discussions as well), that's why my responses on these tend to be so long despite my best efforts to keep them short!

Well, I started writing determined to keep it short, but despite my best efforts, it turned into a novel again. As a result, I took this intro and made one short post out of it, and kept the long body and made it a second post.

Please forgive the length of it. I'll try to make long posts like it a real rarity (though I had intended this to be short when I started)

Okay, so the short, short version: Genesis is my favorite overall. SNES is 2nd and TG16 is 3rd.

For more details, read my next post!

[Jay See Double You]

Comparing Genesis to SNES directly now:

Graphics: Ultimately a tie. SNES has more colors, better colors, and doesn't distort its own colors. SNES picture is much sharper than Genesis' picture (though both can look good, and both can look bad [genesis blurry/snes overly sharp and jaggy]) and SNES has more onboard effects such as mode 7. -HOWEVER- Genesis had higher resolution, larger sprites (larger-on-screen despite resolution), more detailed sprites, more sprites on-screen at once without slowdown, and more fluidly animated sprites. There are times where the SNES looks better and times where the Genesis looks better. It's mostly a matter of context.

Sound: Ultimately a tie. SNES uses a PCM Wavetable which is primarily sample-based and as a result, is capable of much more realistic synths than the Genesis' Yamaha FM chip. SNES Can do convincing replications of several instruments, some of which Genesis can also do (organs), but most of which Genesis cannot do (strings). However, due to a combination of small sample sizes (to keep from exceeding system memory limitations, I suppose), gaussian interpolation (to prevent aliasing) and a 32k high frequency cutoff the SNES tracks often sound at best a little muffled, at worst, muddy, and don't seem to have as broad of a tonal range. The sounds the Genesis FM chip is able to produce are more rudimentary and more obviously fake, but they tend to be cleaner, clearer, more dynamic in terms of highs and lows, and punchier (particularly on the drums.) It may be misusing the term somewhat, but I tend to think of the Genesis's sound as more "high-fidelity" because of this. As a PCM wavetable, the SNES is like a distant cousin of General Midi, and shares it's ability to really achieve some really convincing results. Plus all the non CD-Rom games that came out on PC in the early-mid 90's that used General Midi are going to bear more resemblance to SNES than Genesis. On the other hand, the Genesis was FM....just like most of the arcade games from the mid 80's to early 90's, so almost without fail, the Genesis music of arcade ports is going to sound a lot more authentic than the SNES ports. To paraphrase I don't remember who: "if someone created a soundtrack for each system that took full advantage of what that system is truly capable of, the two soundtracks would sound absolutely nothing alike, but would both sound about equally fantastic. The reason the Genesis gets its reputation of being inferior is because of all the hack ports of SNES games dumped on the Genesis without utilizing the music for its sound system." I think Mr. So and So is absolutely right! I think they're both wonderful, and the comparative merits of each one sort of cancels out the comparative merits of the other.

Games: Even if you could say my assessment of the graphics and sound carry any objectivity at all, this category is completely subjective on my part. The shortest answer is that I just like the games on the Genesis better. The next shortest answer is that Genesis had a lot -more- "greats", even if SNES had -better- "greats." The longer answer is that I think a higher number of "the greatest of the greats" are on the SNES (mostly 1st party Nintendo, and 3rd party Konami/Capcom), and many of the franchises that rocked the NES were either SNES only, or were not amazing on the Genesis (such as contra or adventure island.) or came much later (Castlevania.) However, there were a whole lot more games on the Genesis that were at least "very good" than there were on the SNES. With the SNES, it seems to me that there were very few "decent" games...they were either extraordinary, or they were crap. I also think that most of the games that were on both systems, but were not the same game, only the same franchise (I.e. Aladdin, Alien 3, and Jurassic Park) were better on the Genesis. In the final analysis, I give the win to the Genesis. I think I just have more fun playing it.

Peripherals: Sega had two add-ons. While there's hot debate over whether these ultimately helped or hurt the Genesis, I think think that on balance, they were more of a plus than a minus. Nintendo was supposed to have one, but do to an executive blunder that add-on would come to SNES, but would come to be known to the world instead as the Sony Playstation and Nintendo has never truly recovered in the market since. There isn't a controller in the world that I like better than the original 3-button Genesis controller, and the only one that even comes close is actually the 3DO controller, which is essentially a hybrid of the Genny 3-button and an SNES controller. It is nice that you only need one controller for the SNES, and that there aren't games divided between 3 buttons and 6 buttons, but for games like SFII, the control scheme is a little awkward, and the controllers feel far less substantial and look far less pretty than the Genny 3-button. The Genny 6-button is no more substantial feeling or cosmetically appealing than the SNES controller, but it's buttons are placed more logically and comfortably. Both systems had guns, though since I never used either, I can't comment on who wins that. SNES had a mouse, but Genesis had Activator (besides, didn't Genesis also have a mouse for "Art Alive?"). In General, I think I have to give this one to the Genesis.

General Aesthetics: This is -the very least- important aspect of our consideration -by far-, but it's worth looking at. I like the look of the 1st generation Genesis with it's smart combination of glossy black and flat matte black, as well as a smart combo of smooth round domed surfaces and edgy planar surfaces. Plus I really liked its "16-Bit" decal. The SNES with it's pillared, multi-tierd, planes may have looked very stately, and appealing, but just didn't have that "umph" that the Sega had. It was only bland by comparison, but it was bland by comparison all the same. I also preferred the 2nd gen Genesis to the 2nd gen SNES...the most boring looking system in the world. The 2nd generation Genesis was far less impressive looking that the firt gen, but it retained the winning combination of flat matte / high gloss black, and edgy-planar surfaces / rounded domed surfaces. The 2nd gen SNES had nothing! I was a million times a bigger fan of the plastic clamshell cases than I was of the boring looking and less durable SNES cardboard boxes, and I love the semi-standard boot-up sequence on the Sega with just the right blend of uniformity and flexibility for creativity....SNES didn't have anything at all to compete....lame. This category goes to the Genesis as well.

Overall: Well, when comparing the two as pieces of hardware, the Graphics and Sound are the two most important considerations. I call them a tie in each of these categories, though my heart really leans, I think a little towards the Sega in both these respects. I think the Genesis is the better overall piece of hardware though, simply because it's more balanced. It had less sophisticated graphics and sound hardware, but it had a beefy CPU that could push them both to their stated limits (and really, beyond) whereas the SNES had more sophisticated graphics and sound hardware, but both were choked by insufficient memory on the audio side, and and asthmatic CPU on the graphics side. As a result, the Graphics and sound come out to a tie as we've discussed, whereas with a beefier CPU, they would've both gone to the SNES...then again, with a beefier processor, the SNES probably would've priced itself right out of the market, so it probably worked out for the best, and gives us the opportunity for fascinating hardware conversations. I guess I'm just friendlier to the overall Genesis architecture as a result. Now, when comparing them as an entertainment medium, games are far and away the most important thing, and in this case, I think the Genesis carries the day. Peripherals are less important, and aesthetics are least important by a million miles, but I give them to Sega anyway. As a result, I think the Genesis is both the better hardware platform, the better software platform, and the better entertainment medium in general. Sega wins.

Now, how does TG16 fare in all of this?

Well, in terms of graphics, it's much closer to the SNES than the Genesis (in both the positive and negative senses). It does an amazingly good job of competing with both considering it's CPU is actually 8-bit instead of 16-bit, as well as its card medium, and I have not seen bigger sprites anywhere in the 16-bit world outside of Neo Geo than on TG16's "China Warrior", those graphics are simply amazing despite the ho-hum gameplay...it's more of a tech-demo than a game, I think. But with an even larger total color palette to choose from, and with more built-in effects like Mode 7, I think the SNES still slightly edges it out in terms of graphics.......ever so barely. In the final analysis, I'm going to almost give it a tie, but give it a very, very close bronze.

In terms of sound, it's much closer to the Genesis than the SNES (in both the positive and negative senses), but is far more basic and rudimentary than either of the two. It's possible that the sound system is the greatest hardware weakness of the TG16. It sometimes sounds more like an NES than either SNES or Genesis, and sometimes sounds more like a Genesis. It is even more abrasive and aggressive than the notoriously harsh Genesis, and the overall sound quality can vary quite a bit. It's got some really nice stuff, and the TG16 SFIICE soundtrack was closer to arcade perfect than SNES's was...still, it gets the bronze.

In terms of games, I think the fact that we in the states got shortchanged so many good japanese games is pretty hard to excuse. There are a lot of great games for the TG16, but both in terms of quality and quantity, I think it comes in third yet again. Though in it's defense, what it gets in exchange for market success, deep diversity, and mass appeal is niche cult status, and a real underground feel to the games, and to the whole thing, really, which, in all honesty, I kinda like!

In terms of accessories, I find them mostly more confusing than beneficial. A card for this, a card for that, only one controller port on the system requiring a multi-tap. No AV on a standard TG16 deck (I have a Turbo Duo, so that's not a concern to me), etc make this one a 3rd again. I do like the adaptor that allows you to play japanese hu-cards on an american system, though...that's a nice touch! I also like the cosmetics on the controllers, and the selectable turbo feature, but beyond that, it's a glorified NES controller.

In terms of aesthetics, I need to think about this one a bit more. I may be able to give this one a silver instead of a bronze. The CD case is kinda neat, though you have to have the outer sleeve to see the game pics and game description. The hu-cards are very space efficient, but I'm always afraid of breaking or losing them. And what's up with "Run" instead of "Start?" I dunno, this is a tough call between SNES or TG16 for the silver....I think I've gotta give the silver again to the SNES....though I do like the cosmetics of the Turbo Duo system better than that of the SNES. The Turbo Duo is just a really nice looking system. Understated elegance.

Now, it should be noted in the TG16s defense that I didn't have one growing up. I didn't get one til late November, early December 2000 (and I would've been 20 by that time, only a few months from 21.) My Mom and Dad originally bought us a TG16 for Christmas 1992, but took it back before Christmas day in exchange for an SNES. (we know this because we snooped around....weren't we surprised to see the SNES instead!). The Genesis we first got used in a garage sale in Sept of 1993. It is possible that my outlook would be different if I actually grew up with a TG16...then again, maybe not: back in the day, I was adamantly pro-SNES, even after I got the Genesis and had it for a while. It wasn't til I was in my early 20's that my opinion on the matter began to change, and even more recent than that that I really became really solidly persuaded of that position. Call me a late convert.

But that's my take on Genesis vs SNES vs TG16. Sorry for such a long post. I hope for those who didn't think it was "TLDR" that it was substantial enough ot have been worth the time.

God Bless!

-J

[SegaMan89]

Just Sonic alone made me love the Genesis