In which generations did Nintendo's console have a better library than its competitors?

[Manmademan]

You think? I was always under the impression that SNES spanked Genesis in the US quite handedly.

Now sports dominance on Genesis I'll give you. But virtually everything else went to SNES as my memory recalls. From exclusives to better looking/running 3rd-party titles, it always felt like SNES was dominant. And I owned both consoles at the time.

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Nope. SNES lost to the Genesis in the US every year they went head to head. The data on that was floating around the old forum for a long time, but I can't be bothered to try to dig it up.

The SNES eventually outsold it because Sega killed the Genesis early to focus their efforts on the Saturn, while Nintendo had the resources to keep supporting the SNES.

as for "everything else" the Genesis had a huge amount of platformers, action games, shmups, fighters, etc that either were better on that platform or didn't show up on the SNES. Third party support on that system was HUGE, and there were things like the Xmen games (which launched at the peak of that franchise) that were so much better on Genesis that it quite frankly was inexplicable.

 

[Phediuk]

You think? I was always under the impression that SNES spanked Genesis in the US quite handedly.

Now sports dominance on Genesis I'll give you. But virtually everything else went to SNES as my memory recalls. From exclusives to better looking/running 3rd-party titles, it always felt like SNES was dominant. And I owned both consoles at the time.

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Quite a few mutiplats are better on the Genesis. I wouldn't say there's any dominance in that department at all. For instance:

Lemmings
Earthworm Jim
Desert Strike series
Hard Drivin'
Mickey Mania
Toy Story
Cool Spot
Thunder Force 3 / Thunder Spirits

off the top of my head, all uncontroversial choices.

 

[Firemind]

Imagine knowing about video games and voting for anything other than 4th

Edit: 3rd is true too but since we can only vote for one SNES had a stronger edge over competition than NES

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If you take off your nostalgia goggles, SNES vs Genesis is actually much closer than you think.

 

[C.Mongler]

NES and SNES. Nintendo hasn't been a home console king, at least in terms of game library quality, in quite a while. The mobile/handheld gaming market on the other hand is a different story.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Quite a few mutiplats are better on the Genesis. I wouldn't say there's any dominance in that department at all. For instance:

Lemmings
Earthworm Jim
Desert Strike series
Hard Drivin'
Mickey Mania
Toy Story
Thunder Force 3 / Thunder Spirits

off the top of my head, all uncontroversial choices.

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Yeah, but SNES got the better Aladdin ;)

 

[Bob White]

This is pretty much between nintendo and sega/sony IMO

NES > sega
SNES > sega
ps1 > n64 (I adore the n64 but a lot of stuff that came out on ps1 is just industry defining shit)
ps2 > gamecube
ps3 > wii

and ps4 / switch is a tie pretty much.

 

[ZSJ]

The N64 has more good games that aged well tho.

Whereas SNES is more 50-50.

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No way. The PS1 has so many good jRPGs that still hold up to this day.

N64 games aged very poorly. Even Mario 64 feels terrible today, that fucking camera sucks.

 

[Fredrik]

NES and SNES.
NES was special, I was a Commodore guy and was super jealous at a friend who had Zelda, Super Mario, Castlevania, Ice Climbers. I bought my first NES much later, after getting annoyed at the low framerates in PS1 games, . SNES was just plain awesome, still is. I alternate between Super Metroid and BOTW for the best game ever.

 

[HotHamBoy]

This is pretty much between nintendo and sega/sony IMO

NES > sega
SNES > sega
ps1 > n64 (I adore the n64 but a lot of stuff that came out on ps1 is just industry defining shit)
ps2 > gamecube
ps3 > wii

and ps4 / switch is a tie pretty much.

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I think it's too early to say PS4 and Switch are tied since PS4 has 3 years more worth of games. And tbh, as much as I enjoy Switch's first party offerings, a lot of them have been kinda just fine sequels and ports, very safe, where as Sony has been really swinging for the fences.

To be sure, Switch has been making up for lost time. I can't keep up.

Edit: example games being Kirby Star Allies, Yoshi's Whooly World, Splatoon 2, Mario Tennis Aces, Luigi's Mansion 3.

Solid but safe entries, some better than others, that don't really rock the boat

 

[Platy]

I don't know how can anyone not vote for the switch+wiiu

considering you accept this irrational idea that they are in the same generation =P

 

[MegaMix]

The issue with the Genesis and especially the PC Engine is that a lot of the best games on those platforms tend to be cult hits and "bottom shelf" games. While the SNES titles are mostly huge heavy hitters.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

It's insane to me that anyone thinks the GameCube had a better library than PS2

Must have really, really, really liked Metroid Prime. I did too but like

 

[Ryaaan14]

If you take off your nostalgia goggles, SNES vs Genesis is actually much closer than you think.

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As someone who started that gen w a Genesis and added a SNES later on, I feel like SNES always had the better library and way better multiplat games

 

[thefro]

NES/SNES for sure.

You can make an argument for Switch over XB1, but probably not over PS4 at this point.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I don't know how can anyone not vote for the switch+wiiu

considering you accept this irrational idea that they are in the same generation =P

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They aren't the same generation but considering the overlap and the fact that most of the notable Wii U games are now on Switch I kinda get ir.

 

[Firemind]

No way. The PS1 has so many good jRPGs that still hold up to this day.

N64 games aged very poorly. Even Mario 64 feels terrible today, that fucking camera sucks.

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If you're criticizing the N64 for its technical performance, name five JRPGs on the PS1 that didn't ran 20fps.

 

[Phediuk]

It's insane to me that anyone thinks the GameCube had a better library than PS2

Must have really, really, really liked Metroid Prime. I did too but like

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what's more surprising to me is that the NES vote seems to have stabilized at 60%.

apparently people here prefer the Master System to the Genesis.

 

[Phediuk]

If you're criticizing the N64 for its technical performance, name five JRPGs on the PS1 that didn't ran 20fps.

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any of the 2D ones.

 

[Ehoavash]

Wii u easily

 

[9-Volt]

NES -> The best
SNES -> The best
N64 -> second
GameCube -> second
Wii -> worst
Wii U -> worst
Switch -> sadly this also has the worst library out of three and it's gonna change for the worse.

 

[Ehoavash]

NES -> The best
SNES -> The best
N64 -> second
GameCube -> second
Wii -> worst
Wii U -> worst
Switch -> sadly this also has the worst library out of three and it's gonna change for the worse.

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Ok boomer

 

[Manmademan]

what's more surprising to me is that the NES vote seems to have stabilized at 60%.

apparently people here prefer the Master System to the Genesis.

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Lot of people here aren't old enough to have owned a NES and consider the games "unplayable." I've seen that one more than once here.

NES -> The best
SNES -> The best
N64 -> second
GameCube -> second
Wii -> worst
Wii U -> worst
Switch -> sadly this also has the worst library out of three and it's gonna change for the worse.

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not sure I'd take the Gamecube over the OG Xbox. The third party support just wasn't there.

 

[KINGOFSHIBUYA Ltd.]

NES by far.
SNES by a much thinner margin.

Switch is the closest theyve gotten, but the third party support is mostly just stuff found elsewhere, and many major games are missing.

 

[jroc74]

I feel that today where every game gets ported to everything it's a hard sell to say any platforms library is explicitly superior to another's outside exclusives

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Not really when you look at how 3rd parties jumped ship after gen 4.

Even for today, the Wii U and Switch didn't get every 3rd party game.

Overall library should still be a factor to think about.

We can even look at last gen and how some 3rd party games on the Wii looked like they were generations behind PS360 games. Need for Speed the Run comes to mind.

As for the Sega debates, count me as one who doesn't think it was no contest vs Nintendo. But those gens seem like the easiest choice because Nintendo had many 3rd party exclusives.

 

[Dogui]

Excluding handhelds is bullshit. It was like Nintendo's main strength for like more than a decade.

 

[JamboGT]

At the time the Mega Drive had a better library than the SNES so I would go with the NES.

 

[bane833]

It's insane to me that anyone thinks the GameCube had a better library than PS2

Must have really, really, really liked Metroid Prime. I did too but like

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The PS2 had undisputably the way bigger and broader library but regarding absolutely timeless classics I think the GameCube reigns surpreme.

 

[JusDoIt]

Definitely the 3rd. Definitely not the 5th.

 

[Mindwipe]

NES by far.
SNES by a much thinner margin.

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Correct. That the SNES era has more votes than the NES is weird.

(Primarily because the Master System library is not great.)

 

[MisterR]

NES and maybe SNES. Nothing since then.

 

[9-Volt]

not sure I'd take the Gamecube over the OG Xbox. The third party support just wasn't there.

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That's debatable. Sure, GameCube was missing some important third party games like GTA or Black compared to Xbox, but it filled that void with first party games. Xbox first party lineup was seriously lacking, other than Halo, PGR, Jade Empire and Fable there wasn't much else.

 

[Firemind]

any of the 2D ones.

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So, like, Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Destiny/Eternia? A lot of JRPGs had 3d world maps that didn't ran too well on the hardware.

 

[Dranakin]

3rd, 4th, and 8th are locks. You can argue a few others, but I would probably disagree.

And excluding handhelds doesn't make sense, given the investments that N and their competitors have made in this space, as well as markets outside of the USA.

 

[KINGOFSHIBUYA Ltd.]

Correct. That the SNES era has more votes than the NES is weird.

(Primarily because the Master System library is not great.)

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A lot of us don't know better. I didn't until recently when I got a Mega SG and started checking out Neo Geo and PC Engine.

There's a lot of good stuff not on SNES. Games on Mega Drive usually run great.

NES didnt have any good competition in my opinion, and definitely is a win for Nintendo.

Switch votes are probably recency or folks maybe just not caring about a large amount of good games.

 

[Deleted member 7883]

if handhelds are part of the equation, every gen tbh.

 

[Phediuk]

So, like, Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Destiny/Eternia? A lot of JRPGs had 3d world maps that didn't ran too well on the hardware.

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Saga Frontier, Legend of Mana, Beyond the Beyond, Suikoden series, Lunar SSSC/EBC, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and a whole bunch of others.

 

[residentgrigo]

The 3rd and 4th. That´s it. Still a good company of course but a bad choice if you can only own 1 console starting with the N64.
Always the best 2nd purchase on the other hand and they are the king of handhelds.

 

[Phediuk]

if handhelds are part of the equation, every gen tbh.

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sorry, N64 + Game Boy Color doesn't even sniff the Playstation's farts, as far as I'm concerned.

but to each their own.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

I would say they dominated NES through N64 eras.

N64 was the last time that they had the objectively best library though.

 

[Jade1962]

NES for sure then barely with SNES (I preferred Genesis line up) other than that not even close since.

 

[WestEgg]

Who voted 4th gen but not 3rd? Nothing on the master system or 7800 was as good as Super Mario Bros. 3

 

[Deleted member 17207]

All of them were great. Well except the Wii U that gen sucked.

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Yeah I need this option.

I wouldn't say the Wii had a better library either, but the rest? Yeah.

I have spoken.

 

[Bing-Bong]

If we talk about Nintendo home consoles, 3rd and 4th are the best gens (maybe 8th too, i always feel the switch as my always dreamed Ps2 portable for it's MASIVE variety of games); after those eras i think Nintendo's strongest point are their handheld consoles.

 

[Phoenix Splash]

Best library first-party wise and/or exclusives, I'd argue they're untouchable once we include handheld gaming. Heck, prob without including handheld gaming, too.

In general? Third parties are more important and Nintendo hasn't had the best general catalogue since the end of the SNES.

 

[dasu]

Nes and Snes definitely. I don't think anyone is going to argue with those two generations.

It's hard to say with the current generation. Although the 1st party titles have been great with the Switch, they can't compensate for the loss of AAA third party games that the other consoles get.

I would say that 7th generation would have been another place where Nintendo outshined Sony and Microsoft, but the OP explicitly excluded handheld consoles, so I can't include the ridiculously strong library of the DS.

 

[batfax]

NES, easy. They dominated the market. After that, things get hazy.

The 16 bit gen is probably one of their best, but part of that was because competition was so strong and diverse. I could never just call the SNES just flat better because there's so many amazing games on other consoles it has no answer to.

64 was dark times. Amazing exclusives, but genre diversity and overall support was the pits. The games it had were amazing though, for sure.

Each gen afterwards gets progressively better, but they haven't quite accomplished being the defacto best again since the NES. Strong competition, plenty of value, worth owning, all that stuff, sure. But being the clear-cut winner? Nah.

 

[Anth0ny]

NES wins
SNES wins
N64 wins
GC wins but very tight battle with PS2. Melee, Wind Waker and the best version of RE4 puts GC over the top for me.

Then they started losing with Wii/Wii U/Switch. PS3 and PS4 had both quality with 1st party and insane 3rd party depth.

 

[Kyoufu]

GameCube by far imo

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You can't be serious. Gamecube had a fraction of the software of PS2.

 

[Nacho]

Very misleading to lump wii u and switch into the same category lol. Generations be damned.

 

[Deleted member 7883]

sorry, N64 + Game Boy Color doesn't even sniff the Playstation's farts, as far as I'm concerned.

but to each their own.

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that's the only one that had me thinking. I'd say that Nintendo's def within fart sniffing territory with how bright their classics during that gen shined, but for every classic Nintendo had, Sony had thrice as many classics. Mario 64 and OoT were insanely influential, but that's only two certified classics off the 64 compared to Sony's... more than 2 lol.

Okay fair enough. If Handhelds count, Nintendo has every gen OTHER than the 5th one in the bag. But they still were more than capable of smelling them farts in the 5th gen.

 

[Firemind]

Saga Frontier, Legend of Mana, Beyond the Beyond, Suikoden series, Lunar SSSC/EBC, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and a whole bunch of others.

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Suikoden is a good one. I wouldn't call most of them not dated by today's standards though, except FFT which is a tactical RPG. March of the Black Queen and LUCT were originally released on the SNES.