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

[Captain of Outer Space]

Super Nintendo is the only one I'd vote for. They didn't do much that interested me on the N64, as that system was floated for me by Aki's WCW/WWF games. Loved some of their stuff on the Gamecube (Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Pikmin), but Sony's lineup was stellar then. Wii had some good stuff that first couple of years, but then died off and Sony/MS were pretty strong and mostly consistent then. This gen has seen the best of Sony and Nintendo, so it's a bit of a toss up for new games.

I guess I could've voted for NES, but I don't care for most of the games and Nintendo put out a lot of bad stuff then.

 

[jroc74]

Do 3rd party contributions count? If not then Nintendo has swept every console gen. They singlehandedly supported the Wii U for 4 years. Sony and MS aren't capable of such a feat. If 3rd party do count then basically they fell off after the SNES.

Click to shrink...

I might be crazy, but if someone just says library I assume it's the overall library.

I already gave up on a mini debate about the Switch not getting every 3rd party game.

The posts only mentioning exclusives and most picking past 3rd, 4th gen are wild.

Not sure what people think was better about the 360/PS3 than Wii.

Click to shrink...

Their libraries?

Even if you did exclusives only the Wii doesn't get the votes in a landslide, if done objectively.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Kind of baffled that anyone voting SNES would not also be voting NES.

 

[EloKa]

Voted only for the NES. While the SNES was probably the best console for general gaming of that gen, I went with the NeoGeo library for its technical superiority.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

NES and SNES only IMO.

Anybody who said Gamecube has a heavy bias or is smoking crack. GameCube having a better library than the PS2 (which could also play the entire PS1 library) is some Trump level delusion. GC was great, but it must surely bow to The King ™.

 

[fiendcode]

Wheres all the handheld consoles? I only see home and hybrid consoles?

 

[Bricktop]

NES, SNES and it's not even close since then.

 

[Nax]

NES/SNES by a landslide. And they have been soundly beaten ever since.

 

[Morfeo]

All of them maybe except the fifth when the Saturn was pretty good too.

 

[Deleted member 12833]

I just voted SNES. Anything before that gen isn't worth evaluating

 

[Deleted member 46414]

Only gen 3 and gen 4. There's really no way to argue any other generation.

 

[Augemitbutter]

only for the 3rd (NES) you could get out of this relatively unbruised because not many people here are familiar with the other systems. SNES is already a hard contest. Mega Drive is enough to kick it down.

everything else is endless noping. nope nope nope.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Wild take.

Wii U is a really weak library

Click to shrink...

Nah, Wii U had a legit library.

Breath of the Wild
Super Mario 3D World
Mario Kart 8
DK Tropical Freeze
Pikmin 3
Bayonetta 2
The Wonderful 101
Captain Toad
Splatoon
LEGO City Undercover
Smash Bros Wii U
Wind Waker HD
Deus Ex Human Revolution Directors Cut
Rayman Legends
Mario Maker
Xenoblade Chronicles X
MH3U
NSMBU
Hyrule Warriors
Nintendoland
Pokken

 

[Timbuktu]

I wouldn't say N64 has a great library of games overall but it's highs are just so good. I miss the combo with Rare at its best.

 

[Butch]

The first two and also Switch.

 

[jett]

NES is the only generation in which they stomped the competition. SNES is a close call with the Genesis. And the rest, well...just no.

 

[T002 Tyrant]

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

Click to shrink...

Wii U's library actually got me into Nintendo consoles, before then I just thought Nintendo games sucked, the Wii U library actually made me go back and play the older games because the Wii U library was so strong IMO. I wouldn't have played Ocarina of Time if it wasn't for Wind Waker HD making me go back and play all the other Zelda games. Same with Mario games (I still think Galaxy series sucks lemons and 3D World is King).

 

[HotHamBoy]

Nah, Wii U had a legit library.

Breath of the Wild
Super Mario 3D World
Mario Kart 8
DK Tropical Freeze
Pikmin 3
Bayonetta 2
The Wonderful 101
Captain Toad
Splatoon
LEGO City Undercover
Smash Bros Wii U
Wind Waker HD
Deus Ex Human Revolution Directors Cut
Rayman Legends
Mario Maker
Xenoblade Chronicles X
MH3U
NSMBU
Hyrule Warriors
Nintendoland
Pokken

Click to shrink...

Lots of good games, to be sure, but the library is very small compared to competitive consoles. The sheer volume of third party games on those consoles affords them the better library as Wii U has the weakest third party suppprt of any Nintendo console.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

NES and SNES only.

After that their consoles were pretty much forgotten by third parties with the exception of the rare mercy port.

 

[dlauv]

3rd is the only gen that takes this definitively. 4th has too many good competitors, but you could make a very arguable case for SNES. The gens after I don't get. Zelda and Mario don't make a console for me as good as they are. Ocarina was my favorite game in the 5th gen, but I would have been just as happy or even happier never having played it as long as I had the entire PSone library to pick from.

 

[Arion]

SNES was the last time Nintendo had the competition outclassed. But since then the competition has been tight.

 

[nopattern]

Only gen 3 and gen 4. There's really no way to argue any other generation.

Click to shrink...

sure there is, Ps2 and the Xbox didn't have Smash Brother Melee. I put more time into that game then pretty much both of those consoles combined

 

[andymcc]

SNES was the last time Nintendo had the competition outclassed. But since then the competition has been tight.

Click to shrink...

i could understand having a "preference" in the 16-bit era, but they most certainly did not "outclass" other platforms.

NES is the only generation in which they stomped the competition. SNES is a close call with the Genesis. And the rest, well...just no.

Click to shrink...

I'd say it's a close call with the Turbografx and Neo-Geo as well but that's just me.

 

[abellwillring]

3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th.

 

[Fahdi]

Thread is biased.

Where's the "none" option? Nintendo never appealed to me outside of Zelda.

 

[OrangeNova]

It blew the competition out of the water with the NES and SNES.

N64 didn't hold a candle to PS1, Gamecube had no where near the breadth of quality games as the PS2, Wii had interesting games, but the 360 and PS3 destroyed it.

 

[Arion]

i could understand having a "preference" in the 16-bit era, but they most certainly did not "outclass" other platforms.

Click to shrink...

This whole thread is a matter of preferences, I'm not sure what your point is.

 

[CrazyAndy]

NES and SNES. That's it.

 

[nanskee]

Lmao, not since the DS arguably their last great console since the SNES and I love my N64 and GameCube. But SNES and DS is peak Nintendo

 

[andymcc]

This whole thread is a matter of preferences, I'm not sure what your point is.

Click to shrink...

sigh, never mind

 

[Mizeris Lutz Ether Lanai]

I had an amazing time with the Wii U, some of my favourite gaming years. But thinking purely in terms of library, I couldn't pull the trigger over PS4. Switch still has a lot of work to do for me as someone who already had its best games on Wii U. I haven't felt compelled to buy one yet, especially with Metroid punted off into the ether. But ask again in 2 or 3 years, and I might feel differently.

NES and SNES and objective slam dunks. I like the Genesis and Turbografx/PC Engine a ton, but anyone voting for those is kidding themselves. Every 3rd party dev under the sun who really mattered was putting their A material on Nintendo platforms. The only meaningful exception was EA's football and hockey games.

 

[Kyrios]

3rd and 4th gen IMO.

 

[andymcc]

NES and SNES and objective slam dunks. I like the Genesis and Turbografx/PC Engine a ton, but anyone voting for those is kidding themselves. Every 3rd party dev under the sun who really mattered was putting their A material on Nintendo platforms. The only meaningful exception was EA's football and hockey games.

Click to shrink...

lmao objective slam dunks-- give me a fucking beak.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

There isn't a single console generation where any one machine is an objective slam dunk.

 

[Kirksplosion]

NES and SNES for certain.

You could make an argument for the Switch/Wii U combo this generation, but I like the PS4's catalogue better.

The rest, though? Nah.

 

[Mizeris Lutz Ether Lanai]

lmao objective slam dunks-- give me a fucking beak.

Click to shrink...

Dude. My user name and avatar are literally from a Sega Master system game. I have nothing but reverence for first party Sega. I might put the Dreamcast up there as the best time to be a gamer ever.

But there's just no way they were beating the assembled might of prime Konami, prime Capcom, 16-bit square - heck almost every Japanese 3rd party because of Nintendo exclusivity contracts - by any reasonable rubric.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Just the NES and SNES. 64 was a big letdown for me mostly.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

There isn't a single console generation where any one machine is an objective slam dunk.

Click to shrink...

Seriously.

I'm starting to think that the word "objective" just needs to be taken away from video game discussion.

 

[GymWolf86]

Nes and snes without the shadow of a doubt.

N64 and switch for some people probably.

Gamecube for RE fans.

 

[Acidote]

If you mean the best over all others, 3rd and 4th.

 

[AppleKid]

Nintendo produces by far the most games I'm interested in each gen. That said, it only had a better library for all audiences Gens 3 and 4. 5 & 6 would go to Sony, 7 to MS, and 8 back to Sony

 

[Crayon]

NES Era they really had the best. SNES was a tie with megadrive. Every time after that, theyve been beat like an old rug lol.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

NES and SNES and that's it. The third party support fell off a cliff and only a few were able to climb back up until now. Even if you love your N64 and GC and Wii, there's no way you can objectively say those had better libraries.

 

[Deleted member 50761]

NES
SNES
N64
Switch

 

[MoogleWizard]

4, 6 and 8 hands down. GC and Wii U might have smaller libraries than the competition but I don't play that many games and I'm a very picky "quality over quantity" person.

 

[iconoclast]

Just the NES, none of the others come close.

If you just want to look at exclusives, then you could make an argument for the Switch+Wii U too. PS4 has very few worthwhile games that aren't available on PC, and backwards compatibility is the only reason to own an Xbone.

 

[Soneji]

NES, SNES, N64 and Switch are the ones with better/equal to libraries relative to their competitors.

 

[Deleted member 59562]

5th and 6th were competitive, but only in retrospect, 7th was a blowout with the rise of indie games and steam while wii ware and dsi ware were utter failures, 3rd and 4th were blowouts for Nintendo, 4th especially in retrospect, and 8th is a toss-up between nintendo and sony, where multiplat quality and exclusive cinematic/novel storytelling favors sony, and sheer game quality (and Nintendo's incredible, unprecedented track record as a publisher) place it in a very close second

 

[RossoneR]

Do 3rd party contributions count? If not then Nintendo has swept every console gen. They singlehandedly supported the Wii U for 4 years. Sony and MS aren't capable of such a feat. If 3rd party do count then basically they fell off after the SNES.

Click to shrink...

Supported to what cause? If u think sony cant sell 15 M consoles based on gt, uncharted, god of war, ratchet, soulsborne...or whatever they d produce u re delusional. Same for ms, they can get to 15M based on their ips. And also wiiu had some third party support just like most N platforms. Its not like they had Only 1p games.
Also ps3 had more 80 and 90+ exclusives than almost 360 and wii combined. So wii didnt swept anything. Same for gc, same for n64, same for switch.

 

[Isayas]

3rd and 4th gen easily.