How would you rank Nintendo's home consoles?

Post by **opa** » Sun Apr 21, 2024 12:40 pm

What is your ranking of Nintendo's home consoles and why?
Here's how I currently rank them (from best to worst):

SNES
Wii
NES
GameCube
Wii U
N64
Switch

I'll start the explanations at the end of the list and work my way up.

#7 - Switch

#6 - N64

#5 - Wii U

#4 - GameCube

#3 - NES

#2 - Wii

#1 - SNES

Well, what are your thoughts? How would you rank the Nintendo home consoles?

Post by **Ack** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 12:11 am

Well played with the DOOM joke.

Post by **Raging Justice** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 2:17 am

1. SNES
2. NES

Both represent two golden eras in gaming, particularly the SNES. The 16-bit era was the greatest era of gaming ever to me

3. Switch

The library is unbeatable, with more games coming all the time. The Switch feels like the last bastion of physical gaming and has tons to offer people who don't give a f***k about an "all digital future". Also, it's taken what Nintendo has done best post SNES (handheld gaming) and merged it into a console, which is kind of brilliant

That's it, that's my list. Every other Nintendo console doesn't even come close to these three. They are irrelevant. Though if you pressed me I'd give the Gamecube the number 4 spot for classics like Resident Evil 4, Pikmin, Eternal Darkness, etc. It's library pales in comparison to the above three though and that is also true for the N64 and for the Wii (with its tons of gimmicky, casual friendly, shovel ware). The Wii-U doesn't even need to be mentioned. We all know that if flopped hard.

The SNES is the greatest Nintendo console of all time, and the NES is the most IMPORTANT Nintendo console of all time for saving the gaming industry

Post by **o.pwuaioc** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:51 pm

Alrighty, been a while since we did rankings. Feels like a retro activity. I won't review the Switch or Wii U, because I never owned them or played enough to judge. And these are a personal ranking; I'm not trying to gauge how important or impactful or innovative the console is, but what they are to me. Without further ado:

5. GameCube

I know a lot of people really love their GameCube, but it's a console I missed out on when it was released, so there's no nostalgia here. Most of the games of that gen could also be had on the PS2 or Xbox, so I never had a strong reason to seek it out. And when I finally did get one, I was underwhelmed by the exclusives. I'd say the Metroids are the stand-out games and were among the last GameCube games I owned before getting rid of the console, and even then, I could play them on the Wii, so the system was abandoned without feeling any real loss.

4. Wii

For me, there is a huge gap between my affection for the Wii and the GameCube. The Wii played a more important role in my adult life than the GameCube has (sorry, Mark!), and actually has led to some unusual entries into gaming with some people I know. And that it could also play GameCube games really gels its status for me above the GameCube. All in all, though, it's something that when push came to shove, wasn't really doing it for me anymore. My friend is indefinitely taking care of it for me and catching up on her Zelda.

3. Nintendo 64

The N64 was a real disappointment when I first got it. I played a few games early on, but after the novelty wore off, I went straight back to the Super Nintendo and Genesis. It wasn’t until around 2000 that I started playing the N64 a lot more that it finally led to my appreciation of the console. I spent quite a few years with my friends on GoldenEye, then Perfect Dark, on Mario Kart, finding all the secrets in Ogre Battle, etc. While I had played some of these (not Ogre Battle) before, it really opened up to me after it became the thing to do when friends came over. Even 2 decades after it came out, it would turn up at random events, and a great number of friends and their friends would still have mini-tournaments on it. It’s still not my favorite, but it’s a great party console, even more than the Wii, and that’s why I place it a notch above at #3.

The Top Two

Ranking these two against each other has never been easy to me. I almost don’t wish to, as they represent the pinnacle of gaming for me, and only the Genesis is a real rival. I also have changed my opinion over the years on this placement, so what I choose now might change in about 5 years. That said, this is the order I’d have to go with now.

2. Super Nintendo

The Super Nintendo took everything that made the Nintendo great and put a polish on it. Super Metroid is bigger, less linear, more atmospheric even then Metroid; Castlevania IV brought all the eerie tunes of the original trilogy and went all in on the whip; Mega Man X was just way more rad, dude, than Mega Man; and Mario? Super Mario World was bigger, brighter, and bolder, and had far more features than any of the previous 3 (thinking of SMB 2 US in that). It really just took almost everything the NES did right and took it to the next level. It might just be my desert-island-console-library system, if I were really hard pressed to decide. And it came at a real critical part of my adolescence, and the memories are ever so fond. What’s more to say?

1. NES

But the Nintendo has a certain charm that the Super Nintendo lacks. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what that is, a certain je ne sais quoi, yet it still compels me to give it the number one spot. I think it partly has to do with the archaic difficulty levels; the games action and puzzle games aren’t overly complex, yet challenge the player greatly. The arcade influences are still felt, yet the games (the good ones, at least) feel conquerable, and beating them really imbues the victor with a sense of accomplishment that a lot of the Super Nintendo games don’t really do. (Exceptions, of course, abound.) The simplicity too is charming in itself. The difference between the NES and its successor might be felt in the same way a a catchy pop rock song is preferable to a slicker production.

And there’s just more of it! Mega Man X had 3 games, Mega Man had 6. One Super Mario World (and quite possibly the worst sequel I’ve ever had the misfortune of playing) compared to three Super Mario Bros games. Three Castlevanias, two Contras, two Zeldas, but each of these series had only one iteration on the Super Nintendo. And it had more of what I like: short action romps: Ninja Gaiden with its fast-paced action, quirky platformers, plenty of single-screen games (I like my Atari), shooters, run n’ guns. The Super Nintendo aced it in some of these areas (1-on-1 fighters à la Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat, bigger and badder beat-em-ups), though sometimes, at this advanced age, bigger means longer, and longer isn’t always better.

But still, each console has its strengths that the other doesn’t quite match, and so pitting them against each other really isn’t fair to either. I almost went for a tie, but in the end, I gave it to the original Nintendo (as we always called it in the 90s) for which I had the larger library: I own double the amount of NES and Famicom games compared to Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games. I think that edges the needle in the NES’s favor, so it comes in at number one.

Post by **Raging Justice** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 3:00 am

We had that story some weeks ago about a kid getting the kill screen in Tetris. A kid. In 2024. Was playing and mastering an NES game. I think that speaks volumes for that console. I think NES and SNES games are still the most desired (and expensive) games on the collector's market too.

EDIT: So actually it looks like that happened in December last year, but that's almost 2024

Post by **marurun** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:31 am

I suspect I'm going to take some heat for my ranking, but this is all subjectively rooted in personal experiences so...
Not going in reverse order. We're starting at the top, baby!

NES: This little beastie started off so humble, and for as much as we roast Sega for their 16-bit hardware expansion transgressions, let's keep in mind that the Famicom in Japan was loaded to the gills with experimental nonsense, from an integrated mic in the controller to a floppy disk expansion. Heck, even the controllers were permanently attached to the system on short little cables. And then there's ROB... Since the system took a couple years to get to the US Nintendo skipped some of that experimental stuff (except poor ROB). Nintendo and others had also started dabbling in mapper expansions around this time, and Nintendo eventually made good use of these to port Disk System titles to the US. US releases typically lagged by a couple years (or more) from Japan, but we still got a lot of great stuff. The solid selection of mapper chips went a long way to ameliorate the original NES's shortcomings, and the long market life of the NES allowed developers to get quite comfortable with the system, especially the audio capabilities. Despite not owning a little gray toaster until after it was no longer on the market I have fond memories of it and consider it one of the strongest home platforms ever. It even saved video games in the US after our horrific market crash.
Switch: I'm sure this is cheating, but I love the ability to transition between handheld and docked. I love the crazy assortment of titles available, even if the eShop is replete with asset flips and junk, just like mobile. There are some great indies and re-releases, and Arcade Archives and EGG Console are such lovely projects. Yes, I get frustrated at the system's limitations, or at least the unwillingness of developers to really work within them, especially with ports that need active redesigning, not simply stripping of features and effects. But the Switch is also proof that strong art design and careful construction still result in beautiful and functional games. I also love love love the Joycons. Are they perfect? Heck no. But being able to play with a little controller in each hand, not forced to sit with my hands together in my lap, is just so comfortable at times. The Switch is just a crazy adaptable little gem.
Wii: The Wii was stupid popular, and despite not being a fan of the Wiimote for non-motion play, the system overall was a smash. Virtual Console was genius big-brain stuff, and some developers, managed to do a good job rising to the challenge of making motion controls work for good instead of evil. Yes, there was indeed too much pointless waggle where no waggle was needed, but we also got stuff like De Blob, Metroid Prime, Elebits, and the Wii Sports titles. The Wii democratized gaming in a way that wasn't matched until the mobile platforms finally took off and overwhelmed us all with F2P madness.
Super NES: A lot of folks are going to put this system higher up on their lists than I have on mine. That's OK. I have a lot of nostalgia for the SNES, but I also played more of the early titles and far fewer of the later titles. I feel like my interest in the SNES is mostly for the early releases where they were being both more experimental (Pilot Wings) and more traditional (arcade ports and adaptations). It also signaled the beginning of longer dev times for titles, evidenced by the system getting far fewer entries in some of Nintendo's flagship series vs the NES, except maybe DKC which is a series I didn't care for. The pre-rendered look doesn't do much for me. Still, it was the platform of choice for western RPG fans and fighting game aficionados.
Gamecube: I liked this system a lot more in theory than in practice. I think it had a lot of smart hardware decisions, in part to remedy the shortcomings of the N64, but also to better support 3rd party devs. If only 3rd party devs had actually invested much in the Cube. The potential was there but never realized.
WiiU: Weird idea, poor implementation. Some solid games that all adapted just fine to other systems without two active screens. I don't know we ever actually needed a DS console version, TBH. But it had long been time to abandon the hardware lineage of the Gamecube, but Nintendo said, "Naw, we're good," and stuck with it.
N64: I just don't like this system. I hate the controller, I hate how the 3D looks, I hate the awkward and difficult hardware design, and I hate that the system is still cartridge-based. The N64 is trying to look forward and backward at the same time and just ends up cross-eyed in the middle.

Post by **ElkinFencer10** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:50 pm

A lot of my rankings are based on what the system represented or how it was designed more than strictly game library.

1. Wii U - 70% sentimental; it was the first home console I ever got on launch day, and it was the first home console I ever bought at retail with my own money (I was 20 and a junior in college when it came out and had been working my first job for five months). In addition to that, though, while few games truly utilized it well, the games that DID take advantage of the gamepad offered experiences that just can't be well replicated elsewhere. ZombiU's asymmetrical multiplayer, NintendoLand's party game perfection, even the clunky gamepad controls in Starfox Zero tried something new and creative that can't be recreated on other platforms. Even the minimal uses, like having a map on the gamepad screen or having one player use the TV screen and one player use the gamepad screen for local two player in Call of Duty's online multiplayer was a quality of life use that made those versions of games stand out. It was horribly marketed, underutilized by first and third party teams alike, and underpowered compared to the competition, but I'll always love and appreciate the Wii U for the uniqueness of the experiences it offered.

2. Wii - Motion controls. Next.
But seriously, I adore the Wii's motion controls. Even when they're cumbersome in some games, it's a new way to play Sony made a halfhearted attempt to copy, Microsoft made a halfhearted attempt to surpass, and even Nintendo themselves made a halfhearted attempt to maintain with the Wii U and especially Switch. Whether it's a wild success or a wet flop, I will always appreciate when a company tries something novel and experimental, and they not only did that with the Wii but made it fantastic more often than not (Nintendo, that is; not the cesspool of third party shovelware infesting my shelf).

3. Switch - Home console quality on the go. It's what Sony tried to do - and got extremely close - with the Vita, but unlike the Vita, the Switch doesn't give you handheld versions of console games; it gives you full console games that you can play handheld on the go. Yeah, the hardware power left a bit to be desired on launch day let alone seven years later, but the simple fact that I can be playing a game on my couch, grab the Switch out of the dock and keep playing in the car uninterrupted is something that no other console has ever given me. It is home to several "impossible" ports that absolutely should not look or run as well as they do (The Witcher 3, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein II, etc). Not only that, but it returned the glory of cartridges with read speeds nearly three times that of a Bluray disc (correct me if I'm wrong about that, please, tech nerds). Nintendo has always dominated the handheld space and has, in one metric or another, lagged behind in the home console space since the early 90s. The Switch finally leveraged that domination in one space to propel its success in the other by merging the two, and if that's not a brilliant move, I don't know what is.

4. Nintendo 64 - Despite being left in the PS1's dust, it is - from my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong - the most technically powerful console of that gen, and it pulled off some games that I remember thinking were impossible at the time (admittedly, I was like eight). Resident Evil 2 being crammed into a Nintendo 64 cartridge when it took two discs on PlayStation? Starcraft being crammed onto a Nintendo 64 cartridge and running at 480i no less when 240p was still the standard? My mind was blown as a kid. Speaking of that - despite the far superior storage capacity and EXPONENTIALLY cheaper production cost of compact discs, Nintendo stuck with cartridges for the N64, and I will always love them for that. Was it a smart move? No, objectively not. Was it a cool move? Yes, and the rule of cool always wins. Add to that the controller that looks like it went skinny dipping in the Chernobyl cooling pond while Bush Sr was still vice president, and you've got a winning formula as far as I'm concerned.

5. Gamecube - Despite the "lunchbox" look and the...interesting...choice of indigo as a shell color, the Gamecube represented a much-needed move towards embracing more mature video games, something the N64 admittedly did take a step or two towards with Resident Evil 2 and Conker's Bad Fur Day. For the Gamecube to have Resident Evil remake, Resident Evil Zero, and (for a time, anyway) Resident Evil 4 as exclusives? Nintendo wanted people to know that they're not just for little kids. Let's not forget Eternal Darkness, a game the lack of a remake or at least remaster of which twenty years later is downright CRIMINAL. They may have embraced the inevitability of optical media, but Nintendo still stayed WEIRD. Mini DVDs? Wtf is that about? Why would you voluntarily shoot yourself in the foot by eliminating the possibility of DVD playback as a selling point? Who knows, but it cost them, and I absolutely love them for it. Weird wins, baby. Also it has the greatest controller ever made, and I will fight a mother fucker about that.

6. NES - The ultimate nostalgia console for me. This was my first console ever; mom won it as a consolation prize on Jeopardy! when I was about six months old. It took SKILL and WIZARDRY to get games to look like what you wanted them to on this console a lot of the time, but Nintendo set the standard for squeezing seemingly impossible visuals and performance out of potato hardware with the NES. It birthed some of the greatest series of all time - Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, BATTLETOADS - and remains arguably the most iconic console of all time. The games may be primitive by today's standards, but even 40 years later, many of them retain a level of playability that a lot of retro games don't.

7. SNES - Proof that last place is not shame when you're in the Olympics. A lot of the reason this isn't higher on my list is because I never had one until 2008; as a kid, I went from NES straight into N64. Still, though, the SNES has an S tier library. I still consider Link to the Past to be the best Zelda game, Doom and Wolfenstein 3D are two of my most nostalgic shooters, Super Metroid and Super Castlevania IV are my favorite games in both franchises, and the sheer number of JRPGs on the console is staggering, and the vast majority of them range from good to masterpiece. Super Mario RPG? Earthbound? Chrono Trigger? The Fire Emblem games we were unfairly robbed of and the deprival of which I think constituted legitimate casus belli? Yeah, this system, despite being at the bottom of my list, was untouchable by its competition in terms of variety and quality of games as far as I'm concerned.

I figured it would be fun to throw handhelds into the mix, too. For the record, I consider the Switch to be a home console that can be played handheld, not a handheld console that can be played on TV. I don't care if I'm wrong, and I don't acknowledge the existence of the Switch Lite. I'm also not included Game and Watch since it's a substantially different kind of handheld.

1. DS - Not only did the DS have a ton of incredible games AND provide a completely novel and unprecedented way to play with two touch screens one of which was a touch screen, but it retained backwards compatibility with the Game Boy Advance. Once HeartGold and SoulSilver came out, you could play all five generations of Pokemon on one handheld. I don't think I even need to say more. But I will. Because holy shit, download play was a game changer. You mean I can play games with my friends without having to buy the game myself? Sure, it didn't work with every game, and sometimes it was limited what you could do as the peasant player, but still, that was an amazing feature that no handheld had ever featured before. Add to that being the first dedicated handheld to feature wifi play (I don't count the NGage; it was as much cell phone as handheld game console, and worked better as the former than the latter anyway), and the DS was the crowning achievement of Nintendo's handheld systems.

2. Game Boy/Color - Despite the fact that, in general, I consider the Game Boy Color a successor system and not a revision to the Game Boy, I'm grouping them together here. It's my list, my rules. Yes, this is mostly nostalgia. I don't care. This was the first system I remember getting since I was still shitting myself spontaneously and didn't have a fused skull yet when we got the NES. That teal Game Boy Color opened WORLDS for me on long car rides. Pokemon. The Zelda Oracle games. Lego Island 2. Men in Black. Mission Impossible. This was how I first experienced the TRUE Super Mario Bros 2 via Super Mario Bros Deluxe. The lack of backlight was a severe hindrance, but not even that could hold down the juggernaut library this thing had.

3. 3DS - The 3DS was a special handheld for me. It was like god damn WIZARDRY to play games in real stereoscopic 3D without cumbersome or shitty paper glasses. This came out my freshman year of college, and it absolutely saved my sanity when I had a few minutes away from my abusive girlfriend to play. Super Mario 3D Land, Resident Evil Revelations (still my favorite way to play the game), the advent of Mega Evolutions in Pokemon, Shin Megami Tensei IV, the untouchably amazing Fire Emblem Awakening - the 3DS has my personal favorite library of any Nintendo handheld, especially once you add eShop exclusives to the mix. I mean, hello, THERE ARE FIVE SILVER FALLS GAMES ON 3DS, AND ONE OF THOSE IS STILL EXCLUSIVE. Also, you know, Senran Kagura is pretty rad...

4. Game Boy Advance - Like the SNES, I went from Game Boy Color straight to DS, so the nostalgia just isn't there for the GBA with me, but that doesn't mean I don't adore it. After all, it's what brought Fire Emblem to the West as well as Famicom/Advance Wars, it saw the birth and short life of Golden Sun, and it gave us Metroid Fusion, a VERY close #2 in the Metroid series for me. In a lot of ways, it was just "Game Boy but better graphics," but with the SP revision, we were shown the glory of clamshell designs, and Nintendo finally learned what a backlight is (the Game Boy Lite doesn't count because it never left Japan).

5. Virtual Boy - Bless its heart. It tried, guys. It really did. It didn't know if it wanted to be a handheld (somehow) console or a home console, and it sucked at both, but it tried, damn it. And the Mario Tennis and Wario games are genuinely pretty fun. But damn, bless its heart.

Post by **Raging Justice** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:44 pm

If my previously posted console rankings included non-Nintendo consoles, I think I'd swap out the Switch with the PS2 for the number 3 spot, though I'd give some consideration to giving the Sega Genesis that spot too, but I think PS 2 wins out. PS 2 is one of the greatest consoles ever and the best one from Sony in my opinion and yes, that includes the PS4 and PS5

Anyway, since we brought up Nintendo handhelds, I'm not as well versed in them as some people, as I was more into consoles growing up. However, I have made up for that in recent years and so now I do have some experience with most of them, and I did actually have a Gameboy back when it originally was released:

1. Gameboy/GBC

I don't know what it is, but the Gameboy makes me EXTREMELY nostalgic when I play games on it. I think it's because it's the only one of Nintendo's handhelds that I actually had at the time it was on the market, rather than getting into it years later like I did with Nintendo's other handhelds. The novelty of handheld gaming began for me here, along with some of those Tiger Electronics games which seem really shitty now, and I think I had a Nintendo watch with games on it too. There's tons of great games on the Gameboy, even more when you throw the GBC into the mix. I feel like a lot of them are more accessible than their NES counterparts, with less of that "Nintendo era difficulty" that people go on and on about. Nintendo has been a juggernaut in handheld gaming for years, and it all started here

2. NDS

One of the things I like about the DS is that it's old school. With the 3DS, we start to see a lot of "modern gaming" bullshit become commonplace like patches, updates, DLC, digital games, content, and store fronts getting used and then closed down removing access for normies who won't sail the high seas, etc, etc. I like that the DS is the last, NOT modern handheld from Nintendo. The library is great, and it's gimmicky features were actually well utilized making it a very innovative and NOT annoying gaming device (unlike the annoying Nintendo Wii). It this wasn't a Nintendo exclusive list, I'd throw the PSP in this spot along with the DS. I love the PSP

3. GBA

You gotta love the GBA for essentially being a handheld version of the SNES. Though it falls short of the SNES in some ways, like it's audio capabilities. That's why I don't rank it higher. I also don't have the same nostalgia tied to it that I do the original Gameboy. I absolutely love the GBA though and have a decent collection of games for it, but when I think about it now, I don't think I can rank it higher than the NDS and original Gameboy. There's a time where I think I would have, but this is how I feel right now in the present

4. 3DS

The 3ds is awesome. I have a modded/hacked one that I love, but as I said before I dislike some of the modern gaming elements that crept into it when compared to other Nintendo handhelds. Also, since getting a Switch I rarely use my 3DS anymore

5. Virtual Boy

Never had one or tried one, so it ends up last by default. Most of what I've heard about it is pretty bad too

Post by **opa** » Tue Apr 30, 2024 2:35 pm

It was nice reading everyone's thoughts! My ranking was based on nostalgia/what I had the most fun with.

I really struggled with NES vs SNES. When I was a kid I was limited to the NES games that my brother had. I played the generic classics (Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Zelda 1 and 2, Mario 2/3) but also some oddball stuff (Addam's Family, Metal Gear, Pro Wrestling, Hoops). I liked the "old Nintendo" but we didn't have manuals for most of those games and it was really hard for me to get a grasp on how to really play or where to go in the game. Legacy of the Wizard seems really cool but, to this day, I have no clue what that game is about.

I was also a tad young for renting NES games but I fondly remember renting games like Final Fantasy 3 and Chrono Trigger. Also, most SNES games I played didn't need a manual. Donkey Kong Country was self-explanatory, Harvest Moon I figured out by trail-and-error, and Kirby Super Star was pretty easy and kid-friendly.

I do enjoy NES games now but a lot of the "must-play" games I didn't really experience until the early 2000's when emulators started floating around. For example, my first Castlevania game was Castlevania 64! I had no clue about the other games until later.

Post by **o.pwuaioc** » Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:22 pm

opa wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 2:35 pm It was nice reading everyone's thoughts! My ranking was based on nostalgia/what I had the most fun with.

I really struggled with NES vs SNES. When I was a kid I was limited to the NES games that my brother had. I played the generic classics (Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Zelda 1 and 2, Mario 2/3) but also some oddball stuff (Addam's Family, Metal Gear, Pro Wrestling, Hoops). I liked the "old Nintendo" but we didn't have manuals for most of those games and it was really hard for me to get a grasp on how to really play or where to go in the game. Legacy of the Wizard seems really cool but, to this day, I have no clue what that game is about.

I was also a tad young for renting NES games but I fondly remember renting games like Final Fantasy 3 and Chrono Trigger. Also, most SNES games I played didn't need a manual. Donkey Kong Country was self-explanatory, Harvest Moon I figured out by trail-and-error, and Kirby Super Star was pretty easy and kid-friendly.

I do enjoy NES games now but a lot of the "must-play" games I didn't really experience until the early 2000's when emulators started floating around. For example, my first Castlevania game was Castlevania 64! I had no clue about the other games until later.

I hated Castlevania 64 so badly. I first played IV and then went to the NES games, so when I got to Castlevania 64, I was appalled by what I got. Meanwhile, all the cool kids got Symphony of the Night...

Forget FFVII, SotN made me regret getting the N64 bitd.

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