It sounds dumb but my pick would be the SNES. There’s just something about 16 bit games I love.
The SNES has so many good games, like sf2. The first party games and some good arcade ports.
It also has a lot of good RPGs, like chrono trigger
The controller is really cute
Tho, the PSP is a close second. Tekken dr running at 3x resolution looks beautiful
Yes I’m a sucker for dpad centric devices. Yes i love emulation.
16 bit stuff looks amazing
In the better timeline we left, they’re now playing the Sega Dreamcast 5.
😭
assuming “PC” doesn’t count… i’ll be a basic bitch and say nintendo switch. it’s the one i’ve played the most games on.
The challenge with this question is that not everyone has played in every console, so like, for me, I can only comment on the Atari 2600, the Wii and the XBOX 360.
From that small sample, the wii wins hands down. I loved the motion controllers a lot.
The Wii brought gaming to the general public in a way nothing else had. Like most modern Nintendo consoles it was under powered and gimmicky but the gimmick worked so well for people new to gaming, point at the TV or wiggle the controller as you would to do the thing in real life was a huge step to making an abstract concept make sense to people. For longer gaming sessions or more “serious” games the Wii controls were generally lacking but damn if Wii sports wasn’t good fun.
Never played Wii but it always looked cool to me :3
I think because it was so different from what came right before it: Gamecube, PS3, Xbox.
Waving that Wiimote around was a blast for everyone, gamers and non-gamers alike. Tons of hours of play in this Sports Resort, for instance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWo6zYZx2rM
I get what @berttheduck said about long games / serious gamers but can you imagine your grandma trying to play most Switch or PS5 or other new console games now?
If I had to pick all time? 3DS! It has sooo many games with supporting the DS and 3DS library, DSiWare, and of course homebrew.
If I’m picking my current favorite I’ve got to go with the Playdate. It’s portable and has a lot of fun small-scale games.
(yes I like handholds why do you ask)
The 3ds is a damn good system. I just hate the n3ds cstick
I never had a n3ds! Couldn’t bear parting with my animal crossing poptart edition
The lazy answer for me is PS2, since that’s how I was able to play all the PS1/re-released games I missed out on. Pretty much all the Final Fantasy games, Chronl Trigger, Chrono Cross, Star Ocean… And then there was also FFX and Twisted Metal Black, some of the PS2 highlights for me.
I think SNES still has my heart though. I feel like most of the major titles were better (more perfected) than their N64 counterparts. The Legend of Zelda LttP absolutely consumed me growing up and is still my favourite game of all time. Many years later I find I’m still interested in games that look like they could have been released on SNES.
(☝◞‸◟)☞
Same for me. Lots of consoles have lots of great games, and I really like the idea of the PS2 library’s depth and quality. I bought a 1TB MicroSD card for my Steam Deck OLED and loaded it with a 1TB image of curated roms from a private tracker thinking I’d play a lot of the ones I missed…
…But the only non-Steam game I’ve played is FF5 for the SNES. I’ve wanted to play it since I found out Final Fantasy “III” was a lie. The Steam Deck is the ultimate SNES RPG machine.
That and my SD2SNES in my childhood SNES gets a lot of play time with my 6 y.o. son. He’s almost able to beat world 1 of SMW solo, but he prefers Kirby Super Star, where he can beat world 1 and most of world 2.
PSP, hands down. So many incredible games, it was a RPG powerhouse, that screen was great for the time and for me it was an “everything” device (I remember browsing the web and reading mangas on the PSP… Janky but incredible all the same).
The Vita comes close - nigh “home console” games on the go and the OLED screen to make those shine.
PSP, followed by Gameboy Color, followed by Advance SP.
I recently got a Retroid4, and took an amazing trip down memory lane with Mana Khemia, MG:AC!D, FF Tactics Advanced/A2, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and a bunch of pkmn ROM hacks. All of them easily held up today.
Unless SteamDeck counts, in which case it wins hands-down.
I has the 4 pro. PSP is a good system
Sega Master System. A kid never forgets his first video game system, and nothing has quite scratched that itch ever since.
SNES does have a lot of the better games in lots of great series. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Final Fantasy etc etc etc.
Though the cheat answer is probably PC since its been around for decades can just evolve with whatever is going on.
It’s obviously pc for me because that’s pretty much all i use for 30 years. But i always liked the nes because it’s pretty satisfying to put in a cartridge and pushing it down.
It was the NDS (and 3DS), Now It’s the switch (hopefully a successor is on the way…)
I like all consoles in general and have had most modern ones up til Xbox One S and PS4.
Only own a PC and Switch now.
I like the portable form factor, I don’t feel the need for a Deck as I can play everything I want on my current devices.
If this is some kind of question like “you can only play this in your lifetime” I’d pick up a DSi XL or closely a 3DS, I enjoy the DS library more, so it would be a downgrade doing it there, unless things have changed since the last time I checked.
The reasons are simple, it has tons of great titles and many of them have a high replayability value.
N64 for me, I’ll always remember my first all-nighter playing Super Mario 64 on Christmas.
You and I would have been enemies in the 16-bit era, but I adore the Sega Genesis. (However, I’m also a sleepy bisexual, so I’m gonna say we’re probably nowhere close to enemies.)
It was an arcade monster and got a ton of amazing games from the arcades and purpose-built for the machine — many the SNES also got, but some exclusives that really took advantage of what the Genesis could do well. I’d argue that the gritty FM sound chip was better for certain types of game music as well, though that’s not to say that the SNES wasn’t largely superior on that front.
At the end of the day… yeah 16 bit stuff looks amazing
I should get into the genesis, any recommendations?
I have no idea if they hold up today, but I really enjoyed Zombies ate my neighbors, Mickey Mania, World of Illusion (another mickey mouse game), and Taz Mania.
PS2 for sure. So many great games that made my childhood and its easy to mod and repair.
SNES is close second. Was lucky enough that I got one growing up (it was 10 year old console at that point) and the 16 bit graphics and the music always take me back.
Xbox 360, it was my first console and I had a jailbreaked version so I could play anything and it introduced me to achievements haha
