Your Favourite Generation

[Fierce_LiNk]

inB4 Star Trek: The Next Generation, lawl.

 

Which videogaming generation was your favourite? I quite enjoyed the Wii, but I wouldn't say that the generation as a whole captivated me, but maybe that's because I didn't experience enough on the PS3/360 to truly love that era.

 

Possibly the same with the GameCube era, although I'm picking up some Dreamcast games now and I'm suddenly remembering that it was a particularly awesome time for gaming.

 

However, for me, the greatest of all time era has to be...the one before it. SNES/Megadrive combo.

 

So many great games. The side scrollers. Streets of Raaaage, Super Mario World. The racers, Super Hang On, hnnngggg.

 

Personally, that's the era I remember the most and where I really loved gaming. Closely followed by the era of the Cube.

 

Edit: Oh shiiiiii-

 

Forgot the N64 era.

 

Hmm.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Fierce_LiNk

[Cube]

Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Lylat Wars, Jet Force Gemini, Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart 64, Blast Corps, Mario Tennis, Super Smash Bros. Yoshi's Story, F-Zero X, Mario Tennis, Rogue Squadron, Battle for Naboo, Shadows of the Empire, Episode 1: Racer, The World is Not Enough, Beetle Adventure Racing, Extreme G 1&2, Glover, LEGO Racers, Turok 1-3, Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense, Worms Armageddon, WWF No Mercy and others.

 

Definitely the N64's generation. Oddly, I had owned a Saturn and PS1 before the N64, but none of the games give me the same warm, fuzzy memories as all of the above.

 

For the Mega Drive/SNES generation, I only owned a Mega Drive. I love many games on the system, but the amount I had wasn't huge as I was pretty young. As for the SNES...I've never completed a SNES game.

 

The same for the GameCube's era. I only had a GameCube. It had many wonderful games, but was still a bit lacking compared to the N64. It also helped that my cousin also had an N64, essentially doubling the amount of games I could play. I played parts of other consoles at friends houses, but not much.

 

As for the Wii/360/PS3, I ended up with all three once again, and this time my love for games is spread across them all. Mass Effect is also easily my favourite gaming franchise and I played way more games than any other generation (mainly because it's when I started buying my own). Even so...nostalgia wins.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

Yeah, I´d Say the N64 - PSone - Saturn - GBC era for me - I would say the previous gen before this but I was just too young and poor to know and about and get everything... But Sonic/Alex the Kidd built in? Desert Strike? Micro machines? Jeeez.

 

But yeah...

 

N64 for:

Mario 64

Goldeneye with friends.

Diddy Kong Racing with friends.

OOT - even though for a few years I couldn't pass the Water Temple.

Rumble Pak.

Pokemon Stadiums

Majora's Mask

N64 Passport to play my US Smash Bros 64 and Command and Conquer 64.

Banjo Kazooie

1080

Mystical Goeman

ISS 98

Four pads.

Best graphics.

 

My sis had a PSX which she never played where I got my first taste of:

That T-Rex walking demo

Playing music in a console.

Hydra-something (a powerboat racing game)

Memory cards

(Then after swapping between an N64 and Playstation main...)

FF7 - First FF ever which I picked up for like 7 quid second hand not knowing what it will be... Magical afternoon.

Resident Evil - Being on my phone with friends when we were struggling to get through at certain stages.

And loads of magazine demos.

 

Then Gameboy with Pokemon, and a brief run-in with the Saturn - ANYONE ever remember this tank game featuring hip-hop music (like Wu-Tang)(edit: Shellshock was its name!!)?? Have a fuzzy memory of that being the only game I had when I had a Saturn.

 

GOD TIMES...Yeah, GOD.

Edited April 17, 2014 by King_V

[Grazza]

There are two for me that I find hard to choose between. The first is the SNES/Mega Drive era. This was partly because of my age, and partly because it was the time consoles really went mainstream, but it was just so darn exciting.

 

It began for me, really, with my school friend (it must have been around 1990, so we had just started secondary school) showing me his copy of Mean Machines and what games and consoles were on the way. I knew about the Mega Drive from playing Altered Beast in Comet, and thought it was the best piece of consumer electronics ever, but he also showed me the Super Famicom (the issue had Super Ghouls & Ghosts in it) and even admitted it would be better. Nonetheless, that Christmas we both got our Mega Drives and never looked back.

 

I remember when I went in a newsagent's and got a copy of Sega Pro. I would read those magazines from cover to cover, absolutely fascinated by every single game. When I saw the Mega CD I thought that would be the pinnacle of technology. The Mega Drive was a very social console for me, and much of my enjoyment stemmed from playing 2-player scrolling beat-'em-ups with my friends, particularly Golden Axe (and Golden Axe II), Streets of Rage and Two Crude Dudes.

 

The 1990s went on and, not meaning to sound spoilt, but I got a SNES as well. Although I did enjoy it, I never saw the magic in it as much as some. My neighbour, for instance, thought it made the Mega Drive seem like complete junk, but personally, my heart always belonged to Sega's machine. GamesMaster was on the telly, Sonic the Comic was in the supermarkets. It was a great, great era.

 

My other favourite era (and the one I'd have to vote for if forced) is that of the PS2/GameCube. This is the generation where I felt I played the best single-player games. I had actually been on a hiatus from gaming, owning the Dreamcast but never getting into it. I suppose I thought I was getting too old, in all honesty, but then one day I saw Wind Waker running in GAME and knew I had to purchase it.

 

From that moment I never looked back. The memories of my favourite N64 games - Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask - came flooding back. It was as though Nintendo had used new technology to build upon and improve upon their franchises in every way. Super Mario Sunshine was, for me, just as good as Mario 64. With the GameCube, I had a machine I could be proud of and really feel its games were better than the competition's. On a side note, I still think Wind Waker is the perfect model of the right way to make games fresh but familiar.

 

It wasn't all about Nintendo though. After hating Sony for a while (childish, but I did), I bought a PS2 and that was great too. The main game I loved on it was Dragon Quest VIII, which I believe still hasn't been bettered. Not meaning to end on a negative note, but the PS2/GameCube era was the last time I felt gaming was still traditional, but used the best technology to be as up-to-date as possible. I've enjoyed games since, but none have been quite the same as the ones I played on the GC/PS2.

[Goafer]

I'd say Dreamcast, mainly for Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia, mixed with some great "lesser" (in terms of my play time) games such as Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis, Toy Commander and various others.

 

The Saturn gets an honourable mention too, since it was about the time that I was properly in to gaming, but my parents were still the ones buying me games, so each new game was a big event. Not like today where I can just go out and grab one whenever I want. Plus it was always exciting to get the new official Saturn magazine and seeing what games were on the demo disc.

 

I also did a hell of a lot of gaming on the original XBox, but looking back I honestly can't remember why/what games. There aren't many that I'd consider memorable nowadays.

 

 

Edited April 17, 2014 by Goafer

[Oxigen_Waste]

SNES/MD. No contest. GC/PS2 is second best. Then Wii/PS360. N64/PSX/Saturn kind of sucked but is always fondly remembered by those who grew up during it's hey-day. Ridiculously inferior to both the gen before it and the gen after it. People who didn't experience it first-hand at the time seem to be the only ones who can see it without nostalgia goggles. I see this in Gaf all the time.

 

NES had it's gems, but I can't say I'm a huge fan of it.

 

4>6>7>5>3.

[Sheikah]

N64 and PS1 were kings. You can't beat that era. Agree pretty much with Cube's post - never had such consistent quality been all there on one console.

[ChloboShoka]

All of the gaming generations have their own little quirks. I don't think I will ever be able to choose a favourite because I have fond memories with all my consoles.

[Jonnas]

The PS2/GC era was my favourite. I never felt the SNES/MD rivalry that much when I was growing up, but I did feel the former. Not just the amount of quality games, but also the better access to information, and which games make up a console's "killer roster".

 

Handheld-wise, it's the Gameboy. No ifs or buts, there were two phases for this: the initial one, where you would often see kids playing Mario Land 1&2, Donkey Kong or Wario Land on the playground... and then came Pokémon, that changed everything. I look fondly into both phases, as nothing beats the ability to game with your friends during lunch break.

 

I also look fondly into the N64/PS1 era, because everything was still new and being explored. We got introduced to so much new stuff at the time.

And I think I should also give props to the current digital era. Getting good games for good prices is easier than ever, even if I strongly dislike the present-day AAA mentality.

[gaggle64]

I'm struggling to answer this because video games at large have, in my opinion, never been as good as they are right now.

[Fierce_LiNk]

SNES/MD. No contest. GC/PS2 is second best. Then Wii/PS360. N64/PSX/Saturn kind of sucked but is always fondly remembered by those who grew up during it's hey-day. Ridiculously inferior to both the gen before it and the gen after it. People who didn't experience it first-hand at the time seem to be the only ones who can see it without nostalgia goggles. I see this in Gaf all the time.

 

NES had it's gems, but I can't say I'm a huge fan of it.

 

4>6>7>5>3.

 

I'd argue that the N64/PSX/Saturn era paved the way for the eras that followed it. Without the likes of Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye, Tekken, Gran Turismo, Smash Bros. the previous generations would be much poor for it. It's a very influential era for gaming. Not sure if it's my favourite, but I respect deeply what that era did.

 

I agree with you about the NES era though, I can live without that quite easily. The combination of SNES/Megadrive though is something else. God-tier gaming.

[Sheikah]

Yeah, when you look at Mario Kart, Smash, Mario 3D platformers and console Zeldas, you can see that the N64 versions set the standards for subsequent generations. They laid down the foundations really. And we got all that, for the first time, in one generation!

 

Plus the PS1 Final Fantasy games. Total gasm for me.

[Dcubed]

This is a tough one for me to answer...

 

I'm torn between generation 4 and 5 really...

 

In terms of how they compared to each other during their respective times... Gen 4 wins easily; what with the release schedules on the Saturn and N64 being so poor in comparison to the SNES and the Megadrive...

 

In hindsight though, just looking at the libraries in their totality and without the issues of release delays and import only games (given that importing games for all consoles from both sets of generations is infinitely easier and more viable than back then) that's a much tougher question to answer now...

 

The Saturn in particular really benefits from this... What with the fact that a large chunk of its best games were more or less completely inaccessible at the time... (and really, still are if you're not willing to pay the absurd prices on eBay - but that's another matter entirely); as does the PS1 - especially when around half of Square and Enix's games weren't even released in the UK back then to begin with... (The same also applies to the SNES though in regards to Square's games though...)

 

Really, I'd say it's a tie between the two. A cop out answer perhaps, but I think that any differences between the two are a wash really. They're both very comparable on just about all fronts...

 

They both had fantastic RPGs, racing games, action games, shooters etc. Name a game from each gen and you could probably find an equivilent match in each...

 

The consoles themselves also serve very similar niches (although split up differently)

 

SNES is covered by N64 (action, sports, shooters etc) and PS1 (RPGs, 2D Platformers, fighters)

Megadrive is covered by the Saturn (SEGA games, arcade ports and arcade style action games, 2D shmups, Camelot's Shining Force RPGs) and N64 (sports games)

Neogeo is covered by the Saturn (literally with arcade ports - quite often FROM Neogeo even! - and fighting games)

TG16 is covered by the Saturn (2D shmups galore, weird quirky imports)

Edited April 18, 2014 by Dcubed

[nekunando]

There's absolutely no debate, for me My favourite generation is the one that includes the N64, PS1 and, to an almost irrelevant extent, Sega Saturn : peace:

 

The reason I say that is because I never had the opportunity to play the latter back in that era because nobody had one Everyone I knew at the time seemed to have a PS1, so I got to experience many of that console's best games through other people, such as Metal Gear Solid, ISS Pro Evolution 2, V-Rally 2 and the hilarity of International Track & Field as well as obtaining some classics of my own more recently in PaRappa the Rapper and Silent Hill

 

I, however, had an N64 and it provided so many amazing games for me that it will never be beaten. The transition from 2D to 3D was mind-blowing at the time, with other innovations such as the Rumble Pak and the Control Stick bringing similar feelings of wonder

 

I loved the SNES/Mega Drive era because of the amount of fun I had with my friends with Super Mario Kart, Super Soccer, Super Mario World, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Sonic but the transition to the next generation was simply too much excitement for us all.

 

It really was a SPECIAL time

[Hogge]

32/64-bit, without a shadow of a doubt.

 

N64:

• Goldeneye
  
• Perfect Dark
  
• Mario 64
  
• Ocarina of Time
  
• Majora's Mask
  
• Mario Kart 64
  
• Pilot Wings 64
  
• Lylat Wars
  
• Ridge Racer 64
  
• F-Zero X
  
• Donkey Kong 64
  
• Super Smash Bros
  
• Banjo Kazooie
  
• Diddy Kong Racing
  
• Wave Race 64
  
• 1080 Snowboarding
  
• Excitebike 64
  
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
  

 

And while just about every PS1 game has been superceded, many games at the time were revolutionary. Gran Turismo was the first of the "hundreds and hundreds of cars ranging from supercars to the car you actually own"-type of games. Driver showed us what GTA could be like in 3D. And... err... (never actually liked the PS1, sorry).

 

And... could you possibly count the Dreamcast into this generation? After all, the Dreamcast never competed with the PS2-generation, it was discontinued as soon as the PS2 was launched.

[Dcubed]

And... could you possibly count the Dreamcast into this generation? After all, the Dreamcast never competed with the PS2-generation, it was discontinued as soon as the PS2 was launched.

 

No you can't. It's the successor to the Saturn, which was SEGA's 5th generation console. Dreamcast kicked off the 6th generation of consoles, but that doesn't mean that the older gen ended as soon as gen 6 started. After all, PS2 still had a good number of its best games only released after the Xbox 360 had already launched...

[nekunando]

..just about every PS1 game has been superceded..

 

Metal Gear Solid is certainly one of the exceptions as it is my favourite in the series by a long way.. the rest don't even come close

 

The N64 was a far superior console with countless classics, including Goldeneye, Super Mario 64, 1080 Snowboarding, Wave Race 64, F-Zero X, Excitebike 64, Yoshi's Story, Banjo Kazooie, Pilotwings 64, Lylat Wars, Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Top Gear Rally, Perfect Dark, Super Smash Bros, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, ISS 64, Top Gear Rally, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (all of which were exclusive ) but stuff like ISS Pro Evolution 2 on PS1 and even Pong and Worms Armageddon provided plenty of entertainment with my friends

[Guy]

I've found stuff to enjoy in all generations, but I really fell out of gaming in the last few years.

 

It's a tie for me between N64/PS1 and PS2/GameCube/Xbox. For all the reasons I'd choose the former, the sheer power of Xbox Live kinda gives that generation the edge. I guess you could say the N64/PS1 era got me into multiplayer and the next generation (okay, Xbox mostly) took things online and provided an experience I always thought I'd only get with friends sitting beside me on the couch.

 

Can I pick two generations?

 

I'm picking two generations.

[bob]

 

Can I pick two generations?

 

I'm picking two generations.

 

You can not.

 

Thems the rules.

[Guy]

You can not.

 

Thems the rules.

 

You're breaking my bobs, Balls.

[WackerJr]

The 32/64-bit era for me as well. Yes I look at it fondly as it's the first generation where I bought my own console and played games throughout. It felt like the start of something new, with developers trying new genres and new ideas. The SNES had refined everything starred in the 8-bit era and so this was suddenly new and exciting with 3D, console first-person shooters that started competing with those on PC, CDs, the rumble pack and analogue stick, etc.

 

Yes if we play those games now, the majority have been improved upon and refined since, but this era still holds a great place in my gaming experiences.