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[ZealousD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=o_y3waeqxU8#t=382

In another AVGN video, James brings up how DOOM on Genesis sounded like ass while it sounded really good on SNES. Does anybody remember which vid that was?

Edit: Found it http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VvR_3OTxs8A#t=321

The 32x port of Doom was really just a terribad port. It was rushed to the 32x launch. Not really a fair comparison.

 

[notBald]

I think this also is because of a change in tastes of then vs. now. unquestionably the SNES did slower, more deliberately paced genres better than genesis, like adventure and RPGs, that benefited from bigger budgets and sampled symphonic sounding scores. those sorts of games are more popular with modern players than the shooting, action and arcade titles of the genesis.

Good point, and when I said "better games," I meant to say "better graphics".

 

[Nikodemos]

A question for Sega historians: why is the combo sound chip from the second Mega Drive series (the compact one) considered weaker than the ones from the original?

 

[notBald]

The 32x port of Doom was really just a terribad port. It was rushed to the 32x launch. Not really a fair comparison.

The snes game came a year later. The 32x version wasn't really worse either, besides the music and less levels.

 

[Tain]

Oh boy. What has time done to people's minds. SNES had 4x the color palatte (256 vs 64), could display larger sprites, and more simultaneous sprites. Advanced effects like Mode 7 was apparent in 1st gen games (Super Ghouls and Ghosts). Slowdown was a problem early, but genesis games had slowdown as well.

Do you have any good demonstrations of the SNES pushing more simultaneous sprites than the Genesis in practice? I mean, spec sheets show that the SNES VDP is capable of displaying more, but I can't think of any games that jump out at me as doing so and assumed that was because the CPU typically held the system back from moving around that many things at once.

related, here's the best spec listing I've seen: http://www.gamepilgrimage.com/content/sega-genesis-vs-super-nintendo

and from that page:

It is demonstrable that the SNES could actually display 2-3 times the colors on screen, while the Genesis could display 2-3 times the sprites and independently scrolling 2D planes. The SNES also could scale and rotate one 256 color plane, which could be made to look like large objects such as Bowser in Super Mario World or the Bomber in the first level of Contra [III]. Alternately, games on the Genesis typically ran with less slowdown, featured faster scrolling levels, "tilted" sprites and backgrounds, and featured more custom special effects like scaling backgrounds and fully polygonal gameplay without any cart loaded processors. The Genesis' software effects are best seen in Contra Hard Corp, Castlevania Bloodlines, Batman and Robin, Ranger X, Sonic 3D Blast's bonus levels, LHX Attack Chopper, and Red Zone, for starters.

...which seems reasonable to me given my time with both libraries

 

[Rich!]

What a lot of people don't know is that at it's core, the SNES' processor is essentially 8 bit.

 

[Dr Bass]

I think some people are conflating composition with sound quality when trying to argue that the Genesis had "better music." And even then, both consoles had equally great compositions at times.

However, it should be pretty clear that the SNES absolutely crushes the Genesis sound at an objective level. That Super Metroid Genesis remix sounds horrific. Two steps over what a NES version would sound like.

I really think nostalgia is playing too strong a role among those who think Genesis sounded better. i played both as a kid, and the SNES clearly and unequivocally had much better sound in every respect.

 

[andymcc]

I think some people are conflating composition with sound quality when trying to argue that the Genesis had "better music." And even then, both consoles had equally great compositions at times.

However, it should be pretty clear that the SNES absolutely crushes the Genesis sound at an objective level. That Super Metroid Genesis remix sounds horrific. Two steps over what a NES version would sound like.

I really think nostalgia is playing too strong a role among those who think Genesis sounded better. i played both as a kid, and the SNES clearly and unequivocally had much better sound in every respect.

I really don't think you know what objective means.

 

[ZealousD]

That Super Metroid Genesis remix sounds horrific.

As does this Sonic SNES remix

 

[UncleSporky]

I think some people are conflating composition with sound quality when trying to argue that the Genesis had "better music." And even then, both consoles had equally great compositions at times.

However, it should be pretty clear that the SNES absolutely crushes the Genesis sound at an objective level. That Super Metroid Genesis remix sounds horrific. Two steps over what a NES version would sound like.

I really think nostalgia is playing too strong a role among those who think Genesis sounded better. i played both as a kid, and the SNES clearly and unequivocally had much better sound in every respect.

More realistic sounding instruments has nothing to do with being better music.

I would sooner listen to this song than a ton of music made with physical instruments.

 

[notBald]

What a lot of people don't know is that at it's core, the SNES' processor is essentially 8 bit.

It's the NES cpu with 16-bit instructions tacked on. I suspect Nintendo was planning for backwards compatibility, but gave up on it. According to hobbyists SNES assembly is unreadable, even when written ten minutes ago.

The Genesis have what we today consider a 32-bit CPU. That's right, the Genesis was 32-bit before it was cool.

 

[beril]

Yup, the CPU itself. General consensus is that the Motorola 68000 in the Genesis is notably more powerful than the Ricoh 5A22 in the SNES. While the VDPs of each console come into play and I'm pretty out of my depth on their roles, I'd say that, on average, the best-looking Genesis games are visually busier than the best-looking vanilla no-chip SNES games in terms of sprite count and parallax layers. Obviously SNES has Mode 7 and the bigger color palette on its side, though, and that goes a long way.

no. Mega Drive only has 2 background layers while SNES could use 4 (although that mode was pretty limited and not used very often as far as I know, but 3 layers were used frequently)

both consoles could of course do extra parallax effects through h-blank, but that doesn't really require hardware power so much as it does smart planning when doing the graphics, and if you start counting that there's plenty of games that does it for every scanline

SNES also had transparencies and more effects in general

 

[Damaniel]

Probably would have, yea. (jump to 50hz.. that's the correct speed)

This is why I love these threads - I never knew he did Genesis work until today. Epic, just as I would have expected.

 

[GoaThief]

So my 13yr old has been playing through Chrono Trigger and I'm getting major nostalgia from it. It reminded me of how much a sound chip mattered in the 16bit days. I have been listening to You Tube videos of SNES and Genesis music and to me the SNES is far superior, but I am willing to be proven wrong. So in this thread post links to 16bit music samples from SNES and Genesis that represent the best of what 16bit sound has to offer.

Neither were great, SNES has cleaner audio, more range - some people will prefer the Megadrive/Genesis though as maybe the sound appeals more but technically it's not as good.

Both were way overshadowed by the Amiga. What a beast it was;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSj92M0N65M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiYuq6Ac3a0

 

[Sciz]

I think some people are conflating composition with sound quality when trying to argue that the Genesis had "better music." And even then, both consoles had equally great compositions at times.

However, it should be pretty clear that the SNES absolutely crushes the Genesis sound at an objective level. That Super Metroid Genesis remix sounds horrific. Two steps over what a NES version would sound like.

I really think nostalgia is playing too strong a role among those who think Genesis sounded better. i played both as a kid, and the SNES clearly and unequivocally had much better sound in every respect.

I really don't know what to tell you if you think every single Genesis track posted in here could've been better on an SNES.

 

[vvise]

the opening loop to this is legendary to me. i will never forget it.

Rocket Knight Adventures (the lava stage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nEIt8pov9U

 

[thesolidshark]

Compare the SNES/Genesis versions of the opening title song of Spider-man/Venom Maximum Carnage for some hard proof.

They are night and day and it isn't even a contest. Anyone saying the Genesis version is better needs to have cochlear implants shoved in their ears.

SNES VERSION: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gskDcG7WLNs

GENESIS VERSION: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRelkkCWJS8

Be blown away.

I like the Genesis version better.

Come at...my ears.

 

[lmpaler]

Genesis did a few things better

Sound wasn't one of them.

SEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I was so pissed when my SNES had no blood code. I never played Mortal Kombat on it again

 

[palpabl_purpura]

Do you have any good demonstrations of the SNES pushing more simultaneous sprites than the Genesis in practice? I mean, spec sheets show that the SNES VDP is capable of displaying more, but I can't think of any games that jump out at me as doing so and assumed that was because the CPU typically held the system back from moving around that many things at once.

related, here's the best spec listing I've seen: http://www.gamepilgrimage.com/content/sega-genesis-vs-super-nintendo

and from that page:



...which seems reasonable to me given my time with both libraries

SNES could display 128 simultaneous sprites, max size 64X 64. The genesis 80 simultaneous sprites 32 X 32. The genesis may have had more flexibility as far as the variation in sprite size it could display. Anyone who says there are no fast moving SNES games just doesn't have the experience. Super Metroid, Hagane, and hyperfighting on speed 7 just to name a few off, but I'm old so theres prob more I can't think of.

 

[Midnight Bliss]

I imagine this has already been posted but it's just simply so amazing that it needs to be posted again. That's not to say snes music isn't or wasn't amazing, I just love this example of what can be done with a genesis/megadrive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqyEbu8cmMg

 

[UncleSporky]

SNES could display 128 simultaneous sprites, max size 64X 64. The genesis 80 simultaneous sprites 32 X 32. The genesis may have had more flexibility as far as the variation in sprite size it could display. Anyone who says there are no fast moving SNES games just doesn't have the experience. Super Metroid, Hagane, and hyperfighting on speed 7 just to name a few off, but I'm old so theres prob more I can't think of.

Wow, way to ignore the whole point.

Do you have any good demonstrations of the SNES pushing more simultaneous sprites than the Genesis in practice?

 

[bishopcruz]

This is like asking who would win in a fight, The Rock or Adam Sandler. Square's output on the SNES blows everything away.

Ok, good to know you're wrong in every thread you are in.

Anyway, I have a Genesis playlist I save for these threads and update every once in a while. Bolded examples are those that I either just like a lot or think are particularly good examples of the hardware.

Adventures of Batman & Robin - Big Boss
Adventures of Batman & Robin - The Lab
Adventures of Batman & Robin - Two-Face's Theme
Adventures of Batman & Robin - Space Boss
Adventures of Batman & Robin - Extreme Boss
Adventures of Batman & Robin - Dark Studio
Alien Soldier - Soldier's Song
Battle Mania / Trouble Shooter - Stage 3
Battle Mania II - Open Mind
Battle Mania II - Twilight Express
Battle Mania II - Hachimaki Please
Bonanza Bros - Stage 1
Dynamite Headdy - You're Izayoi!
Dynamite Headdy - Ballad For You
Earthworm Jim - Down the Tubes
Earthworm Jim - The Descent
Eternal Champions - Main Theme
Gauntlet 4 - Transparent Obstacle (This entire game sounds pretty distinct for Genesis. Worth a listen.)
Gauntlet 4 - Sortie
Gauntlet 4 - Adventures of Iron
Gauntlet 4 - Whisper of Phantom
Gauntlet 4 - CRUX
Gauntlet 4 - ...
Gunstar Heroes - Destroy Them All!
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker - Beat It
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker - Smooth Criminal
Monster World IV - Main Theme
Monster World IV - Heart of Icegrave
Phantasy Star II - Rise or Fall
Phantasy Star IV - PS1 Dungeon Arrange 2
Phantasy Star IV - Laughter
Phantasy Star IV - Ooze (skip to 0:50)
Pulseman - Stereo Protect (I think this track is literally perfect. That is to say that it's designed exactly for the instrument it's played on and fits the theme of the game exactly.)
Puyo Puyo - Memories
Puyo Puyo - Sticker
Puyo Puyo - Brave
Puyo Puyo - Final Stage
Puyo Puyo 2 - Area C
Ranger-X - Stage 1
Ranger-X - Stage 3
Ranger-X - Stage 6
Ristar - Shooting Ristar
Ristar - Beyond Space
Ristar - Crying World
Ristar - Greedy Game
Ristar - Star Humming
Ristar - Next Cruise
Rocket Knight Adventures - Boss Theme
Revenge of Shinobi - Long Distance
Revenge of Shinobi - China Town
Shinobi III - Whirlwind
Shinobi III - Solitary
Sonic 3K - Miniboss 1
Sonic Spinball - Toxic Caves
Sonic Spinball - Lava Powerhouse
Sonic Spinball - Showdown
Sonic Spinball - Boss
Sonic 3D Blast - Rusty Ruin 1
Sonic 3D Blast - Volcano Valley 2
Sonic 3D Blast - Panic Puppet 2
Streets of Rage - The Last Soul
Streets of Rage - Big Boss
Streets of Rage 2 - Go Straight
Streets of Rage 2 - S.O.R. Super Mix
Streets of Rage 3 - Fuze
Streets of Rage 3 - Dub Slash (As harsh as SOR3 may be, the part at 1:24 may be my single favorite piece of 16-bit music. Youtube compression just kills this though.)
Streets of Rage 3 - Boss
Streets of Rage 3 - The Poets
Thunder Force IV - Evil Destroyer
Thunder Force IV - Metal Squad
Toejam & Earl - Toejam Jammin'
Valis III - Final Stage
Vectorman - Options
Vectorman - Ocean
Zero Wing - Natols (lol)

32X, so this might be cheating a little:
Knuckles Chaotix - Door Into Summer
Knuckles Chaotix - Midnight Greenhouse
Virtua Racing Deluxe - Selector
Virtua Racing Deluxe - Replay

Having no nostalgia for SNES games in particular, I generally find it to sound vastly overrated. I definitely agree with the oft-cited claim that it's just trying to sound like real instruments but comes up short, giving the effect of an outdated MIDI synthesizer. That said, Donkey Kong Country and Squaresoft in general totally live up to the hype and show the system's obvious strengths.

I say with no exaggeration that I prefer how the NES sounds over the SNES, on average.

You can't compile a list like that and have the battle music (the worst track in the game and the most heard unfortunately) represent Phantasy Star II when that game has the best soundtrack on the Genesis.

damn, how is PSII so good

PSII dungeon


edit:

unbelievable how good this soundtrack is

Not sure how to respond when I agree Phantasy Star II has the greatest soundtrack
in the series and one of the best of all time, yet you say the battle music is the worst track in the game. I feel so conflicted. Rise and Fall is amazing. All the battle music in that game is.

SNES could display 128 simultaneous sprites, max size 64X 64. The genesis 80 simultaneous sprites 32 X 32. The genesis may have had more flexibility as far as the variation in sprite size it could display. Anyone who says there are no fast moving SNES games just doesn't have the experience. Super Metroid, Hagane, and hyperfighting on speed 7 just to name a few off, but I'm old so theres prob more I can't think of.

While yes there are speedy games on the SNES, throwing tons of sprites at the system tended to make it chug. That and the Genesis had a stronger stable to speedy action games and shooters than the SNES. Guardian Heroes would have made that system bag for mercy.

As far as chip output though, emulation and crappy Geneses definitely hurt the Sega camp more than they do the SNES one. A Genesis could sound so very different depending on the model, and a LOT of people have the one that came with Sonic, and that one was ASS.

 

[MrCunningham]

SEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I was so pissed when my SNES had no blood code. I never played Mortal Kombat on it again

Genesis opening Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwAHU2zsgM0
SNES opening theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGZY4dhuyXs
Arcade original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orRoNFixVDs&list=PL772F99FA4C364DDA

I was never really a fan of the original Mortal Kombat, but it did have some great music. When I listen to the Genesis version in comparison to the other two, I actually like the Genesis sound here a lot. Maybe it is just personal preference, but the Genesis intro has a nice clean sound to it.

 

[palpabl_purpura]

Wow, way to ignore the whole point.

No, way for me not to drive 350 miles to pick up my SNES and my Genesis, hook them up to separate monitors, and count every single sprite that appears. Why don't you do it?

 

[Nikodemos]

A Genesis could sound so very different depending on the model, and a LOT of people have the one that came with Sonic, and that one was ASS.

Mine came with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Is mine ass as well?

 

[andymcc]

Mine came with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Is mine ass as well?

Yes.

 

[Nikodemos]

Yes.

Well, poop.

 

[palpabl_purpura]

Ok, good to know you're wrong in every thread you are in.

Not sure how to respond when I agree Phantasy Star II has the greatest soundtrack
in the series and one of the best of all time, yet you say the battle music is the worst track in the game. I feel so conflicted. Rise and Fall is amazing. All the battle music in that game is.



While yes there are speedy games on the SNES, throwing tons of sprites at the system tended to make it chug. That and the Genesis had a stronger stable to speedy action games and shooters than the SNES. Guardian Heroes would have made that system bag for mercy.

As far as chip output though, emulation and crappy Geneses definitely hurt the Sega camp more than they do the SNES one. A Genesis could sound so very different depending on the model, and a LOT of people have the one that came with Sonic, and that one was ASS.

SNES at the mid and later point in it's life cycle had no more issues with fast moving games than the genesis. Slowdown was mainly a 1st, and maybe 2nd gen issue. Do you mean Gunstar Heroes, not Guardian Heroes? And super contra moves just as fast with 2 players.

 

[Rich!]

It's the NES cpu with 16-bit instructions tacked on. I suspect Nintendo was planning for backwards compatibility, but gave up on it. According to hobbyists SNES assembly is unreadable, even when written ten minutes ago.

The Genesis have what we today consider a 32-bit CPU. That's right, the Genesis was 32-bit before it was cool.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I've coded for the SNES before.

 

[andymcc]

Slowdown was mainly a 1st, and maybe 2nd gen issue. Do you mean Gunstar Heroes, not Guardian Heroes? And super contra moves just as fast with 2 players.

Do you mean Contra 3: Alien Wars, not Super Contra? Super Contra is the superior NES prequel to that overrated bad sequel that is thoroughly shamed by Contra: Hard Corp.

 

[palpabl_purpura]

Do you mean Contra 3: Alien Wars, not Super Contra? Super Contra is the superior NES prequel to that overrated bad sequel that is thoroughly shamed by Contra: Hard Corp.

Ya got me. Yes, Contra 3. Like I said, I'm old

 

[IrishNinja]

The SNES and Genesis versions of Street Fighter pretty much sum up how much better SNES's sound was

although sixfourtyfive kinda rebuked this i'd like to add Capcom wasn't always the best example of playing to the synth strengths of the genesis sound chip, honestly.

Snes was the better console in pretty much every way. Most of the Genesis games sound pretty terrible, unless some composer god worked on them (Sonic, Shinobi).

well that's only fair considering the genesis' library only consists of 3 shinobi games and 12 sonic games

resolution and processing power

for posterity: i suspect those are drive-by posts

Sorry if I'm sounding a bit aggressive here, but I'm sick of the Nintendo triumphalism that runs through all of these SNES vs. Genesis topics.

heh, glad you missed the recent SNES vs Genesis poll then...it got way worse with nostalgia, memes & the same 5-10 games listed for both systems. for what its worth, the early pages of this thread went far, far better.

I would the SNES has objectively a better sound chip. If you think the Genesis is better, you are wrong.

like this guy, pretty good example of what i was talking about, but with a nicer avatar

Ha, I don't hide from the truth. To be honest I'm amazed someone would debate SNES vs Genesis sound anymore. It's just so accepted that the SNES is better in that department.

right, from people like yourself who don't seem to have actively explored its library & only list sonic & knuckles - retrospectives now often barely seem to acknowledge the 16-bit wars overall. even some of the youtube/etc experts sing SNES' praises and give an obligatory nod to "sonic and streets of rage"; if this counts as accepted knowledge for you, go nuts i guess.

Tiny, little Smooth McGrooves were sitting inside my SNES and sung beautiful, unforgettable tracks that were just so much better sounding than what the Genesis was capable of. I wouldn't say that the SNES was the better console but the soundchip is really no contest.

nostalgia: always the best metric

 

[andymcc]

although sixfourtyfive kinda rebuked this i'd like to add Capcom wasn't always the best example of playing to the synth strengths of the genesis sound chip, honestly.



well that's only fair considering the genesis' library only consists of 3 shinobi games and 12 sonic games



for posterity: i suspect those are drive-by posts



heh, glad you missed the recent SNES vs Genesis poll then...it got way worse with nostalgia, memes & the same 5-10 games listed for both systems. for what its worth, the early pages of this thread went far, far better.



like this guy, pretty good example of what i was talking about, but with a nicer avatar



right, from people like yourself who don't seem to have actively explored its library & only list sonic & knuckles - retrospectives now often barely seem to acknowledge the 16-bit wars overall. even some of the youtube/etc experts sing SNES' praises and give an obligatory nod to "sonic and streets of rage"; if this counts as accepted knowledge for you, go nuts i guess.



nostalgia: always the best metric

wall of shame.

Spoiler

sorry tain, you're my brother

 

[SegaShack]

Here are some of my favorite examples of the Genesis sound-chip's capabilities. One thing to keep in mind is that the High Definition Graphics Model 1 Genesis is the only version of the console with good sound.

Streets of Rage 2 Dreamer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAgyDc07XKk

Sonic 3: Hydrocity Zone Act 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR3Eh_516JQ

Sonic and Knuckles Lava Reef Zone Act 1 and 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg0N77nI_OI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCf2uCeqpM8

Shining Force City:
http://youtu.be/5qsihjw-Tok

Ristar Level 2-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hs57xhjQe0

 

[s_mirage]

Compare the SNES/Genesis versions of the opening title song of Spider-man/Venom Maximum Carnage for some hard proof.

They are night and day and it isn't even a contest. Anyone saying the Genesis version is better needs to have cochlear implants shoved in their ears.

SNES VERSION: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gskDcG7WLNs

GENESIS VERSION: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRelkkCWJS8

Be blown away.

Wow, a game which had lead development on the SNES sounded better on the SNES. Who'd have thought it?

The problem with comparisons like these is that they do not give a sense of the true abilities of either system, and especially the MD / Genesis. The SNES was a very easy system to be lazy with and still get good sounding results: everything was simply made up of samples which could be sourced from anywhere. The same was not true of the Mega Drive / Genesis. On that system you had to know exactly what you were doing in order to get the sounds you wanted, and likely needed good synth and computer programming knowledge in order to produce something pleasing to the ears. FM synth programming is something of an arcane art even on dedicated synthesizers, let alone a games console. Sadly this knowledge did not seem to be widespread amongst the Western multi-platform developers of the early 90s, and was exacerbated by the SNES mainly being the lead platform of games of the period.

The MD / Genesis really shines when a good sound programmer is using it and the music is composed to play to its strengths. That almost never happened in multi-platform examples like this.

 

[UncleSporky]

No, way for me not to drive 350 miles to pick up my SNES and my Genesis, hook them up to separate monitors, and count every single sprite that appears. Why don't you do it?

So you're saying you've got nothing then. Glad we cleared that up.

 

[Mzo]

Do you mean Contra 3: Alien Wars, not Super Contra? Super Contra is the superior NES prequel to that overrated bad sequel that is thoroughly shamed by Contra: Hard Corp.

The truth burns.

So who is the next person that will post a multi-platform title and talk about how bad the Genesis sound chip was? Yuzo Koshiro and Tommy Tallarico are spinning together in a loving embrace inside a giant, shared grave and they're still alive.

Once you factor in the Sega CD the contest is over, anyway. Too bad the SNES never had a CD add-on because the people in charge were too stupid and greedy.

 

[palpabl_purpura]

So you're saying you've got nothing then. Glad we cleared that up.

Those are your words, not mine.

 

[bishopcruz]

Wow, a game which had lead development on the SNES sounded better on the SNES. Who'd have thought it?

The problem with comparisons like these is that they do not give a sense of the true abilities of either system, and especially the MD / Genesis. The SNES was a very easy system to be lazy with and still get good sounding results: everything was simply made up of samples which could be sourced from anywhere. The same was not true of the Mega Drive / Genesis. On that system you had to know exactly what you were doing in order to get the sounds you wanted, and likely needed good synth and computer programming knowledge in order to produce something pleasing to the ears. FM synth programming is something of an arcane art even on dedicated synthesizers, let alone a games console. Sadly this knowledge did not seem to be widespread amongst the Western multi-platform developers of the early 90s, and was exacerbated by the SNES mainly being the lead platform of games of the period.

The MD / Genesis really shines when a good sound programmer is using it and the music is composed to play to its strengths. That almost never happened in multi-platform examples like this.

Thing is, people don't know much about the Genny as far as sound drivers are concerned. In the west, the default was GEMS, widely considered to be the worst of the sound drivers, though some guys like Tallarico (IIRC) could pull off some damn good sound with it. Now, if you went custom like Koshiro, Iwadare, and the Telenet crew? It was damned impressive.

There is also a reason that the best sound, and a lot of the best games tended to come out of the Japanese PC scene. The YM2612 was very similar to the chips used in the PC-88/98, the CPU is a downclocked 68000 series which was used in the X68000, and so on. Devs like Compile, Telenet, Falcom, and Technosoft were big PC houses at the time, and Genesis was to them, what the 360 is to modern PC devs.

 

[Krappadizzle]

So my 13yr old has been playing through Chrono Trigger and I'm getting major nostalgia from it. It reminded me of how much a sound chip mattered in the 16bit days. I have been listening to You Tube videos of SNES and Genesis music and to me the SNES is far superior, but I am willing to be proven wrong. So in this thread post links to 16bit music samples from SNES and Genesis that represent the best of what 16bit sound has to offer.

You won't be.

 

[ItsTheNew]

There is a guy on Youtube by the name of TheLegendOfRenegade Who takes songs from other video game consoles and covers them using the Genesis sound library with awesome results:

Here's his take on Hot Head Bop from Donkey Kong Country 2

Here it is on the SNES

 

[Krappadizzle]

There is a guy on Youtube by the name of TheLegendOfRenegade Who takes songs from other video game consoles and covers them using the Genesis sound library with awesome results:

Here's his take on Hot Head Bop from Donkey Kong Country 2

Here it is on the SNES

That was pretty awesome.

 

[bishopcruz]

There is a guy on Youtube by the name of TheLegendOfRenegade Who takes songs from other video game consoles and covers them using the Genesis sound library with awesome results:

Here's his take on Hot Head Bop from Donkey Kong Country 2

Here it is on the SNES

Aquatic Ambience

Who said it couldn't have worked with Genesis sound? Sounds really good. Especially for a track that was pretty much created for the SNES sound chip.

 

[Timu]

There is a guy on Youtube by the name of TheLegendOfRenegade Who takes songs from other video game consoles and covers them using the Genesis sound library with awesome results:

Here's his take on Hot Head Bop from Donkey Kong Country 2

Here it is on the SNES

Very nice, loved that remix.=p

 

[HEALTH_DISCO]

Doom - E1M8 (SNES Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YsUEcb3ZQc

Doom - E1M8 (Genesis32x Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1h-RIkB0SI

Can you hear how bad the genesis (32x) soundchip was...

 

[Rich!]

There is a guy on Youtube by the name of TheLegendOfRenegade Who takes songs from other video game consoles and covers them using the Genesis sound library with awesome results:

Here's his take on Hot Head Bop from Donkey Kong Country 2

Here it is on the SNES

Heard of this before, but the fact that he's quite clearly bypassing the limitations of the mega drive chip by using a soundfont/vst library in FL Studio makes it slightly worthless.

Get it running through real hardware within 512kb using the proper number of available channels and then we'll be getting somewhere - but that's not going to happen, because it's damn hard work.

 

[palpabl_purpura]

Doom - E1M8 (SNES Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YsUEcb3ZQc

Doom - E1M8 (Genesis32x Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1h-RIkB0SI

Can you hear how bad the genesis (32x) soundchip was...

Ouch. Couldn't listen to the whole genny version. It felt like rotating a q-tip lined with sandpaper inside my ear.

 

[bishopcruz]

Doom - E1M8 (SNES Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YsUEcb3ZQc

Doom - E1M8 (Genesis32x Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1h-RIkB0SI

Can you hear how bad the genesis (32x) soundchip was...

Or it was a horrible port to begin with, and expecting competent sound design out of it was a pipe dream. It should have sounded slightly worse than on an Adlib at the absolute worst.

 

[angrygnat]

I'm a hardcore Genesis fan. Loved the system. Preferred it to the SNES. However, I can admit that the Genesis sound tech was not nearly as good as the Super Nintendo. The Sega had its moments, to be sure, but by in large, audio wise, the SNES won out.

 

[ZealousD]

Doom - E1M8 (SNES Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YsUEcb3ZQc

Doom - E1M8 (Genesis32x Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1h-RIkB0SI

Can you hear how bad the genesis (32x) soundchip was...

Not really, because I have this track open in another tab.