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Rank your Nintendo consoles and handhelds

mrkgoo

Member
Yeah, I'm sure this has been done a bunch of times before, but you'll do it again.

Just had a bit of nostalgia for gaming, and thought back a bit - yeah, Nintendo has had a really good run (and not saying that in the way meaning that it has ended). See if you can give a ranking to them, and why. No doubt, it's all about the games, so state which games makes you feel that way, but the hardware important too.

And only list those consoles you've had, so we can get an guess at what your history with Nintendo is. I'm intending this to be a generational thing - i.e., GBA vs GB, not GB-brick vs GB-pocket, but for all means, do list your favourite iteration of that console.


Just a quick listing for me:

1) Nintendo64: Still when Nintendo felt that it was important to be at the cutting edge of tech, I felt this is Where Nintendo were at their ultimate prime. It was at birth of 3D gaming, so innovation, especially from Nintendo was super high, and I got more gaming experiences that I NEVER had seen before. Sure the joypad was janky, and the tech is aged and cumbersome now, but so many memories of both multiplayer and single player unparalleled gaming.

Incidentally, it was also the start of Nintendo falling by the wayside for third-parties, a major reason being their stubborness to adopt optical drive tech.

Highlights: 4-player gaming, 3D-gaming, best installation of some key series, including Zelda, Mario, and Mario Kart. And I LOVED Rare. Goldeneye, Perfect DArk, Banjo-Kazooie were amazing.

You know, it's possible that it was more that I was at the pinnacle of my gaming-life, seeing as I actually found real enjoyment in games like Turok and Shadow of the Empire....Ah, good times.

2) SNES: Pure and simple gaming at its finest. Most of my favourite games ever were created for the SNES, including Super Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Starfox, Yoshi's Island. And such a breadth of gaming experiences. I lost a lot of the experience being in PAL-land, however.

3) Original GameBoy: Sure, I think the games on GBA were 'better', but the original GB for me has an important spot in my history, as it was my first gaming console/unit. I had a few rip-off carts with like 20-30 games, and I spent hours playing simple stuff like Trump Boy, Tetris, and had to figure out all the games on my own. I owned so many games too. I loved that thing. And while I had a GB-pocket, I still love the original GameBoy design and colouring so much.

The GBC was probably the best version, if you count it though.

And come on, don't tell me you weren't blown away by Pokemon.

4) GameCube: Again, nintendo actually being at the top of the heap with tech of that generation. Loads of awesome experiences, showing my favourite series the best that they can look. Oh, and of course, Metroid Prime. The main problem was, that most of the games were just flashier versions of the N64 versions, not a bad thing, but just not as innovative. Gotta put a special place for Res Evil 4, though.

5) GBA: It was kinda hard to decide between DS and GBA. Obviously, yeah, the DS plays GBA games (if you have the right model), but I guess I just love my SP and micro more.

6) DS: Great machine actually, just no space for it above! The first design was terrible, but the lite remains one of their best designs ever. Ouendan will forever be a favourite, but I think games just got ahead of me a little here, playing less and less. A lot of new experiences, but sadly, a lot still felt gimmicky.

7)...and then the Wii. It felt like it had promise but after all these years, there are only very few titles that I think will be ultimately memorable for me. Possibly it's just showing my age, seeing I have all but given up console gaming now. I bought into the hype that the Wii controller was something really all that awesome, but in the end, it never reached the potential it had in my head. There just aren't that many games in my Wii library.

And being SD right in the heart of an HD world was a pretty big downer. Nintendo bowing out of the tech race, but I guess it did them well.


Bonus question: Where do you think the Wii U will fit in your hierarchy? For me, probably a notch above the Wii.

Don't have a 3DS. First Nintendo console I never bought, partially as a cost thing, but mostly just a timing thing. iOS rules my style of gaming these days, mostly as a time thing. A dedicated gaming machine seems a lot less significant these days. I still kinda want it for being a portable N64. If only the design were better, and it had Perfect Dark 64 on it.


So yeah, you don't have to indulge me, I was mostly being nostalgic, but would be interesting to see your views.
 

IrishNinja

Member
N64 > SNES?

fQbrK.gif
 
Wii > DS > *

Wii has Virtual Console. FACT.

SNES is probably my favourite console ever and the GBA has kind of a nostalgia factor that the DS can't reach
 

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, DS has the best catalogue of all time.

was just saying in the other thread how, for me, DS is particularly amazing because my favorites are mostly 3rd party - it's one of the few nintendo systems i dindt like the first party stuff much on.

DS was also the first nintendo handheld i really got into in years, i traded my gameboy for a game gear before the good games showed up as a kid (...) and missed out on the GBA almost entirely, which was apparently a tremendous system with a beastly library that i'm still working through. I cannot fucking wait till the 3DS eshop gets more of it.

i adored my gamecube but as this gen closes out, im gonna have to do some hard thinking about its library vs the wiis, as ive found some really great gems in both.

Dreamcast.

2rKJu.jpg


I disagree, I prefer the Play Station.

this thread is gonna make me run out of images pretty fast

ps damn the NES does not hold up well for many of you
 
1. SNES
2. DS
3. GBA
4. Wii
5. GCN
6. NES
7. N64
8. Gameboy/color

Although I could wake up tomorrow and feel differently since I didn't give this too much thought after my top 3.
 

Suzzopher

Member
For me It's SNES > GameCube > DS > GBA > NES > Wii > 3DS > Game Boy > N64 > Virtual Boy.

I think I am the only Nintendo fan who doesn't like the N64. I am positive that in a year, the 3DS will be much higher.
 
DS > SNES > Wii > GBA > NES > GCN > GB/C > N64

The DS was an absolute beast, nothing really comes close. SNES and Wii are tight. GB/C and N64 kinda tussle for bottom place; both have a handful of fantastic standouts but little else.

Really enjoy my 3DS but it hasn't really been out long enough for me to comfortably place it overall. If things continue as are it'll probably slot in around the SNES/Wii.
 

mrkgoo

Member
N64 > SNES?

Sure why not? I like Ocarina>ALTTP, Mario 64 more than most of the 2Dmarios (except perhaps Yoshi's island, the BEST 2D Mario), and I love Perfect Dark 64 and Goldeneye way too much.

And I have to admit, I had way more fun with Mario Kart64 than Mario Kart (Snes), depsite it being a poorer 'racing' game. 4-players! (Best MArio KArt is probably the handheld versions, like the DS one, which was the last I played).

Not to mention, like I said, I had PAL -land SNES - basically no RPGS, which was a huge staple for that era. I remember buying Earthbound, plugging it into my Action Replay2, and seeing the dreaded "this does not work for your region". Gutted.

Gotta admit, though, 4-player bomberman and SFII turbo might make me rethink matters.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
consoles:
1. N64
2. GCN
3. Wii
4. SNES
5. NES

handhelds:
1. DS
2. GB(C)
3. GBA
4. VB

I don't rank 3DS in it because it's too new so it would be unfair.
 
N64 > 3DS > Wii > GC > GB > DS > NES > GBA

I never owned a SNES. Sure, I know about its stellar library and I'm still catching up on it, but I can't put it on the list (imagining I had one as a kid, it would probably in the top spot)
 

redcrayon

Member
1) DS Lite.
Have never owned (or completed) so many games for a console. SRPGs, puzzle games, adventure games and 2D stuff in abundance, the kind of stuff I like tonplay on the tube. It's power limitations combined with touch and stylus seemed to force creative game design. My favourite console of all time, the GBA slot was the icing on the cake.

2) SNES.
I've listed my faves so many times here, but OK, here we go again. LTTP, Megaman X, UN Squadron, Super Probotector, Secret of Mana. It's only through the VC on the Wii that I've been able to play some others- this year I played Chrono Trigger and Megaman X2, both were pretty sweet. Also Super Metroid- it was £65 in 1995, way beyond my budget, but was great finally playing it on the VC. The console just seemed to have games with great pixel art and music that still stands up today. My favourite retro console by a long way.

3) GBA
Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion. But it was mainly discovering Fire Emblem, Advance Wars and playing FFVI for the first time. I didn't actually own the console, but picked up the games for the DS lite when I got back into gaming a few years back.

4) 3DS. Everything I've bought so far I've loved, particularly OOT, Ghost Recon and Mighty Switch Force. Hopefully well get even more 2D gaming on the eshop.

5) Gameboy
My Xmas present in 1989. Ah, the memories! Super Mario Land, Tetris and King of the Zoo, then the Megaman games, Mystic Quest (sword of mana), Links Awakening.

6)) Wii
The usual stuff- Zelda and Fire Emblem. But I also loved Xenoblade Chronicles, Monster Hunter and a Boy and his Blob. Spent far too much time on the VC playing all the retro stuff I missed first time around.

7) NES
Loved it in 1988, but so little still stands up for me. Most of my memories are of me and my brother playing the SMB/duck hunt cart, but I still like Zelda, SMB, SMBIII and Megaman II.

It's not that I dont think the NES is important, it was my first games console. But I wouldn't go out of my way to play it's games other than the handful above, as I think even the GB games have held up better over time.

Others- N64- OOT, Lylat Wars and Mario Kart 64 multiplayer while at college. Kinda fell out with gaming after that. Skipped the Gamecube/GBA era, but picked up a PS2 with a mobile phone contract, that got me back into gaming.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Not to mention, like I said, I had PAL -land SNES - basically no RPGS, which was a huge staple for that era. I remember buying Earthbound, plugging it into my Action Replay2, and seeing the dreaded "this does not work for your region". Gutted.

see, this explains a lot to me. you're naming first party nintendo stuff (which was largely really awesome on the n64, with your examples + star fox 64), but SNES had that too for me with some absolute classics from capcom (and disney!), squaresoft, konami's finest, and a whole lot more. N64 suffered greatly from 3rd parties flocking to the PSX, so in my mind its library is not as full/rounded.

i'm just busting balls - clearly you're not alone, as seen from the crazy follow-up votes, it just always struck me as a weird vote, unless you grew up after the NES/SNES, personally.

*edit yeah reading some of the details here, it seems to be an age thing. kinda assumed that the way the NES rates so low too.
 
ps damn the NES does not hold up well for many of you
I love the NES, it's just that I didn't grow up with it I think. Well, my older brother had one but I was more focused on SNES games (aside from Mario 1-3) at the time. So it didn't have the impact on me that it did with people who played it a bunch as kids, I guess. But I really do like the system, a lot.
 

Alex

Member
SNES
DS
GBA
.
.
.
Gamecube
N64
NES
Wii
Gameboy

3DS is too young to rate, not enough software yet.

damn the NES does not hold up well for many of you

I grew up smack in the middle of the NES, all of my first big memories of games are of it. With that nostalgia in mind, there is little from 8-bit or below that I could stomach to play anymore.

Now the music on the other hand... I love that shit.
 

IrishNinja

Member
I grew up smack in the middle of the NES, all of my first big memories of games are of it. With that nostalgia in mind, there is little from 8-bit or below that I could stomach to play anymore.

Now the music on the other hand... I love that shit.

maybe it's just the ambassador titles ive been playing, but the old marios hold up really well - 3 obviously the best. I think zelda 1 is timeless but not everyone does.
ill stand by punch-out!!, contras, castlevanis and some of the disney stuff though i havent replayed the latter in a long time to really say. many of my personal favorites like Golgo 13 likely age horribly though.

fair point on the 3DS, these lists are better after a gen closes.
 
SNES
DS
GCN
Wii
NES
GBA
N64
GB/GBC

Just briefly, I never owned a GBA or GB/GBC in their prime so I don't have the same feelings toward them as I do the others. I've went back and played some of their best offerings, and there's a lot of good stuff there.

For N64, though I ranked it low, it was the system that really defined my childhood, though I did grow up with an NES and SNES. It hosted a handful of such groundbreaking, mindblowing games that defined the vocabulary for their respective genres. Unfortunately, it really was just a handful and there probably aren't more than ten games exclusive to the platform that I'd care to play today, a fraction of all the systems ranked above it.

GCN is the Nintendo system that I really try to collect games for, and I'm still not done. At one point I had 40 games for the system, but I sold some off. There's probably about 60 for the system that I consider worth owning.

First-party offerings were strong on the Wii and there were a number of interesting third-party games. It has it's dry spells but now at the end of its lifecycle, I look back at it very fondly.

SNES and DS should speak for themselves. Those, along with PS1/PS2, are what I feel like are most commonly referred to as the best systems ever.

I feel like I understated my appreciation for and the importance of the NES. 3DS will fall somewhere within the top five, maybe top three but its way, way too early to tell.
 
  1. SNES
  2. DS

I never owned a NES myself, but I did play it a lot. Back in the days it was the best system available, but today I'd rank it behind the DS.
 

zoukka

Member
DSlite is the best handheld ever conceived in the history of gaming. GBA and DS libraries effectively mean, nothing will ever top it now that handhelds have reached a point where devs can just port whatever crap they've made on other platforms.
 

qq more

Member
Consoles:
SNES
NES
Wii
N64
GC

Handhelds:
DS
GB
GBA

Overall:
DS
SNES
NES
GB
Wii
N64 or GBA
GC

I honestly cannot rank the 3DS. The thing's only a year old. But if I were to judge it based on the upcoming content + what we have now, I'd probably rank it above Wii or Game Boy.

EDIT: Man, I cannot make up my mind. The lower tier systems are so tough to rank :/
 

AniHawk

Member
well the wii and ds lite kinda top the list since their backwards compatability is pretty awesome (the wii even got some previously non-localized games over in the states). if we're talking games just exclusive to the systems/their generation then they're both down a ways. well, the wii is, at least.
 
I thought people generally thought the DSi was a better made piece of hardware than the Lite. I never upgraded from my trusty Phat so I dunno.
 

BowieZ

Banned
Ambassador Super Mushroom 3DS > every other console.

Observe:

Portable Yoshi's Island, upgraded Ocarina of Time, three Mario Kart titles, online Mario Tennis, two NSMBs, Virtual Console (NES, GB, GameGear), Zelda: Link's Awakening, 3DClassics, anything from the entire DS catalogue, Kid Icarus Uprising, Resident Evil Revelations, Super Mario 3DLand, 3D photos and video, StreetPass puzzles and quests.

And that's just after 15 months...
 

Lethality

Member
1) SNES - Absolutely no contest. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, and Donkey Kong Country are some of my all-time favorite games

2) Nintendo DS - Second only to the SNES, the DS is a fucking beast. Being a huge fan of RPGs, the DS delivered some of the best and unique RPGs I've ever played. TWEWY, Chrono Trigger DS, Mario Kart DS, Dragon Quest IX, and of course the slew of Pokemon games it's gotten. And let's not forget one of my new favorite
series of all time started off with this, Rune Factory (Sorry, Harvest Moon! You've been replaced!) .

3) Nintendo 3DS - It's hard to follow the success of the Nintendo DS, but with all the games that have come to the 3DS so far, I can only see its library get better! Ocarina of Time full remake, my favorite Mario Kart yet, Pushmo, and of course Kingdom Hearts 3D (which is my favorite game in the series to date). Oh, and Smash on the go... definitely can't wait for its library to expand.

4) N64 - A few months ago, the N64 might have been 3rd on my list. With games like Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, and the original smash bros, it's definitely earned this spot.

5) Gamecube - At first, I didn't like this, I loathed it. But having looked back at it a second time and playing the best games it had to offer, I was quick to change my mind. With games like Wind Waker, RE4, the Metroid Prime games, I think I spent quite a bit of time on this, especially with a game like SSBM where I pissed away over 1000+ hours.

I'll skip the others as I can't really rank them without giving myself a massive headache.

I'll get straight to the point, my least favorite Nintendo console would have to be the Wii. There weren't many games that impressed me as much as their other consoles. I found that it held the worst games in a some of Nintendo's best series (ie Mario Kart Wii, Smash Bros Brawl, etc). Yeah, it introduced a lot of new ways of playing games, as well as having SMG and SMG2 along with Skyward Sword (my current favorite Zelda), but I just felt that there were so much wasted potential on how well its library could have been. Oh, and I'm still mad at how Nintendo of America had to be begged for them to localize Xenoblade, the Wii really should not have been region locked.
 

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
I thought people generally thought the DSi was a better made piece of hardware than the Lite. I never upgraded from my trusty Phat so I dunno.
DSi is sexier but it cannot play GBA games so fuck it.

Also it started Nintendo's stupid arse-bullshit region-locking on handhelds crap.
 
DS
SNES
Wii=GC
GBA
NES
GB/GBC
N64


Hmm, this is about right for me. Wii and GC are tied for me, because some days I'd prefer GC and on some days I'd prefer Wii, but GC really took me awhile to appreciate it. I think there's really a lot of gems on the system that aren't from Nintendo.

I also never was a fan of N64. I disliked majority of Nintendo's first party games, barely liked any 3rd party games on it. It simply gets no love from me outside of 3 games or so.
 

Semblance

shhh Graham I'm still compiling this Radiant map
Not really sure how I'd rank everything else, but the DS would be on top, easily. Its library of games is absurd.
 
Hm... A lot of you aren't ranking the 3DS because of its age. I don't have a problem with it. I'm so in love with this system and being able to play all my DS games on it helps as well.
 

zoukka

Member
Conversely, the GB had the worst catalogue of all Nintendo systems.

Not a surprise really when you consider the competition and the fact that it was their first go. Still an amazing library for such a limited system. Tennis, tetris and pokemans... Aww yeah.
 

zoukka

Member
Hm... A lot of you aren't ranking the 3DS because of its age. I don't have a problem with it. I'm so in love with this system and being able to play all my DS games on it helps as well.

Age has nothing to do with it. The 3DS is objectively 100% sure a worse device than the DS was. The library has nothing to do with it.
 
1. SNES. Awesome library of Japanese and Western support, in what many call the glory days of gaming.
2. DS/DSi. A better Japanese library than the SNES, but a worse *ahem* nonexistent Western library.
3. 3DS. I feel like it's destined to be the best handheld. It has a great 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and N64 ports of great games, and will have Smash Bros. and awesome Zelda. It's getting increasingly good 3rd party support, too.
4. N64. Very few games, but very high quality games. Home to many of the best games ever.
5. NES. Amazing lineup of games, and the saver of an industry.
6. Gamecube. Great 1st party lineup and some great 3d party games. Had very nice graphics compared to the competition.
7. Wii. Good 1st party line-up and home to many 3rd party exclusives and other good 3rd party games. (Also the best homebrew system there is.)

---
The below systems I say I'm not a fan of. They have a lot of good RPGs, but I'm not an RPG fan.
---

8. GBA. I admit I wasn't a fan of the GBA. It had a lot of SNES ports with worse sound. However, some of my favorite games are on this device, mainly the WarioWares, Rhythm Tengoku, and to a lesser extent, F-Zero, Castlevania, and Zelda.
9. Game Boy. I didn't grow up with a Game Boy, so I found most Game Boy games cheap knock-offs of their console versions. Specifically Mario Land. However, it has some amazing games, Metroid II, Pokemon, Game Boy Camera, DK '94, and Link's Awakening.
10. GBC. It lasted for only two years, and has no worthwhile games other than Pokemon, Shantae, Seasons, and Ages, along with a couple ports like Mario Land Deluxe.

My bet is the Wii U will fall between Gamecube and Wii.
 
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