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16-bit console wars


Mister Jack
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Console Wars!  

46 members have voted

  1. 1. Which 16-bit system did you own?

    • Sega Genesis
      10
    • Super Nintendo
      18
    • Both :)
      13
    • Neither :(
      5


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i will still argue that the phantasy star and shining force series were more than worth my waiting to play some of the final fantasies that i didn't get to play until later in my teens due to my lack of snes.

 

 

You're exactly right. The SNES gets a lot of acclaim for it's RPGs (rightfully so) but the Genesis had some RPGs that were/are must plays still to this day. Phantasy Star 2 and 4 are among the best 16 bit RPGs, only beaten by Chrono Trigger and FF 3/6 imo. And Shining Force and Shining Force 2 are still two of my favorite strat RPGs. I also enjoyed Shining in the Darkness and Sword of Vermillion for Genesis RPGs.

 

If you add in the Sega CD with Ys, the Lunar series and a few other gems the Sega RPG lineup has a ton more overall depth than the SNES RPG lineup.

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SNES. I loved it so much. Super Metroid is still my favorite game of all time even after all these years.

 

Sadly, I sold it in 7th grade so my brother and I could go in and buy a PS1 on launch day. I mean, I don't regret getting the PS1 right away; it probably still is my favorite console and gets used frequently, but all those games. So many games gone!

 

I inherited another SNES from a friend a few years ago, but I need to buy a new power cable and I don't have any games. At some point when I have more money, I'll probably start sinking cash into rebuilding a nice collection.

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Phantasy Star 2 and 4 are among the best 16 bit RPGs, only beaten by Chrono Trigger and FF 3/6 imo.

 

i loved all the phantasy stars, no love for 3 there? 3 was my favorite and it holds the distinguishing title of the first game i ever replayed the entire way through right away because i had to play it every way possible. i don't know if it's because i'm a girl or what but i really loved the whole having kids and playing as your kid thing.

 

the shining force series i still replay all the time. it was more until ff tactics came out on the psp, that took over a little bit. if they made a new shining force with the classic gameplay i would probably die from happiness.

 

I have Sonic's Ultimate Genesis collection and ive never touched the Phantasy Star games. Weird.

 

you should remedy this immediately.

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I loved phantasy stargames, yet I've never owned one. Weird. Took it from work, played it, brought it back (repeat x4) but never bought it.

 

Yeah i worked in a store that lets employees take whatever they want after closing, as long as they bring it back before opening, only to sell it as a new product. Take that, society!

 

(most large chains do this, actually)

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I loved phantasy stargames, yet I've never owned one. Weird. Took it from work, played it, brought it back (repeat x4) but never bought it.

 

Yeah i worked in a store that lets employees take whatever they want after closing, as long as they bring it back before opening, only to sell it as a new product. Take that, society!

 

(most large chains do this, actually)

honestly when shining force came out even though it was my favorite game i never owned it. the only place that had it was a local rental shop, we looked forever and could find nowhere near us to buy it, and it was obviously pre-internet days so i think i rented that game for more than my mom paid for my sega. oh well, she was happy to do it and i got to finish it. when i grew up a bit and discovered emulators i was sooooooooooo excited.

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somehow games really did suck less in 16 bit, even if they really sucked. i'm going to guess probably because no matter what they didn't spend that much time on it total. like ffxiii sucked, but honestly probably only relative to the amount of time they spent on story v. trying to make snow's chest look hot naked (which they did succeed at, for a moment) so... yeah, olden times, simpler times, how i miss ye. you had folks focusing on lovely things like gameplay and story.

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I had a SNES back when the 16bit era was going on. I had a couple friends with Sega Genesis consoles so I did get to see some of them. But I found out long after the Genesis was dead that I hadn't seen a ton of great games for it. But the same was true with SNES. And I'd never ever seen the Turbo Grafx 16, which has a nice library of games too. Now is actually a much better time to enjoy the 16bit generation of games since being older means you have the money to buy alot more games, and they are much more available than they were back then without the internet. Selection wise I mean. Or you could always emulate the games.

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Phantasy Star 2 and 4 are among the best 16 bit RPGs, only beaten by Chrono Trigger and FF 3/6 imo.

 

i loved all the phantasy stars, no love for 3 there? 3 was my favorite and it holds the distinguishing title of the first game i ever replayed the entire way through right away because i had to play it every way possible. i don't know if it's because i'm a girl or what but i really loved the whole having kids and playing as your kid thing.

 

 

 

Funny thing, I actually love 3 as well but most people don't put it among the upper echelon of the RPGs. I spent a whole summer mapping and playing PS 3 and while I prefer 2, I hold a soft spot in my heart for 3. The music and graphics just seemed like the best thing I would ever see on my Genesis. The whole generations thing was neat to me as well, but ultimately I couldn't tell enough difference in each branch to play the game what, 15 times to see everything?

 

In that respect, Chrono Trigger did the multiple playthrough/decision thing much better.

 

But you're right, I shouldn't have glossed over PS3. It was a huge release and a fantastic game in its own right.

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i do have to completely admit that on all levels ps4 was a better game than ps3 (but i also remember thinking OMG this is as good as games are ever going to look! when i first saw ps3) and chrono trigger did the "different ending" thing waaay better (especially as i got towards the last few options of ps3 it was more and more similar to something it had done before - it didn't reward you for finding all the possible endings, it only really rewarded you for half) so i will freely admit that nostalgia is probably the main reason for it being my favorite. still a great game, though, and i feel like no one else ever remembers it. they're all about 2 and 4 and probably sonic or something. i just feel like i have to remind people that's not what it was all about. there was sooooo much more awesome shit.

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Phantasy Star 1 is still playable, but you need to print off some maps of the dungeons. They are murderous by today's standards, especially with the perspective.

 

I remember mapping those dungoeons by hand back in the day, but the game is unplayable without maps. I'd never have the patience to do something like that nowadays.

 

It's also HARD. Like, kick your ass hard.

 

 

As far as old RPGs go, I recently got Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV on the DS. IV/II is obviously one of my favorites, and I've never played III, so I'm looking forward to both. Anyone have any comments or experience with these remakes? I've only played the beginning part of IV so far but the music is sooo good. Think IV is getting ready to come out on the PSP in Japan soon as well, but I don't have a PSP yet so I don't really keep up with it.

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Are you talking about FF III for the SNES USA? That's FF VI Japan and I agree. That's also my favorite RPG of all time personally.

 

Unfortunately (for me, fortunately for those who never played FF III) the DS version is the real FF III, and not US FF III (which is really FF VI.)

 

Fucking complicated man. I hope they redo FF IV/FF III US in this format for the DS, it would be my favorite game of all time. Not sure if you've seen them but they are essentially Playstation-esque remakes for the DS of FF III and FF IV (which is FF II SNES USA.) The graphics are on the level of a FF VII or a little better, somewhere between a PS and a PS2.

 

Music is solid too, and the games make good use of the dual screens. I'm pretty impressed with what I've seen thus far.

 

 

As for my favorite 16 Bit RPGs/SRPGs I'd rank them like this:

 

FF III/VI

Chrono Trigger

Shining Force 2

Phantasy Star 2 and 4

Shining Force

FF II/IV

Phantasy Star 3

 

 

Unfortunately games were so expensive back then (and I was a kid, but these RPGs often went for $70+, PS 4 was $100 retail..) I didn't get to play as many RPGs as I would have liked. I missed out on a lot of the hidden gems of the era, but I enjoyed the major players greatly.

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