Alright, I’m thinking about making this a regular feature. Every Wednesday 11.15 we post ‘a big question’ — the kind of question we’ve been arguing about since the dawn of time — and we settle it via referendum! Are people keen for this? Let me know in the comments below. Today I want to answer the above question: SNES or Mega Drive?
This was inspired by an article by the Kotaku Community’s Doc What. He wrote about the playground shenanigans of the early 90s, when the console wars were fervent. At that time you generally only had one console — a SNES or a Mega Drive. The debates were intense.
I was always a Super Nintendo guy, but I’ll never forget how jealous I was when Sonic 2 came out. I actually felt physical pain!
Anyways — cast your vote in the poll below. Let’s settle this!
Comments
98 responses to “The Big Question: SNES Or Mega Drive?”
Super Mario World, Super Metroid, A Link to the Past.
Need I say more?
There’s no need to say more, but you may as well: Starfox, SSF2T (playable with the original controller), DKC, Final Fantasy, F-Zero, Mario Kart…
Yoshi’s Island, SM All-Stars, Super Game-Boy…
And Chrono Trigger!
and secret of mana!
You sure do.
Megaman X, Donkey Kong Country, and Castlevania: Vampire’s Kiss.
Dont forget Mortal Kombat “Finish Him!”
YOU ALL FORGOT UNIRALLY
Doc also did a courtroom drama on this. 😛
Heart says megadrive
Brain says snes
This.
I voted with my heart
+1
I need 2 separate votes for this. 1 as 10 yr old me and the other for me now. My first console was a Mega Drive – got it for my 8th birthday. I had played Atari, NES and SNES way before this at my cousins house. I spent most of my weekends and holidays with my cousins. When I finally got a console, I asked for a Mega Drive so we had the best of both worlds. Over the next couple years I grew to love it more than the SNES. But, eventually I got a SNES too. It was late in the cycle but played it all the way up until the N64 launch. I was lucky to get an N64 a few months after they came out. Sega then disappeared off the map for me until I got a Dreamcast (when they were dying off and being sold dirt cheap). As an adult I still bring the SNES out probably once a year for a retro session. I think I’ve only ever hooked the Mega Drive up once, just to play the gorier version of MKII.
I loved the Mega Drive, but the SNES has stood the test of time and still has some of the best video games made on the system. Thanks to Nintendo VC on Wii/Wii U, I can now relive the experiences I treasured as a child on both consoles. That being said, nothing beats getting the old SNES out to use the original game pads. (A selection of Mega Drive games are on the Wii VC for those who may not know).
At the time = mega drive
Now = Snes
this…
i grew up a sega kid… but looking back on things now… SNES FTW!
SNES, I played very little of the Mega drive/Mega CD so I’m probably a little biased.
I ended up having both, but I think objectively the SNES had a better catalogue (though I have and enjoy the Megadrive collection at home). This is a major shift for me: I was on Team Sega during the Sega wars. War is a bit of a stretch – in my town their was only one side. For whatever reason, no one in my town owned a SNES. I don’t know why. I’ve often wondered if it wasn’t stocked at the local Harvey Norman or something.
From memory more people seemed to own a Master System to an NES because they were cheaper.
Not sure about Mega Drive, Ive never seen one in the wild (ie: in somebody’s house) ive only ever played it in the stores
That would make sense. I remember a lot of Master Systems at the time, but I think I’ve only seen one NES in the wild. It was my cousin who lived in Brisbane. I only saw it once, but we played Duck Hunt.
Other than Sonic and Wonder Boy I can’t name another title off the top of my head. SNES on the other hand I could be here all day…
Mortal Kombat
Altered Beast F*** YEAH
Altered beast, strider, shadow dancer, sonic 2, Mutant league football, streetfighter 2 champ. Edition (way better than the normal snes version until it got turbo edition). Mortal kombat (blood kode ftw!) chakan… shit I could go on all day.
Problem is I can also match that with a snes list equally as amazing…
Shining Force, Phantasy Star, Streets of Rage, Shinobi…
Dang, there’s a lot of S in there
EDIT: Oh, you already said Shinobi 🙂
Mortal Combat, how can I forget this one! Shame on me *sits in naughty corner*
EDIT: Altered Beast, Of course! *Sits in naughty corner for double time*
A B A C A B B.
FATALITY! blood enabled. Wow I still remember that!! First game I got on mega drive!
Mutant League Football
Altered Beast!
Jurassic Park was better on MD, SNES was the better console with higher quality games.
Wait, what?? The MD Jurassic Park was a train wreck of terrible, despite it’s decent graphics. The Super version had some really great open-world gameplay, first-person areas for indoors (although admittedly, this doesn’t hold up that well today) and best of all… You could use the Super NES mouse!
Are you kidding?
You can be a Raptor on MegaDrive…A RAPTOR!!!
(clearly a preference thing)
Well, I never really played either. But the SNES is Super, but then the Mega Drive is Mega.
Which is better, Mega, or Super? Well, Megaman is cooler than Superman. But then, I’ve never been to a MegaMarket, but I go to Super ones all the time.
I can’t decide, guys, I can’t decide!
But just imagine what would happen if you *did* go to a MegaMarket. Your brain would, like, whoah, *explodes*
Imagine if you went to a Super Mega Market.
I had a MD to start (since I had a MS2 it was natural progression)
And I spent way too much time on Sonic1,2 and Forgotten Worlds, I was a huge Sega fanboy and defended them to the nth degree until that fateful day I got a SNES for xmas, the conflicting feelings were real and deep-seated but eventually I realized I was one of the lucky ones who had both.
Right now I dont think I could pick between the two, so many memories from both consoles….
But the console that had the biggest impact on me – Sega Master System 2, WonderboyIII : The Dragons Trap, never has a game since left such an imprint on my heart……
That SNES MK2.. damn… it was HOT
And SNES Sunset Riders, Lethal Enforcers, NBA Jam, Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting, Alien V Predator, Street Fighter 2…
Arcade versions were so much better on the SNES (eh… except Final Fight – but CD loads.. ugh…) than the MD
i always preferred MK2 on megadrive. I liked the sound and also the “picture” like animations. while the snes had smoother animations something about the megadrive version just clicked with me
What is the question? Which one you wanted more as a kid? Or which one, with the benefit of retrospect, had the best games lineup? Because as a kid I wanted a Mega Drive really badly, but if I was to pick one out of them now, I’d grab a SNES. But I’d want a US-region one because the PAL SNES lineup is piss poor in comparison.
Chrono Trigger…
SNES. For sure. The great sound, the colourful graphics and the classic games…
I own both and I find myself playing my SNES way more than my Mega Drive.
SNES. Megadrive had a few really amazing games absolutely worth playing. SNES to this day has one of the greatest libraries of any console ever. With no disrespect to Sega, it’s a no brainer for me.
“The Big Question: SNES Or Mega Drive?”
Ask yourself what games you would like to play first. Then you will know your answer.
Me, I currently have both. Found them second hand and enjoying every moment from the two.
SNES hands down, not even a serious question.
I got a MegaDrive and my friend got SNES so we could play a larger array of games. I felt great about Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition but I missed out on most of the SNES classics which makes a little sad. I will be getting a snes set up for my son for sure. Being diplomatic about it all, I’ve always loved any device that played games.
SNES … it had more buttons, therefore it was the better system
That logic woud make the Atari Jaguar the best system EVER!
Megadrive for me. My parents never gave me a choice, it was just a surprise on Xmas morning, along with Sonic 1 and Echo The Dolphin. Me and my sister took 30 minute turns, making very little progress in each game all day.
Next survey: “Mega Drive” or “Genesis”. Which was the better name?
Genesis (made no sense but thats what made it cool!)
Blast Processing.
Argument is now redundant. Megadrive wins.
OK. Tell us what blast processing is.
What does Blast Processing do?
That is the ad, not an explanation. But funny, 🙂
*Jesse Pinkman voice* Mode 7 bitch…
it does what Ninten-don’t.
Both!
I had both. I wasn’t a kid when they were out so it wasn’t an issue for me to have to choose. Missing out on either system is doing anyone who appreciates classic games a disservice. This was one of the greatest times for diversity of gaming libraries and exclusives between systems, back when game companies couldn’t just be multiformat.
It was funny, back then, how a game would come out, or a genre, which would then be associated primarily with that system. The MD was the shooter’s paradise and it wasn’t until Super Aleste/Space Megaforce came out that SFC was seen as a contender in that genre. Arcade ports were always a great battle ground, especially with the quality/accuracy of the port when they were ported to both. But it always seemed to be the SFC that got the big guns from the big arcade game manufacturers, while the MD traded on the SEGA arcade brands a great deal, until it got the Strider exclusive from Capcom which blew everyone’s minds.
The 16Bit era was a great time to be an import gamer too, so many great titles came out on regular basis that pushed the systems and were full of great ideas. Well, until the glut of mascot platformers (the FPS’s of the 90s) started dilute the quality terribly, anyway.
One mustn’t forget the TurboGrafx/PC Engine and Neo Geo from this era too, as even though they weren’t as overall successful they were no less important for making an identity for themselves that appealed to gamers and had created (still!) very passionate niche markets.
I was a Sega boy back in the day, but then I got a Snes and learned to love them both equally.
But if both were dangling off a cliff and I could only save one of them I’d probably pick the Megadrive. All those (good) Sonic games, a non-neutered Mortal Kombat, World of Illusion, Aladdin, Ecco. It may have had a lower colour palette but it still did good.
Now I feel like playing my megadrive, too bad my controllers are stuffed.
Non-neutered Mortal Kombat: I think that is more to do with Nintendo’s content guidelines back at the time.
Stuffed Controllers: Try taking them apart and clean the button contacts/pads/etc with rubbing alcohol. It doesn’t always work but it can sometime revive a non-responsive pad. This I know when I tried on two stuffed SNES controllers. One worked better but the other remained the same.
:O you two-timing sack of sh…
I prefer the SNES version of Aladdin. It was Capcom.
I got the Megadrive because I was a big fan of arcade games at the time and many of the biggest arcade games at the time were by Sega (Golden Axe, Afterburner, Super Monaco GP, etc), so they were all exclusive to Megadrive. Over time, though, as my tastes have become less arcade-y, I’ve leaned more towards SNES. So yeah, if I was buying one now it’d be SNES, but at the time it was Megadrive.
SEGA DO WHAT NINTENDON’T!!!
While I acknowledge the Mega Drive had some good games, it’s hard to ignore the fact the SNES was the overall better system. Although both systems were 16 bit the SNES just had that extra power over the MD, making it capable of displaying more colours with better sound, and this difference was very obvious when comparing the multiplatform titles across the two systems. By the end of the SNES’ lifespan they had games such as the Donkey Kong Country series on it, and they even had the thing pushing polygons (with the help of the FX chip) in games like Starfox and Stunt Race FX.
In fairness it was only the first MK game that was neutered on the SNES. MKII wasn’t, and the SNES port is mostly considered to be the best port overall.
I never owned a Mega Drive or SNES. I owned a Sega Master system, my friends owned a Nintendo Entertainment System. We actually completely respected this of each other and enjoyed playing video games. Later on I had friends who owned the SNES and Mega Drive and had ample opportunity to try out both. I tended to prefer the games on the Mega Drive to the SNES, but the SNES seemed to present more involving experiences that you needed to devote more time to, so those brief stints where I would play with/against a friend were probably not good examples to base a judgement on.
Overall, I genuinely did not feel anything about console preference until I bought a PS2 in 2001, and my friend had an Xbox. He would endlessly extol the virtues of the Xbox and while I enjoyed playing co-op Halo with him, I was defensive of his derision towards my PS2.
It was my first console since aforesaid Sega Master System and while I developed no sentimental attachment, I had spent a pretty big chunk of change on it. It was the most expensive object I had ever bought or owned. It represented an investment.
Ultimately I owned an Xbox anyway and over time I came to prefer it to the PS2 (and that preference has carried over to the Xbox 360 vs. PS3), but I’ll never forget how frustrated I felt when my friend thoughtlessly crapped all over my purchase choice.
I imagine I’ll get upset about someone mocking my car one day, if I ever own one that cost more than a few weeks salary.
Mega Drive – Mainly due to Shining Force 1 & 2!
Megadrive: Sonic (all early ones), Streets of Rage Series, Street Fighter II.
Look, I love Nintendo, but there was just something more… SHINY… about the Megadrive!
Megadrive, oh yeah – Rocket Knight Adventures, Megalomania, Golden Axe, oh oh and Streets of Rage, lets not forget Columns and the annoying music xD, Road Rash was also awesome.
Psh. This was settled down long ago. SNES Master Race.
You don’t even need to granulate to games, just mention gamemakers: Capcom, Squaresoft, Nintendo, Rare… c’mon.
Game makers? Okay, Megadrive also had awesome game makers, Capcom and RARE being some of them, also Konami, Namco and Bullfrog.
Sure, they threw some goodies their way too, I guess. Though my memory fails, please do help me. How many Megaman (Normal and X) did Capcom release for the Megadrive? What about Breath of Fires, or the Disney franchises? How many Street Fighters and Final Fights? And how many Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instincts did Rare release for the Megadrive?
Oh and thanks for reminding me of Konami… but please help me remember how many Castlevanias were released for the Megadrive? How many Contra? Batman games?
I guess you got me with Namco, though: The SNES didn’t get the dozens of Pacman games that the Megadrive got. The SNES “barely” got Tales of Phantasia to make up for it.
Mega Drive. Only because our family couldn’t afford both systems. California Games, Alexx the kid, Mortal Kombat, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe….I’m being overwhelmed with nostalgia.
Had both, loved both. Snes by a long shot. RPGs ahoy.
Yoshi’s Island, probably my favourite game of all-time.
Megadrive for me. Although I did have both because Street Fighter 2 came out on SNES first and I had to import it from Japan. I enjoyed playing a lot of games on the SNES but the Megadrive I think I enjoyed the games a lot more and spent much more hours on them.
I think having the Master System and not having a NES before that kind of made me into a Sega fan more. But I’ve always love any system that played games.
Now don’t even get me started on the PC Engine Duo…
megadrive – sonic is in my blood 😛
also, sf2 was better on megadrive 😉
http://static.quickmeme.com/media/social/qm.gif
You know what annoys me? It’s people who go around pronouncing SNES as if its one word. They do this on Good Game all the time and it shits me to tears. Its an ABBREVIATION people… Repeat after me S.N.E.S.
I think you will find its actually called the Nintendo Snes.
I think YOU will find it’s actually pronounced the Nintendo “sneeze”.
Mega Drive. The best arcade style games, the greatest JRPG in existence (Phantasy Star IV), CPU is powerful enough to do background rotation scaling in software (Mode 7 is a hardware based and a joke), runs at a higher resolution (most multiplat games had stretched graphics on SNES),Soleil is far superior to ALTTP and more unique too, backwards compatible with the Master System library, Treasure, amazing list of exclusive shmups (Gleylancer, Thunder Force IV, Hellfire, Tatsujin, Zero Wing, Battle Mania just to name a few), Hyperstone Heist is hands down better than Turtles in Time, a non gimped version of Final Fight with an amazing remixed soundtrack, the Streets of Rage and Super Shinobi games (with music by the brilliant Yuzo Koshiro), the Meganet modem, aside from Virtua Racing there was no cheater chips (Pilot Wings, Super Mario Kart, Star Fox, Yoshi’s Island, Mega Man X 2 & 3, Super Mario RPG are among many games that require extra on cart chips to function while a recent tech demo proves a stock MD can do Star Fox on it’s own) are just a few reasons why Sega’s console with the 68000 heart of fire is the superior console.
Seeeeeeegaaaaaaaaaa
Sold my MD to buy a SNES, both great consoles.
I love Sonic 3 & Knuckles almost as much as I love Diddy’s Kong Quest.
while i grew up playing master system and mega drive i would have to go with the snes, if i had the same question back in the 90’s i would have went mega drive though
i love the games on both but snes just has more of the ones i like
They both have their strong points. These ‘this or that arguments’ are mostly imho attributed to when we were kids, our parents quite often only bought us one of the consoles. So we then staunchly defend our parents console decision.
But when we grow up we buy our own consoles and end up, like me. Owning them all. with that said.
Playstation poops all over XBOX and will continue to until time ceases. :p
Big question? You’re joking, right?
SNES is Mega Drive’s porridge. I.e. MD eats it for breakfast.
Both were respectable systems in the day, and both have their respective exclusives that made each console special. But no one in their right mind could look at the game lineups side-by-side and suggest that the Mega Drive collection in superior. Imagine, if you will, if the current Nintendo console (WiiU) had the loyalty and exclusivity of companies like Capcom, Konami, Square, etc., ALL making top-grade games JUST for that machine, as well as all of Nintendo’s in-house classics… (sigh) Those times shall never return…
I had a mega drive but loved the snes more for some of its games (Super international cricket ftw lol) so i would go with a snes now over the mega drive
SNES had some of the best RPG’s available at the time so it was a no brainer for me that it was the console of choice for me back then. Terranigma, Lufia, Breath of Fire, Secret of Evermore, Chrono Trigger, LOTR, Secret of Mana, Legend of Gaia, Zelda, Final Fantasy. So many GREAT franchises to choose from.
Mega Drive.
It has Gunstar Heroes. There is literally nothing in the SNES lineup that can compare.
SNES for me hands down.
The sound chip for the Megadrive in most 3rd party games just irritated me, plus I found the SNES’s controller to be much better.
Megadrive was better imo. Comparing software lineup is irrelevant because some of those games on megadrive were just so good, especially Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Knuckles.
I would play Mega Drive for the following games:
Road Rash Series
Skitchin’
Olympic Gold
Mortal Kombat (yes I wanted to see blood)
I owned a SNES and picked it out mainly because it had a greater games lineup and defined my gaming life…my favorite games are:
The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Street Fighter II (I brought the Street Fighter 2 pack and I had 2 arcade joysticks which made me pretty special with my mates)
Mario Kart
Rock n Roll Racing
I even had two converters cartridges so I could play overseas SNES games (such as Chrono Trigger, Art Of Fighting etc.)
Mega drive easily smashes the SNES! Its a no brainer! Nintendo are rubbish; just look at the WiiU. How anyone can honestly vote for the SNES I’ll never know, shame on them!
Mega Drive for sure. SNES may have had all the well known classics, but for my money, the MD had just as many just under the surface. Ranger X, the Thunderforce series… so many classics that aren’t so well known. Story of Thor stands alongside Zelda in my eyes. CastleVania Bloodlines is one of the best in the series, and all the Disney platformers were just better on the MD.
Even the FM Synth sounds have aged better in my opinion… maybe due to chip tunes being so prevalent and electronica artists in the present still sampling synths like the Yamaha DX7. Shadow of the Beast II had some of my favorite FM chip music. It even beats out the original Amiga MOD soundtrack in the atmosphere stakes.
Nothing will beat the MD for me. The SNES had the limelight and the in-house games, but the MD had style to spare and it’s the system I go back to the most. That and the 6 button controller – it still feels amazing to hold to this day.
I didn’t have either (Atari ST -> PC) but at the time, I wanted a Mega Drive.
The sports games were superior on the MD, particularly NHL 94.
I have never been able to understand the insanely, rabid fanboy appeal that the Nintendo franchises (Mario, Zelda) always get (yes, I have played them) so that never appealed to me, and other than those there wasn’t much else that I liked about the SNES.
Former Nintendo Magazine System subscriber. Still have every copy from April 93 to July 96. My answer is obvious.
Both were before my time but if i was going to pick one on the game library? SNES it would be. my mate had one but i never got to play it as we both played a PS2 together. next week the question should be which do you perfer? Xbox or Playstation 2?
This is tough. The Mega Drive was the much much more popular at school and Mortal Kombat and Sonic were great, but I have to go with the SNES for one reason: Zelda. A Link to the Past was by far my favourite game and the most challenging. Speaking of the Console wars, I never took a side. I just sat down and listened to Team Sega rage at Team Nintendo.