Why I don't like the SNES as much as other systems

[SEGACOOL]

Super Nes is a great system but Genesis had the golden years of EA development and publishing.

[Curryman123]

I agree with you with all the SNES cons, contra 3 was garbage, so was castlevania 4

Aren't you overreacting a little bit there.

[Kamahl]

For the sake of completion and why it is my favorite console:

Genesis:

Pros:
- Best Run'N'Gun Library (big run'n'gun fan)
- Super strong shooter library (big shooter fan)
- A lot of incredibly innovative games (just look at comix zone)
- Gunstar Heroes (Deserves separate mention, best Run'n'Gun of the generation)
- Streets of Rage 2 (Best beat'em up)
- Shining Force 2 (Best SRPG of the generation)
- Ranger-X (Best whatever the hell it is, just awesome)
- Beyond Oasis (Action Adventure with beat'em up elements!!!)
- Langrisser 2 (2nd Best SRPG of the generation)
- Shinobi 3 (Best action game)
- The Sonic Series (> Mario Series)
- Yuu Yuu Hakusho (Best Fighter)
- A few great RPGs (The Lunars, PS IV, Rent a Hero)
- A lot of very high energy, great sounding music
- Had a CD system that actually added a lot of extra hardware to the system.
- Snatcher (In ENGLISH!)
- All the amazing Disney games, specially Aladdin and Castle/World of Illusion
- Soul Star/Sylpheed (most impressive 3D shooters of the generation, fuck Starfox)
- A very well made port of Dune 2
- Most comfortable controller ever
- Best controller for fighters (6 buttons)
- Looks really cool, and so do the cartridges.
- New games being released to this day, including the very impressive Pier Solar

Cons:
- Music that makes you want to kill yourself
- 4 palettes resulted in some horrible looking games
- FMV Games ruined what could have been an amazing CD addon
- A number of games still need to be translated
- Other than marketing, the company behind it was filled to the brim with complete idiots
- The 32X

[Curryman123]

I don't know why ya think Contra 3 and C4 were a disappointment.

Me and my bro have put in massive playtime in this sucker, prolly my most beaten contra game. In fact, I have no problem beating this on hard.

Also Super Castlevania was a great title for me. I played it after Dracula X, So i was not impressed at first. But after i gave it a chance, I realized how massive the levels are in this game and of course good use of S.effects.

I love how you have total control over you whip.

In comparison, the level length in Dracula X (PCE) disappointment me. The first level of Super Castlevania is like 3 levels of Dracula X (PCE).

[Kamahl]

I loved the sounds that the HuC6280 could put out, it's what the nintendo should have sounded like.

Do note that I said that 10-15 games made good use of it, when it is used well it sounds amazing (like in the legend of xanadu games, soldier blade or bloodgear).

Most of the drum sounds (a very important part of music to me) sound really weak, even on the best sounding games.

I don't know why ya think Contra 3 and C4 were a disappointment.

Contra 3 has like... 3 proper levels... Those Mode 7 levels just suck horribly.

C4 wasn't disappointing at all, I just hate the fly swatter (when you move the joystick up and down really fast, you'll see what I mean), turns simon into a complete wimp and makes the game way to easy, it was also a little too slow for my tastes, maybe because I played it after bloodlines, but I do find it better than bloodlines, which was a much bigger disappointment, maybe I should add it to the genesis cons .

[Curryman123]

I read a lot of praises about Legend of Xanadu music, But to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed in the end. I am in the 3rd Area, and so far no track is stuck in my head.

[Kamahl]

I read a lot of praises about Legend of Xanadu music, But to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed in the end. I am in the 3rd Area, and so far no track is stuck in my head.

This isn't catchy to you O_O ?

[Curryman123]

This one was neat, I was actually referring to part 1, which i am playing right now.

I believe these games make the great use of PCE sound chip-
Super Star Soldier
Final Soldier
Solder blade
Parodius
Denta Twinbee


One of the worst uses-
Power up area music before an boss in Dracula X.

[kokujin]

Aren't you overreacting a little bit there.

Maye a little with castlevania(I still hate it), but contra 3 is crap compared to HC.

Here's a good TG16 soundtrack, it's by Sakimoto, so you know it's good.



One of my favorites, sounds better than the arcade and genesis.


The TG16 could even get a little Fm synth out the card.

[Kamahl]

This one was neat, I was actually referring to part 1, which i am playing right now.

I believe these games make the great use of PCE sound chip-
Super Star Soldier
Final Soldier
Solder blade
Parodius
Denta Twinbee


One of the worst uses-
Power up area music before an boss in Dracula X.

Agree with everything, though super star soldier kind of goes from greatness to average a lot, blazing lazers is another game that makes really good use, shockman as well.

I don't like the music in the first legend of xanadu that much either (there are some good ones). I haven't played it much though, the language barrier seems much bigger on it than the second one. It SOUNDS great which was the point I was making, but it's not very memorable.

[Curryman123]

Tatsujin Soundtrack is unique, I like it.

Also, Paranoia makes a interesting use of the PCE sound chip.

[OldSchool]

SNES hate is

[Sega Gremlin]

The buttons the SNES aren't a deal-breaker for me, I believe they alternated convex and concave buttons so that you could know which is which just by the feel of it.

Yeah, the B and A buttons are convex but the Y and X buttons are concave. The Genny 6-button is the opposite (A-B-C are concave, X-Y-Z are convex).

I really don't see how it could even be an issue, but if you're not a fan of convex buttons, you'd find the Super Famicom controllers even worse since all the buttons are convex. The SNES pirate clone controllers you see being sold nowadays are the same way (since they were surely based on the SFC controllers).

[tomaitheous]

Do note that I said that 10-15 games made good use of it, when it is used well it sounds amazing (like in the legend of xanadu games, soldier blade or bloodgear).

I agree. A lot of the instruments sounds of the PC-Engine had that tell tale sound. It's a wider range than say something like PSG on the NES or SMS, but it still seems 'smaller' in range than FM. But there are a few games that make some unique/different instrument sounds. There are also a lot of game music composers that take a simplistic technical approach to instrument generation on the PCE, regardless of how good the composition is. Some shamelessly even share out the same stock instruments between them; Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Jackie Chan, Neutopia 2, Aldynes. Others just use simplistic/NES-ish envelopes/waveforms/etc. Not that many PCE chip tunes stand out IMO. 10-15 sound about right.

Most of the drum sounds (a very important part of music to me) sound really weak, even on the best sounding games.

The instrument quality runs the gamut for PCE chiptunes, but that also includes drum kits and other samples. I've listened to a lot of tracks and stepping through a quite a bit of sound drivers or isolated channels. And I'd post some of the more unique or different PCE chiptunes I've found. But we need a different thread for that.



SNES hate?

I like the SNES. I liked the SNES BITD too. It was exciting. But it was also something else for me. It was the beginning of the end of an age that I had come to love. A lot of the games released on the SNES and Genesis, with in a year after the SNES hits the shores here in the US - crappy games starting filling the libraries of both. IMO at least. Sonic ripoffs and other mascot wanna-be's. This might be somewhat extreme, but I felt the SNES is the direct result of the SegaCD getting soo much stupid-ass FMV games. I couldn't stand it anymore. Both systems were also via'ing for something new, and a lot of EU and US games started getting more and more attention in the game mags. I didn't really know that a lot of these games I didn't like, were non japanese games at the time. But they all had something missing. Something generic or imitative, or just wrong. Then you had the youth of US growing up on this crap (sorry, just how I feel). You can see it here on these forums. 'Cause it all comes down to nostalgia and conditioning. They didnt know any better then, than I knew as a kid when I fell in love with NES games - and PC and Atari gamers couldn't stand either. I completely understand it and it's why I don't really criticize gamers of this generation. But it doesn't change my feelings of the second half of that generation though.

So when the SNES hit the scene, things were a change'n. There were gems on the SNES to be had, and I had lots of fun playing them. Playing amazing games like FF2US, FF3US, Mana, Zelda, etc. But the duality that the rivalry changing the face of gaming during that end of an era for the better, was also for the worse. And I remember, everything had to be better than better. It really felt like the Genesis top tier games were just pushing really hard on the visuals. The games were fun, but overall the feeling on the Genesis side was... saturating. Games like Vectorman and Toy Story and TFIV and AoB&R, etc. Over saturation of GFX, thinning of 'shades' to make room for more/different 'colors' - resulting in more games with constast-y and/or often dithery graphics, FM sound pushed to sound much more aggressive (which I also didn't like. Too much modulation was the cause from what I've been showed/told). It wasn't anything like the earlier part of the Genesis days. Gaiares looks better than pretty much anything 1992 onward. Maybe I'm crazy, but it always felt like the rivalry was the direct underlying cause of this. Maybe it wasn't the 'cause of all of it - but it sure did seem like it accelerated after the SNES came onto the scene. By comparison, the PCE seemed to keep to its charactistic charm or such - while increasing the FX and complexity of games. Less of a ramp, if you will. The PCE games weren't trying to be in-your-face hardcore. It's probably why I did more importing on the PCE than the other two systems. The PCE library just lacked more polished games than the SNES (and arguably the Genesis). That's not to say they weren't fun or even more fun to play. But the majority of titles felt like they lacked high overall production values.

So hate the SNES? No. But now that graphics and effects aren't such a big deal anymore (these are all old school/retro systems), I play the SNES the least. And I play my NES, Genesis, and PCE more. Still, all four systems are my favorite of all time.

[Yoder]

The two systems are just so different. I bought my Genesis in December 89...ALMOST bought a Turbografx. It was a hard decision since I knew that Sega did not do well with the SMS, but I was glad I went with it. I didn't have the opportunity to get a SNES until late 92 and I bought it mainly for Zelda. The feel of the SNES games was so different. Zelda, Super Mario World, Super Metroid. Nothing like it on the Genesis, IMO.

I still preferred the Genesis due to the darker, more "adult" theme, and I actually like the sound a lot. Golden Axe, Shinobi, Moonwalker...I loved those tracks! The Yamaha chip was super cool.... And, yes, I never liked the SNES controllers nearly as much as the "beefy" original 3-button Genesis controllers. And the 6-buttons were vastly superior for playing fighting games. Highly under-rated controllers.

I just got to play a TG-16 for the first time a few weeks ago when I got my first one. Those consoles were non-existent when I was in high school. I haven't gotten a chance to get into it a whole lot, but the system is cool (I like the controllers), and the pallet is a nice change from the Genesis'. Sounds like I need to get a CD-based system to really enjoy the PCE games, though :-/