My Next Console Purchase

[Cucollins12]

pc-engine I agree!

[KnightWarrior]

TurboGrafx-16

[goldenband]

And the legendary Vectrex!

I had the exact same thought! The OP doesn't own any pre-NES console, but mentioning Pac-Man suggests that he's open to that era.

You can say that other consoles have been superseded, but not the Vectrex -- you can't have that experience on any other home system. And it actually has a very good controller, unlike the ergonomic disasters that plagued the Atari 5200, 7800, and ColecoVision (you can add in the Intellivision, but I personally don't mind its controllers). It's not cheap, but you'll get a lot of bang for your buck, IMHO, especially with a multicart and a few well-chosen homebrews like Vector Pilot.

Otherwise, I guess I'd suggest the SMS, though its biggest trump card (the 3D glasses) is expensive these days. It also depends on whether flash carts and burns are an option; if they're not, the SMS is the clear winner in terms of price. Or you could just get a Power Base Converter. I find the library to be very hit-or-miss, though, and many of the best titles were later efforts that weren't released in the US.

CD-i might be fun to check out if you're fond of early '90s cheese, but you'd have to be very forgiving, and I don't think it's that easy to find good controllers and reliable hardware. And the Amiga CD32 seems like a hassle for NTSC users.

[Danza]

I'm not sure what I can really recommend, I don't have the CDi (although I don't think I'm missing out on much if youtube poops about link and mario have shown me) but I do own a Sega master system. I think personally you should go for that. The sonic games on it are pretty fun and stand as their own games rather than ports which is great,. You will of course feel quite at home with it, since it has a number of franchises you love and know. Games for it here are the least expensive out of the other consoles too.

[criddo91]

PC Engine for sure! I ended up trading my SMS for one because there are many more games on it that interest me, particularly shoot 'em ups. Get a Duo/R/RX if you want to explore the CD library, although there are many great Hu-card games too.

[Furnessly]

While they are all lovely consoles that you could own, well maybe not the cd-i apart from curiosity sake [there's really only Micro Machines and a couple of others that are any decent, many are just educational] it is what's best for you and your family. One of your favourite games is Doom but sadly apart from the Amiga CD32, there are no FPS except I think Ballblazer/Faceball 2000 was on the PC Engine [not sure].

It is a juggle between the Master System and the PC Engine Duo-R. It's not to say that the Amiga CD32 is out of the question (there is a guide: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthr...ght=amiga+cd32), it's just that the Amiga was more successful in Europe and unless you find an US system it is more hassle. Even though it does have Mortal Kombat, Flashback and Another World.

Right, first off is the Master System. Now, there is a decent library in the US but your best bet would be to import for the full flavour since it was more successful in Europe and Brazil. There is no region lock between US, EU and Brazilian carts but some games were designed for PAL and might not work correctly on NTSC systems (there might be a Brazilian version of the game that runs on 60hz though). Since you like cinematic platformers judging by Another World, there is Prince of Persia on the system and you like Pac-Man, so there's Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Mania and Fantasy Zone: The Maze as well. There's also Mortal Kombat 1 & 2 (3 in Brazil) plus Pit-fighter but I wouldn't recommend them unless you like 8-bit fighting games. After your likes are covered, here's a good list of games on the system:

Asterix (PAL import)
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
Buggy Run (import and quite rare, its like both RC Pro Am and Super Sprint depending on what mode you choose)
Castle of Illusion
California Games
Land of Illusion (import)
Lucky Dime Caper (import)
Master of Darkness (import)
Ninja Gaiden (import)
Power Strike 1 & 2 (import, US version is more rarer for no. 1)
Rambo
Rastan
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
Zillion
Quartet
Shinobi
Sonic 1 (import is much much cheaper since the only difference is the bar code)
Sonic 2 (import) and Sonic Chaos (import) if you want
Super Off-Road (import)
Super Space Invaders
Micro Machines (import, plays faster in 60hz)

Also there's Psycho Fox, Psychic World, Putt and Putter (if you are into mini-golf), Aztec Adventure, Kung-Fu Kid, Black-Belt, Golden Axe Warrior, Phantasy Star as well.

There are some more but I forgot them. There's also Chase HQ, Battle OutRun, OutRun Europa, Road Rash and Special Criminal Investigation in terms of action racing games. Oh and R.C. Grand Prix but not sure what that one is like. Just avoid ALF, Cyber Shinobi and The Flintstones (painting walls and poor collision detection/controls) as they are considered the "worst" games by people. To be honest there are many games on the system that are medicore as in not bad but not good however the system is a bit obscure even by Sega fans since the Saturn and Dreamcast get higher priority so yes there might be a gem in there that you like but others don't. It is a cheaper option with only games like Buggy Run, The Smurfs: Travel the World [most expensive game] and Dynamite Headdy being the more expensive, it is even possible to get games like The Ninja very cheap.

If you still have your Genesis, you can just get the Power Base Convertor (there's only a few games that don't work properly, big one being F14 Fighting Falcon) if you're pressed for room.

Secondly, there is the PC Engine that a lot of people recommend but if you really want the best, go get yourself a PC Engine Duo-R since the Hu-card library is much more smaller and many of the best games were released on CD. Despite people saying that the CDs are region free, they are not entirely. Bonanza Bros. is one that only works on JP systems [I think it is related to the system cards]. Oh and make sure you have the right System Card for the games (the last one and the Arcade one are needed to enjoy the system to its most). Now unlike the Master System where the US library is still decent without the imports, the PC Engine you pretty much have to import since many of the best games were Japan only and not only that many games are Japanese only (unlike the Master System where they aren't many Japanese/Korean/Portuguese only games when compared to English) but mostly they are the RPGs. Also there's not much Western developed games and most of them are rubbish/not very good.

The PC Engine is the king of shoot em ups of that era [with the Genesis being a strong one] (and RPGs along with the SNES in Japan) so if you are into that genre, you would have a field day since many are decent to good ports and some exclusives but if you aren't as much into shmups, don't worry there's some action/quirky style games there. Not sure you are into shumps (otherwise it would be a strong and long list like Blazing Lazers, Spriggan, Sapphire, Lords of Thunder, etc) so I list other games instead:

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood/Dracula X (the big one people mention but can be pricey, CD, Japanese with some German voice overs but is not needed to enjoy the game)
Bonk's Adventure
Bonk's Revenge
Legendary Axe
Parasol Stars
New Adventure Island
Bonanza Bros. (CD, JP region locked but much better than the Genesis version)
Dragon's Curse (Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap)
Buster Bros. (CD, aka Pang)
Double Dragon II: The Revenge (CD, JP only, no Japanese needed to enjoy the game)
River City Ransom [Downtown Story] (CD, JP only, sadly the game is in Japanese but is worth a mention if you know a bit)
Kaze Kiri Ninja Action (CD, JP only, no Japanese needed to enjoy the game)
Last Alert (CD, if you want a laugh in terms of voice acting)
Time Cruise (well I like this game...)
Makai Prince Dorabocchan [Spike McFang] (JP platformer)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu

In terms of your tastes, there's no Mortal Kombat (but there are pretty good ports of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, World Heroes 2, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury 2/Special), Prince of Persia is the only cinematic platformer I can think of, there is no Pac-Man to my knowledge but there is Pac-Land a platformer pre-Super Mario Bros (closest to it are Creatermaze and Batman but they don't follow the Pac-Man formula as close) and for non-realisitic racing games, there's a few. MotoRoader MC is pretty much a Super Sprint clone, Road Spirits is a slow paced OutRun, OutRun itself, Chase HQ (dodgy collision detection, one touch and you're off the road), Special Criminal Investigation, Knight Rider Special, Power Drift (one of the few ports of it at the time, most were EU home computers only). Basically the PC Engine has a larger range of games, many of them pretty good but it is more pricey.

So it is completely up to you which system you want. It depends whether you want to import from Europe or Japan, it depends also if you just want a local library. Avoiding imports all together and just focus on the US side, there's not as much and still fairly close but to get the best of both, you do have to import.

[Moirai]

Who voted for the CDi? Was it a serious vote or was it just for the lulz?

[NeoVamp]

Who voted for the CDi? Was it a serious vote or was it just for the lulz?

Hey MAN! CDi rocks hard!, it had two special releases just for the Dutch!



(she was the Dutch Pamela Anderson)

Best console EVAR!

[Saturn Fan]

Turbografx 16. Easily!

[ELabit]

NUON

[evilevoix]

Tg16, I just got one.

[TurboRotary]

I'm actually actively seeking a TurboDuo.. Cant wait.. I'm gonna pick up a Turbo Everdrive and start picking up games here and there as I find interesting ones.

[Drakon]

I voted cdi to make you waste your money