SNES vs Sega Genesis/MegaDrive

[TrekMD]

Very nice Whispers.  Nothing wrong with the long post. 

[Bobinator]

I remember critics on this side of the pond absolutely destroying the Genesis title compared to the SNES, for the vitally important reasons of bigger player sprites, and more animation frames. And could Morris's wrist go limp with the whip? They claimed the Genesis title looked 8 bit.

Curious how sprite size was never an issue with Mario vs. Sonic.

Looking at each title today, under a more objective light, they each represent the personalities of their hardware better than almost anything else out there. The SNES title is slower, more meditative, even with mode 7 gimmickery that exists mostly to show off their ability to spin the level around. It should feel much sillier than it does, especially with the poorly handled aesthetic. Most of the sprites wouldn't pass on a fan game, now, and the color choices were made with an eye towards covering the screen in as many bright colors as possible, while still making it worn out and faded, even when it was brand new.

But then there's that soundtrack.

A soundtrack that begins and ends with a power ballad, but also takes the time to give each level a sense of time and place outside of your adventure. It's similar to the effect in Super Metroid, even if the actual stage exploration offered isn't quite to that depth...yet. When combined with a multi-directional whip to defend against the cheaper enemies, it's one of the few hardcore experiences I can recommend to casuals.

Bloodlines, on the other hand, is as close as Castlevania ever got to a Treasure title. There are sprites exploding all over the screen like prizes from a piñata. Beating the boss, sometimes just means you rush to the next, bigger, multi-segmented boss. It's proud of being an action title, to the point of stripping away every peace offering the last title offered, and trying to crush the player, completely. And if you're the kind of gamer who welcomes that challenge, every victory is rewarded with something new to see, and take down. It's a pure adrenaline rush.

So, which is the better title?

Well, you already know. And your answer isn't wrong; This time, it really is whichever title is the best one for you.

Edit: Apologies, if I'm doing this wrong. Please let me know if these lengthy posts go on too long, or I've got my head stuck up my ass.

No, please, continue! You bring up a very good point about the two games I hadn't even really considered, and I think that you're absolutely right. For me, however, thinking about it...

Bloodlines is pretty much my very favorite of the classic Castlevanias. Then again, I never was what one could call a "superfan" of the series, so I'm not sure how much my opinion matters, there. I like the boss fights, I like the constant setpieces you go through, I like the music...

SC4, on the other hand... I kind of think in some ways, that it's the better game. It controls much better, for one thing. No matter how many games try it... losing your air control when you jump, no matter how realistic it may be in your game about whipping a vampire to death with your magic whip, just isn't fun. Super Castlevania IV, for a few reasons, like its jumping physics and the multi-directional whip, just feels the fairer, generally smoother experience.

Seriously, though, Spiders, I wish more people here put as much thought and effort into what they think as you do.

[TrekMD]

OK, time to try another game.  Let's check out Gods!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-RPTtdoTK0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h75Ho7XhRU0

[Aaendi]

I remember critics on this side of the pond absolutely destroying the Genesis title compared to the SNES, for the vitally important reasons of bigger player sprites, and more animation frames. And could Morris's wrist go limp with the whip? They claimed the Genesis title looked 8 bit.

As if the SNES game had more animation frames to begin with!

[TrekMD]

Just watched this video that I thought would be good for this topic.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_MOqHyCUEc

[Greyfox]

i think Rolf has more or less said it as the way it is? both machine to me were fantastic and had there merits, the cheek of Sega with their Blast Processor stunt was without a doubt marketing genius rather than a simple faster MHZ speed that allow faster scrolling, the Super Nintendo premise was I feel based more on high production values that high speed scrolling graphics.

With been a Super Nintendo fan through and through, I do and did have a soft spot for the Mega-drive because of the alternative games it had on the system and with the additional add-ons like the Mega-CD, 32x etc., they were in fairness highly dedicated to it, what did Nintendo do?, super FX chip (4 games) and that Network add-on (japan Only) which lasted for a small period? not much when compared to what Sega done.

Still it was a great time to be apart and still today discovering brand new games in these platforms, King of Demons (Snes) Targa (Snes), Muysha (Snes), Alicia Dragoon (Megadrive), Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow(Snes/MD), Battle Pinball (Snes), Undead Line(MD), Sub-Terrania(MD).

so I believe there is most definitively life still in these amazing consoles to some amazing gaming experiences, just that the Snes did it better lol...

[TrekMD]

Thought I'd revive this thread by posting this video that I found comparing these two consoles...

http://youtu.be/csFP0TCvt-c

[guest6097]

SNES vs Genesis:

Jurassic Park - wildly different on both consoles. On SNES, it's a brutally long dinosaur egg hunt with (then impressive) first person Wolfenstein like action. The genesis version is preferably in my opinion. A bit on the short side, but I love the riverboat level. I don't care for the Raptor's quest (pump station is a bitch), but Grant's campaign is worth it. The SNES clearly has much, much better graphics and sound, but the Genesis version is more fun while the SNES version borders on tedious. I suppose a hardcore SNES gamer and Jurassic Park enthusiast might have relished the tough challenge of the SNES version, but I don't think it's a memorable experience. Genesis version in my opinion here.

Beavis and Butthead - Unimpressive side scroller on the SNES, but Genesis got a fantastic game that reminded me of the old Sierra On-line games (Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest, King's Quest, etc.). I have fond memories of the Genesis game, a friend and I rented it and completed it over the weekend back in the day. Couch fishing was annoying, but Genesis version clearly superior. Animation and voice overs were pretty good, and the "Maniac Mansion" style of gameplay with action sequences makes the Genesis version an ambitious game that is unique for its' time.

Maximum Carnage (Spiderman and Venom) - when the games are a "twin release", (i.e., nearly identical across both systems), SNES always gets the nod (Earthworm Jim, Boogerman, Zombies Ate My Neighbors...you get the point). Such is the case with Maximum Carnage. This was a great game on both systems, and a very memorable Spiderman game. Even though it takes the somewhat tired approach of a side-scroller, the control and combat system are both very good. As a bonus, this game allows the gamer to also choose to sacrifice Spiderman's speedy combat for Venoms' power-fighting. Even though Venom's levels (such as San Francisco) are tough, it's totally worth it to play as Venom. The music, provided by the strange 90's band Green Jelly, sounds fantastic on the SNES, but lousy on the Genesis. Also, I prefer the SNES graphics and control. This is definitely an SNES win.

Mortal Kombat - This is the big one. I have no idea why people continue to debate which version of the first Mortal Kombat is superior on SNES or Genesis. With MK II, MK III, and Ultimate MK III, there seems to be no debate, SNES wins hands-down. But for one minor reason (the lack of blood), some gamers consider the Genesis version (thanks to the blood code) to be superior. I couldn't disagree more. As a kid, I got the Genesis Mortal Kombat as a birthday gift and played it to death. It was clearly light years behind the SNES version. Admittedly, SNES not having the blood was a stupid move as it allowed gamers to conclude that Genesis was the system for adult gamers. It was somewhat alienating for gamers that enjoyed the Nintendo brand, and it backfired badly on SNES. The mistake would never be repeated as the ensuing MK releases were truer to their arcade counterparts. Nevertheless, even though the SNES version of MK I replaced the blood with gray (referred to as "sweat") and altered a number of the fatalities, the pathetic sounds of the genesis (Sub-zero's slide, no announcer except for a belchy "excellent!"), atrocious music, pitiful graphics and animations just ruined the game (Sub-Zero's fatality looks awful). Some of the fatalities looked better on SNES like Sub-Zero's "shattering" and Rayden's "head electrocution", but Johnny Cage's fatality was altered to a shadow kick and Kano's to a chest punch. Still, the graphics, sound, and control were much, much better on SNES.

Finally, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think it's only fair that when discussing the SNES vs Genesis topic that these two games come up even if they are technically different games unique to each system. The SNES got the arcade-port of Turtles in Time while the Genesis got Hyperstone Heist, which was a hybrid of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game and Turtles in Time. Again, I don't think there's any doubt the SNES version wins here. Better graphics, animation, GREAT music, gameplay, control, etc. The Genesis game does look great and have decent controls, and I rather like that it is its' own unique game rather than just another inferior port. Hyperstone Heist is even one of my favorite Genesis games. It is fantastic. Unfortunately, Turtles in Time is arguably the best beat 'em up of all time. Even thought the Hyperstone Heist is great, Turtles in Time is just greater. SNES on this one

WHEW! If you read this, thanks for reading...sorry bout the length...

[TrekMD]

Hey, very good post.  We want to generate discussion with these so if you have the time to create nice posts it is not an issue.  You made good points there.  Some of the games are really different between the two systems.  We do have a thread about games with the same name that are different in two consoles. 

[Shadowrunner]

I agree, good post. Don't worry about the length either, say as much as you want

[Greyfox]

Some great pointers there, but we could go on for days and days comparing the technicalities of both machine, the CPU speeds etc, but that would just be a speed test , colour display etc. and ignoring the the real comparison to which was the originality of the games themselves on both machines. I remember playing the Japanese MegaDrive via an import a friend of mine had gotten back in 1989 to which I was still using the Atari ST machine for comparison lol. He had Micheal Jacksons "Moonwalker" and "Rambo III" and "Revenge of Shinobi" and was literally blown away by what I was seeing, as an avid arcade going whore at the time, there was nothing like this? The joypad was strange to me, since I'd been using a joystick since 1979, never seen anything like it before. The sounds, the graphics, I didn't want the guy to leave the house with his Sega MegaDrive and was a real insight to me of what was coming, how do I get one of these without paying an arm and leg? And if I remember the guy paid something like £280 for the console and £50 pounds a game in 1989 because it was an import, I was bullying over that.

Roll on the Amiga days with the ideas of arcade action in the home, amazing sound chip, amazing graphics, upon seeing exclusive Amiga only titles, it's suppressed my wants for a sega MegaDrive if only for a short period of time and kept it at bay for like 2 years since seeing the MegaDrive originally, but in January of 1991 another close friend of mine brings in not one but two import consoles to show me one bringing a "SNK Neo Geo" and the other a "Super Famicom", the Neo Geo just couldn't believe what I was seeing, costing the guy a whopping £400 for the console and £200 per game? Show case "Magician Lord and Nam 1975" being only titles out at that time,This truly was for those that had a massive disposable income and at the age of 19 there was no way I could afford a machine like that..lol..but..when he showed me the Super Famicom and inserted "Final Fight Guy" cartridge I was thinking how did they cramp the arcade game into a piece of plastic the size of a hand book? I had to get one of these, I didn't even known about the original NES had been and gone at this point, as I was an Atari fanboy and never paid any attention to other platforms, so this was like mind blowing stuff and far superior to what the MegaDrive and the Amiga for that matter was delivering at the time, I would have had to wait only 2-3months for the SNES to arrive in Europe and in Ireland before getting my hands on the Super Mario world SNES pack. I'll never forget it, switch on my own SNES for the first time, never experiencing a super Mario game before, I was simply wowed by the experience. The games were technically incredible on SNES for me , more so that the MegaDrive titles,mother seemed to push the envelope on all fronts on the SNES more so than on Sega's machine, the graphics were better, the sound was better, you were getting Arcade perfect games in your house, the MegaDrive versions seemed to be cut down compared to SNES versions.

I can't say the MegaDrive was better than the SNES, giving both machine a fair go by renting them out at the local video store for something different, I had played a lot of Japanese SNES games breaking new grounds and in hindsight catching up with the MegaDrive back catalogue of title never released in Europe in comparison to those of the SNES stuff , weren't as enriching as the SNES experience was for me. Hell we got the Starwars trilogy for gods sake on the SNES, what more is there to life than that?

[TrekMD]

Time to give this thread another kick.  I've found a series of videos that compare SNES and Genesis games.  The guys doing these start off with some stuff that may appear stupid but it generally does connect with the game being reviewed. Here's one of their videos comparing Mickey Mania!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuei_mpVBTU

[TrekMD]

Giving this a kick again, this time with a game that fits the ghoulish aspect of this month:  Ghouls 'n Ghosts vs Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

http://youtu.be/s3PQr48T1bQ

[TrekMD]

Classic Game Room has released a video that compares the controllers for the two consoles.  I think it is funny he is wearing an Atari hat while holding the SNES and Genesis controllers and then mentioning the Vectrex. 

https://youtu.be/Olbgmvsq5eI

[AmigaJay]

Whilst the SNES was no doubt a great machine and both machines had hundreds of great games, i still prefer the Megadrive over it, here's a few reasons why;

Released First - I was playing 16-bit consoles games on my Megadrive for a full 18 months before the SNES came out.

Cheaper - Megadrive games on average were £40-£45, whilst SNES games were £50-£60.

Resolution - i wont go into which machine is faster, but the resolution wise of the SNES was too jaggie for my likes (the N64 even worse as it used the same resolution on a 64-bit machine doh!) 256x240 vs 320x240 in the Megadrive's favour.

Censored - More SNES games were censored, with images or blood removed whilst the Megadrive version remained unaltered.

Boxes - nobody likes cardboard boxes for game software as they get knackered over time, study cases everytime for me!

Coolness factor - the Megadrive was no doubt the cooler of the two machines, both in looks and appeal, companies like EA were at height of coolness and help push the Megadrive in the US, the Fisherprice look of the SNES didn't help, though thankfully in Europe we didnt get the awful US palmer violet edition!