Top Video Game Consoles : Ranking the Rec Room Rulers

[Daikaiju]

I played a lot of stuff on PS2. Sturdiest thing Sony made.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#6

Game Boy Advance

368 points, 14 votes
Console Co-Champions Hive mind: Kirin, Lokii, Torzelbaum, Mogri, Purple, RT-55J (#6)

Gen: 6th
Lifespan: 2001-2012

Media:
Game Boy Game Pak
Game Boy Color Game Pak
Game Boy Advance Game Pak

Lineage: Nintendo
Franchise foundation for:
Mario & Luigi, Phoenix Wright / Ace Attorney​

Pressures from competing handheld consoles drove Nintendo to innovate and build upon the original Game Boy. In the late 90s they released the Game Boy Color but that still wasn't quite enough so Nintendo developed the Game Boy Advance and released it in 2001.

The console was successful but did start off with a weakness that could be called glaring but it was actually the opposite problem - at times the screen (which didn't have a backlight or frontlight) could be too dark to see. This was such an issue that the Afterburner, a warranty-voiding unofficial modification for adding a frontlight, was in high demand. The heyday of the Afterburner was short-lived because Nintendo would later release an upgraded GBA version, the Game Boy Advance SP, which had built-in lighting.

The GBA became home to many popular Game Boy franchises, received new sequels of NES & SNES games, and also was home to many ports, remakes & re-releases. Most versions of the GBA could also play Game Boy and Game Color games. This all combined to give the GBA a large and varied library of games.

Where the cool pixel stuff went for a while after SNES.

Some all-timer games on there, but boy it was hard to see anything on a launch GBA. I honestly may have spent more time with the Super GBA connected to my Gamecube.

Aside from feeling real nice in the hand, and its role as "the portable SNES" there are just so many great games native to this thing. Aria of Sorrow, the Ace Attorneys, FFTA...

I think this was something of a swansong for 2D. True, the DS would continue releasing many 2D titles, but the GBA might be the last console not to natively support 3D. Heck of a library, and it can play GB/GBC games.

I have picked out a game for each [console], because I felt like it. - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

(@Kirin @Lokii @Mogri @Purple @RT-55J @Aurelia @Falselogic @JBear @Issun @Violentvixen @Baudshaw @WildcatJF @Yimothy)

 

[Daikaiju]

Also original home of the Mario & Luigi RPG series.

 

[Patrick]

It’s wild that DS released only three years later. Even so, GBA has a great library.

 

[Yimothy]

The GBA was low on my list, but still there. I’ve never owned one (closest I have is an analogue pocket), but I’ve played several GBA games on my DS (and a few via emulation). Some of them, admittedly, SNES ports (FFVI, Tales of Phantasia). And I’ve played a few GBA games via ports to other systems (Riviera and Yggdra Union especially, though I guess Riviera is actually a WSC game. But the wonderswan is unlikely to place in the remaining spots despite clearly deserving to so let’s mention it here). It’s a good little system.

 

[Baudshaw]

The GBA's hardware and backlight weren't perfect, but it has a great library of games for me to play on an emulator.

 

[Issun]

When you combine the GBA's already stellar library with all the GB/GBC games you could play on it, it's very worthy of its spot.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#5

PlayStation

375 points, 13 votes
Console Co-Champions: Jbear & Lokii (#2)

Gen: 5th
Lifespan: 1994-2006

Media: CD
Lineage: Sony

Franchise foundation for:
Armored Core, Atelier, Crash Bandicoot,
Everybody's Golf / Hot Shots Golf / Minna no Golf,
Gran Turismo, Klonoa, Medal of Honor,
Metal Gear Solid, Persona, Resident Evil,
Silent Hill, Tony Hawk's, Wipeout​

Born from the ashes of a failed partnership with Nintendo arose Sony's first home game console, the PlayStation (AKA PSX, PSOne, PS1). The PlayStation was an incredibly successful, popular and profitable debut console for Sony. I think part of that is the absolute coup they were able to pull off by getting exclusive sequels for popular existing franchises. Many new game franchises also debuted on the PlayStation.

The PlayStation was also responsible for a seismic shift towards optical media for game storage and towards games being predominantly in 3D. 2D games were still well represented on the console and did comprise many of the most popular games for the system.

Interesting Trivia: When first working with Nintendo to create a CD-ROM drive Sony encountered an issue where "The PlayStation name had already been trademarked by Yamaha, but Nobuyuki Idei [Chairman and CEO of Sony] liked it so much that he agreed to acquire it for an undisclosed sum rather than search for an alternative."

It did what needed doing and turned Sony into my go-to console-maker for two decades.

Most of my favourite childhood consoles can be sorted by "how many cool JRPGs did it have?", and the original PlayStation had *quite a lot of them*.

Given what would become the de facto industry standard in consoles, we saw some incredible creativity in this generation. PaRappa. Incredible Crisis. Future Cop: LAPD. Brave Fencer Musashi. Heck, all of Squaresoft's weird one-off titles.

I have picked out a game for each [console], because I felt like it. - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Honestly? What can I say about this platform? It’s a legendary system with a phenomenal library, fantastic controllers and some of the best games released in the 1990s and early 2000s. I seriously believe that the gaming landscape would be dramatically different if the PS1 didn’t release. However, there’s definitely something interesting about watching a system where you can see 3D game design develop further as you get further along the library, it’s a really cool period for games. And it has great 2D games too!

Recommended games: Rayman, Tekken 3, Crash Bandicoot 2, Klonoa, Ape Escape, Ghost in the Shell, Ridge Racer Type 4, Spyro 2, Final Fantasy VII-IX, Crash Team Racing, Gran Turismo 2 and Metal Gear Solid.

(@JBear @Lokii @Issun @Aurelia @Mogri @RT-55J @Falselogic @Yimothy @Baudshaw @Kirin @WildcatJF @Purple)

 

[Lokii]

I went back and forth a bunch between this and the other as number 1. Incredible console, yet to be topped. No one can stop mr. domino.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

PlayStation is one I missed and an unfortunate and perhaps unfair thing against it I remembered where the painfully long load times for Crash Bandicoot when a family friend of a friend of a etc. showed me their copy.

I did play Parappa and one of the Puyo Puyos quite a bit when I was loitering in a used game and manga store when I was living in Japan, though.

 

[Torzelbaum]

I didn't miss the PlayStation but I was a late adopter. It was released when I was in college and I didn't have the time or the money then for another console. I did have a friend who was an early adopter and enjoyed playing the Tohshinden games on his PlayStation.

Years later after I had graduated and got my first "adult" job a PlayStation was one of my first big purchases. Final Fantasy 7 was one of the first games I purchased for the PS1 (but I had to bear the green stripe of shame in order to do that).

 

[Issun]

Wow, I had this pegged for somewhere in the top 3. Anyways yeah, incredibly important piece of hardware, changed the game, etc. Like many I migrated because of Final Fantasy and stayed for all the other RPGs that followed. Lunar, Suikoden, Wild ARMs, Grandia, Legend of Mana, SaGa Frontier, Thousand Arms, Chrono Cross, Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest VII, Kartia, Parasite Eve, Star Ocean, Tales of Destiny, Vandal Hearts, Koudelka, Tactics Ogre and, of course, Xenogears, which I am currently replaying. Just an absolute gold mine.

 

[Yimothy]

I was a Sega kid and I got a Saturn, but in the end the pull of the PS1 was too strong. I think we got one towards the end of 2000, pretty late in the piece. I played a lot of games on that thing: the FFs, REs, SotN, VS, Silent Hill, Chrono Cross, Tales of Destiny, Grandia. Actually, mentioning Grandia reminds me of how we got it: at the end of the school year in 2000 Mum took us overseas for the first time, to a country where extremely cheap games in strange packaging were available from street vendors everywhere, so we bought a bunch including Grandia. Once we got home we got a PS1, then a mod chip, and started playing. Grandia absolutely blew me away with its opening, but the dodgy copy we had would freeze at the end of the boat trip near the start of the game, so it wasn’t until I got a less dodgy copy some time later that I was able to keep playing it. Actually a lot of those dodgy games were eventually replaced with more reliable legit copies. I also played a lot of pirated stuff, to be honest, mostly things that weren’t released in the PAL territories.

I’m still playing PS1 games - Kings Field a few years ago, Koudelka more recently, R-Type Delta in between.

 

[Issun]

Forgot to mention Vagrant Story in my JRPG roundup.

 

[Daikaiju]

The PS1, like the DS family later, was such a hotbed of "What if...?" gaming. So much was thrown against the wall to see what would stick. We feasted like kings and didn't even realize at the time...

 

[nataeryn]

GBA - my little brother got a GBA for his birthday or christmas. Unlike the gameboy or nintendo previously, which were shared gifts for all of us kids, the GBA was specifically his. I didn't play much of the GBA until I got a DS and played GBA carts on that, so its one of those things where i remember games fondly, but the timeline is off for me.

PSone - my first console since the NES, though I didn't purchase it. My then girlfriend had a PS1 because her mom worked at target and nobody in their household hardly ever used it. They also had a smattering of games, usually whatever was in the bargain bin at target, but she had all the Crash games, all the Spyro games and Chrono Cross. I had no idea what that was, since I had never played Chrono Trigger. It was just some weird RPG with a pink dog. My then girlfriend let me borrow the PS1 and I promptly purchased Final Fantasy 7. I knew about FF7 because i had a friend that had invited me to a sleepover and showed off his save file with Knights of the Round. I had no context, but I knew it was a good RPG and my first one since playing some FF1 on the NES.
The girl friend became the wife and the wife became the ex-wife. But I still have the playstation and all the disks.

 

[Kirin]

I’m out traveling, catching up:

PS2 I bought at launch; you can tell because I own The Bouncer, which is a mess of a beat-em-up but he only thing that was out from Square at the time. Fortunately things quickly expanded into one of the best libraries of all time. In addition to all the usual FFs and Suikos and Katamaris and KHs and Icos, I also had Atelier Iris, Chaos Legion, DMC, Gitaroo Man, .hack, Odin Sphere, Okage, Rez, Space Channel 5, Steambot Chronicles, Taiko Drum Master, Transformers, Zone of Enders, and 2 Soul Caliburs, 3 Tekkens, and 6 DDRs. That’s a whole lot of goodness!

GBA I never actually owned, but got to dip into the library after the fact when I got a DS. Faves included Astro Boy, Drill Dozer, Kirby, Klonoa, Metroid Fusion and Zero, Minish Cap, Wario 4, and I had a Japanese cart of Sword of Mana (Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu) that I never managed to make it all the way through.

PS1 got picked up for FF7 and went on to have a ridiculous quantity of cool Square games. There’s the ones everybody knows (FF/Chrono/Xeno/Mana) and ones loved by aficionados (your Vagrant Stories and Parasite Eves) but it just keeps going with the likes of the Bushido Blades (kind of overlooked at the time but really a brilliant take on the nascent 3D 1-on-1 fighter genre) the Chocobo Dungeons (roguelikes for non-masochists before that became more common) and so on. I even had Ehrgeiz, which was maybe less brilliant but still fun).
Also we got Megaman Legends and Tron Bonne on here. Pocket Fighter and Puzzle Fighter. RPG Maker. Rhapsody. Wild Arms. Etc etc etc.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#4

Nintendo Switch

388 points, 13 votes

Triforce of Fans of this Console:
Baudshaw, Johnny Unusual, WildcatJF (#1)

Gen: 8th and/or 9th?
Lifespan: 2017 to present (but numbered)

Media:
Game card [Note: Not edible!]
digital distribution

Lineage: Nintendo​

Nintendo has a long and storied history as both a home and handheld console developer. For the 8th generation Nintendo built upon the knowledge learned from all of those different consoles and merged their strengths together to create the Nintendo Switch.

The Switch was a hybrid console that combined the portability of a handheld with the ability to dock it and use it like a home console (possibly taking inspiration from the Game Boy Players and other peripherals like it). Its Joy Con controllers also embraced that duality since they could be either connected to the Switch in handheld mode or used wirelessly when docked - either as a pair (like a WiiMote plus Wii nunchuk) or separately (to allow 2 people to share 1 Joy Con). The Switch also had a touch screen like the Wii U controller and the different DS systems. And there were also many other control options.

While the Switch continued to use digital distribution of games the now low costs of non-volatile flash memory technology allowed Nintendo to economically use it for physical distribution of Switch games.

All of this combined to make the Switch one of Nintendo's most successful consoles. (It's #3 on the list of best selling game consoles.)

The Switch is just an incredibly versatile console. Why you can even put a frog on it!

Or take a frog off of it...

But only when it's undocked. (The Switch that is, not the frog.)

I think I like my Switch less than pretty much anyone else I know, possibly because for me it never leaves its dock. It had some good exclusives, though.

They knocked it out of the park with this one, plus or minus some joycon issues.

I have picked out a game for each [console], because I felt like it. - Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Great console, great portable, brought me fully into the Nintendo console fold.

The Switch is easily my favorite game console of all time. There are two minor problems: the joy-con drift and having to pay for online. Despite this, NSO acts as a great virtual feature with tons of games from a wide variety of consoles, plus a bunch of additional doo-hickeys on top. For a handheld, the performance is spectacular, and it did a great job adapting a wide variety of Wii U games and franchises; giving them a new life or a refresh. The original games on this system are also stunning: I could go on and on about the games that could be system-sellers, but they're all competing for the top spot here.

The Switch is my number one here and I won't say recency bias is a part but while it is, it is a genuinely great, unique system. While not as daring as the Wii or the DS, it really took advantage of the fact that, well, there's not a huge difference in graphical quality from a handheld and regular console anymore so why not be both? It's not the only innovation; the removable controls or playing the old NES library for a small subscription fee but a system that you can play portably or in front of the TV works so well in this era of gaming. Power goes out? Then you have a good few hours of playtime still.

But the thing that gets me is that it's... actually really simple. Like beautifully so. Not just the controllers or the sleekness but I remember setting up the dock and realizing it's just a few wires away from this experience. We could have done this years [ago] if we thought about it. But I think Nintendo's ability to innovate means it is a system that never rests on its laurels. Except, ironically, this one left an impact so big, now Nintendo CAN'T move on from the Switch and now must make a better Switch. And while I value innovation... I think that's literally what I and most gamers want anyway.

(@Baudshaw @Johnny Unusual @WildcatJF @Issun @Lokii @Mogri @Kirin @Violentvixen @Aurelia @Yimothy @JBear @Purple)

 

[Violentvixen]

Animal Crossing in 2020 just cemented the Switch as the console everyone seemed to be playing. It was crazy.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Going back to #5 for a little bit here:
In addition to all of the other games mentioned, the PS1 also had lots of ports, remakes and compilations.

I even had Ehrgeiz, which was maybe less brilliant but still fun.

God bless the ring.

Triforce of Fans of this Console:
Baudshaw, Johnny Unusual, WildcatJF (#1)

I'll let these three hash out who's Courage, who's Power and who's Wisdom.

 

[Baudshaw]

The Switch generation has arguably the best games lineup out of any console here. Not a single year of this system's lifespan was a flop.

 

[Falselogic]

I can't believe I forgot to vote for the Switch. What a fantastic console. With seamless transition from plugged in to portable. A fantastic selection of new and old games. Almost perfect.

 

[nataeryn]

To me the Switch has all the best features of all the other various Nintendo devices all rolled up into one thing.
I got a Switch as a gift. It has lived most of its life as a docked console, but I have had the pleasure of riding an Amtrak and the switch on the train is really enjoyable way to pass the time. It has gone home for Christmas and i even got all the siblings to play Mario Kart and Smash brothers together and we had a blast, gamers and non-gamers alike. I've used it to complete most every Final Fantasy 1-12 except 10 and 11. I've played some of the best Mario and Zelda games and even re-discovered the fun of a Pokemon game. It has the credit for being the only console I ever owned that the ex-wife actually bought games for herself, including Animal Crossing, Captain Toad and Mario + Rabbids.

 

[Daikaiju]

Some unexpected exclusives on this gem of a console. Cadance Of Hyrule for example.

 

[Issun]

Given the depth and breadth of titles you have access to, combined with the fact that you can start playing on your living room TV, then on your bedroom TV, then in your bed, your car (please do not play Nintendo Switch while driving) and then continue playing on the TV at your friend's house, all without missing a beat? Add to that that, unlike other modern consoles, it starts right up? Greatest console of all time.

It was my #2 because I voted with my heart and there is only one system that has that now and forever. But yeah. Nintendo Switch. It's pretty great!

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Switch was my number 1. I think I can definitely be "got" by recency bias but I don't think I would have put the Wii or PlayStation 2, system I really liked, at the #1 of my hey day with them. I almost feel like Nintendo wrote themselves into a corner with Switch. Everything feels "ultimate" about it. Not that it's perfect, God no. But there's this big catalogue of classic games, Smash Bros got every classic character in one, it just feels like the logical extension of Nintendo's archivist mentality toward their own brand. But beyond that, the innovation is, like so many of their great and even not great systems, unique. No slight to Xbox and Playstation but I feel like they just make more power with more online stuff while Nintendo swings for new ideas (or daring reinventions of old ones). Switch merged their portable and home systems into one.

But the corner is... the Switch is out 8 years (wow, it doesn't feel like it) and that's a good while for a system but in making a new system... it would be TOO big an ask for it not to be Switch 2. Granted, it's missing the feature return I wanted to see based on something that's definitely going to be in the top 3, but Switch 2's innovations are more subtle and the Switch made such a positive impact... it's way to hard for Nintendo to change course on it to make a new toy like the Wii. I love Switch but I really hope we get another big swing in the 10th Generation

 

[Torzelbaum]

#3

Nintendo Entertainment System

400 points, 13 votes
Console Champion: Torzelbaum (#1)

Gen: 3rd

Lifespan:
1983-2003 (Japan)
1985-1995 (rest of the world)

Media:
Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak
(ROM cartridge)

Lineage: Nintendo

Franchise foundation for:
Castlevania, Contra, Dragon Quest,
Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda,
Metroid, Mega Man, Megami Tensei​

The Atari 2600 might have been one of the first successful home consoles but mis-steps by Atari and other factors led to a recession in the video games industry - the Bite Crash of '83.

But before that Japanese game company Nintendo had developed dedicated home consoles and several successful arcade games. They made it their next goal to join other companies in creating a home console with swappable games - and thus the Famicom was born (in Japan).

​

The Famicom was a success for Nintendo in Japan and so they worked to bring it to America and beyond. Nintendo went through many trials and tribulations* in order to release their console in the US (and the rest of the world) as the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The NES would go on to be incredibly successful and cement Nintendo's status in the world of video games (for better or worse).

The OG for my generation.

Countless rentals, countless hours of my youth well spent.

You never forget your first love. I didn't have one as a kid; I had to live vicariously through my friends.

I have picked out a game for each [console], because I felt like it. - The Legend of Zelda

This was the one that was the most important to me. As a kid, this was a holy grail. My friend had one and it completely dazzled me and I deeply wanted it. After one Christmas where I tried to make due with the Sega Master System for the year (I'm still not sure if my dad, a tech guy, was genuinely convinced it was the most advanced and therefore better system or if... it was a year where the NES was too hard to get). When I finally did, it basically lived up to my dreams for the most part (I had to accept not all NES games where created equal).

I had and loved the NES for a long time and yes, I was a step behind because I got it about the time the Super Nintendo came out but... I didn't care too much. I was having so much fun. The NES games just looked more vibrant to me and I think that this was a time when Nintendo was perhaps a little too draconian about their system but also had a level of quality control that resulted in a surprising number of really good games.

And Taboo: The Sixth Sense.

Though Japan generally has a better sense of design, the NES design is sleeker and more aesthetically pleasing than the Famicom (which I didn't vote for because I think they are basically the same system to differentiate. Sorry to anyone who voted for the Famicom, which I actually owned when I lived in Thailand). Anyway, the whole package just added to the appeal to me, along with it's great game library. I have no doubt there are elements of weakness I am missing but I guess I can't be objective about this one.

(@RT-55J @Falselogic @Johnny Unusual @WildcatJF @Issun @JBear @Lokii @Purple @Violentvixen @Kirin @Mogri @Baudshaw)

*No, really. Read about the History of the NES - it's a wild ride.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

In all honesty, I had this pegged as #2 on the list. Having at three is a bit of a surprise. Though frankly all systems that I suspect will be here are definitely all worthy of the top spot to me.

 

[Falselogic]

Would have been my #1 if I wasn't just trying to get my out of left fields placed. Just an amazing system and amazing games.

 

[Issun]

It was my #4.