Hello, here is my idea for a gaming post.
Title- My thoughts after trying every SNES, Genesis and Amiga game
In 2023 I've been bitten huge by the emulation bug and have spent many hours trying the commercial catalogues of the three major platforms of the era, the Amiga, the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo (roughly 3000, 1000 and 1750 games respectively). I did this from the perspective of an action fan who mainly likes pick up and go action games that are fun and I also prioritize great graphics. I love 2D pixel art and took a huge break from gaming after things veered into 3D. Having grown up owning an A500 and an A1200 but not a machine from Sega or Nintendo I was more familiar with the Amiga library but still had a lot of games to discover for the first time from each.
I've now tried at least a few minutes of every commercial game (I'm sure I've missed some) from the 3 main systems. My objective is to put all my favourite games into a list and then revisit them all and play them more extensively which I have already done with quite a few. Since everything was done with emulation it was an even playing field because all loading times are now the same and any button inputs etc. can be configured in any way you like. I made a post on Reddit about my Amiga list which was then 310 games and has now been revised to 312.
I then went through the Sega Genesis/Sega CD/Sega 32X catalogue and put up my list of 190 favourite games that has now been revised to 197
https://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=1620501&postcount=46 I've just finished the SNES list which is at the bottom of this post and it is for 201 games.
So the final tally of "come back to games" is Amiga 312, Sega 197 and SNES 201. On the Sega list there were 56 that were also on the Amiga list and the SNES had 37 that were also on the Amiga list and quite a few that were also on the Sega list. So I tried to be as unbiased as possible when doing the lists and thought I'd write down my random thoughts if anyone is interested.
-The Amiga wins for me not just in sheer number of games but also in variety and that's keeping in mind I'm not really interested in strategy or RPG or simulation games etc. My Amiga list is just more eclectic even though they are mostly all action oriented. The SNES catalogue had the second most variety and the Genesis had the least being heavily skewed to sports games, shmups, beat em ups and platform games. So ranking in terms of variety it's 1)Amiga 2)SNES 3)Genesis
-I'd say in terms of overall performance the Amiga 500 and Genesis are roughly equivalent. The copper, blitter and extended palette give the Amiga some advantages and the sprites and tile system give the Sega Genesis some. The CD32 I'd say is roughly equivalent to a SNES without Mode 7 but with a CD drive. Each system definitely has a distinctive "look" to their games and I definitely prefer the Amiga look. I think the Amiga game Agony is the most beautiful of the entire 16 bit era. I know that is subjective but I saw nothing that topped it, it is like playing a moving art piece. I found the Amiga games would more often go for a more sophisticated, realistic art style. Also I would characterize more Amiga games as depicting a fantasy type world instead of a pastel anime kind of world on the SNES or a more gritty comic book look on the Sega Genesis. Obviously there are many exceptions to this rule but the general aesthetic of each system is definitely its own.
-The detail in Amiga graphics is also a differentiator, something like Banshee has such exquisite detail, also games like Slam Tilt or Disposable Hero. I think the bitmap vs tile system and the resolution helps the Amiga in this regard, the attention to detail in the graphics was something I definitely noticed
-Although graphically I found Amiga games most beautiful and stunning like Agony, Lionheart, Elfmania, Super Stardust etc. I was impressed with the Disney games that originated on the consoles like Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck etc.
-The more extensive sprite systems of the SNES and Genesis did give advantages in some games like Contra III, Contra Hard Corps and Gunstar Heroes. However, there was no shmup on any system that rivalled the sheer intensity of Mega Typhoon on the Amiga 500 and seeing that game in action made me think the Amiga was also capable of those kind of sprite based games if the Mega Typhoon coding techniques had been discovered earlier
-While playing the SNES games that were also on the Genesis I wondered if SNES owners back in the day were kind of annoyed at developers for playing to the lowest common denominator by catering to the Genesis like what happened in the 1980's where the Amiga had to suffer with all the Atari ST ports. I noticed a lot of low color screens on the SNES that is able to do 256 colors that I imagined might have been done in 64 or less for the Genesis and then just never improved when ported
-Mode 7 was used a lot more than I imagined. There were many different types of SNES games that implemented the mode in various ways. I thought Contra III might have been my favourite game on the SNES and those overhead levels were very unique and entertaining. I think Mode 7 went beyond a gimmick on the SNES and was a good differentiator and was probably a factor in pushing the gaming industry towards 3D.
-The term "console quality" I think is really a misnomer and probably just a clever marketing trick because there were a lot of bad playing and looking games on both consoles. I think Nintendo's quality control was a notch above Sega's but popping in a random console game does not mean you are going to automatically see something polished like Contra III or Vectorman it could just as easily be Awesome Possum, Home Alone 2 or Hardball III. I also witnessed many instances of flickering and slowdown on both the SNES and the Genesis.
-I love platfrom games and when going over the lists I was saddened to see how few were made specifially for AGA Amigas. There were a lot of spruced up OCS/ECS games but commercially besides Marvin's Marvelous Adventure and Tin Toy Adventure there was little else in the mid 90's. Donkey Kong Country 3 was probably the most impressive platform game I saw on the SNES and it would have been wonderful to see more attempts on the A1200/CD32
-The Overall winner for me is definitely the Amiga, it was my first love and maybe it's my bias but its games just have that je ne sais quoi. Action games are supposed to be the bread and butter of the consoles but I found over 100 more action games to play on the Amiga. I also discovered a lot of good games on the consoles but I'm pretty sure I'll spend the most time going back to games on my Amiga list over the other two. If I had to choose only one console to have it would definitely be the SNES. Again it had more variety and the graphics were better so any game that was shared by the SNES and the Genesis I will return to the SNES version with only a few exceptions. Since the Amiga list and Genesis list shared a lot more games if you were to have a limited budget or limited time the combination of the Amiga and the SNES would probably be your best bet.
I'm now going to go through the entire catalogue of the Turbo Grafx 16/PC Engine but I'm not sure how many people would be interested in that list. Then I plan to do all the 2D games of the PS1. So here is my list of favourite SNES games again from the perspective of an action fan who also prioritizes great graphics (games also on the Amiga list marked with a *)
Adv.of Batman & Robin, *Adv. of Kid Kleets, Adv. Yogi Bear
Aero Fighters, Aero the Acrobat 2, Aladdin
American Tail, *Arkanoid, Asterix
Asterix and Obelix, Axelay, Batman Forever
Battle Raiden, Beauty & the Beast, Bio Metal
Blazeon, Bonkers, Bugs Bunny
Cannon Fodder, Capcom's Soccer Shootout, Castlevania Dracula X
*Championship Soccer 94, *Chuck Rock, Clay Fighter 2
Contra III, *Cool Spot, CutThroat Island
Cybernator, D-Force, Darius Twin
Daze Before Christmas, Demon's Crest, *Dennis
*Desert Strike, Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country 3, Do Re Mi Fantasy, Dragon Bruce Lee Story
Earth Defense Force, Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2
F1 Grand Prix, Fifa 97, Final Fight
*First Samurai, *Flashback, Flintstones
Flintstones Treasure of Sierra, Frantic Flea, Front Mission:Gun Hazard
F-Zero, Ganbare! Daiku, Ganbare Goemon 2
*Gods, Go Go Ackman, Great Battle IV
Great Circus Mystery, Gunforce, Gundam Wing
Hagane, Hameln no Violin Hiki, *Humans
Imperium, Incantation, Indiana Jones
Iron Commando, *James Pond 3, Jelly Boy
Jikkyon Parodius, *Jim Power, Joe and Mac
Joe and Mac 2, Judge Dredd, Jungle Book
*Jungle Strike, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park 2
Ken Griffey Winning Run, King of Demons, Kirby's Dreamland 3
*Lamborghini American Challenge, Legend, Legend of Zelda
*Lemmings, *Lemmings 2, Lester the Unlikely
*Lethal Weapon, *Lion King, *Lost Vikings
Lost Vikings 2, Lucky Luke, Lupin Sansei
Magical Quest Mickey, Marchen Adventures Cotton, Maui Mallard
Mech Warrior 3050, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3
Melford Stories, Metal Warriors, Mickey Mania
Mickey No Tokyo, Mickey to Donald, *Micro Machines
Micro Machines 2, Mohawk & Headphone Jack, Mr Nutz, Mr Tuff
*Ms Pacman, NBA Hang Time, NBA Live 98
Newman Haas Indy Car, Nightmare Busters, NHL 98
*Nigel Mansell's Racing, Ninja Warriors, *Oscar
*Out of This World, Pagemaster, Parodius Da
PGA Tour Golf, Phalanx, Phantom 2040
Pilot Wings, Pink Goes to Hollywood, Pinocchio
Pirates of Dark Water, Plok, Pocky and Rocky
Pocky and Rocky 2, Porky Pig, Prehistorik Man
Prince of Persia 2, *Pushover, *Putty Squad
R-Type III, Raiden Trad, Realm
Relief Pitcher, Rendering Ranger R2, Rockman and Forte
Rocky Rodent, Run Saber, Scrambled Valkyrie
Sky Blazer, Smurfs, Smurfs Travel the World
Socks the Cat, *Soldiers of Fortune, Space Megaforce
Sparkster, Speedy Gonzales, Spider-Man
Spider-Man Venom, Spirou, Spriggan Powered
Star Fox, Street Fighter 2, *Street Racer
Strike Gunner, Super Adventure Island, *Super Alfred Chicken
Super Back to the Future 2, Super Bonk, *Super Buster Bros
Super Castlevania, Super Genjin 2, Super Ghouls and Ghosts
*Super James Pond, Super Mario All Stars, Super Mario Kart
Super Mario World, Super Metroid, *Super Morph
Super Nova, Super R-Type, Super Star Wars
Super Star Wars Empire, Super Star Wars Jedi, *Super SWIV
Super Turrican, Super Turrican 2, Sutte Hakkan
TMNT IV, Thunder Spirits, Time Slip
Tinhead, Tiny Toons Adventure, Todd McFarlane's Spawn
Toy Story, Umihara Kawase, UN Squadron
Urban Strike, *Whizz, *Wolfchild
Wolverine, *Worms, X-Kaliber
Yoshi's Island, Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel