What system impressed you the most when it launched?

[VG_Maniac]

What system were you impressed by the most when it first launched? This could be because of the system's graphics, features, launch titles, etc.

I think I was the most impressed by the Dreamcast. Its graphics were such a HUGE step up from N64 and PSX. I remember how amazed I was when I first saw Sonic Adventure, Soul Caliber, House of the Dead 2, and NFL 2K in action. Not to mention...it had the best lineup of launch titles out of any system I can think of.

[poloplayr]

SNES.

I remember seeing the Mode 7 effects of F-Zero and hearing the audio on Super Mario World and being blown away. It was such a huge step from the NES.

[jajaja]

Ye, I remember when SNES came. Looked sp fucking good. Wanted one so bad hehe, but couldnt afford one and my parents said no.

[Pedro Lambrini]

I'd have to say the DS. The graphics may not be as nice as the PSP but compared to the GBA it was a massive leap. The surround audio in Mario 64 was unexpected and was a total surprise and the mini games (most of them!) were genius. The dual screen worked much better than I had feared. The whole thing kept me excited for days after getting it - much longer than any other console launch. For the first time ever I wasn't slightly dissappointed *Note to self: Ignore all launch hype!* A year later and the wee machine is still surprising me! :)

[Jumpman Jr.]

Dreamcast and the N64.
Moreso the N64 though. I remember first playing Super Mario 64 on it. I was truly amazed.

[segagamer4life]

I gotta say, the genny, I mean I can still remember the first time playing thunder force, and then to play Altered Beast, is arcade perfection, that was on the powerful 16-bit genesis, that game blew me away back then, and still today is a great port.

[Frica89]

yea im gonna say tha n64 too. seeing mario in 3D for the first time is something ill ever forget

[Zilla]

The Dreamcast. The first time I saw NFL 2k running on it I was amazed. Looked real. You could see steam coming from players mouths while it snowed on the field. Players were fluid. Then I saw Soul Caliber....are you kidding...it was amazing.

[AMG]

It's a three way tie for me.

Sega Genesis: The grapics just floored me. Altered Beast was amazing!

N64: Mario 64 was such a huge leap forward in gaming for me. Spot on controls and amazing 3D graphics in it's day.

Sega Dreamcast: The VMU memory card was just so cool. The sound in games was great. Then we have the graphics, Soul Calibur, what needs to be said? This game made my jaw drop like no game has since.

[smokehouse]

The SNES was really impressive to me at the time. The looks of the system, the controllers, the sound and graphics, it was amazing compared to the NES. The difference between Super Mario World and SMB 3 was staggering.

I know this is the retro section but the PS2 also shocked me. First off, the design was amazing for it’s time. Compared to the systems of the time (the N64 was still out, looked like a Playschool toy and the tiny blocky Dreamcast) it was a leap forward in design. Hell, even the deep blue box was cool. When I got it home and popped in Ridge Racer V, I was blown away.

[fishsandwich]

The PSone impressed the hell out of me.

We had Ridge Racer and Toshindin. Good times.

:D

[Rob of the Sky]

I was most impressed with the launch of the N64. I remember playing Super Mario 64 for the first time and was blown away by it. It was like I had stepped into the future or something. I mean, the N64 was capable of so much more than the SNES or Genesis. I guess that was the launch I was the most impressed with.

[Amy Rose]

Dreamcast here, too. I wanted one of those so badly, but my dad didn't have the cashola for it. :(

[smokehouse]

I guess I forgot about the original PS1. My buddy’s mom rented one for us from Blockbuster (not too long after launch) and I was blown away. Titles like Ridge Racer and Wipeout were unlike anything I had ever seen. As a matter of fact, it was this console that made the N64 seem so instantly outdated when I bought it at launch. It only took me one month with the N64 until I finally returned it and bought a Playstation. To me the PS1 was the step forward, not the N64 (and this is coming out of the mouth of a former Nintendo fanboy).

[Felixthegamer]

As I kid, I remember loving Super Mario bros. and playing it at the neighbors down the street when it first came out. They were the first on the block to have it and I was floored! It really impacted my childhood in a positive way as I have many memories.

As adult, I was impressed with the dreamcast. It seemed really cool, I liked how it looked and the controllers and having sonic didn't hurt.

[Damaramu]

TG-16: I remember seeing these in the Sears X-mas catalogs, thinking "Wow! Look at all the anime stuff in those games!!"

Genesis: I was very impressed by the gameplay and shear speed of Sonic The Hedgehog

Saturn: I was working at TRU in the video department when our first shipment came in. One of the managers took one and hooked it up in the breakroom. We were all pretty wowed! Until.....

PSone: Yup, it was games like Toshinden, Ridge Racer, Warhawk, and ESPN Extreme Sports that impressed the hell out of me and my friends.

and finally-

Dreamcast: The last real system to wow me. Again, Sonic Adventure with it's speed, gameplay, and graphics and Soul Calibur. SC was the selling point for me; convinced me that I had to have a DC.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Nintendo 64, seeing Mario in 3D finally

Genesis, I remember the large crowd of people surrounding the Kiosk at a Sears during that Fall...Altered Beast truly stood on it's own, when at last, the Arcade could finally be captured on a console.

Dreamcast, when I first saw House of the Dead 2 and Sonic Adventure in action. Heck, even "Ready to Rumble Boxing" was beyond impressive at the time too.

Sega GameGear. I wasn't too fimilar with the Turbo Express or the Atari Lynx at that time, I just knew what Sega stood for as a company. Yet the GameGear really came strong and slapping GameBoy around in each commerical had a good impact to add to that hype. Seeing a portable Sonic the Hedgehog was simply mind blowing

[Pantechnicon]

Model I Gameboy - The concept of a handheld system that was cartridge based is universal today, but was a gamer's dream come true in 1989.

Dreamcast - I have never considered myself a fiend for graphics, but the DC's capabilities definitely were jaw-dropping, although the first time I played the system I didn't like it at all (Power Stone, which I have since come to appreciate).

[Ruudos]

NES. I was used to Atari 2600's blocky graphics. Then certainly I got a running guy and flying ducks. Who looked like them.

[s1lence]

Dreamcast is the one that impressed me the most. The scene in Sonic when you are running on the beach and the dolphins jump over you, the effect of the lighting and water just blew me away.

[Kepone]

NES for me. Super Mario Bros was never boring for me as a kid.

First system I had was a 2600 so naturally, the NES seemed like a step up. Keep in mind that I didn't know about the SMS or Atari computers back then.

[evildead2099]

1) Neo-Geo

Playing arcade-perfect Samurai Shodown in the comfort of my friend Carlos' house overwhelmed me.

2) The Dreamcast

Marvel Vs. Capcom featured no noticable loading time between matches, and the game featured fantastic animation.

3) The N64

I was impressed by Mario 64's lush colours.

4) The Genesis

Sonic The Hedgehog's blazing speed was impressive to say the least. Mario finally got some serious competition. 8-)

5) The TG-16 / PC Engine

EGM's screenshots of anime-style cinema scenes from Valis III and Ys Book I & II amazed me.

[Simply Dave]

The Nintendo 64 was the first system to really make me say wow. Just playing in a living, breathing 3D world in Mario 64 was an expierence that I had never had before.

The first time I played my Dreamcast my jaw nearly hit the floor. I remember thinking to myself "Now this is the next level."

[hydr0x]

SNES, the graphics where just incredible, seeing Super Mario World and F-Zero was fantastic

Dreamcast, i wasn't into video games at that time but DAMN, i saw stuff like Power Stone on TV and i was overwhelmed, especially by Power Stone yeah (usage of environment and the pure graphical qualities)

[boozi2]

Probably the MegaDrive, but I wasn't THAT aware of games back then... My bro got one for his b-day when I was in 1st grade, IIRC... It was amazing. I was blown away by shining force and still love the game today :D

[n8littlefield]

Mine was the Genesis as well. I got it for Christmas, the Sonic bundle, along with ESwat and Might & Magic. I just remember being blown away at Sonic. It had such a depth to it that I had never seen before.

Edit: By depth, I mean it looked somewhat 3 dimensional, not depth of gameplay!!

[goatdan]

Believe it or not, the system that impressed me the most at launch was a system I never even saw for sale at a store until they were blowing them out... the Atari Jaguar!

The 2D previews that they had of some of the games were just amazing. And the fact that it would have 3D games like Cybermorph, that were equal to if not better than the 3D arcade games coming out at that time (Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter)... damn. I wanted one SO badly.

I never saw it until it was discontinued though. Now I own every game for it :D

Of course, the Dreamcast is a close runner up for me. A lot of people complain that Sega didn't promote it enough, but up until 9.9.99 and shortly after, the Dreamcast was literally everywhere on everything. I have a theory that a great launch actually hurts a console, and perhaps unfortunately in my mind and many other's the Dreamcast's launch was the absolute best launch a console has ever had. The amount of TV stations showing of NFL 2K, Soul Calibur and Sonic were staggering.


..although the first time I played the system I didn't like it at all (Power Stone, which I have since come to appreciate).

Ironically, Power Stone was the first game that I played too, I believe. At a Toys R Us, just after launch. My second experience was at Epcot in Innoventions, which was much better. But Power Stone was completely underwealming to me too, and I have yet to understand the appeal of that game.

Now, Walt Disney's Magical Racing Tour, which was the second game I played, I have a big appreciation for and I'm surprised that more people don't. Yes, I'm being serious.

[furor]

The Colecovision Had the Most Impressive Launch to me - I lived in the Arcades at the time and when I saw all of the arcade ports and how good they looked for the time, I was blown away. After that the only system to impress me was the SNES.

[segagamer4life]

The Dreamcast. The first time I saw NFL 2k running on it I was amazed. Looked real. You could see steam coming from players mouths while it snowed on the field. Players were fluid. Then I saw Soul Caliber....are you kidding...it was amazing.



AHHH soul calibur, WHAT A GAME.... when I first saw that game I was blown away by the graphics.... sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

[Vigilante]

I think I enjoyed the release of the TG-16 the most. They rented space at the william paterson college gym and did a big show to introduce the console. It was a free show. I remember that they had a Blasing Lasers contest. I got a TG-16 poster which eventually I got my handle from one of the games on the poster. The thing that got me was playing Alien Crush, played it, got hooked immediately, and had to buy the system right away. Too bad they don't have a free tour of modern consoles. I'd be all over it.

[NE146]

Well "back in the day", it was the Colecovision. Although nowadays I'm realizing more and more of you weren't even really cognizant or out of diapers during that time (holy crap I'm old) it was really crazy seeing an arcade looking Donkey Kong on a home tv.

After that.. I guess it was the Super Nintendo. I bought a Genesis at launch and I bought a TG16 at launch. Both really impressed me... but the SNES had the whole Mode 7 thing that really made me think "Next Generation" LOL

[le geek]

Tie between Playstation (One) and Dreamcast...

Ridge Racer and Soul Calibur both blew me away...

[Tanis178]

definately the Sega Master, first two things i thought we how cool it would be to play games like rastan and space harrier at home and how many quarters i'd save :)

[CaryMG]

I'd say "DreamCast".

When I saw "NFL 2K" from a distance, I thought it was a *real football game ....


Later!
:) :) :)

[EricRyan34]

ITs a close tie between SNES and N64

[Retsudo]

The only one I can think of as of now.

I remember seeing the Saturn in action at Toys R Us. I forgot the name of the game I was watching. Something like Saga Dragoon or something like that. Some game with a flying Dragon.

[sabre2922]

Dreamcast of course; I remember following anything and everything to do with the Dreamcast for 2 years before its actual launch in the pages of Gamefan and EGM.
The pix of Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur were soo far beyond the PSX or N64 in everyway and then WHEN I SAW THE GAMES IN MOTION @_@ in tv ads and finally at the displays in the game stores I knew that this was the REAL NEXT LEVEL.
In my over 20 years as a gamer Ive NEVER been as impressed with a systems launch as I was with the DCs.

Second would be the SNES I remember first playing this system at a friends house who always had the latest home consoles and was very impressed by the audio affects in Super Mario World (the echos especially) and all the COLORS 8-)

other honerable mentions:

Turbographix-16

3DO - but waaaay to expensive

PSX- its kinda funny to think how impressed me and my then-best friend was with the original Toshinden back in the day that and the original Wipout and Ridge Racer.

[Eternal Champion]

I gotta say, the genny, I mean I can still remember the first time playing thunder force, and then to play Altered Beast, is arcade perfection, that was on the powerful 16-bit genesis, that game blew me away back then, and still today is a great port.
Definitely, man. Looking at those screenshots and seeing how close it looked to arcade quality, I was blown away. In 1989, that was pretty damn cool. Nothing afterward made me feel like that.

[Eternal Champion]

Well "back in the day", it was the Colecovision. Although nowadays I'm realizing more and more of you weren't even really cognizant or out of diapers during that time (holy crap I'm old) it was really crazy seeing an arcade looking Donkey Kong on a home tv.
My first system. I never got the Atari 2600, but we got the 2600 adaptor for the Coleco. I was about 7. We played the crap out of it; eventually the controllers broke. Mouse Trap, Ladybug, Centipede, Smurfs...

[omnedon]

Nice to see I'm not the only mature gamer here who remembers the graphics revolution. LOL

ColecoVision all the way. For the first time EVER, arcade ports actually looked like and played like the Arcade versions.

I still remeber being agog at Donkey Kong on it on display at Toy's R Us. X_x

[jonnyutah]

x360... LOL JK. biggest leap was DC for me. early Shenmue footage was just something so different than I were used to seeing in the living room.

DC and n64 for me. but then i can't forget the fist tije I walked in a EB and saw it sitting way up on the top shelf out of reach...... the Neo-Geo gold system. Who can forget the pit bull Bigger- Badder -Better neogeo logo :-P