Has the Genesis/Mega Drive Aged Worse Than the SNES?

[Nz17]

Somehow, for me, the Genesis's library has lost its luster. That's not to say that it doesn't have great games or that I don't enjoy them. To the contrary, the MD/Genny is a great console with wonderful games. But the Genny, which once had a real whiz-bang factor for me, just doesn't have that sheen anymore. Yeah, the Sonic games and the Treasure-developed titles are fantastic looking and sounding, but... they just don't sound or look as impressive as they once did. And I say this as a person who didn't own but often preferred Genesis to SNES back in their heyday. To me back then, the SNES's sounds and visuals were just murky and muted (for lack of a better description). Meanwhile the NES's and Genny's graphics and music/sfx were sharp and fresh.

But now, while I still feel that way about the NES, I don't feel that way about the Mega Drive anymore... The SNES just seems like it is the better looking and sounding console now compared to the SEGA Genesis. I know each console has its different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, but it doesn't seem the Genesis's library has aged well. Yes, the games in general seem to run faster with a higher frame-rate on the old SEGA compared to the Super Nintendo, but the quality of the audiovisual experience isn't there. The color palette is so much smaller and there is a lot of dithering in the graphics. And the sound chip doesn't put out a smooth, pleasant set of sounds and music. I regularly play the games in the emulated SEGA game collection on Steam (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection is its name on consoles.) and watch YouTube videos of other Genny games played on original hardware, and they just don't hold up to the SNES's stuff.

I don't know why I think this way now. Perhaps it is due to overexposure to Genesis games versus not as much time spent with SNES games, and this is coloring my impression? Have you noticed a shift in your opinion too?

[HardcoreOtaku]

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[Tupin]

The Genesis lacked genres that tended to create games that would be remembered decades later. That's what I think.

[WCP]

I think it depends on which era of Genesis software you're talking about.

Very early Genesis games do look and sound quite primitive. Games from 1989, 1990 and 1991 especially. Genesis games from 93, 94 and 95 aged pretty well all things considered. The audio on the Genesis just can't compete with the SNES, so it's an unfair comparison. As well as Yuzo and company did with that audio chip, all the scratchy, AM sounding audio, didn't do it any favors. Also, Genesis could only put 64 colors on the screen simultaneously. So, it's really hard for it to compete from a color standpoint. Having said that, there are still some very colorful games on the Genesis, especially if you see them on a RGB monitor.

[Gentlegamer]

I don't think it's "aged" any worse than SNES. You're just reading your own [changed] preferences into it.

I had SNES since launch despite a prior love affair with wanting Genesis (the Genesis Does campaign had me convinced), but Genesis was popular and I had friends with it or both. I definitely played more SNES, and my later years in high school, late 94 through 96, I was somewhat of a lapsed gamer.

The point is, I keep discovering Genesis games from that period that are awesome that I never played and I find them no less fun or impressive to my classic gaming sensibilities than SNES games.

I do think that a lot of Genesis sound effects are an 'acquired taste' when they use FM instead of PSG. They gave birth to the muffled robot fart meme Sega fans hate, and if you never had that taste, experiencing them now may be off putting.

[Alianger]

But now, while I still feel that way about the NES, I don't feel that way about the Mega Drive anymore... The SNES just seems like it is the better looking and sounding console now compared to the SEGA Genesis. I know each console has its different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, but it doesn't seem the Genesis's library has aged well. Yes, the games in general seem to run faster with a higher frame-rate on the old SEGA compared to the Super Nintendo, but the quality of the audiovisual experience isn't there. The color palette is so much smaller and there is a lot of dithering in the graphics. And the sound chip doesn't put out a smooth, pleasant set of sounds and music. I regularly play the games in the emulated SEGA game collection on Steam (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection is its name on consoles.) and watch YouTube videos of other Genny games played on original hardware, and they just don't hold up to the SNES's stuff.

I don't know why I think this way now. Perhaps it is due to overexposure to Genesis games versus not as much time spent with SNES games, and this is coloring my impression? Have you noticed a shift in your opinion too?

So why do you still feel that way about the NES? The palette is even smaller, and the sound is less advanced (with a few exceptions using expanded sound hardware).

Part of your problem seems to be emulation. Dithering wasn't really noticeable with older TVs and cables, and the more harsh elements of the FM sounds are smoothened out a little bit on real hardware. Comparing rhw recordings and emulation, only Regen and Kega Fusion with certain options turned on sound pretty much like the real thing; there's usually less bass and more distortion/abrasiveness in emulation, and sometimes incorrect (as in wrong pitch or timbre) sounds are played as well. However since the chip is basically a primitive FM synth (+ the PSG chip from the Master System) the music will tend to sound pretty samey and have trouble emulating some acoustic instruments. There's usually one channel used for samples but rarely anything other than percussion and the quality is fairly low.

SNES did often sound muffled/muted, and obviously still does for many of its games. The limited way it deals with samples also makes a lot of music tracks sound slightly out of tune and/or kind of unexpressive and robotic. From what I've read, emulation tends to actually improve on the SNES's sound, as opposed to the MD/GEN. But I haven't seen any side by side comparisons.
That said, it's rare for SNES or even NES games to sound as grating as the worst sounding MD/GEN games do (X-Men and Sonic Spinball come to mind).

It's a bit contradictory to say that the MD has an overall advantage (framerate and speed) but then say that "the quality of the audiovisual experience" isn't there compared to the SNES. But anyway, nearly all of this comes down to taste in the end (actually the SCD wins for audio ).
I personally prefer MD (as well as NES, TG16 and GB) music to SNES music for the most part, but when it comes to the games I can't really pick a favorite between the two.

[celerystalker]

I have the bias toward SNES, having been a staunch Nintendo guy up until 1998. I played everything, but Genesis stuff so often just felt rough to me, and that never really changed. The Genesis' smaller on-screen color palette and more limited sound just have always made it feel coarse when compared to the SNES and even TG16. For me, where the Genesis feels strong is arcade-style side-scrollers. Mystic Defender, Alisia Dragoon, Contra Hard Corps, Gunstar Heroes, Shinobi... they hold up well for me. So do the unique oddities like Gain Ground, Toejam & Earl, Crackdown, etc.

I think part of what hurts the Genesis is how things have changed in gaming. It was once lauded for its sports games, but very few people care about 20+ year old football games now. 2D fighters post-16 bit era really left the old games in the dust. Amiga strategy ports are largely outclassed by years of design improvement... these things don't feel timeless, even though they were pushing the envelope at the time.

I feel like the SNES library overall was less concerned with pushing things forward or being edgy and more about maximizing its strengths in design in its own time, and as a result it feels more elegant and polished... and its more flexible sound chip didn't hurt. More on-screen colors helps smooth out rough edges, so it generally just feels more complete.

Oh, and Beyond Oasis... that game feels like one of the more polished Genesis games to me. Slick game.