Gaming's Golden Age

[Yamcha]

Like most people I would tend to say the 16-bit years, but in if I look at some of my favorite games ever, a lot of them have come after that: Shemmue, Sakura Taisen, NiGHTS, Jet Set Radio, etc.

Gaming's golden Age? Dreamcast.

[xS]

Genesis, Sega CD, SNES, TG-16, TGCD, GG, Neo Geo.
The 32 bit era had alot of great games (mainly for the saturn and psx) , but all of the above systems were great.

[gamevet]

Originally posted by Clash_Master


Computer games and such have a very different history, so I don't think they fall into the same areas as Console game. Computers were for work, tools and such first. Games on computers was a extra, plus computer games were always above and beyond consoles games in terms of graphics and such, up until now.

Then you never owned a Commodore-64. It was anything but a conventional computer. I believe the home computer craze, was part of the reason that the console market crashed. The C-64 has one of the best versions of Donkey Kong, even the NES version is'nt as well polished as that version. I'm sure there are a lot of Apple and Atari computer owners that could say the same thing. Name a great arcade game from the 80's, and you could find a decent to excellent version of it on a 8-bit computer. For me, this was the golden age of gaming, but for consoles, I would call it a tie between the 8-bit NES era, and the 32-bit era of gaming, as both were the peak of console gaming popularity. Sony did'nt sell 100 million PSX's because of lesser interest in gaming.

[NeoZeedeater]

gamevet speaks wise words. Computers like the C64 were primarily game machines for many people. In the mid-'80's, computers were the "consoles" for myself and most kids I knew.

[Omni]

I think most fondly of the 16-bit era. Games like Toe Jam and Earl, Donkey Kong Country, Streets of Rage 2, all the Street Fighters, Sonic and countless more provided me with more entertainment than any of the other consoles in the poll. The PS and N64 era comes in a close 2nd though, as that era had some great games as well.

[GameFreak]

I would have to say the 16-bit (SNES-Genesis) era. So many classic games were released when these two systems were still churning out the games.


I have to agree with Werwolf though, I think your choice will most likely be dictated by your age, I was in my teen years when those two systems were around, the gaming experiences seemed new to me at the time and managed to blow me away on occasion. They also bring back memories of my youth.


That being said, there is NOTHING these classic systems could do that could not be done, improved upon, with today's systems (XBox, PS2, GC), there just seems to be a large anti-2D sentiment, it's really a shame.


I've been playing through Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in recent days, I'm still in awe at how well done this game is. EVERYTHING scream quality, I would have loved to have seen a sequel to this classic on one of the big 3 consoles. I don't have high hopes for the GBA game, it's called 'Harmony of Dissonance' but the music sucks.


Go figure.

[Frogacuda]

Originally posted by Click_Stick
Wha... Where does the DC fall?


Choice #6 - Dreamcast - System of 2000

DC is definately one of the best systems ever. I'm voting for it just because its so incredibly gay that it was left off.

[Cheebs]

16 bit by far. Yoshi's Island alone wins that era. When you throw the Neo Geo in there, it just gets all the more hopeless for the rest of the eras.

If you ask me, the DC was a hardware generation all by itself. It is clearly above the PS/N64, and it is clearly before the time of the current crop of systems.

[gamevet]

Originally posted by NeoZeedeater
gamevet speaks wise words. Computers like the C64 were primarily game machines for many people. In the mid-'80's, computers were the "consoles" for myself and most kids I knew.

It is for that reason alone, that I did'nt vote for any of those listed. Most of the major arcade games found on the NES and SMS could be played on a C-64. There were a few games(Super Mario, Punchout!!, Zelda, and Final Fantasy) that the NES offered, that I could'nt play on my C-64. The Bard's Tale, Maniac Mansion, Boulder Dash, 1942, Ikari Warriors, Rambo, Popeye, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Time Pilot, California Games, Skate or Die, Moon Patrol, 10-yard fight, John Elway's Football, Mario Bros., Frogger and a ton more of the games found on the NES and Master System, were already being enjoyed by owners of the C-64, Atari, and Apple computers. The Amiga computer even had a superior versions of Super-C, Bad Dudes, Marble Madness, Bionic Commando, Gauntlet 2 and many other arcade hits that were put onto the NES.


The NES and SMS were just icing on an already big cake being served to those lucky enough to experience the golden age of home computer gaming.

[xS]

You forgot about samurai warrior in your c64 list.