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We all remember our first video gaming console—the day we got it and the first time we turned it on, as well as the first time we played a game with stunning visuals. If you’re anything like us, the first video game system wasn’t just the tip of the iceberg. Gaming consoles can be found in almost any home, from the most basic to the most advanced console.
Video game consoles have been around for about 50 years and they have changed so much in that time, from 8-bit to 4k graphics. Some of these consoles are so iconic that they are still popular. Today we are going to look at the best video game consoles that laid the foundation for the modern gaming era.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Probably the most popular 16-bit console, challenging the undisputed SEGA Genesis and coming out victorious. The SNES games were so popular that “Nintendo” became synonymous with gaming as a whole. The console was also capable of running NES and SNES games. Some of the big titles include Super Mario Kart and Final Fantasy II and III, two games that changed story-telling in video games.
Nintendo has since shifted from the gaming powerhouse it was and has become more of a casual system, with the Nintendo Switch merging their love for a handheld console, such as the GBA, and a home system, such as the SNES and NES. The Nintendo Switch shows how a company can adapt to modern times.
Game Boy Colour
Before the actual successor to the original Game Boy arrived on American shores, owners of the console were given minor updates such as a thinner model and new colors. When the Game Boy Color arrived on the scene, handheld gaming saw a significant leap in terms of graphical fidelity.
It was great to take your thirsty Atomic Purple Game Boy Color model to the playground for some intense Pokémon Gold and Silver bouts. Wario Land 3, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, and even a shockingly good copy of Metal Gear Solid were all highlights of this well-managed gaming goldmine.
Classic PlayStation
The original PlayStation occupies an intriguing position in the history of gaming. It was one of the first consoles to genuinely push the 3D frontier, going beyond gaming’s rudimentary 2D planes and ushering in a revolution that would define the medium’s future.
In 1994, Sony released the 32-bit PlayStation in Japan. Sony relied significantly on third-party developers to support its system, as it lacked Sega’s outstanding arcade legacy and Nintendo’s impressive in-house games development heritage.
PlayStation 2
Sony’s iconic follow-up to the original PlayStation reigned its generation, quickly displacing the Sega Dreamcast. The PlayStation 2 was a huge, black box that could not only play disc-based games but also supplied non-gamers with a considerably less expensive DVD player than the competitors. The DualShock 2 was a significant upgrade over the first controller.
And we utilized it to play a huge variety of fantastic games. The PS2 was at the top of the mountain for the sixth generation of video game consoles due to its great combination of outstanding first-party titles and third-party classics. The PlayStation exclusives on the PS 2 are some of the most incredible games.
Sega Genesis
The pioneer of the 16-bit era, the Sega Genesis reinvented console gaming. Sega took advantage of the gap in the home console market, with the SNES only coming out 2 years later in 1990. The Genesis was a powerful console that offered many arcade hits, and also used its mascot Sonic the Hedgehog to gain hype for the successor to the Master System. It worked for a while but when Nintendo’s behemoth, the SNES, console gamers started to swap over for its exciting game library.
Retro gaming was a simpler time with a variety of options. Now there are very few titles in the console industry that you can play the best games, PlayStation Series, Xbox Series, Nintendo, and PC(technically a console), with some companies opting to produce games. The handheld game console has almost died out (not you Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite), and don’t even get us started on PC gamers and new gaming hardware.