SNES- The Best?

Those of us in our 40s remember Pong, Atari, and Intellivision as the pioneer game consoles. In the early 80s, I remember thinking how cool Intellivision was. I had about 30 games in college. The baseball game was, in my opinion, the best. You could control any of 9 players in the field. And you could put "English" on the ball when pitching to make it break at the last minute. The football game had 4 players per team on the field at a time. At the time, it was the best we had, but in retrospect, the graphics were pretty awful. Basically they consisted of colored stick figures to represent people or objects. But since we didn't know any better, it was cool.

The Nintendo franchise changed all that. It was the next step up, the second generation of games. Mario Bros. put the older games to shame with what looked like cartoon animation instead of stick figures. It was now possible for role playing games like The Legend of Zelda, which I believe was the first game to provide an overhead perspective.

The zenith of the second generation of game consoles was, of course, the Super Nintedo system, or SNES. Gizmodo brought back memories by linking to an article that makes the case that SNES was the best gaming console of all time.

On the basis of the game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, I would agree. In my opinion, this was the best video game ever produced.



I think the reason I prefer the older versions of games is that the new games are too reliant on graphics. A Link to the Past relied on intriguing puzzles as well as some action for its entertainment. Even in the sports games, like the Madden franchise, you had to use your head more than you had to use your fingers.

In these "modern" days, the winner of a game is more likely to be better at manipulating the keypad than in outwitting his opponent. At least that's my theory as to why my son consistently kicks my behind on the PS3! I just don't know what have of the buttons and button combos are for. Which is my fault, I know.

But, (sigh), I long for the days of the 2 button keypad.