Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine?

Submitted by Christopher Groux; February 23, 2013

Article Index
1. Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine?
2. Which System Had The Best Music?
3. What Games Were Better?
4. Which Console Sold More?
5. The Final Word

Page 1 of 5

With the announcement of the PlayStation 4 and the upcoming release of next generation consoles now seems like a good time to take a look back at some of the classic gaming machines.

Category 1: Hardware

DashHacks is a very hardware focused site, so you know we had to begin by looking at the raw numbers in terms of which system was more powerful from a spec perspective. In a lot of senses, this is a battle you can almost figure out on your own as long as you have spent a little time with both of these systems, but for the skeptics out there, I can give you the raw data you want. Obviously with the Genesis being released about two full years before the SNES in North America, you can bet how this is going to turn out.

genesis and snes

For it's day, Sega's console had a really fast processor that hit 7.67MHz compared to the SNES' 3.58 MHz at its maximum configuration. This edge did make Genesis games perform a little bit faster than their Nintendo counterparts and allowed for plenty of specialized effects. However that was about the only edge the system had. When it came to both graphics and sound, Nintendo's offering almost doubled what the older system could do and you can see that just by taking a look at the games. With double the amount of RAM, and the ability to produce two times more colors on screen, SNES games were the superior feat from a technical standpoint. Both were certainly popular options, but by the hardware sheet SNES is a clear winner.

Winner: SNES

Still got classic gaming tunes stuck in your head? Click on for a discussion about music!

Back - Read Page 2 of this Story >>

Tags: classic, Genesis, Nintendo, SEGA, SNES

I sincerely hope you don't mean to say that the scores from any final fantasy or chrono trigger are in any way shape or form worse then sonic? Because I'd like to see a solid reasoning for that besides "Well, it had a gimmicky taste the fit the era." because thats just letting personal taste ahead of professional judgement.

+1 # RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — FouadtjuhMaster 2013-02-23 17:34

The only reason why I liked the Genesis was because of Sonic ^-^

# RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — no0B 2013-02-24 01:25

Hardware i disagree, when you add in the fact sega had expansion hardware,, SEGA-32X & SEGA-CD. with these SEGA is the winner..

# SNES of course. — Brian Edlund 2013-02-24 05:49

Of course it was SNES because it had alot of my fav games, Mario games, Final fantasy games and many other RPG games too.

+1 # RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — tsibosp 2013-02-24 07:59

haha better music Sega? really? yoy have played Donkey Kong Country 1+2 & Killer Instinct and you still think Sonic 2 has the best music? There is something with your ears man. Check it out.

# RE: RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — Christopher Groux 2013-02-25 16:29

Okay man, you've got me with DKC there. Some of the best music ever composed for a game. Thanks for reading!

# RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — Retro Ash 2013-02-25 04:16

I have read 2 of these so call head to head, and both state the Snes (Angry Gamer).

Both the reviews are from people who had a Snes and are some what nintendo Fan Boys.

I was lucky enough to have access to both system,

i have favorite games on both systems and my childhood wouldnt be the same unless both systems where around, i would say there is no overall winner here, both systems were loved and cherished by all gamers of all ages. wether your a mario or a sonic guy both systems had good and bad games, good and bad music.

these .vs debates will go on and only because both systems where so great.

OVERALL WINNER : BOTH

# RE: RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — Christopher Groux 2013-02-25 16:28

Hey man. Just replying that I am not a Nintendo fanboy in the least. I kind of see your point that both are really great machines but if I were to sit there and say "both" every time I did one of these I think it would be a little boring.

I actually owned both systems as well. But yes it is a pretty amazing debate. :)

# RE: RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — MasterAlec 2013-03-16 15:45

to say nothing about which one is better, i would say snes and genesis are the greatest consoles ever made. end of story. without bias, a narrow mind or bigotry affecting that decision at all, they are the greatest. i never even owned a snes but ive played lots of emulated or remade games.

# RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — at2ecw 2013-02-27 20:51

I had both systems back then. I played the Snes more than the Genesis. I had the Sega CD also. After the Lunar games came out for Sega CD I didn't play many games after that on it. I was big into RPG games back then, so the Snes had me hooked especially with Zelda. I did love the Phantasy Star games for the Genesis though. The 3rd and 4th games of PS were really expensive for me back then. Luckily i get the chance to play them now on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for my PS3!

# Boo! — Patrick327 2013-03-03 04:14

You know what, Sega is way better than SNES, I played both systems, my bro and grew up playing the Genesis, my grandma however had a super Nintendo, I played that too. I didn't like the graphics on SNES, it's to cartoony, DKC's music sounded eerie, and as far as legacy, sonic is still making new games that aren't just about the past, sonic ryders for example, and you totally forgot about all the cheat codes that you could do with sega, specifically sonic games (Sonic 3's cheats were the best.) This article is very insulting to me, clearly sir, you have a bias toward Nintendo, like all the rest of the ppl on this site. I think you need to do a lil more research on sega, starting with actually picking up a console and playing and not insulting us sega fans. Ok how bout this, who was the hotter game character, Princess Peach or Amy Rose, and needless to say, I loved Amy Rose, she is still one of the sexiest game characters out there, but I think Helena from DOA is somewhat hotter.

# RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — MasterAlec 2013-03-16 15:40

it seems no one has played phantasy star. how pathetic can you get? still i would say snes is better. most of the best games for genesis were also for snes like sparkster or rocket knight adventures. and nintendo has dragon quest, which is hailed as the greatest rpg series in japan. i dont wanna elaborate on that so let me just say japan knows best.

# RE: RE: Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine? — MasterAlec 2013-03-16 15:42

btw, im taking into mind gameplay, music, art, etc. as a whole to sum up a game.

# Mr. — Abdul Rahman Jalloh 2013-04-19 08:28

well as for us growing up in this part of the world (Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia), it is deadly crime punishable. during the the Nineties i mean 1992 to 1999 people exchange Sega mega drive/Genesis and playstation for SNES. Nintendo was ruling these three countries. games like Mortal kombart 3 Ultimate, Killer Instict, Donky Kong country, Street fighter etc. this is really crazy to us in this part of the world to even compare Nintendo (SNESS) with Sega (Genesis)

# My 41 year old two cents lol. — Rocky Matthews 2013-04-24 02:29

Well first off I am blessed to to be born in 1972 so i have witnessed the american home video game market from it's birth to now.That means me and the industry are both 41 yrs old(nod to you magnavox odessey), With that said I know from a hardware only point of view the snes should be compared more to the sega saturn and ps1 than the genesis, proof of this lies in the fact that donkey kong country and street fighter alpha 2 could not have even been attempted on the geness and have the same results/execution as they did on the snes hardware.The problem with this fanboy fight of epic ferver is this.... While yes the snes was more advanced in all major catagories except processor speed, there is a special place in the hearts of all sega fans who lived thru the first real fanboy fight which was the nes vs. the sega master system.The reason being is that while the nes crushed the master system in sales in the US it did so by cheating.... this is proven by the fact that nintendo lost several major lawsuits in the laste 80's and early 90's for using monopoloy type tactics to keep a stranglehold on the home gaming market, anyone old enough to know knows that the master system was stronger and had much more arcade accurate ports than the nes in terms of sound ,speed,and graphics. Alas the nes won the numbers games because so many great games both in the US and Japan could not come to the master system because of the contracts nintendo made third parties sign, In many cases these companies could not release games on competing systems till 2 or three yrs after they released on the nes. This continued even in the 16-bit era look how long after streetfighter 2 released on the snes did it finally release on the genesis. So when the Genesis released in 89 it was game set and match finally sega had the upper hand with their am2 acrade division having hits like, altered beast,outrun,af ter burner,space harrier 1and2,michael jackson's moonwalker,supe r hang-on,westle war,and capcom cps1 and2 games such as strider,forgott en worlds,mickey mouse castle of illusion(yeah take that mario lol)and so many other accurate acrade translations the truth had finally found the video game light, nintendo had no answer with thier 1983(when the famicom was created)outdate d nes tech.So of course the snes won they had two years to watch,study,and improve on every aspect of the Genesis. The genesis was indeed the peak of sega everything after led to it's eventual death.

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Head To Head: Genesis Vs. SNES. Which Is The Better Classic Machine?

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