Your All Time Favorite Video Game System

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I thought it might be fun to have a thread where everyone could talk about their favorite video game systems of all time, what they love about that system, and make game recommendations for others who might be interested in giving their favorite system a try. It can be an old system, a new system, or even a particular PC platform if you're into PC games. As long as you love it, that's all that matters.

For me, my favorite video game system has changed a few times over the years. For a long time it was the Game Boy Color, because I've been a huge fan of handhelds ever since I got my first original gray brick Game Boy for Christmas when I was six years old. That event sparked a lifelong love of handheld gaming for me, and I've owned almost every Nintendo handheld ever produced since then. I still think the Game Boy Color is the best way to enjoy the enormous library of high quality original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, though many Game Boy fans prefer AGS-101 model Game Boy Advance SP for it's bright backlit screen that eliminates the need for a Nyko Worm Light when playing in dimly lit environments. I appreciate that feature sometimes too, but most of the time I still prefer the Game Boy Color for it's ergonomics, classic color display, and larger screen size when it comes to playing original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.

As much as I love the Game Boy Color though (and the backlit Game Boy Advance SP for that matter), there is one handheld system that really outshines all the rest in my eyes. I give you:

The Nintendo DS Lite

So what makes this system so special to me? First there's the lightweight, streamlined, and just plain elegant design. It's a classy looking system all around, with smooth curves and an overall aesthetic that makes it the first Nintendo handheld to look like it was made for adult use. It doesn't look a kid's toy at all, and the original Polar White launch model looked more like a miniaturized Apple MacBook made for gaming than anything you would expect to see Nintendo produce. The ergonomics are just as nice as the visual appeal too. The rounded edges and light weight (as the name suggests) of the system make it comfortable to hold for long periods of time, and I greatly prefer the "squishy" buttons of the DS Lite over the low profile "clicky" buttons of the Game Boy Advance SP and the more recent New 3DS. The large and highly responsive D-pad may be one of the best Nintendo has ever produced too, especially if you're into fighting games or pixel perfect platforming. Lastly, in terms of design choices, the DS Lite's 4 levels of backlight brightness completely blows away every previous Nintendo handheld—save for the Game Boy Micro, which the DS Lite is completely on par with in terms of screen brightness options—and makes for a bright vibrant picture that can be comfortably viewed in just about any environment.

As much as I love the overall design though, to me what really makes the DS Lite the greatest handheld game system ever produced is the astronomically large library of quality games that you can play on it. In the world of home consoles the PlayStation 2 has always boasted the largest and most diverse game library, and in that sense the DS Lite is truly the PS2 of handheld game consoles. The reason for this is that in addition to Nintendo DS games the DS Lite can also play Game Boy Advance games (and in their original intended aspect ratio and resolution no less), which is something that no later model DS systems could do. Between the 1,297 games that were released for the DS and the 1,074 games for the GBA there is a total of 2,371 games that can be played on the DS Lite, which should be enough to keep you entertained for a very long time. Fortunately the DS Lite's outstanding 8 hour rechargeable battery life on the maximum screen brightness setting should be more than capable of keeping up with even your longest gaming sessions.

Getting back to the games though, the DS and Game Boy Advance platforms were two of the best supported (by both Nintendo and third party developers) handheld game systems ever produced; which gives you a huge array of games in almost every genre imaginable to choose from. Whether you're into hardcore first person shooters, relaxed life simulator type games, or anything in-between you'll be spoiled for choice with the DS Lite. This system also happens to be region free, so you're welcome to import and play any foreign DS or GBA games that catch your eye. I could probably spend four or five pages talking about all the wonderful games you can play on the DS Lite and still barely scratch the surface, but to keep things short and simple I'll just offer up a few recommendations for some of my favorite titles in a variety of different game genres in the spoiler tag below:

Platformers

Kirby: Canvas Curse (DS)

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland (GBA)

Kirby: Super Star Ultra (DS)

New Super Mario Bros. (DS)

Sonic Advance 1, 2, & 3 (GBA)

Sonic Rush (DS)

Super Mario 64 DS (DS)

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA)

Action / Adventure

Aliens: Infestation (DS)

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, & Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, & Order of Ecclesia (DS)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA)

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (DS)

Max Payne (GBA)

Metroid: Fusion (GBA)

Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

Ōkamiden (DS)

Tomb Raider: The Prophecy (GBA)

Tomb Raider: Underworld (DS)

Survival Horror

Dementium: The Ward (DS)

Dementium II (DS)

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (DS)

First Person Shooters

Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized (DS)

Doom (GBA)

Doom II (GBA)

Duke Nukem Advance (GBA)

Metroid Prime: Hunters (DS)

Moon (DS)

Wolfenstein 3D (GBA)

Shmups

Gradius Galaxies (GBA)

Invader (GBA)

Iridion II (GBA)

Nanostray 2 (DS)

Phalanx (GBA)

Other Shooters

Alien Hominid (GBA)

Contra 4 (DS)

Geometry Wars Galaxies (DS)

Gunstar Super Heroes (GBA)

Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (GBA)

Star Fox Command (DS)

Fighting Games

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (GBA)

Street Fighter Alpha 3 (GBA)

Tekken Advance (GBA)

Ultimate Mortal Kombat (DS)

Beat Em' Ups

Double Dragon Advance (GBA)

Final Fight One (GBA)

River City Ransom EX (GBA)

Tokyo Beat Down (DS)

Puzzle & Strategy Games

Advance Wars 1 & 2 (GBA)

Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS)

Kuru Kuru Kuruin (GBA)

Meteos (DS)

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (DS)

Tetris DS (DS)

Tetris Worlds (GBA)

Racing & Sports Games

Mario Golf: Advance Tour (GBA)

Mario Kart DS (DS)

Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)

Need For Speed: Underground 2 (GBA)

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (GBA)

RPGs

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (GBA)

Chrono Trigger (DS)

The Dark Spire (DS)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Golden Sun II: The Lost Age (GBA)

Mazes of Fate (GBA)

Pokémon Black / White (DS)

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS)

Life Simulators

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (GBA)

Retro Classics

Activision Anthology (GBA)

Atari Anniversary Advance (GBA)

Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 (DS)

Atari Greatest Hits Volume 2 (DS)

Classic NES Series: Bomberman (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Castlevania (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Excitebike (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Ice Climber (GBA)

Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Metroid (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Pac-Man (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Super Mario Bros. (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Xevious (GBA)

Classic NES Series: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (GBA)

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (GBA)

Namco Museum (GBA)

Sonic Classic Collection (DS)

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)

Other

Club House Games (DS)

Grand Theft Auto Advance (GBA)

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS)

Mario Party DS (DS)

Metroid Prime Pinball (DS)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

The Pinball of the Dead (GBA)

Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS)

Whew! That list turned out to be a little longer than I was planning on, but I hope it gives you a good starting point for exploring the vast array of quality games that can be played on my all time favorite video game system: The DS Lite.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Jin

[+wongojack]

If I am really honest with myself then I have to say my favorite is a modern console like the Xbox 360 because of the variety of releases. I can play games on 360 that I have been waiting my entire life to play and yet, I can pop in the Namco collection and play a big variety of arcade classics. It also has tons of downloadable content like GameRoom that gives me a very wide selection of different games for different platforms. There are all kinds of little tangents to go down when talking about the 360 like the fact that pinball games have reached a new height in this generation or that the Indie Games section was almost like it's own retro indie console and saw original releases for retro style games like Escape Goat or Decimation X.

 

If I let nostalgia creep into it, then the competition comes down to something like Atari 2600 vs C64. Besides the technology involved, the C64 has a big advantage in terms of the variety of games that can be played on the system, but the 2600 has been so marvelously exploited that there is a lot of fun to be had with its library. The 2600 also gets a nod for longevity and simplicity. While there are still plenty of C64s alive and kicking, the 2600 hardware seems to have proved even more resilient and it's low maintenance (relatively) peripherals are still functioning well today.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

For me it would be the NES. I first got it for Christmas back in 1988. I was 7 years old at the time and it was the "Action Set". Bundled with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. The NES is what really pushed my love for video games into the next level. We had an Atari 2600 Light Sixer before the NES. But playing the NES was like going along for the adventure you get to explore levels in a whole new way like figuring out what is in the ? Blocks in Super Mario Bros, which boulder to bomb or tree to burn in the Legend of Zelda, which path to take in Simon's Quest, etc. A ton of amazing games in it's library plus an excellent homebrew/hack library to go as well. It truly was the system I spent countless hours on during my youth as well as today.

[CatPix]

It's hard to say. And it's certainly nox a fixed choice as time goes on.

For a long time I would have say the Super Nintendo, but noaway, I'd say the PS2... if you count PS1 games as well inside.

Both are fantastic games platforms that got EVERYTHING.

PS1 and PS2? name a game style, it IS on PS1 or PS2. The PS1 allowed for more games to show up; Sony first really aknoledged that Europe was more than a subpart market that had to be a subsidiary of the American one and brought games that neither Sega nor Nintendo ever cared to. And if Sony didn't felt like it... They would let editors doing so. (such as Warp's D game. Sony left like it wouldn't work outside of Japan. They happily let Akklaim bring the game to Europe however). The PS1 introduced new gameplay styles. The PS2 refined them and allowed for more.

 

Even today, digging through the Sony library, I STILL discover games that are at least interesting, innovative, or work more than what they look like.

I do'nt think this choice is goign to change now tho.. .as I don't think today's console will do much more than just refining the same used recipes for more and more. Except maybe Nnitendo but I doubt that they are still able to come up with a new, revolutionary idea.

[Algus]

Ehh it is a real close tossup between NES and SNES for me. I am actually not a very good gamer so as RPGs developed and really SNES brought all the tech we needed to have really good ones, I finally had a genre of games I was good at!

 

If NES had more adventure games like Legend of Zelda, it would probably be my preference. SNES has more games that I like but the NES games I prefer, I've played much much more.

 

Before NES prices simply exploded it was certainly my favorite system to collect for.

[byonddrivn]

The SNES. August 23rd 1991 will always be the pinnacle of technological achievement for me, it's been downhill ever since.

 

I do like your writeup on the DS Lite tho, it makes me almost want to choose it instead but it was released 15 years too late.

[high voltage]

PSX, rocked the gaming world, dethroned Nintendo. Absolutely the emperor of video game consoles.

 

But still, here's already a thread like this, please check first.

Edited September 3, 2015 by high voltage

[Keatah]

Just about any true classic system. Pre-NES material.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

But still, there's already a thread like this, please check first.

Sorry about that! I hadn't seen any threads about this topic in the few months I've been around here so I figured it would be safe to post, but a search did reveal that there was another similar thread made 5 months back. If the powers that be so wish it then the two threads can be merged, and I will be more careful about the threads I make in the future.

 

Also, great replies so far everyone! There's a whole lot to commend every system that's been mentioned so far, and its been a lot of fun reading all of your responses.

[Schizophretard]

Wouldn't the Game Boy Advance's backwards compatibility with Game Boy and Game Boy Color be more games than the DS Lite's backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Wouldn't the Game Boy Advance's backwards compatibility with Game Boy and Game Boy Color be more games than the DS Lite's backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance?

 

There are more games you can play on the Game Boy Advance than the DS Lite, about 200 give or take, but I think the combination of Game Boy Advance and DS compatibility of the DS Lite provides a lot more variety for high quality games that are worth playing than the combination of original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games that are playable on systems like the backlit Game Boy Advance SP. There are enormous amounts of wonderful games in practically every genre you could imagine on the DS that you won't find on earlier hardware, which I personally feel that the DS Lite offers the largest variety of games worth playing of any handheld system ever produced. It really does offer a lot for everyone, regardless of what type of games you enjoy most.

[mbd30]

It's a cliched opinion for a North American retro gamer, but the highest percentage of my favorite games are on the old Nintendo systems... NES and SNES. So many quality titles that are still fun today. The Sega Genesis would rank third.

[AtariTexas]

The 2600

 

One button One kill

[cimerians]

Atari 2600 or Colecovision, definitely pre-Nintendo. It's what I grew up playing.....and arcade machines too. C64, even though its not a console is one of my favorite 'game machines' of all time.

[bohoki]

PSX, rocked the gaming world, dethroned Nintendo. Absolutely the emperor of video game consoles.

 

But still, here's already a thread like this, please check first.

 

 

i'm not familiar with the psx i never saw one in the store and wikipedia says they were only made 2003-2005

 

my vote goes for the genesis when that came out i finally felt like it was true arcade at home

 

alteredbeast,goldenaxe,outrun,strider,eswat

 

it felt like as big as a jump as when i went from 2600 to nes

 

when the playstation came out i was mostly using ibm pc clone and at the time it just felt like everything was 3d polygons i just kind of overlooked it but when the ps2 came out i was like dang these are like pc game quality on my tv-set

[Algus]

Playstation 1 was shortened as PSX during its lifetime. It was only later when Sony released PS2 and a separate machine known as PSX that people started referring to the original PlayStation as PS1

[bohoki]

ive never heard that where does the X come from in sony playstation?

[Algus]

Do not know, have seen a few answers floated around the Internet over the years, stuff like "well that was its code name in Japan" and that sort of thing but I don't know how accurate any of that is.

 

But even the magazines and stuff were calling it PSX. This was back before that mini unit that was known as the PS One came out and long before the PlayStation 2 was a thing.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Algus

[Reaperman]

Game Boy Advance straddled generations providing access to 2d 16-bit goodness and a decent number of surprisingly good 3d titles. It was also the only major handheld available for most of its life, so it saw ports of games traditionally not found on Nintendo hardware.

 

The Micro variation of it was the first and only time that I found a serious gaming system small enough for me to carry around all day every day. It also felt nice in hand and had the best screen ever fit to a game boy. Some people don't like that it dropped gb/gbc support, but I have other systems to play those. GBM is easily my favorite video game system.

 

[GameGirl420]

Tough choice,I love them all! lol. Even the HyperScan has it's charms.

 

 

But if I really had to choose,I think it's a tie between Cassette Vision and Atari 5200 for me with Neo Geo AES a close second.

[CatPix]

The Cassette Vision? Maybe you mean the Super Cassette Vision?

 

As much as I can see the appeal of low-res graphisms, the Cassette Vision is very primitive in this regard, and rare as well...

[darthkur]

 

A great variety of game types and controllers, most of which are "pick up and play" games that I never grow weary of. The console's are built like a tank. Mine's 34 years old and still going strong. On top of that you've got that wonderful 70's wood grain goodness. How can you go wrong?

[BydoEmpire]

I don't know if I can pick a favorite... probably 2600. Maybe Intellivision for nostalgic reasons, but I certainly play the 2600 more. I would miss RPGs... maybe NES...

[high voltage]

 

 

i'm not familiar with the psx i never saw one in the store and wikipedia says they were only made 2003-2005

 

Wikipedia is actually not a reliable source for anything.

 

 

PSX = PlayStation

Edited September 4, 2015 by high voltage

[GameGirl420]

Yes I meant the Cassette Vision,not the Super Cassette Vision.

 

Actually in graphics terms it is the Japanese equivalent of the Atari 2600. Not all that primitive actually.

 

It has some really good games such as Monster Mansion, Galaxian,and Pak Pak Monster.

 

I love this video of Monster Mansion...