which was more powerful - the SNES or the Genesis?

from a hardware standpoint

Super nintendo, isnt it obvious? But the key factor is the sega genesis had the speed edge. Then again f-zero was a pretty fast game, which I was surprised the snes could have a 3d game play faster than 2d games. Sonic is definately faster than mario that is for sure, and your avatar. The genesis one is definately superior, more smooth, but that just could be because they ported it to the snes. I HATE THAT GAME, the water level were you are in the ship is just frustrating:x, kills all the fun, I mean the part with the 99 timer, its basically trial and error, there is no real way to do it that will always work. So narrow, then when your done, you go to that dumb snot a problem, where it drags you through 3 of the same exact thing, and it gets tedious trying to get him on the edge (but tbh that part has a pattern to it). Still after playing the game two times, it has that dumb part were it is just excrutiatingly hard!

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:

Well the Genesis had...BLAST PROCESSING! Haha I don't think they ever really explained what that was. Anyways I'm pretty sure that the SNES had more powerful hardware.

hmm after watching the top 20 genesis games on gametrailers.com - they mention that the genesis was more powerful

hmm after watching the top 20 genesis games on gametrailers.com - they mention that the genesis was more powerful

BobSacamento

Not exactly. Genesis could do things faster, but the SNES could do more complex things, like Mode 7, semi-3D, plasticy-3D, and almost orchestrated music.

just look at the multiplats most were better looking on snes mk2, mk3, sf2 turbo, super sf2, not to mention genesis never had games that looked as good as dkc 1,2 and 3, how about the final fantasy 3 and chrono trigger yup i think the snes had way better graphics

Well the Genesis had...BLAST PROCESSING! Haha I don't think they ever really explained what that was. Anyways I'm pretty sure that the SNES had more powerful hardware.

bitemeslippy

I wonder if you could play Road Rash on the snes. That is the question that needs to be answer to answer the tc question.

If you look at games like Link to the Past, F-Zero, Starfox, and Donkey Kong Country it's pretty clear that the SNES wasmore powerful.Genisis didn't really do anything special, except that it wasblast processing. Whatever the eff that is.

[QUOTE="bitemeslippy"]

Well the Genesis had...BLAST PROCESSING! Haha I don't think they ever really explained what that was. Anyways I'm pretty sure that the SNES had more powerful hardware.

TheColbert

Blast Processing!

"The Sega Genesis has blast processing, Super Nintendo doesn't." Ha such a c1assic commercial and it gets to the point pretty quick.

well to be honestthe genesis actually had a bigger processor than the SNES but one thing it lacked was better colors and sound while the SNES had a slow processor, it had what the genesis was lacking and then some, certain games had extrafeatures in the cartriges like for instance StarFox had what was called the FX chip which made it have 3-d ploygons. then some games took advatage of the mode-7 where the sprites can actually spin in rotation games like F-Zero, contra 3, super castlevania IV and pilotwings.

i don't know fellas...

anyone ever see 'Comix Zone' ??

i don't know fellas...

anyone ever see 'Comix Zone' ??

BobSacamento

The SNES could technically do that. Have you seen Seiken Densetsu 3?

no no i havent

vectorman....that mech game

i dont know

either way they were both Shat

I wonder if you could play Road Rash on the snes. That is the question that needs to be answer to answer the tc question.

SegaGenesisfan

Road Rash was one of the best games ever! :P

From the looks of it the SNES had better looking games, and I think that lead to some of the Genesis addons. Sega realized they needed to compete with the SNES on an equal platform, but those addons were terrible.

well play stunt race fx, star fox or dirt trax fx and i bet youll think your playing a n64 especally when playing stunt race fx, so super nintendo hands down !!!!!!

there's simply no doubting the SNES was the more powerful system

SNES could display more colors and had a better sound chip. The Genesis had a faster processor. I'm sure there are examples of games on each system that can't be done on the other. This is a tough question.

[QUOTE="TheColbert"][QUOTE="bitemeslippy"]

Well the Genesis had...BLAST PROCESSING! Haha I don't think they ever really explained what that was. Anyways I'm pretty sure that the SNES had more powerful hardware.

bitemeslippy

Blast Processing!

"The Sega Genesis has blast processing, Super Nintendo doesn't." Ha such a c1assic commercial and it gets to the point pretty quick.

And it still doesn't say what Blast Processing is. :lol:

[QUOTE="bitemeslippy"]

[QUOTE="TheColbert"] Yeah you can't beat blast processing. But I think the SNES could do more things though.allie2590

Blast Processing!

"The Sega Genesis has blast processing, Super Nintendo doesn't." Ha such a c1assic commercial and it gets to the point pretty quick.

And it still doesn't say what Blast Processing is. :lol:

From what I remember the Genesis looked better, but the SNES had better audio.

Technically the SNES had higher power, with about 21MHz on the CPU, while the Genesis had 16MHz (without the 32-bit add-on or the Sonic CD).

only way this is gonna get settled is with numbers gentlemen

check the wiki's

only way this is gonna get settled is with numbers gentlemen

check the wiki's

BobSacamento

OK:

The design of the Super NES incorporates powerful graphics and sound co-processors that allowed impressive tiling and Mode 7 effects, many times more colors, and audio quality that represented a massive leap over the competition.

There, it's done.

how is that a statistic from wikipedia

let's see nyahhh:

Sega Genesis:

* Model Number: MK-1601 (r1), MK-1631 (r2).
* CPU: Motorola 68000 at 7.61 MHz
o 1 MByte (8 Mbit) ROM Area
o 64 KByte RAM Area
* Co-Processor: Z80 @ 4 MHz (Not Present in MK-1631)
o Controls PSG (Programmable Sound Generator) & FM Chips
o 8 KBytes of dedicated Sound Ram
* Graphics:
o 64 simultaneous colors of 512 color pallete.
o Pixel resolution: 320 x 224
o VDP (Video Display Processor)
+ Dedicated video display processor
+ Controls playfield & sprites
+ 64 KBytes of dedicated VRAM (Video Ram)
+ 64 x 9-bits of CRAM (Color RAM)
o 3 Planes: 2 scrolling playfields, 1 sprite plane
* Sound:
o PSG (TI 76489 chip)
o FM chip (Yamaha YM 2612)
o 6-channel stereo
o 8 KBytes RAM
o Signal/Noise Ratio: 14dB

Super Nintendo:

CPU: 16-bit 65816 (3.58MHz)
RAM: 128KB (1Mb), 64KB (0.5Mb) Video RAM
Graphics: Dedicated graphics processor
Colors: 32768 (256 on screen)
Sprites: 128
Sprite Size: 64x64 pixels
Resolution: 512x448 pixels
Sound: 8-channel 8-bit Sony SPC700 digitized sound

how is that a statistic from wikipedia

BobSacamento

Well, I got it from the SNES page on Wikipedia. Under the technical section.

snes the genesis had a faster processer though

Sega Genesis:
o Signal/Noise Ratio: 14dB

BobSacamento

Funny how there are all these specs for the Genesis, but the above in particular is worthless. SNR needs to be refered to a stated signal amplitude.

I think it was obvious to most people at the hieght of Genesis vs. SNES that the Genesis had the edge for pure processing power in terms of speed. The SNES had better graphics and sound. Pick your poison!

i just copied it off two sites to help you guys settle your argument i dont really care anymore lol

Sega does what Nintendon't. But the SNES still had better graphics and hardware. You never saw anything as good as Star Fox on Genesis.no-filter

And Nintendoes what Sega doesn't. :P

[QUOTE="no-filter"]Sega does what Nintendon't. But the SNES still had better graphics and hardware. You never saw anything as good as Star Fox on Genesis.allie2590

And Nintendoes what Sega doesn't. :P

Although I agree that the SNES was a more powerful system graphically and sound wise, I had a problem with how they pushed their graphics to the point where it hurt their gameplay. If you played Mortal Kombat on SNES then you know what I'm talking about. It had all the nice graphics, great music, but the gameplay was horrible and nothing like the arcade version. The Sega version had horrible graphics (SubZero and Scorpion both had the Scorpion pose) and the music was just bad but the gameplay was comparable to the arcade IMO.

Same thing with NBA JAM. SNES had the perfect graphics but for some reason they couldn't get the gameplay down like the arcade. It was slow and sluggish while the Genesis version just felt quicker and more responsive....although I did hate how you could goal tend on the Sega version without it being called when timed right.

well to be honestthe genesis actually had a bigger processor than the SNES but one thing it lacked was better colors and sound while the SNES had a slow processor, it had what the genesis was lacking and then some, certain games had extrafeatures in the cartriges like for instance StarFox had what was called the FX chip which made it have 3-d ploygons. then some games took advatage of the mode-7 where the sprites can actually spin in rotation games like F-Zero, contra 3, super castlevania IV and pilotwings.

trick6952

No, the SNES could not manipulate sprites with mode 7, it could only manipulate backgrounds.

You guys better be careful with Wikipedia, alot of street lawyering going on over there. Blast processing was a marketing term used when Sonic came out. While there was some technical merit to Blast Processing, it was mostly hype and marketing. I even seen a wiki that claims there was a chip used for Blast Processing:roll:, I didn't know wheter to laugh or cry. The only chip used with B.P. was the 68000 itself:lol:

As some of you have mentioned, the Genesis had a much better CPU, but the Super Nintendo had better sound and video chips. Also, while both had the same color palette (around 65K colors), the Sega Genesis could only display 256 colors at the same time.

What can't be argued is that, around the end of their life cycles, both consoles were pushed to limits that probably even Sega and Nintendo would consider unconceivable during the earilier years of their life cycles.

Sega genesis was more powerful, but more limited in graphics.

This catchy commercial by Sega will brainwash you into believing Genesis was better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

However, SNES was truly superior!

Back then it was true, but wasnt that between the sega and original nes? So that does not really apply here. The commercial worked, and it made nintendo become super. But even then the super nintendo was not all more powerful, the sega genesis was just weaker in areas. SNES = clubber lang GENESIS = rocky balboa

There both very similar no matter how you put it.. this shouldnt even be a thread

There both very similar no matter how you put it.. this shouldnt even be a thread

cooper2003

No, SNES was more powerful. The Genesis could do things faster, but the SNES could do more stuff.

I think it matters more how the developers use the system rather than merely having more power avaiable, the powers differ between the two. There are a good many sega genesis games that are so good, that it does not matter that the snes graphics could be better. I think it all comes down to preference, like the Donkey Kong Country graphics are so rich, but sometimes I prefer the Sonic 2 graphics, but some people say the DKC graphics looks like plastic now (maybe if you play on a modern tv).

I think the best comparision is between Super Mario Brothers and Sonic games

There is a lot of games that prove that superior graphics and sound does not make up for slower gameplay. In fact I would go as far as to say that the only real difference in sound is low pitch and high pitch sounds. Plus I think Castlevania 4 on the snes is overatted, Castlevania bloodlines on Sega Genesis is so much more rad, in graphics, and sound.

snes the genesis had a faster processer though

kemar7856

Yes, for some reason the SNES beat the Genesis in colors and in my opinion processing even though the Genesis had a faster processor. Must have been a bottleneck on the Genesis with the bus speed or some other problem. The perfect port of Street Fighter 2 for the SNES made me choose that system. It looked and played bad on the Genesis.

SNES, Now you are playing with power.

well the snes came out several years after the genesis, so of course it had better graphics. look it up on wiki