What did Genesis do better than SNES?

[Hep038]

Hands down sports games played better on the Genesis. After that I think most games ( Except RPG's SNES was King) were really close so it would just be personal preference.

[sheath]

For my tastes, the Genesis does Arcade Action games better than the SNES, almost universally. If the game involves a lot of explosions, fast scrolling with more than three background layers, more than three to five enemy sprites, or tons of animation, the Genesis has these genres in a very real way in library over the SNES. This is especially visible in Side or Horizontally scrolling shooters, Run n Gun games, Side Scrolling Action games and Beat-em Ups.

Somebody mentioned that the SNES has better "detail", I'd like to see that. The Genesis typically runs at 320x224 unless it's a SNES port running at 256x224, and thanks to the VDP's native cell scrolling more Genesis games feature much more diverse background scrolling "tricks" than SNES games do. The SNES' 512x224 mode was rarely used in game, as far as I know one game used the interlaced 512x448 mode early on for one game that is known for having "jumpy" graphics.

As I understand it, the Genesis is "better" with sprite objects just because it has a more flexible sprite size list than the SNES has. The SNES should technically be able to throw around just as many objects as games like Gunstar Heroes do, but the sprite size limitations make this more challenging, so developers chose not to. Similarly, more Genesis games having over five scrolling layers in the backgrounds than comparable SNES games is more due to the ease of implementing that effect thanks to the VDP handling it natively versus the SNES' H-DMA.

[Oldskool]

You have it wrong everyone. It was the High Definition Graphics!

[wiggyx]

For my tastes, the Genesis does Arcade Action games better than the SNES, almost universally. If the game involves a lot of explosions, fast scrolling with more than three background layers, more than three to five enemy sprites, or tons of animation, the Genesis has these genres in a very real way in library over the SNES. This is especially visible in Side or Horizontally scrolling shooters, Run n Gun games, Side Scrolling Action games and Beat-em Ups.

Somebody mentioned that the SNES has better "detail", I'd like to see that. The Genesis typically runs at 320x224 unless it's a SNES port running at 256x224, and thanks to the VDP's native cell scrolling more Genesis games feature much more diverse background scrolling "tricks" than SNES games do. The SNES' 512x224 mode was rarely used in game, as far as I know one game used the interlaced 512x448 mode early on for one game that is known for having "jumpy" graphics.

As I understand it, the Genesis is "better" with sprite objects just because it has a more flexible sprite size list than the SNES has. The SNES should technically be able to throw around just as many objects as games like Gunstar Heroes do, but the sprite size limitations make this more challenging, so developers chose not to. Similarly, more Genesis games having over five scrolling layers in the backgrounds than comparable SNES games is more due to the ease of implementing that effect thanks to the VDP handling it natively versus the SNES' H-DMA.

It's the other way around. The sprite size/quantity is limited for the Genesis versus the SNES.

[Razo00]

What the genesis did better? Streets of Rage 2 .

[Gameguy]

It's the other way around. The sprite size/quantity is limited for the Genesis versus the SNES.

Not according to one of the people who worked on the animation for the Earthworm Jim games.

http://www.sega-16.com/2010/03/interview-mike-dietz/

Sega-16: Which version of Earthworm Jim do you prefer, the Genesis and SNES versions? Why?

Mike Dietz: I much prefer the Genesis version over the SNES, because the SNES was more limited than the Genesis in the number of sprites you could have on screen at any one time. Since our animation compression scheme was based on each frame of each character being constructed of multiple sprites, that meant the SNES version had less frames of animation and the size of individual frames was more limited, which meant we couldn’t stretch the character as much. So we would animate the characters first for the Genesis, and then we’d have to go back and selectively remove some frames and shrink down other frames for use on the SNES. The SNES did have better color palettes, so the character and background art looked better, but as an animator I liked the Genesis better because I had more frames of animation to work with.

For me, usually any game that's both on the SNES and Genesis I seem to prefer the Genesis version as it plays better. I'm not sure what's exactly wrong with the games but I notice that something is usually off with the SNES versions. At least I noticed this when playing games like The Lion King.

[Razo00]

I'm a genesis guy, always been. I grew up playing the genesis. I've learned to love the Snes alot over the last couple of years though. Mortal Kombat II is great on the Snes, and not so great on the Genny. I prefer Earthworm Jim on the Genny. Maximum Carnage is pretty similar on both systems, might sound better on the Snes, but most Snes games sound better then Genny games anyways.

[homerhomer]

I feel the Genesis had more variety in the arcade conversion department. While not always prettier or sounding better, the Genesis had more choice. I really liked back in the day on how the Genesis get a lot of arcade games.

Games like:

Strider
Forgotten Worlds
Paperboy
Gauntlet IV
Rolling thunder II
MERCS

The SNES seemed more focused on RPG and original titles.

[sheath]

It's the other way around. The sprite size/quantity is limited for the Genesis versus the SNES.

Without derailing the thread with too much technical stuff, you are technically correct. The SNES had a higher limit to how many sprites could be displayed on screen and per scanline than the Genesis. But the SNES also had less flexible sprite size limitations combined with the lower horizontal resolution going against that limit. The Genesis' sprite size flexibility allows for more sprites of various sizes to be displayed on screen than could practically be done with the SNES in a similar game. I'm not sure why more Genesis games display more frames of animation than SNES games do, this could simply be due to the SNES audio being entirely made up of samples and that taking more ROM space.

[wiggyx]

Not according to one of the people who worked on the animation for the Earthworm Jim games.

http://www.sega-16.com/2010/03/interview-mike-dietz/

That's an interesting read, thanks.

It's nice to hear a developer's take on a multi-platform title(s). It seems like they found a crafty work-around, so to speak, which allowed them to shoehorn more frames of animation into the game. I wonder if that specific work-around/trick just didn't jive with the SNES architecture, or if that was a problem that he/they ran into with other multi-platform titles when working with the SNES (extra frames or not).

Really, I should know better than to cite tech specs as the sole measurement of the capabilities of any platform. Of course different developers will have different experiences, and different genres will may work better on one platform than another, etc. I didn't mean to throw that out there as the "end all, be all" of sprite processing capability for either system.

Without derailing the thread with too much technical stuff, you are technically correct. The SNES had a higher limit to how many sprites could be displayed on screen and per scanline than the Genesis. But the SNES also had less flexible sprite size limitations combined with the lower horizontal resolution going against that limit. The Genesis' sprite size flexibility allows for more sprites of various sizes to be displayed on screen than could practically be done with the SNES in a similar game. I'm not sure why more Genesis games display more frames of animation than SNES games do, this could simply be due to the SNES audio being entirely made up of samples and that taking more ROM space.

OK, so I don't want to derail this thread any further, but I'm curious about "sprite size limitations". Does that just refer to what you mentioned? i.e. more sprites of various sizes displayed simultaneously.


This is one of the reasons that the 16-bit consoles are my absolute fav! There's so much love and passion for them that debate is sparked almost every time someone asks a question specific to either the Genesis or SNES

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

These arguments are the same ones we had 20 years ago; they're just more detailed now.

I was fortunate to have both systems at the time, and constantly switched between them. I knew other gamers who did the same thing. If you played only one of the systems, then you were missing out on a lot of good games. That goes for today as well, but my sense is that most of us now own both.

The 16-bit battle between Sega and Nintendo was probably the greatest rivalry between two gaming companies ever.

[sheath]

OK, so I don't want to derail this thread any further, but I'm curious about "sprite size limitations". Does that just refer to what you mentioned? i.e. more sprites of various sizes displayed simultaneously.

This is one of the reasons that the 16-bit consoles are my absolute fav! There's so much love and passion for them that debate is sparked almost every time someone asks a question specific to either the Genesis or SNES

I enjoy the conversation, and every new little thing I learn about these consoles is fascinating to me. Yes, the sprite size limitation on the SNES games is that they can't have as many varieties of sprite sizes on screen simultaneously, which makes it harder to have a bunch of bullets and explosions with a bunch of object sprites at the same time. But that's just in relation to the Genesis when comparing games that were designed for it. I had the sprite sizes in the link in my previous post, but it goes like this:

Genesis:
80 sprites at:
8x8, 8x16, 8x24, 8x32
16x8, 16x16, 16x24, 16x32
24x8, 24x16, 24x24, 24x32
32x8, 32x16, 32x24, 32x32

SNES:
128 sprites at:
8x8 or 16x16, 8x8 or 32x32, 8x8 or 64x64, 16x16 or 32x32, 16x16 or 64x64, 32x32 or 64x64, 16x32 or 32x64, 16x32 or 32x32

You see the ORs in there for the SNES sprite sizes versus the Genesis being able to do any size from 8x8 to 32x32.

[Lerxstnj]

Sega's "Blast processing" just meant that to get it to work, you had to blow into the cart less than on a SNES.

[SonicBoom]

I Think the Genesis had a better design, I Find the SNES to be less attractive, And also, The game cases. I Hate the fact that SNES had boxes that ripped up so easy. Sega had that good plastic casing for SMS and Genesis and I like the durable case/

[y9784]

I like Tommy Tallarico's work with the Sega sound chip vs his work on the SNES. I too loved the voice samples on Earthworm Jim. Groovy!

[y9784]

I Think the Genesis had a better design, I Find the SNES to be less attractive, And also, The game cases. I Hate the fact that SNES had boxes that ripped up so easy. Sega had that good plastic casing for SMS and Genesis and I like the durable case/

This could be one of the reasons why prices for Genesis games are on average much cheaper than SNES. The case design did a great job protecting against damage and is possibly the reason why there are more of these around today. The case utilitarian design probably convinced most kids and parents to keep them instead of throwing them away like some cardboard backing for an action figure or other toy.

[jammajup]

I like both machines but to answer the question and give an opinion - Genesis had more games and so overall more good titles so there are many games i like on Genesis that are not on Snes like Streets Of Rage,i also prefer Sonic over Mario.Snes had custom chips but the Gen had a slightly faster cpu so although it did not always look as pretty with Sega things did run a little slicker.So overall i love some classic games on Snes but i lean slightly towards Genesis .

PS-Blast Processing was just an imaginary load of cr*p Sega came out with while advertising Sonic 2 and comparing it to Nintendo`s games at the time.

[genesisguy]

Sports games for sure.
Shoot em ups and Run and Gunners too. Not only better titles but they ran so much smoother. Play Thunder Spirits on the SNES then Thunder Force III on the Genesis. Huge difference.

The Genesis looked cooler and offered something different than the Nintendo experience. To my 10 year old mind I thought the SNES was just a glorified NES and with the Genesis I'd get a new experience.

My 30 year old mind finds the Genesis arcady games much more fun to sit down and play for a half hour or hour after work.
I know the SNES has great titles but most of them are very indepth and I just can't dedicate time towards them these days.

That's what makes the Genesis and NES my two favorite consoles.

[Gamevet]

Yeah, the sports crowd definitely preferred the Genesis. I was working in retail at the time. Whenever the new Madden or NBA Live hit the Genesis versions always sold WAY more copies than their SNES counterparts. I wouldn't say that they were better on the Genesis, but they definitely sold more.

I know Madden ran much better on the Genesis. The early Madden titles on the SNES had gimped player animations and an overall jerky appearance. I'd heard that the later titles were a big improvement though, but I don't know if they were better than the Genesis versions.

[duffmanth]

I think the Genesis definitely did a better job with sports games and more mature titles. I loved playing Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Shinobi etc on the Genesis. Those type of games never really existed on the SNES that I can remember any way?

[Black_Tiger]

What I've always appreciated about Genesis games over SNES games, is that they tend to feature more artwork and look less tiled. Even when Genesis games like Beyond Oasis don't have a crazy amount of variety in tile art, it's how it's all put together that makes them look more like a real picture and less like a cobbled together video game.

I wonder what Gradius III would have been like on the Genesis.

Gradius II for PC Engine is a pretty good indication.

I'm looking at wiki. Are you looking somewhere else?

It's the other way around. The sprite size/quantity is limited for the Genesis versus the SNES.

I'm guessing that you're going entirely by your interpretation of tech specs. The SNES can only use two sizes of sprites, which became the main bottleneck in games actually made. The Genesis has more flexibility in sprite sizes than either the SNES or PC Engine. If you look at the actual games for both consoles, SNES games tend to have smaller sprites and fewer sprites onscreen at a time in general, when compared to Genesis games.

Comparing the clock speed of two entirely different CPU architectures is not apples to apples. The topic of the 68000 vs 65816 has already been beaten to death.

You're right that the cpus aren't exactly the same, but in the end SNES games in general have less going on at a time, are slower overall at normal speeds and are more prone to slowdown than the Genesis or TG-16/PC Engine. The fact that the Genesis and PC Engine cpu clock speeds are twice as fast as that of the SNES may be a coincidence, but it doesn't change the fact that the SNES rarely or perhaps never packs as much action and/or speed as the busier Genesis/PC Engine games.

[wiggyx]

I'm guessing that you're going entirely by your interpretation of tech specs. The SNES can only use two sizes of sprites, which became the main bottleneck in games actually made. The Genesis has more flexibility in sprite sizes than either the SNES or PC Engine. If you look at the actual games for both consoles, SNES games tend to have smaller sprites and fewer sprites onscreen at a time in general, when compared to Genesis games.

Thanks, but this was already explained to me many posts ago.

[CelticJobber]

And also, The game cases. I Hate the fact that SNES had boxes that ripped up so easy. Sega had that good plastic casing for SMS and Genesis and I like the durable case/

Until 1994 or so, when Genesis games started coming in crappy cardboard boxes that were arguably even worse and easier to rip up than Super NES boxes.

[QuickSciFi]

Most multiplatform games looked way better on the Genesis (partly because Nintendo opted for a zoomed-in aspect of the same game, which made them looked washed-out or stretched horizontally).

Examples of games that were better on the Genesis

Earthworm Jim (SNES counterpart is stretched horizontally and is incomplete)
All multiplatform Disney Games (They looked washed-out and the music is subpar compared to the Genesis)
Cool Spot (Look-up the best track in the game, Rave Dance Tune, and you'll see what I mean)
Disneys' Aladdin (The SNES' Aladdin is a good game, but Aladdin on the Genesis is outstanding!)
Mortal Kombat II (Not because of the blood, but because of the Genesis pad)
Shmups in general
The whole "Strike" series (which was awfully zoomed-in on the SNES).
Various Run N Guns

I would understand the slow-down in shmups and the like, but it's the subparity in graphics and sound in those multiplatform SNES games that gets me; particularly when it is in fact the graphics and sound department where the SNES usually reigned.

Games like Lion King or Toy Story were more visually appealing and superior to people's eyes than the SNES ports.

Yup.

[o.pwuaioc]

Most multiplatform games looked way better on the Genesis (partly because Nintendo opted for a zoomed-in aspect of the same game, which made them looked washed-out or stretched horizontally).

Not going to argue for the most, but...

Disneys' Aladdin (The SNES' Aladdin is a good game, but Aladdin on the Genesis is outstanding!)

Two different games.

Mortal Kombat II (Not because of the blood, but because of the Genesis pad)

Disagree. First, the SNES port of MKII also had blood. Second, the SNES button layout is far superior and more efficient due to the (now standardized thanks to the SNES) R and L buttons. It's even closer to the arcade's layout than the Genesis pad.