Somehow, for me, the Genesis's library has lost its luster. That's not to say that it doesn't have great games or that I don't enjoy them. To the contrary, the MD/Genny is a great console with wonderful games. But the Genny, which once had a real whiz-bang factor for me, just doesn't have that sheen anymore. Yeah, the Sonic games and the Treasure-developed titles are fantastic looking and sounding, but... they just don't sound or look as impressive as they once did. And I say this as a person who didn't own but often preferred Genesis to SNES back in their heyday. To me back then, the SNES's sounds and visuals were just murky and muted (for lack of a better description). Meanwhile the NES's and Genny's graphics and music/sfx were sharp and fresh.

But now, while I still feel that way about the NES, I don't feel that way about the Mega Drive anymore... The SNES just seems like it is the better looking and sounding console now compared to the SEGA Genesis. I know each console has its different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, but it doesn't seem the Genesis's library has aged well. Yes, the games in general seem to run faster with a higher frame-rate on the old SEGA compared to the Super Nintendo, but the quality of the audiovisual experience isn't there. The color palette is so much smaller and there is a lot of dithering in the graphics. And the sound chip doesn't put out a smooth, pleasant set of sounds and music. I regularly play the games in the emulated SEGA game collection on Steam (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection is its name on consoles.) and watch YouTube videos of other Genny games played on original hardware, and they just don't hold up to the SNES's stuff.

I don't know why I think this way now. Perhaps it is due to overexposure to Genesis games versus not as much time spent with SNES games, and this is coloring my impression? Have you noticed a shift in your opinion too?