If you could get only one console from each video game generation, which one would you choose?

[Solister]

This has probably been asked before, but if for every video game console since the first generation you could have one, but only one console, which one would you get?

For me, I'm skipping the first generation because I doubt most of us even know a game from that time.

2nd Generation: Atari 2600
Notable games: River Raid, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong
Is there any other real contender here? Unfortunately, Arcade culture wasn't huge around that time where I live, but I'd easily swap the money to buy the consoles/games for nights at the arcade.

3rd Generation: Master System
Notable Games: Sonic 1, Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd in the Miracle World, Out Run
Things probably would change if I grew up with Nintendo games. Both NES/MS have great libraries, but of course, my SEGA side screams louder.

4th Generation: Genesis
Notable Games: Classic Sonic trilogy, Bonanza Bros., Comix Zone, Flicky, Streets of Rage, and many more.
Just like the Master System, I don't think the Super Nintendo would come too far, and most cross-platform games are better on the SNES, but I grew better with the SEGA Classics. Similar to the Atari 2600, many of the SEGA games I'd like on the Genesis also have (sometimes better) ports or were already Arcade originals.

5th Generation: Nintendo 64
Notable Games: Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros., Mario Party
This one was the trickiest one so far, and partly the reason I thought of this topic. While the PS1 had stronger games like Tomb Raider and WipeOut XL, I think the sum of the N64 is better, even if a weaker console. Similarly, even after all these year, if the Saturn had a Sonic exclusive, my decision could have been vastly different.

6th Generation: PlayStation 2
Notable Games: LEGO Star Wars I and II, LEGO Indiana Jones, Need for Speed: Underground 2, The Simpsons Hit & Run, Star Wars: Battlefront II, The Sims 2,

This one is even harder than the 5th Generation, and not because of the main Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2 trio everyone might be thinking, but actually, because of the Dreamcast. SEGA made some of their best games during that era (Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Crazy Taxi, Phantasy Star Online, Jet Set Radio, Samba de Amigo...), but I grew up with a PlayStation 2 so, of course, the games have a stronger connection with me. Not to mention, it was supported for a much longer time than the Dreamcast. However, if I could, I would easily swap the N64 with the Dreamcast.

7th Generation: None?
Notable Games: Sonic Generations, Tomb Raider 2013,

Not the biggest fan of this era and except for the Wii, all games I'd like to play are already either on the PS3 or the 360. Still, and I think this is also worth it for the PS2 era, I'd take an equally powerful PC.

8th Generation: Switch
I'm mostly mentioning the Switch because I own the Lite version, and I'm out of touch with the games of this period, but even then I couldn't play many games because of the expensive prices. So, it's not like I can even mention Mario Odyssey or Mario Maker as notable games because I couldn't even play them yet.

9th Generation: ?

"Always in motion, the future is" - Yoda

Hard to pick a side already, despite just like the 7th and 8th Generations, I can't see myself really attached to the current games, plus the "Switch 2" is not even announced yet.

 

What are your thoughts? Which consoles would you take?

Edit:  You can check which generation every console belongs to, here, just scroll until the bottom of every generation.

Edited May 26 by Solister

[MetalSkulkBane]

7 hours ago, Solister said:

For me, I'm skipping the first generation because I doubt most of us even know a game from that time.

From my understanding, most First Gen consoles had 1-6 games games, usually Pong-clone. If something claimed to have more, it probably had slight variants of each other.

With that said I might pick Coleco Telstar Arcade, because look at it.

Edited May 26 by MetalSkulkBane

[MGA_Gamer]

1st Generation: Pong

2nd Generation: Atari 2600

3rd Generation: NES

4th Generation: Mega Drive/Genesis

5th Generation: PS1

6th Generation: PS2

7th Generation: Wii

8th Generation: PS4

9th Generation: Switch

For the record: I also have an XB Series X because it has Forza Horizon 5 on it!

[MetalSkulkBane]

As for Second Gen, while Atari 2600 is legendary and probably the nicest looking, I would go with ColecoVision.

Why? Because it had an add-on that allowed it to play Atari games. Yes, it ended with a lawsuit. But its versions of Pac-Man or DK look much nicer.

Edited May 26 by MetalSkulkBane

[GeAr-DX]

1st: Coleco Telstar Arcade

Almost everything in this generation it's Pong. But this one has some different stuff and the console has a gun.

2nd: Atari 2600

One of the first consoles I ever played and one that I enjoy until today, I just love it. The design is so nice, it's something that makes the entire room looks way stylish. Also, I like a lot of the games, even with the ton of bad rushed ones.

3rd: NES

For more that I love the Master-System (and I think he is way more prettier) and it was my first console, I will go with the NES. This is THE GEM of the consoles, a ton of great games like Mario, Zelda, Contra, Dragon Quest, Punch-Out, Battletoads, it's a monstrous library of games. It's just pure solid gold.

4th: Mega-Drive

That may be the hardest one to chose since both the Super-Nintendo and the Mega-Drive are colossus, but I will go with the Mega-Drive. First, I have a eternal love for this console, the Master-System was my first one, but the Mega-Drive was the first console that got my passion for games and turned me from a guy who enjoys to a gamer. Also, he's totally stylish, one of the most RAD of the RADs. Also, he has better sports games, a genre that is super important to me. Also also, he is the house of some of my favorite games of ALL TIME, like the original Sonic trilogy, Comix Zone, the Streets of Rage trilogy, Shinobi III, the Golden Axe trilogy, Phantasy Star II, III and IV, and a LOT more.

5th: PlayStation

C'mon, it has to be this one. I like the Saturn and the Nintendo 64, but the PS1 was a force of it's own. It had a super powerful library of games that no other console in this generation could approach. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, the four Crash titles from Naughty Dog, the Spyro trilogy, Bugs Bunny Lost in Time, Gran Turismo, the Digimon World trilogy, Klonoa, and the list goes on and on. It was a complete library that no other console in this generation had.

6th: PlayStation 2

This generation was a bit harder to decide but still, the winner was imminent. The PS2, just like the PS1, was a super complete console (it was even more complete in my opinion), one of the greatest libraries ever made, awesome titles, a beautiful design, it sure was Sony's masterpiece and they will never make a console this great again. No other period will be great like it was with him, It really was the gaming culture at it's peak... it was perfect.

7th: PlayStation 3

The Wii has some of my favorite games from this time and even my favorite from this generation... but the PS3 has more games that I like from this generations, like the Ryu ga Gotoku series and, well, all main fighting games except Smash Bros.

8th: Nintendo Switch

That wasn't even hard. I'm not a fan of most Sony and Microsoft exclusives from this generation, I think that the only Sony exclusive that I care from the PS4 was Spider-Man. But the Switch, now that's other story, Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, Smash Bros, DC Super Heroines, and still has the multi-plataform games that I care from this generation, like Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest and Sonic.

9th: Xbox Series

Since I can't say "stay in the Switch", I will chose the Xbox Series for the sole reason that I despise the PS5 and his controller it's one the most comfortable ever made. This actual generation may be the most boring one since I started in the gaming world (4th generation), just two or three titles exclusive for the generation got my attention. The aesthetic, ideas and concepts just don't appeal to me.

[Sonicka]

Skipping gen’s one and two since this before my time. If I had to choose all over again:

3rd: NES - If only for Kirby’s Adventure. The NES set a good standard for its upcoming legacy. 

4th: SNES - Whilst I adore my Mega Drive, discovering the back catalogue of titles like Yoshi, Mario, Final Fantasy, Zelda etc through emulation in my early years really sold me on what I missed out on (and caught up with) 

5th: PlayStation 1 - Really want to go N64 with this… but there’s much more on offer with Sony’s first console. Crash, Spyro, Final Fantasy moved over from its competitor - it was the breakout for CD based tech. 

6th: Gamecube - still has the best controller of all time, short load times, beautifully cheap and compact design, GBA player, and a fantastic library of first and second party titles not found elsewhere. It lacked a lot of third party support, but you weren’t buying a Gamecube for those games. 

7th: Wii - Nearly said 360, but despite the lack of power there was just so much more to do with Nintendo’s experimental system that was more fun (and it bought in non- gamers to the fray). On top of the usual first party exclusives it was also backwards compatible with every Nintendo home console via disk or virtual console. Magnificent beast. 

8th: PlayStation 4 - I love my WiiU but we all know what happened there. PlayStation 4 was the king this generation and I would subscribe to it again. I have far too many games that still need to be played in my back catalogue. I haven’t been able to afford an adoption of a next gen system, yet PS4 seems to continue to thrive to this day with new releases that play perfectly new titles fine. 

9th: Switch - weird one since it sits somewhere in the middle of 8th and 9th gen. It’s arguable that it kicked off 9th Gen when the WiiU was folded, but could easily be said to be Nintendos real 8th Gen platform as well. Regardless, I’m including it here since it deserves a spot somewhere. From the the open world Zelda’s to Xenoblade, or the sleuth of indies to the ridiculous amount of content now found on the NSO - the console has so much value that it could keep me entertained for decades. But ultimately the Switch is a platform that you should own *alongside* another home console IMO. 

If Switch isn’t a viable option then I’d default to the PS5 - from what I have played the system has a solid if unremarkable amount of exclusives, amazing loading speeds and an incredible controller with feedback that takes a few leafs from Nintendos creative cookbook. Most importantly it isn’t designed by Microsoft, a company fast digging its own grave this generation with its plethora of mistakes on exclusives and game studio acquisitions and shutterings.