Gaming Wednesdays: Gaming in the 90s

A few weeks ago I wrote a rant about how gaming during the 80s was great because each system had its own personality as shown through different games, as opposed to today where all the systems have essentially the same games with a few exclusives. I left it at a hint that I would later write about THE Console Wars, and then disappeared. I apologize for disappearing, but here I am now!

Tadah!

So... 1990s... 16 bit...

The end of the 3rd generation of gaming, the NES / Sega Master System era, ended with Nintendo Entertainment System as the supreme console, but - from a gamer's perspective - with not enough of a confrontation between the fans of each console to warrant a split. The 4th generation changed that.

In 1990, Sega released the Sega Genesis, its 16 bit console. It featured games such as Altered Beast, Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Stat, Shining Force, Blades of Vengance, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe. It was a huge financial and critical success. In 1992, Nintendo followed suit with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Featuring games like Super Mario World, Pilotwings, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy II (IV), and Chrono Trigger, the console was also a commercial and critical success.

Each console had its own dedicated following, and this time the fervor of the fans of each console did manage to tear into the social fabric that made up the personal relations of gamers. Secretly wanting to play A Link to the Past and Final Fantasy III (VI), owners of the Sega Genesis console held steadfast to the many exclusives in their console, while fans of the SNES played their exclusives while wishing that they could whiz through the Sonic games at least once.

Unlike was the case with the 8 bit consoles, the 16 bit consoles had a few non-exclusive titles. Yes, the SNES had its own set of incredible exclusives and the Genesis had its own library of exclusives, but a few game developers published games on both consoles. In some cases, games with shared titles were different, as was the case with the Aladdin titles. The SNES Aladdin game was more of a platform game, while the Genesis game was closer to a hack and slash side-scroller. The debates as to the merits of one over the other were endless. Other games, like Earthworm Jim, were the exact same title with slightly different visuals. Once again, fans of each console defended "their" version of the game. 

Ah, wonderful were the days where I would debate my SNES-owning friend Mario (yes, I used to have a real friend whose real name was Mario) about how much more superior games in the Genesis were over what would be their SNES counterpart. Sports games were always better in the Genesis. Fighting games, with the exception of that terrible Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighting game, were better on the Genesis. The Genesis had better platformers (Gunstar Heroes), better beat-em-ups (Golden Axe, Streets of Rage), and enough solid quality RPGs to compete with  the best SNES RPGs. Yes, the SNES was the RPG kind (Final Fantasy IV, VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana / Evermore, Lufia), but the Genesis wasn't far behind (Shining Force, Phantasy Star, Beyond Oasis, Crusaders of Centy, Landstalker, Light Crusader), and if one includes the titles from the Sega CD (Lunar, Lunar 2, Snatcher, Shining Force CD, Cobra), then there was really no comparison. Of course, Mario would reply that I had no idea what I was talking about. The SNES had Earthbound, Contra III (although I really did like Hard Corps for the Genesis more), F Zero, Castlevania IV (I will take the Genesis Bloodlines any day), Starfox, and Megaman X (Lemons! Yeah!).  Indeed, our comparisons of Turtles in Time vs. Hypersone Heist were intense. By and large, it was an even fight between both consoles... until Mortal Monday.

On September 13th 1993, one of the most important, if not the most important, day in gaming, Mortal Kombat was released on the SNES, Genesis, and other consoles. Because of fear of parental backlash, the games censored blood. Instead of gushes of red pools of red pixels, when characters were hit, they would spill some gray stuff. Except that the Genesis version had a code.

ABACABB... cheat enabled. 

Using the Kombat Kode made the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat into as accurate a port as the system could muster. This made Genesis sales increase exponentially and gave the Genesis the definitive advantage it needed over the SNES... and by the end of the console wars... Sega won. Or Nintendo won. It depends on how and where you measure it. US? Nintendo. Europe and Latin American markets? Sega. Japan? SNES hands down. Worldwide? In the end, Nintendo had sold more SNES consoles than Sega had sold Genesis consoles. However, the Genesis had a larger, more solid, and better received library, and by the time that the 32 bit consoles came around, Sega had made more revenue from the Genesis than Nintendo had with the SNES despite the SNES' lead in install base. There were some discussions about how Sega stock was at a higher point than Nintendo stock, but not being an economist I will stay away from that discussion.

If you ask me, the gaming community won. The days of the True Console War were some of the most vibrant for the industry. Innovation happened during this era in a way that had never been seen before and that has been seen since only briefly. So please, when you, dear reader, want to say that there is a "console war" between the X-1 and the PS4, think again. There is brand loyalty and maybe fanboyism when it's taken to the extreme, but the idea of there being a console war between two consoles where 90% of the games will be multiplatform is simply ridiculous. 

Quote of the Day: "Sega does what Nintendon't".
Quote of the Day in Retrospect: "That means having to quit the console race, becoming a publisher, and selling out their mascot".