RVG Forum

Simple really, what's your favourite 8-bit console and why?

Master System....best graphics around at the time, plus some great arcade conversions and original titles inc Wonderboy 3 Dragons Trap Nuff said!

I plumped for Vectrex. ColecoVision would have been my second choice.

(or PC Engine if we're being pedantic, lol)

Not an area where I have any great expertise, but from what little I do know, the SMS gets my vote.

I've spent way more time playing the NES then anything else on that list so I have to go with it.

I went for the 7800 because not only does it have some great games of its own, especially the arcade conversions, but also plays all Atari 2600 games so it's a no brainer really.

NES for me. Most arcade conversions. Bubble Bobble, Bump 'n Jump, Burgertime, Defender II, Donkey Kong Jr., Indy Heat, Joust, Millipede, Pac-Mania, Paperboy, Q*Bert and Road Runner to name a few. Add in A boy and His Blob, AD&D Dragonstrike and Hillsfar, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Batman, Flintstones, Genghis Khan, Micro Machines and Pirates. For me that is time well spent. I would list the Intellivision second and the Colecovision with Atari 2600 adaptor a close third. If I ever get an Odyssey 2 or Vectrex multi cart(s) those two would jump up the list fast.

2600 for myself.

Why? easy, the sheer amount of time spent on it and games played!.

Combat, Defender, Jungle Hunt, MS.Pacman, Joust, Moon Patrol, Spiderman, Crystal Castles, Dig Dug, Pitfall, Space shuttle, Galaxians, Battle Zone, Pole Position, Kanagroo, Yars Revenge, Smurph, Frogger, Centipede, i could be here all day.

Plus it was the system all your mates had, so you were never short of games, the carts and packaging had such superb artwork, hell if i had the time+money i'd start collecting for the 2600 just for said artwork, the comic book style adverts...

More fond memories of the 2600 than the Master System (which i'd place 2nd).

I have to go for the Atari VCS, or 2600 as the whippersnappers of the late 80s used to refer to it as. It's where I started, and sometimes I can still remember the feeling of getting the old woodgrain in 1982 with Combat, a kind of raw excitement I'd never felt before. The Colecovision was superb as well - what a pity the crash stunted its growth.

I thought the Intellivision was teh sh1t, though it was left to the Amstrad GX4000 to redefine the word "nadir" with absolute precision.

 ...sometimes I can still remember the feeling of getting the old woodgrain in 1982 with Combat, a kind of raw excitement I'd never felt before...

That was really well put, wasn't it!  :D

Boy, this is not an easy choice.  I'm going for the 7800 because it essentially has access to two game libraries: its own and the 2600 games.  Can't go wrong there.  My second choice is the Vectrex which, for me is in a league of its own for being the only vector graphics home system EVER!

This is sooooo tough, I still don't know how to vote.

My heart kind of says Master System; great graphics, great games, made by Sega.

I do have to admit though that for every great SMS game there is probably 3 good counterparts on NES. So by the sheer mass of great games the NES wins.

What counts more? Example: I love Phantasy Star on SMS, it is imo the best 8-bit RPG. Looks and feels almost 16-bit. But beside that the only noteworthy RPG on SMS is Ultima IV. The NES has not an RPG that is equal to PS, but it has 4 Dragon Quest games and 3 Final Fantasy games, and those are the closest competitors. See my dilemma?

The Vectrex is cool also, so charming and innovative. But not a lot of games, and only arcade style stuff.

The 2600 is cool too, but I prefer the more complex games of later games.

Never cared much for the 7800, I am now interested in it for the homebrews, but I care for none of the official games much.

Very close poll so far

The NES for me. It is rather unfair of me to vote perhaps as it is simply the console I have played more than others but there are plenty of games I really like on it.

Any console that has Street Gangs/River City Ransom is going to be ace.

I think most of them have been decent. The 2600 has some ace stuff. The MS is something I played a lot but never owned myself, lovely image quality on the thing too.

The NES for me. It is rather unfair of me to vote perhaps as it is simply the console I have played more than others but there are plenty of games I really like on it.

Any console that has Street Gangs/River City Ransom is going to be ace.

I think most of them have been decent. The 2600 has some ace stuff. The MS is something I played a lot but never owned myself, lovely image quality on the thing too.

Couple of things let the MS down in my eyes, the sound chip and sprite flicker, pity as it's a capable system with some great games (Love Master Of Darkness, Wonderboy games, Galaxy Force 2, pulled off decent version of R-Type as well).

Can't really vote on this one.

I've spent quite a lot of time with 8-bit computers, but I haven't really caught up on the consoles yet. I've only played a few games on the Master System, NES and Atari 2600. Not enough to decide much about them either.

Can't really vote on this one.

I've spent quite a lot of time with 8-bit computers, but I haven't really caught up on the consoles yet. I've only played a few games on the Master System, NES and Atari 2600. Not enough to decide much about them either.

Cop out

close for me - NES is great old workhorse - but the 2600 gets my vote. I got rid of the NES when I got nesterDC but  I still have a woody despite Stella being around.

I plumped for Vectrex. ColecoVision would have been my second choice.

(or PC Engine if we're being pedantic, lol)

well, i am being pedantic, so I voted other lol. SMS in second place, excellent console.

Although it is a very tough choice I will have to go for the Colecovision. This was the first console I that was mine alone and didn't have to share with my older brother who would hog the Spectrum and the Acetronic and never let me play when he was around. The git!

My mates were all wowed by the arcade conversions as they were so much better than the Atari 2600 ones around at the time plus I had the added bonus of getting the Atari 2600 converter unit for it too so I had two catalogues of games to choose from too (which meant I could borrow all my mates Atari games).

Although todays greedy games companies probably would not agree, wouldn't it be great if modern games companies did agree to cross platform converters? Imagine the Xbox360 being able to access the full PS3's game library and vice versa. Great idea but sadly it will not happen. This is why the older systems win hands down.

I plumped for Vectrex. ColecoVision would have been my second choice.

(or PC Engine if we're being pedantic, lol)

well, i am being pedantic, so I voted other lol. SMS in second place, excellent console.

PC Engine is in the 16-bit poll 

Although todays greedy games companies probably would not agree, wouldn't it be great if modern games companies did agree to cross platform converters? Imagine the Xbox360 being able to access the full PS3's game library and vice versa. Great idea but sadly it will not happen. This is why the older systems win hands down.

That converter was definitely not something Atari agreed to believe me! Coleco reverse engineered the chipset and made their own compatible chips and as Atari had only copyrighted the parts and not the actual console there was nothing they could do, although they did try to get it pulled from the market more than once!

I remember reading about Atari's attempts to get them taken off market around the time. That just made it more of a privilege to own one

Still no clear winner here!

We need more votes to figure this one out. 

2600 for me... nostalgia wins.

2600 followed by Mattel Intellivision

2600 followed by Mattel Intellivision

Give your recently acquired Vectrex a little more time, TDU! 

2600 followed by Mattel Intellivision

Give your recently acquired Vectrex a little more time, TDU! 

To be honest I was gonna say the Vectrex but as I've only played it today really it seemed wrong considering how many hours I put into the other 2 in my youth.

The Vectrex is a superb bit of kit - wished I had bought one years ago. Had a great afternoon going through the games on the 32 game cartridge.

Atari 5200 Supersystem is such an under-appreciated system it blows my mind.

I vote PC Engine, but being as that will be vetoed I will vote for the SMS instead 

How the snuff do you vote by the way?

I vote PC Engine, but being as that will be vetoed I will vote for the SMS instead 

How the snuff do you vote by the way?

You simply choose an option in the poll above. If you are using a mobile device you won't see the poll for some stupid reason.

A real tough poll, I had to vote Master System as I had so many great nights playing mine in my younger years. But I was torn 3 ways by the MS, the VCS or the Colecovision as all have their strong points. VCS has the games and is for me the iconic gaming system people all relate to. The Colecovision though is a superior games system with some much better arcade conversions. While the Master System was the one which got me back on a console after a mid 80's hiatus.