I just made that massive Mario list... so what's another, eh?
#1 - SNES - It was a REALLY tough call between this and #2, which says a lot about it's competition as this is my most nostalgic console, but I think I can give it the slight edge on it's own merits. The SNES is home to more masterpiece games than any other console. Both new series and ones refined from the NES alike. All of Nintendo's unmatched first party quality titles have some of their best on the system - Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Kirby - as well as the best 3rd party companies being closely related to Nintendo at the time - Square, Capcom, etc. with the likes of Final Fantasy and Mega Man. Speaking of Final Fantasy, SNES was the premiere RPG console until #2 rolled around. It just had so much verity and a much better average than the NES.
#2 - PS1 - You know, I used to always put the PS2 here... and the PS2 is a damn amazing system, Sony was amazing before the 'worse PC era' of the PS3 onwards... but when I really think about it, it was the PS1 that really had the lion's share of classics on top of the crazy innovation of the system itself and disc-based games. It gave rise to some amazing franchises that where so synonymous with the system I almost wanted to call them 1st party. Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Twisted Metal... all amazing. Many developers who used to be known as close to Nintendo hopped ship for Sony and boy did that help make the PS1 a monster. Final Fantasy got bigger than ever, Metal Gear evolved into it's current state, Castlevania turned Metroidvania and much more. The system carried on the SNES' RPG smorgasbord with so many titles like the excellent Suikoden series and my personal favorite (J)RPG of all time - Dragon Quest VII.
#3 - PS2 - I almost wanted to group it with the PS1, but it has so much unique greatness I couldn't. The system itself had a big innovation with it's inclusion of a DVD player, back when it was a feature secondary to the video game console, unlike now where they are multi-media boxes that can
also play video games. It is also what convinced my dad to buy one, so a big win for younger me. It introduced more great franchises - Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, Devil May Cry, God of War, Kingdom Hearts, Katamari Damacy. It continued on with old franchises, such as the excellent Silent Hill 2 and Grand Theft Auto 3, and was also an RPG powerhouse. Also, full backwards comparability to make it's library that much more enticing!
#4 - NES - If you look at my collection you might be surprised to find this not at #1. It's a system with extremely important historical value to all video games going forwards and was a crazy free-for-all of new ideas, good or bad. This variety, history and sheer number of games and accessories makes it one of the most exciting to collect for but necessarily my favorite library for playing. That isn't saying it lacks good games, quite the opposite - it commands an extensive library that planted the seeds of some of the best series of all time. Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Mega Man, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest... it all started here, especially impressive when these where new concepts as this was a different beast from the pre-crash status quo of videogames. Many great games such as the Ninja Gaiden trilogy and Contra gave us the concept of NES hard, Capcom was making not just passable but
great Disney licensed games, and the system is just littered with amazing gems, both well known and not.
#5 - Gameboy/Pocket - Playing complex, cartridge-based games on the go? Mind = blown. In a list of sheer importance this may be a #1 contender. The Gameboy filled it's niche so well and maintained such dominance Nintendo has laughed off every competitor in the portable market until today with, culminating with the Switch. It brought new portable versions of all the favorites such as Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong and Metroid. It did it's own work starting franchises such as Kirby and the Wario series... and one more small series you may have hear of called
Pokemon.
#6 - NINTENDO 64! OH MY GOD! - The Big N may have lost it's 2-generation dominance to the superior PS1, but the N64 is a unique beast. Instead of having a wide library of tons of quality games like the SNES the N64 is largely known for it's handful of all-time ranking classics. Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time... just those 2 games changed everything and elevated the system above many others. Besides that, you have Super Smash Brothers, Majora's Mask, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie-&-Tooie, Paper Mario, Goldeneye - all top ranking classics in their own rights considered near unmatched or launching into superior sequels on later consoles. Despite it's somewhat lackluster overall library, it has peaks higher then many consoles dare to dream.
#7 - Sega Genesis - The SNES' edgy, jealous sibling. It's inferior in most every way, but it had a rad attitude so people loved it just the same. As much as I think the SNES made the Genesis it's bitch, much like John Romero tried to do years later to everyone globally and failed, it wouldn't make #7 if I didn't also love it. The star of the show is of course Sonic the Hedgehog, the Halo of the 16-bit era carrying an entire system on it's back. All 3 main games & Knuckles are superb platforming magic. Besides that you have greats like the Phantasy Star series, Rocket Knight Adventures, Ecco, Gunstar Heroes, Shining Force, better-on-Genesis Earthworm Jim, bloodier-on-Genesis Mortal Kombat (Until Nintendo pulled the stick from their ass and their superior controller made it better in the 2nd)... and a weird trend of Castlevania, Contra & Sparkster titles that where unique games to their SNES counterparts. It had it's greats, but it just can't stack up to it's eternal rival the SNES. Good on Sega though for using clever marketing to get considerable market share despite this inferiority, making it the Apple of the 16-bit era. I swear that's the last unfavorable comparison of Genesis to SNES, and hey, unlike the Iphone the Genesis wasn't purposely lacking options and sold at a baffling inflated price compared to it's objectively superior counterpart to hipsters and old people!
#8 - Nintendo DS - Nintendo loves to take wacky shots at innovations and the DS was one of their most successful. The touch screen is a great feature that has kept up use in all their portable consoles to today. The DS itself has some pretty good titles, including many continuations of series from the Gameboy Advance that proceeded it. Zelda that works surprisingly good with stylus controls, one of the best Mario Karts, Phoenix Wright, Professor Layton, and more Final Fantasy Tactics Metroidvania Castlevanias, Mario & Luigi, Animal Crossing and WarioWare. Of course, the star of the portable system Pokemon had generations 4 & 5 as well as Gen 2 remakes.
#9 - Atari 2600 - The grandaddy of them all. While it's lack of quality control led to the video game crash, it had to get to that over-saturation point to begin with by being something completely new and innovative, the virtual birth of a new medium! In a time before complex games, or even games you could play at home, the 2600 brought the arcade classics and new creations to you. Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Berzerk... even Donkey Kong & Mario Bros from Nintendo! It also has Warlords, the underrated gem and Super Smash Brothers of the Atari. There is much more to find, tons of great games that challenge you to get a high score through just your skill.
#10 - Xbox 360 - This terminally ill, red-ringing console is on the very cusp of the end of (it's type of) console relevancy... but I cannot deny it's importance. The little brand that Halo built is the sequel to the Xbox, which should have been renamed the Microsoft Halo. While the original was just a Halo machine, the 360 actually started to make it's own series like Gears of War, Bioshock, & Mass Effect. I enjoyed these games on the 360 a lot and then our console died like a year after buying it new. Then I just played all those games on the PC. Still, the 360 was widespread and I played it with friends in it's hayday, making it ok with me. Well, kind of... you know what, never mind, screw it them more I think about it. The best part wasn't playing games before the console broke, it was showing everyone online that I did... or it would have been if you didn't have to pay for online.
#10 - Gamecube - Not as strong as the PS2, but it was sold on what always sells Nintendo consoles - the unmatched first-party games. Well... even the first parties where weaker than usual, but still pretty great! Mario Sunshine & Wind Waker where both weaker than their previous generations showing, but Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, Mario Kart: Double Dash & Super Smash Brothers Melee improved on their former titles. Pikmin & Animal Crossing showed up as new IPs, and the Prime series changed Metroid. Colosseum & XD Brought Pokemon adventures to the home console and Resident Evil 4 was exclusive until it's popularity outgrew the console.
Well, that's my list but... wait... what's THAT?!
#S - Glorious PC Gaming Master RaceIn these modern times of Xbox & Playstation just being crappy PCs, and Nintendo only just making itself different enough to remain relevant as an indivual system, there is only the glorious PC. Xbox games are usually on the PC, the one-hand countable PS4 exclusives just make people wish they where on PC and despite their difference to their contemporaries - wouldn't it be convenient to have Nintendo games on PC? Well, you largely can! Emulate every library of all but the most recent consoles! 4 decades of games at your disposal! FEED THE PC!
In all seriousness, the PC has been running parallel to consoles the whole time. Both had different feels up to the mid-2000s and could exist side by side. It feels unfair to discount all the PC greats when counting consoles from the early text and point-and-click games, to massive western RPGs like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Deus Ex, Ultima & System Shock and soooooo much more. What used to be different niches have now combined with better technology. Now you can hook up to your TV and play it like a console, and any game that is on PC & another console will be vastly superior on PC. In a way, I am not kidding calling it #S. This is a future rating as no console will ever come along from this point forwards that a PC could not improve, and will only be hamstrung by exclusives trying to justify massive, pointless console purchases. From this point on 95% of games will be only or also on the PC, making it a console in it's own right and a juggernaut that will likely remain dominate for decades, maybe only begin surpassed by some totally new tech we can't even forsee. In the past it was a console with capabilities and libraries to be weighed against consoles, one I didn't have enough experience with to put in my top 10, but now it has become omega as new systems just poorly imitate it.
It is the only platform of the future. It is #S.
Also, old big box PC games are the best looking game collectable boxes!
This concludes another novel no one will read, thanks for reading (this end sentence)!