Which console generation would you like to go back to?

[Cardboardtubeknight Cardboardtubeknight]

I want to go back even further where I could be shot in a saloon for having the dead man's hand. That technically would be still be Nintendo

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I unironically wanna witness the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device when it was new:

 

[Turbo Kid]

The SNES and Genesis era, i am a total sucker for Pixel art and IMHO the Genesis Vs SNES wars were far more used in ads creatively than the more mild shots from PSX and N64

So much personality in ad campaigns back then. Everything is so dull in 2025.

 

[Segadude113]

 

[Turbo Kid]

There was something about the Dreamcast launch that was just...different. It was the most excited I've ever been for a console launch. Maybe they just marketed it really well.

I miss Sega. Their particular brand is sorely missed in 2025.

 

[514lorn]

Wii/PS2 and DS/PSP are easily my answer. Tech was good enough that you weren't really limited in what you could make, but it there was still space in the market enough that a team of 3-4 people could make an all-time great. You could do 3D on handheld but not well enough that spirte games were pushed out of the market, and you had the early makings of Vanillaware style painted sprites on Wii/PS2. Internet connectivity was there but wasn't expected so games weren't designed around being always-online. Just the absolute sweet-spot for me.

I don't think its a coincidence that immediately following this was the great collapse where bespoke handhelds died out and hundreds of smaller studios were consolidated into larger publishers or were closed forever.

 

[RandomHajile]

For me it's definitely SNES/Genesis/TG16. My greatest childhood memories come from that. Christmas of 1993 playing Secret of Mana while a snowstorm raged outside my house. Getting a TG16 CD Drive and the first three Y's games in 1992. Spending the summer of 1994 going through Phantasy Star 2 on the Genesis and playing it so much I burned permanent images into my TV screen.

The 16 bit era was the peak of gaming IMHO. Pure fun, innocent, simple, peak of the art form.

 

[Mopeybloke]

I would like to go back to the beginning of the PS2 gen. I would spend that gen buying up all the cheap PSX games, then the following gen buying the PS2 games. My collection would be extant awesome!

 

[Badseed]

I love you Dreamcast. Imagine what could of been....

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

People always wanna go back to a certain time due to nostalgia and because life seemed simpler, but brother, I rather stay in these modern times with all the access to these older games and with access to the dirth of indie gems we have today.

 

[OrionP]

I'd go back to the NES era. I wasn't aware of the NES until 1990 and only had 6 months with the console before being drawn to the 16 bit Genesis.

I missed out on a load of NES games that I could have played (and got all the nostalgia for) if I'd just made the effort to get the console sooner.

 

[Anoobis]

I'd take anything from the NES to Playstation eras, each for their own reasons.

 

[Cocaine Owlbear]

Don't get me wrong. I loved my Dreamcast. I loved my Saturn. I loved my PS1 and 2.

But the SNES/Genesis era was amazing.

That having been said... I'm pretty happy being a modern PC gamer. The indie scene is fantastic, and even the big studios get something right once in a while (like Resident Evil Biohazard/Village for instance).

Combine that with being able to play retro games using emulators and the second best designed controller of all time (the best was the Dreamcast, I will die on that hill) and I'm set. I'll stick with the now thanks ;-)

 

[Maximecool]

For me, the best was Sony, from the PlayStation 1 to the PlayStation 2.

But since we have to choose one, then PS1.

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Maybe the 5th generation?

 

[Badseed]

Even before we had the Telestar...

Before video games we had ....

Tin Can Alley. It came with a rifle (like the NES zapper) and you had to shoot the cans off of a fake wood fence kinda thing.

 

[Judier]

I kinda just want to experience those times where it was simple. That ps2 era of gaming, the way they created games was umatched. And although I may have not lived those times properly myself, I'm trying to relieve them as much as I could.