The Subjective Scientific reTROview Console Tier List Part 6: reTROspective

Having this many consoles makes the back of my TV look like this.

So, after all of this arduous work to assemble the Grand Tier List, what have I learned? I'm giving out some awards below!

Best Console Manufacturer: Nintendo

Trash Tier:

Wii

I'm Pretty Sure I should Own This?:

Wii U

Game Boy Color

Switch

The Console Middle Class:

Gamecube

DS

3DS

Game Boy

The High Fliers:

N64

The Cream of the Crop:

NES

GBA

SNES

Wow. What a titanic accomplishment! Of the top seven consoles, Nintendo had 4. Of the top 4 home consoles, Nintendo had 4. Congratulations to Nintendo for beating the competition by a mile.

Worst Console Manufacturer: Sega

Trash Tier:

Sega Master System

Sega Saturn

Sega Dreamcast

I'm Pretty Sure I Should Own This?:

Sega Genesis

Oh boy. I probably should award this to the folks at Atari, for only having one console on the list, and that console coming in as the worst console, but the fact that Sega had three in the trash tier alone secures this award for them. I like you, Sega, but I need a much better grounding in Master System, Dreamcast, and Saturn before you'll move up in the rankings. Or maybe it's just an emotional attachment unsupported by data.

Biggest Surprise: Nintendo 64

Gosh, I was stunned at how many N64 games I absolutely love. To be fair, I really know this library, but this one was way higher than I would have pegged it. I would have put it below PS1 for sure, but the data never lie. And they're usually plural.

Most Obvious: SNES

This was was foretold from a casual conversation with a friend telling me about something called "emulators". It began with playing bad translations of Pokemon Gold, and led to downloading and playing every game on a list of Super Nintendo RPGs. A love affair soon began, and now I know the vast majority of the library, and absolutely love everything about the console, save for that the controllers feel a bit cheap, and that the dang things turn a gross shade of yellow.

Most Likely to Improve in 5 Years: PC/Arcade

This one is almost true by definition, and I can't pick between the two of them. We're going on 40 years of PC gaming here, and the same with arcades. What's more, I really may get to the point where I have to kick SNES out of the top spot, but I probably won't, even if the numbers say I should. The fact that the SNES was able to pack in that much goodness into a brief 7ish year run is mindblowing. Honorable mentions here go to Game Boy, Sega Dreamcast, and Switch, which probably have the most growth potential for more traditional consoles.

Anyway, I had a great time making this list, and I hope that my faithful reader enjoyed it as well! I'm really working hard slogging through some long games at the moment, and I anticipate breaking my What I'm Playing fast sometime this month. It's been almost a full month!

-TRO