For the love of God, let the horse die.

by Wisdom 

I find it strangely ironic, and perhaps a bit amusing, that around every four weeks one of RPGamer's patrons feels the need to exalt the Super Nintendo. Considering the unerringly predictable nature of these outbursts, I'm inclined to believe in the dangers of pre-adolescent conditioning--you'd think Nintendo brainwashed us. But of course, I'm not one to complain for the outbursts themselves; the chance to tear into a faulty argument is sweeter than heroin. (Ahh, sweet, sweet happy juice.) So thank you, Wildfire, for giving me the opportunity to indulge my caustic side.

Let's start with the games, as these are the first of the "reasons" Wildfire believes that the SNES is the "best system ever." The games of the SNES were not the best games ever made. In fact, by today's standards, they blow chunks. For the last time, favoritism does not equal merit. Yes, I happen to love Final Fantasy IV beyond any other RPG in existence. This does not make it better than Skies of Arcadia. You cannot judge a game's merit solely on the basis of how excited you were to play it. You can't judge anything's merit on how excited you are on its prospect. (I was *really* excited about SaGa Frontier. I was also *really* excited when I lit it on fire and threw it out of a moving vehicle.) Wildfire's "points", (and I use the term loosely), reflect nothing but his/her personal opinions--which he/she is more than allowed to harbor, but, contrary to his/her belief, hold absolutely no merit in an argument. I would say that his/her enthusiasm about gaming, and his/her level of maturity, is the deciding factor in the way he/she plays games now. I beat every game I bought for the SNES, even if the game sucked horribly, when I was a kid. Now, I can love a game to death and still have trouble sitting through the final boss fights: it has nothing to do with the merits of the game; it's that my devotion to gaming has dropped significantly with my induction into reality.

The games of the SNES era were gilded--that's the only word we can properly use to discuss them. As I mentioned before, the majority of the RPG-playing population was pre-adolescent in the days of SNES' peak--we cannot be expected to look at the games objectively because they were played under the fog of youth. Those games had to pass extensive screenings, because Nintendo truly believed--and still do--that Americans are morons. We only got the games that were the most fun to play, with the best storylines of the era. The "good old days of the SNES" were engineered. Believe me, they got their share of crap games; we just never saw them. I already know that no game will ever fill me with the wonder that Chrono Trigger's multiple endings did, but that's because I was young and the idea of controlling the outcome of anything enticed me. I played the game so many damn times that any part member's stats that could be maxed out, were maxed out. The only other game I did that with was FFVIII, and that wasn't for enjoyment--I was sick of getting killed by stray encounters and decided that I'd spend six hours making sure it never happened again. But Chrono Trigger pales in comparison to Xenogears or Final Fantasy VII--it barely beats out FFVIII, and that's only because I really, really despised the combat system in that game. The plots of Final Fantasy IV and VI are not of exceptional literary merit, or even remotely mature at times--FFIV is an archetypal adventure, if ever I saw one, and FFVI stops having a plot after the World of Balance. The games were great because we played them in a mindset that allowed for reverence. It's much easier to amaze and enrapture a child than an adult--that's just basic psychology. The SNES had wonderful games, to be sure, but now those games would be sub-par or even downright bad. We've raised the standard, people, and the truth is, the general RPG released today is as good or better, in terms of quality, as those games--it's just that now, we've come to expect much more from our video games. In fact, I'd just like to mention that the fact that the author even mentions Secret of Evermore as a "great game" instantly discredits his argument. That game was less appealing than a barn filled with cow manuer and human cadavers, engulfed in a torrent of burning plastic.

In truth, I don't really know how to counter his second "point"--the era--because it's more like a stream of random facts than an argument. I'd say that his/her claim that Nintendo "needed to prove it's name" is blatantly false; as I recall, no system to date has achieved the saturation that the NES did. Nintendo is a household name because of the NES; the SuperNES was just a damn good follow-up. In fact, I'd say the "era" severely favored Nintendo, and was stacked against Sony when it entered the field. Nintendo had a strong background of quality games and dependable products--I didn't even know what the hell a Playstation was until a friend of mine got one. I'd never heard of Sony doing anything RPG-related; I refused to buy a PS until I heard Ogre Battle was being re-released on it. That was the second best gaming decision I've ever made. (The first being to play that weird game called Dragon Warrior at Blockbuster.) I still have plenty of fun playing Final Fantasy I and Secret of Mana, but they were meant to be games that were easily playable. Consider children's books: enjoyable, but they harbor no oustanding merit when compared to Charles Dickens. The same follows for those games: they are wonderful and can be touching, but they do not hold exceptional when compared to the standards today. This isn't to say that those games are not excellent games in themselves, but it's idiotic to say that they're better games, or that the SNES was a better system, just because we don't get "that feeling" when we play the newer games, or even play said games as often. We've changed. So have our games. Accept it and move on; the SNES was not "the best system ever." In fact, there can never be a "best system ever" because there will always be new generations of gamers bursting into the scene. The kids that grew up playing PS games are going to think it's the best system ever, and the cycle will continue for all time. There's no substance to any argument, except that we can only judge a system, and it's games, by the merits it displays--gameplay, innovation, and storyline. (Graphics are relative, and only useful when trying to shut up old or new school gamers.) This is why I can say Chrono Trigger is a better game than FFVIII, but not nearly as good as Skies of Arcadia. This is also why I can say FFVII trumps any other game in existence. It's not my favorite game, but it's an incredible one.

We've beat this horse so bloody that all of its whelps will need blood transfusions, just so they can bleed the remainder. Let it go. The SNES was not the Mecca of gaming; if you are so truly stuck in the past, then by all means, stay there, but do not attempt to make an argument on those grounds. The system had its high points, and I recognize those merits, but the Playstation has consistently produced more innovative, more mature, and more enjoyable games than the Super Nintendo. Skies of Arcadia proved to me that we can continue to weave better technology with more immersive gameplay, without losing the charm that RPGs hold, and I wish that the media had given the Dreamcast the chance to shine. I have to say, we've really mastered the art of shooting ourselves in the feet, and then looking back and wishing for better days--when we didn't have the gun.