Consoles of the '90s

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Nintendo loses the lead and Sony takes over the world as we fill out our console catalog

Console: Super NES
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Discontinued in: 1999
The US version of the Super Famicom we covered on the previous page. People love it. You should too, so go try some of the Virtual Console ports. Contra III, Super Metroid and Link to the Past, anyone?

Console: TurboDuo
Manufacturer: NEC
Discontinued in: ~1999
Yet another CD/game card hybrid from NEC, and therefore another system that's hard to say when it died. The graphics looked like NES, but the audio was far beyond anything carts could accomplish (thanks to vast CD storage). Didn't matter though, and that's why you'll be playing its best games (Ys, Lords of Thunder) on the Virtual Console.

Console: Lynx II
Manufacturer: Atari
Discontinued in: 1994
The second version of Atari's ill-fated handheld. It should have been obvious there was no stopping Game Boy, even with a new look and some mumbling about better specs. Doesn't matter anyway, as barely anyone played either version of the damn thing. Kung Food, really?

Console: Sega CD / Mega CD
Manufacturer: Sega
Discontinued in: ~1995
Released in the US a year later and Europe after, Sega CD was supposed to enhance the Genesis beyond the SNES. The marketing ploy "Welcome to the Next Level" drove the idea home, though anyone who actually played the thing knew the truth - most of the games were FMV trash or Genesis ports with a new soundtrack. It did, however, give us Lunar, Sonic CD and early SRPG Dark Wizard, so thanks for that.

Console: CD-i
Manufacturer: Philips
Discontinued in: 1998
Immensely expensive, embarrassing Nintendo shilling and the bastard child of a multimedia deal gone wrong, the Philips CD-i is arguably the worst console of all time. It's the kind of machine people collect now only to see the look on everyone else's face. "You have a CD-i? Why?"

Console: FM Towns Marty
Manufacturer: Fujitsu
Discontinued in: 1999?
Another Japan-only machine that made little impact. It was backwards compatible with previous FM Towns machines, which might have been good news for a few distraught children who couldn't find a Super NES. It is, however, the first 32-bit console and sported a CD and hard drive, so eat it everyone else!

Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.