What’s Next? Video Game Consoles Through the Years

1985: Nintendo Entertainment System

An absolute all-time classic which revived the fortunes of the video game industry, the NES boasts a legacy of first-party titles like Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda and Metroid that are still loved today.

1986: Sega Master System

Playing Intellivision to Nintendo’s Atari 2600, the Sega Master System was not a success, but it was arguably cooler looking with its sleek “Power Base.”

1986: Atari 7800

It was backwards-compatible with the 2600. Which didn’t help people forget how classic the 2600 was.

1989: Sega Master System II

Yeah… sneaky name since it was the same exact thing as the Sega Master System, only smaller. Wait, where have we heard this before?

1989: Sega Genesis

With Sonic the Hedgehog as its answer to Mario, the Sega Genesis helped usher in 16-bit consoles in the U.S. (Launch model pictured below.)

1991: Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Like its predecessor, the SNES had a long life and ultimately outsold all its competitors.

1995: Sony PlayStation

The most successful of the “fifth generation” consoles, the Sony PlayStation used CDs for games and ending up selling over 100 million consoles, a first in the industry.

1996: Nintendo 64

While not dominating the market share like previous Nintendo consoles, the N64 still had Super Mario 64, considered one of the greatest games ever.