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: ~1999Yet 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!
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