Lets check the boards "roots" out. I recognize some us have gaming far longer, but the SNES vs Genesis "wars" always seemed the most real to me, so indulge me with this limited poll.

Genesis definitely. Outside of Street Fighter 2, I can't think of any common titles that SNES beat the Genesis on. Snes was great for its Nintendo games, but my heart lies with Sega. I have a feeling most rpg fans will go snes though.

i liked both but snes had the rpgs.

How about Mortal Kombat 2? Definitely superior on SNES. I'll put my vote in for SNES because it was the system that introduced me to RPG's.

SNES, no contest.

Super Metroid
Super Mario World 1 & 2
Mario Kart
F-zero
Final Fantasy 3
Super Street Fighter 2
Super Castlevania 4
Actraiser
etc.
etc.

The Genesis had some great games, but the SNES had more and I'd take the top SNES games over the top Genesis games any day.

I like both systems but the SNES has an unsurpassed number of A to AAA titles compared to the Genesis. Thinking back to the carts I have I'd rank Streets of Rage 2, Wonder Boy in Monster World and Gunstar Heroes as top tier. Everything else I have, while still good.. doesn't quite have the same level of quality to them. On the other hand, I don't have enough time left here at work today to list every SNES game I would put in that top tier.

The SNES was better overall IMO, although Genesis had the edge when it came to sports games.

Shut up.....you had me at Super Metroid!

The games on the Genesis just seemed better. Maybe I was just partial due to no real playtime on the SNES though.

I never owned an SNES, but I did (and still) have a Genesis, 32X, Sega CD combo. Love playing Virtua Fighter 32X, Virtua Racing 32X, Star Wars 32X, Night Trap CD32X, Farenheit CD32X, Supreme Warrior CD32X, Corpse Killer CD32X, Slam City CD32X... etc.

Yeah, I'm a weird one.

I had both and played RPGs on the SNES while I played more action oriented titles on the Genesis.

I know SNES has more well rounded library (RPGs, Platform, 1st party exclusives, etc etc etc), but the Genesis will always be more special.

NHL hockeys, Sonic, Streets of Rage, Thunderforces, Sega CD (and it has some gems like Lunar 1/2, Dark Wizard, Popful Mail, Sonic that are just awesome), Phantasy Stars 2 and 4, Gunstar Heroes.... They are more special to me!

My vote goes for the Snes. Between all the rpgs ( some of the best ever made) and the 1st party games snes has a big advantage. Sure I liked alot of the sega games but from what I can remember there were a whole lot more great snes titles out there.

While I appreciate the genres where the SNES had the Genesis beaten hands down, I still preferred the Genesis.

Streets of Rage 1-3 >>>>>>>> Final Fight (1 player, Final Fight Guy, wtf?)
Sonic over Mario - I used to love blitzing friends in the versus mode on Sonic 2, that was just so much fun. The slow down was horrible but it sure didn't batter at the time.
NHL Hockey on the Genesis over NHL Hockey on the SNES
Toejam and Earl - jamming!

Gain Ground was another favourite of mine . I even loved EA's port of Populous on the Gen, somehow worked incredibly well with the gen controller.

Even in the weakest genre, rpg, on the Genesis there was some good value to be had.
Phantasy Star 2-4 (awesome!)
Sword of Vermillion (early classic rpg, real time battles)
Landstalker (prelude to Alundra - great game)
Warriors of the Eternal Sun (omg a good western rpg on a console?)
Lunar (segacd never really took off over here - but these are reportedly fine games)

Loved them both, but since I was in college when they came out and we spent most of our time playing sports games - the nod goes to the Genesis. Damn, I still remember the feeling of having to sit through that 3-4 week wait for the local Babbage's to get more Genesis controllers in stock, since everybody wanted a 2nd controller after Madden came out.

Ironically, if you asked me which one would I'd be more likely to play today between the two, it would be the SNES (Phantasy Star 3 was my game on the Genesis, but the SNES simply KILLED it with its RPG's)

Had to go with Genesis although i enjoyed both alot infact i think i loved gaming the most during that time especially with the EA sports titles.

SEGA!!
Genesis all the way baby. My cousins had a SNES and yes there were a ton of games I loved on the system and I do love me some nintendo but I still gotta root for my genesis:
Streets of Rage, Sonic games, Herzog Zwei, Toe Jam & Earl, Phantasy Star, plus Hockey.
ah, the good ol days of gaming. The games the genesis had just seem so different and new.

I could never stand the 8-bit sound chip they used in the Genesis and since I'm an RPG fan its SNES hands down. You can't top Final Fantasy 2, 3, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Pilotwings, Mystical Ninja, so many favorites. I never really liked Sega until the Dreamcast.

edit: I just remembered the Saturn, so replace Dreamcast with Saturn (NiGHTS!)

No doubt, SNES has a better sound chip (it was Sony right?). But, in the hands of good programmers, the Genesis can pump out some awesome tunes (check out Techno's stuff, like Thunderforce).

SNES by far.

However, Genesis had the Sega Channel (Xbox Live Arcade a decade before it came out) and was better for sports games IMHO.

I always thought the colors were better on SNES.

SNES is the easy winner for me. I still have both hooked up and play them regularly, too.

I don't like sports or RPGs, so the genres that seem to have become each system's 'trump card' are irrelevant to me. And Nintendo's first-party games are just a step above Sega's efforts, IMO.

I had a Genesis during that era (and a TurboGrafx-16) but I probably have more SNES games now... Of course, I stupidly sold my Genesis 6-7 years ago, and I haven't managed to rebuild my collection.

I fondly recall many of the Genesis RPGs, and I haven't managed to find that many on SNES so far (they are all still over $30!)

I like them both and for different reasons.

The Genesis had tons of great shooters.

The SNES had tons of good RPGs and platform games.

Although, I always preferred the SNES controller.

I would have to go with SNES. I can't imagine playing street fighter 2 with only 3 buttons in the Genesis.

That's why they brought out the 6 button controller for the gen when SF2 championship edition came out. The button layout is closer to the arcade as well.