16-bit Generation Wars!! Tech Specs and Graphics: Megadrive Vs Super NES Vs Neo Geo Vs PC Engine CD-ROMs/SuperGrafx Vs Megadrive+MegaCD

[JimmyFantasy]

Here we are again, as promised, for the 16-bit generation comparison!

First of all, if you missed the other parts, you can check generation comparisons here:
- Part 1: 8-bit Generation
- Part 3: 32/64-bit Generation

Second, I had to put again the PC Engine here for comparison being graphically more similar to the 16-bit generation than the 8-bit one. However, I will add in the CD-ROM / Super CD-ROM specs to it, being an upgrade more in line with 16-bit generation consoles and it's where the PC Engine really shines. I will add the PC Engine SuperGRAFX too.

As for the first topic I tried to search for every information I could find on the web, trying to be as accurate as possible but, again, feel free to post corrections and report errors if needed.

Ok, we are ready to start!

Group-1: PC Engine (CD-ROMs) Vs Megadrive Vs SNES Vs Neo Geo

	PC Engine + CD-ROMs	Megadrive	Super NES	Neo Geo
Producer	NEC	Sega	Nintendo	SNK
Year	1987 | 1988 CD-ROM | 1991 Super CD-ROM	1988	1990	1990
Lifespan	1987-1994	1988-1997	1990-2003	1990-2004
Media	ROM Cartridge | up to 2.5 MB or CD-ROMs expansion | up to 540 MB	ROM Cartridge | up to 4 MB	ROM Cartridge | up to 6 MB	ROM Cartridge | up to 40 MB (330 Mbit)
Bit-Generation	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit
CPU	Hudson HuC6280 | 8-bit | 7.16 MHz | 3.1 MIPS	Motorola 68000 | 16-bit | 7.67 MHz | 1.33 MIPS	Ricoh 5A22 | 16-bit | 3.58 MHz | 1.50 MIPS	Toshiba 68HC000 | 16-bit | 12.0 MHz | 1.75 MIPS
CPU (secondary)	-	Zilog Z80 | 8-bit | 3.58 MHz | 0.53 MIPS	-	Zilog Z80 | 8-bit | 4.0 MHz | 0.58 MIPS
RAM	8 KB onboard + 64 KB optional (CD-ROM) or + 256 KB optional (Super CD-ROM)	64 KB onboard	128 KB onboard	64 KB (32x2) onboard
GPU	Hudson VDC HuC6270A | 16-bit | 7.16 MHz	Sega VDP 315-5313 | 16-bit | 13.42 MHz	Ricoh 5C78 S-PPU1 | 16-bit | 5.58 MHz and Ricoh 5C77 S-PPU2 | 16-bit | 3.58 MHz	SNK NEO-GRZ (last gen) | 16/24-bit | 24 MHz
GPU Co-Processors	Hudson VCE HuC6260 | 16-bit | 7.16 MHz	-	-	SNK NEO-G0, PRO-C0, NEO-IO, NEO-273/CMC, NEO-ZMC2, Sony CXA1145 | 16-bit
VRAM	64 KB	64 KB	64 KB	84 KB
Color Palette	512 colors	512 colors	32’768 colors	65’536 colors
Max Colors on Screen	482	64	256	4096
Max Sprites on Screen	64	80	128	380
Max Sprite Size	32x32 or 32x64	32x32	64x64	16x512
Max Resolution	512x224	320x224	256x224	320x224
Parallax Scrolling	1 Fixed Layer, scrolling layers simulated by default using line scrolling and dynamic tiles	2 Scrolling Planes implemented in hardware, up to 64 scrolling layers, line/tile/row/column scrolling (vertical and horizontal)	4 Scrolling Planes implemented in hardware, multiple scrolling layers, line/tile scrolling (vertical and horizontal)	1 Fixed Layer implemented in hardware with up to 3 scrolling planes, line/sprite scrolling (vertical and horizontal)
Special FX	Color Cycling and Swapping, Tile Animation, Sprite Flip, Wobble Fx, Shearing Fx, Mosaic Fx (software), Sprite Scaling (software)	Color Cycling and Swapping, Tile Animation, Sprite/Tile Flip, Shadow/Highlight Fx, Semi-Transparency Fx, Silhouette Fx, Wobble Fx, Shearing Fx, Background and Sprite Scaling (software), Raycasting (software), Sprite Combiner for up to 64x64 Sprite Size (software), 3D Rendering (software)	Color Cycling and Swapping, Tile Animation, Sprite/Tile Flip, Semi-Transparency Fx, Wobble Fx, Shearing Fx, Mosaic Fx (hardware), Mode7: Background Scaling and Rotation (hardware), Sprite Scaling and Rotation (via expansion chips), 3D Rendering (software)	Color Cycling and Swapping, Tile Animation, Sprite/Tile Flip, Basic-Transparency Fx, Wobble Fx, Shearing Fx, Background and Sprite Scaling/Shrinking (hardware)
Expansion Chips on Cartridge	none	Sega Virtua Processor SVP (for 3D graphics, T&L, enhanced Scaling and Rotation)	Nintendo SuperFX1~SFX2 (for 3D graphics, enhanced Scaling and Rotation), Nintendo DSP1~DSP4 (Scaling and Rotation), SA-1, S-DD1, S-RTC, Capcom CX4 (Enhanced Transparency, 3D Effects)	SNK PRO-C0, NEO-GRC2-F, NEO-CMC
Gamepad	DPAD + 2 Buttons (I, II) + 2 Service Buttons (RUN, SELECT)	DPAD + 3 Buttons (A, B, C) + 1 Service Button (START)	DPAD + 6 Buttons (A, B, X, Y, SL, SR) + 2 Service Buttons (START, SELECT)	DPAD + 4 Buttons (A, B, C, D) + 2 Service Buttons (START, SELECT) | JOYSTICK + 4 Buttons (A, B, C, D) + 2 Service Buttons (START, SELECT)
Max Players	2 Players	2 Players	2 Players	2 Players

[PC ENGINE CD-ROMs]: Thanks to the CD-ROMs add-on the system was finally equipped with more RAM and that was necessary for enhanced graphic output and games complexity. However, the overall graphics capabilities were not modified and several advanced effects were not possible or delegated to software implementations, like sprites scaling and mosaic effects that were very cpu intensive thus used in limited ways.

[MEGADRIVE]: With its fast cpu and DMA access, this machine was capable of the so called "Blast Processing" being able to reproduce many advanced effects via software, such as combining sprites up to a 64x64 max size and sprite scaling, although with notable limitations. The new Sega VDP graphic processor was a beast in terms of parallax scrolling, implemented in hardware for the first time, it could combine an incomparable amount of different scrolling methods, for up to a theoretical 64 simultaneous hardware/simulated scrolling layers. Another worth mentioning hardware feature was the highlight/shadow effects the VDP was capable of (also called 2D hardware lighting), gifting backgrounds and sprites with highlights, shadows, silhouettes and semi-transparency effects. Finally, the secondary cpu was used for sound processing or for compatibility mode with Master System games.

[SUPER NES]: Like in its name, this console continued the tradition evolving from the architecture of the NES, but this time with powerful 2x new Ricoh graphic processing units. The dual PPUs were very capable in many advanced effects such as the famous mosaic effect, and was capable of freely scale and rotate a single object on screen, typically a background but also sprite-like objects (visually speaking) thanks to its Mode7. Worth noting that multiple sprites scaling and rotation were common in SNES games thanks to its expansion chips on cartridge, like the DSP* chips that included a math co-processor or the more advanced SFX* chips. Another common effect was semi-transparency of sprites (also enhanced by the CX4 chip) in which this machine was very capable, and in hardware parallax scrolling with its 4 scrolling planes, although on the last 2 planes there were severe limitations (fewer colors).

[NEO GEO]: Was designed around brute-force sprites rendering, reaching limits never seen before in colors, quantity on screen and size. Despite of this, it was lacking some hardware features its rivals had such as semi-transparency effects, that were very limited and rendered mostly with dithering or flickering, and true scaling and rotation for sprites. Specifically, it was able of scaling sprites and backgrounds but limited to a shrinking effect only. It was capable of parallax scrolling but also in this case limited to the well known line scrolling or by using up to 3 layers of brute-force simulated sprite scrolling, in which it had to sacrifice sprites count on screen. Curiously, it was marketed as a 24-bit console despite having 16-bit chips, but at least it really had a 24-bit bus for its gpu, thus I will leave a reference of this in the specs.

Some examples of graphics output comparison:

PC Engine + CD-ROMs	Megadrive	Super NES	Neo Geo

Here some Street Fighter II comparison:

PC Engine + CD-ROMs	Megadrive	Super NES

Some examples of parallax scrolling in action:

PC Engine + CD-ROMs	Megadrive	Megadrive	Super NES

.. and advanced Special Fx:

PC Engine + CD-ROMs	PC Engine + CD-ROMs	Super NES	Super NES
Scaling (software)	Scaling (software)	Mode7 (hardware)	3D Rendering (software)

As previously stated, both the Megadrive and Super NES were possibly able to render 3D graphics with their base hardware, as some tech sites report, by doing a software rendering on the cpu. Given the specs they weren't able to render a proper game at an acceptable frame rate, but they could use this feature to make some nice special effects for the time, as we can see with the Tri-Force polygons in A Link to the Past.

For true 3D hardware rendering both those consoles relied on special chips in their cartridge.

Here a comparison between Sega SVP and Nintendo SFX1 and SFX2:

	SVP	SFX-1	SFX-2
Producer	Sega	Nintendo / Argonaut	Nintendo / Argonaut
GPU	Sega VDP 315-5750 | 16/32-bit | 23 MHz | 25 MIPS	Nintendo GSU-1 | 16-bit | 10.73 MHz | 4.8 MIPS	Nintendo GSU-2 | 16-bit | 21.47 MHz | 23 MIPS
RAM	131 KB	72 KB	72 KB
3D Primitive	Triangles	Triangles	Triangles
Hardware T&L*	yes	none	none
3D Spec	60'000 poly/sec MAX | 9'000 poly/sec with flat shading and lighting | 3'000 poly/sec with added texture mapping	10'000 poly/sec MAX | 2'000 poly/sec with flat shading and lighting | 1'000 poly/sec with added texture mapping	20'000 poly/sec MAX | 4'000 poly/sec with flat shading and lighting | 2'000 poly/sec with added texture mapping
Used in ->

* It's not a modern hardware Transform & Lighting, at the time T&L was implemented in software while running on a dedicated co-processor.

Group-2: PC Engine SuperGRAFX (Super CD-ROM) Vs Megadrive + MegaCD

	PC Engine SuperGRAFX (Super CD-ROM)	Megadrive + MegaCD
Producer	NEC	Sega
Year	1989 | 1991 Super CD-ROM	1988 | 1991 MegaCD
Lifespan	1989-1990 (SuperGrafx)	1991-1996 (MegaCD)
Media	CD-ROM | up to 540 MB or ROM Cartridge | up to 2.5 MB	CD-ROM | up to 500 MB or ROM Cartridge | up to 4 MB
Bit-Generation	16-bit	16-bit
CPU	Hudson HuC6280A | 8-bit | 7.16 MHz | 3.1 MIPS	Motorola 68000 | 16-bit | 12.0 MHz | 2.19 MIPS
CPU Co-Processors	-	Motorola 68000 | 16-bit | 7.67 MHz | 1.33 MIPS and Zilog Z80 | 8-bit | 3.58 MHz | 0.53 MIPS
RAM	32 KB onboard + 256 KB optional (Super CD-ROM)	512 KB onboard
GPU	2x Hudson VDC HuC6270A | 16-bit | 7.16 MHz	Sega VDP 315-5548 | 16-bit | 13.42 MHz
GPU Co-Processors	Hudson VCE HuC6260 | 16-bit | 7.16 MHz and Hudson VPC HuC6202 | 16-bit | 7.16 MHz	-
VRAM	128 KB (64 KB per VDC)	256 KB
Color Palette	512 colors	512 colors
Max Colors on Screen	512	64
Max Sprites on Screen	128	80
Max Sprite Size	32x32 or 32x64	32x32
Max Resolution	512x224	320x224
Parallax Scrolling	2 Fixed Layers (1x per VDC), scrolling layers simulated by default using line scrolling and dynamic tiles	3 Scrolling Planes implemented in hardware, up to 64 scrolling layers, line/tile/row/column scrolling (vertical and horizontal)
Special FX	Color Cycling and Swapping, Tile Animation, Sprite Flip, Wobble Fx, Shearing Fx, Mosaic Fx (software), Sprite Scaling (software)	Color Cycling and Swapping, Tile Animation, Sprite/Tile Flip, Shadow/Highlight Fx, Semi-Transparency Fx, Silhouette Fx, Wobble Fx, Shearing Fx, Raycasting (software), Sprite Combiner for up to 64x64 Sprite Size (software), Background and Sprite Scaling and Rotation (hardware), Full Motion Video, 3D Rendering (software)
Expansion Chips on Cartridge	none	Sega Virtua Processor SVP (for 3D graphics, T&L, enhanced Scaling and Rotation)
Gamepad	DPAD + 2 Buttons (I, II) + 2 Service Buttons (RUN, SELECT)	DPAD + 3 Buttons (A, B, C) + 1 Service Button (START)
Max Players	2 Players	2 Players

[PC ENGINE SuperGRAFX]: Initially known as the PC Engine 2, was released just after 2 years since the original model. As compared to its predecessor, it had 2x the same gpu and an additional graphic co-processor that overall boosted the graphic output on screen. Unfortunately, only 5 games were released for this platform and therefore its true full potential has never been discovered.

[MEGADRIVE+MEGACD]: With an overclocked cpu and much more RAM it gave the Megadrive quite a boost in terms of performance, considering also the new VDP chip finally capable of backgrounds and sprites scaling and rotation in hardware. Thanks to CD-ROM and larger memory, it introduced FMV-based games. The Megadrive cpu could act as a co-processor or used for running original Megadrive games.

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So, in your opinion which was the best hardware of the 16-bit generation?

Which console had the most impressive graphics, visual features, special effects and/or the most advanced games for the time?

Let the 16-bit war begin (again)! 

Last edited by JimmyFantasy - on 27 August 2023