Looking at sales, you'd be inclined just on that to say the fifth gen was better. However, looking at the GAMES, and the fact that the 16bit era was just amazing in general, I don't think it's much of a contest. The 4th gen wins, hands-down, in my book.

SNES: Super Mario World, Mario Kart, Super Castlevania IV, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Mega Man X, Super Metroid, DKC, Kirby Super Star, Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV-VI, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, Demon's Crest, Super Turrican 2, Top Gear, Rock n Roll Racing, Star Fox, Final Fight, Street Fighter II, Captain Commando, Super Bonk, Super Bomberman, Yoshi's Island, Killer Instinct, Actraiser, Clay Fighter, TMNT IV, Mortal Kombat II, R-Type III, Contra III, Super Ghouls n Ghosts, etc.

Genesis: Sonic, Golden Axe, Comix Zone, Chakkan, Ecco the Dolphin, Toejam & Earl, Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Alex Kidd, Streets of Rage, Outrun, Rolling Thunder 2 & 3, Beyond Oasis, Castlevania Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps, Shinobi, Super Hang On, Earthworm Jim, Ristar, Arcus Odyssey, Gunstar Heroes, High Seas Havoc, Castle of Illusion, Rocket Knight Adventures, Splatterhouse, Wonderboy, Vectorman, etc.

Turbo Graphx: New Adventure Island, Bonk, Air Zonk, Soldier Blade, Neutopia, Dungeon Explorer, Bomberman, Military Madness, Alien Crush, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, Legendary Axe, Magical Chase, Ninja Spirit, Parodius, Gate of Thunder, Snatcher, Y's Book I & II, Blazing Lasers, Super Star Soldier, Parasol Stars, etc.

That, along with many other Arcade/PC games and ports of the era, such as Captain America & the Avengers, Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury, Doom, etc. etc., I just think this gen wins.

Choosing between the 4th gen and the 5th gen is like choosing between boobs and asses......... I just can't do it! T_T  ( the 6th generation however destroys both of them!)

The fifth generation. It was a gen of discovery as devs tried to get hold of designing games that took advantage of three dimensions. Nearly every game was an exciting and original experiment in gameplay mechanics not to mention visuals. Playing through that gen was incredible.

Having said that, fourth gen games have aged very well where the mechanics were optimised perfectly for 2D. Fifth gen was experimental, so aged well they have not.

4th gen. Third parties can't make playable 3D games without using the second analog stick to control the camera and those weren't standard until the 6th gen.

With the move to 3D devs had to relearn how to make games, and there was a lot of awkwardness in the transition. It set the framework for following generations, but at the cost of many trial and error missteps. So many 5th gen games are incredibly clumsy today due to problems with 3D navigation, while the 4th gen is elegant by comparison. At least in my view.

The fourth generation made 2D gaming practically perfect and many of its games are looked back on as the best of their genre
The fifth generation stumbled around in 3D gaming and set foundations that were built upon, resulting in much better games being produced later on

Pretty easy choice for me...fourth gen all the way

Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, Donkey Kong country trilogy, Strret fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Sonic games, Megaman X2, Pokemon, A link to the past, Super Metroid, Phantasy Star 4, Starfox, Doom, Super Mario World. Ilusion of Gaia.
No contest. IMO

5th. Spyro and 3D mario in the same gen!!! Nothing beats that.

The 5th gen easily destroys the 4th gen in my book. The PS1 alone had far more breadth and depth in its console library than the SNES, Genesis, and TG-16 put together. The N64 was a step down from the SNES, but it still had a lot of unique games. The Saturn definitely had a more interesting game library than the Genesis.

Just by considering what generation of games I still play the most, it would have to be the 5th generation. The 4th generation is fun to go back to every once in a while, but the fun factor runs out for me pretty quickly. The 5th gen on the other hand can still keep me entertained for weeks.