Best Consoles of All Time Tier List
The best consoles of all time changed how games are played. The Nintendo 64 is the clearest case: Super Mario 64 set the template for moving freely in 3D, and Ocarina of Time added the lock-on targeting that action games still build on. It sits in S with the Super Nintendo, PlayStation 2 and Switch. Open any console to see its best games, or rank the lot your own way.
Super NintendoNintendo · 1990
PlayStation 2Sony · 2000
Nintendo 64Nintendo · 1996
Nintendo SwitchNintendo · 2017
Xbox 360Microsoft · 2005
NESNintendo · 1983
Nintendo DSNintendo · 2004
PlayStation 4Sony · 2013
PlayStationSony · 1994
DreamcastSega · 1998
Game BoyNintendo · 1989
Sega Genesis / Mega DriveSega · 1988
WiiNintendo · 2006
XboxMicrosoft · 2001
GameCubeNintendo · 2001
Atari 2600Atari · 1977
Game Boy AdvanceNintendo · 2001
Nintendo 3DSNintendo · 2011
Steam DeckValve · 2022
Xbox Series X|SMicrosoft · 2020
PSPSony · 2004
PlayStation VitaSony · 2011
PlayStation 3Sony · 2006
Sega SaturnSega · 1994
PlayStation 5Sony · 2020
Xbox OneMicrosoft · 2013
Wii UNintendo · 2012
Game Boy ColorNintendo · 1998
Nintendo Switch 2Nintendo · 2025
TurboGrafx-16NEC · 1987
Master SystemSega · 1985
Atari LynxAtari · 1989
Game GearSega · 1990What each tier means
- STop Hardware that changed what games could be
- AStrong Libraries every player should know
- BSolid Classics with a few trade-offs
- CSituational Strong hardware with a narrower legacy
- DBottom Loved by fans, short on lasting impact
Console generations
Every console on the board, placed in its hardware generation, with the newest machines under Recent. Each chip carries its grade and opens its card.
- Gen 21977
- Gen 31983 to 1985
- Gen 41987 to 1990
- Gen 51994 to 1998
- Gen 61998 to 2001
- Gen 72004 to 2006
- Gen 82011 to 2017
- Gen 92020
- Recent2022 to 2025
Console photos: Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons, public domain. RankedBoost is not affiliated with any console maker.
Board breakdown
The Super Nintendo is the best console of all time. If you buy original hardware, match the region: North American cartridges are a different shape from Japanese and European ones, and PAL consoles run many games about a sixth slower at 50Hz. For a simpler start, the 2017 Super NES Classic Edition plugs into HDMI with 21 games built in, including Star Fox 2, which Nintendo never released in the 1990s.
Home to Super Metroid, A Link to the Past and Chrono Trigger, a 16-bit library that still sets the bar.
- The best-selling console ever at 160 million units, with a library spanning San Andreas, Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2.
- Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time showed how 3D games should move, and GoldenEye brought shooters to the couch.
- A home console you can carry out the door, and at 156.59 million units Nintendo's best-selling hardware ever.
Nearly: the PlayStation 2 ranks among the very best consoles, but the Super Nintendo is the first pick. The PS2 sold because one box did three jobs: it ran its own games, played most original PlayStation discs and doubled as a DVD player. In Japan it launched in March 2000 for about half the price of most standalone DVD players, so even buyers who only wanted movies had a reason to pick one up.
The Nintendo DS is the best dedicated handheld ever made; the Switch also plays on the go, but it is a hybrid home console. If you buy a DS today, pick the original model or a DS Lite: both keep the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot that the DSi and later systems dropped. For Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, a Game Boy Advance or SP works but the Micro does not, and a Nintendo 3DS runs nearly every DS game.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is the newest console here and lands in D, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza as its first big exclusives. If you already own a PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 is the practical upgrade: it plays the overwhelming majority of PS4 games, and you can copy your PS4 games and saves across over Wi-Fi or a LAN cable.