Oh! 've only ever owned a Dreamcast out of all Sega consoles.
I’m more about games than consoles, but if I had to pledge my allegiance I’d choose Nintendo without hesitation.
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SATURN - Was the console to own for Arcade ports. Forget PlayStation, the Saturn was king in this regard. Especially for Capcom and SNK games.
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SUPER FAMICOM - I loved the Mega Drive but the SFC really opened up a whole new world of audio and visual falir when it was new. So many Awsome RPGs too.
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XBOX 360 - The best console of the generation with ease. Games that appeared on PS3 and 360 ran better on 360. So many cool Japanese shooters too.
Sadly the Dreamcast while cool doesn’t make the list.
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PlayStation 2 - The goat. While it hasn’t aged as gracefully as the og Xbox or Dreamcast in terms of visual fidelity, its unmatchable lineup makes it #1 for me. I was in college at the time and had plenty of disposable time and enough money to rent and buy/trade in games. I still have my Gran Turismo 3 ps2 bundle in box. I remember riding the bus to the downtown EB Games to buy it. I bought a 5.1 system (still my 5.1 system lol) and JVC 27" D-Series TV around the time too. The opening scene in Metal Gear Solid 2 in 5.1 was incredible! MGS2/3, GT3/4, Ico, Ace Combat 4/5/0 were some of my main games. I wasn’t into RPG’s much then so I’m still finding new games to play - bought SMT Digital Devil Saga over the weekend. After college I got a job traveling a lot and used my first paycheck to buy a PSTwo and packed it in my carry on to play in the hotel room after work. I can’t imagine traveling with a PS5 now, lol.
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PlayStation - The jump to 3D was amazing at the time. There were so many jaw dropping moments for me, even playing demo discs. Warhawk seemed like a PC game to me at the time (I never did much PC gaming). With some birthday and Christmas money one year I blindly bought two games based on the recommendation of one of my friends: Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid. They turned out to be pretty good! The GT series left such an imprint on my life in creating an ongoing interest in cars and motorsport. It gets mocked, rightfully so, for all the Skylines, but in GT1 there was an eye opening “what are these cars?!” moment for someone unfamiliar with a Skyline, FTO, Lan Evo, Impreza, etc. I later joined the Formula SAE team at my college, not doing a ton admittedly, but it was fun to see a car being designed and built. Some super talented members on that team. One got a job with Honda’s Indy Car team out of college. …ok, kind of rambling now lol
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SNES (Genesis a hair behind) - I can’t put one of these above the other. They both hold special places for pick up and play games, as well and some more in depth ones if desired. I generally go back to them for the pick up and play ones though. Retro chicken soup for the sole: Contras, Super Mario games, Sonics, Castlevanias, the apex of EA Sports games. Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, and NBA Jam console releases were a special time in gaming. 16 bit console wars on the playground and in the lunch room at school were heated! I have the PS2 and PSX rated above these, but if I was told I could only play SNES/Genesis for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly happy.
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ya gotta pick one lad 
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Updated to SNES
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Thanks man. Wasn’t trying to bust your balls or anything. Just makes it easier for tallying 
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N64 - As someone else said, there aren’t a lot of games in the library, but I think it has the highest condensation of heavy hitters. Banjo Kazooie is up there as my favorite game of all time, then you have the sequel, Super Mario 64 which is still my favorite 3D Mario, the 2 Zelda games, Mario Party 3 which is my favorite and surprisingly deep and competitive for a party game, the kart racers were top notch, I could really go on.
PS2 - Huge library that I’m still finding more stuff to play til this day. Kingdom Hearts is still a top 5 game for me and there are so many other great games. I cant tell how many hours I poured into GT3 back in the day.
Saturn - This has slowly crept up in the past couple of years since I got it. So many near arcade-perfect ports of my favorite fighting games as well as a nice selection of gorgeous 2D games. I don’t get tired of playing it.
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let’s be friends. feel like I’m the only one who ever champions mario party 3 in retro circles :o
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It’s so good. I got it in 2001 and it was my second N64 game (I remember my dad paying like 80 bucks for it, damn N64 games were expensive back then. Probably why it was the only new game I ever got lol).
It’s coming up on 20 years that I’ve been playing it but it doesn’t get old. My brother and I know the ins and outs of all the little tricks and quirks and it’s still fresh. The minigames are still as fun as day 1. It’s remarkable. I cant talk about it enough.
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I’m going to give it a look. I always liked the original even though it killed your analogue stick.
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#1 Sega Master System: My first childhood console, and easily my favorite. Not only does the system hold a special place in my heart for nostalgic reasons, I truly love the game library to this day. In recent years I have been able to dive deeper into the library and discover amazing games that I never got to play as a kid. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, Castle of Illusion, Land of Illusion, and hopefully many more to come. Some of my favorite classics that I was not able to finish as a kid have been conquered too. Shinobi, R-Type, Fantasy Zone I and II, and Choplifter.
It’s also my largest collection, and the only console that I would rather collect for than buying a flash cart.
The controller is pretty terrible, to be honest. I’ve really enjoyed my modded NES controllers for playing this library.
#2 Game Boy: Another childhood favorite. I was lucky enough to get a monthly allowance as a kid in turn for doing chores around the house for my parents. Every single month for a couple years I would take my allowance and go buy a new Game Boy game. I used to take it everywhere with me, and played it constantly. There are a ton of games on the system that are worth playing, despite the limitations of the system.
#3 TurboGrafx 16: Since getting into collecting in the last 4 years, the TG16 has been my runaway favorite in the category of “didn’t have until I was collecting”. The controller feels almost like a NES controller, which is great, and the sheer amount of good games on the system is awesome. It truly has a feel about it that’s different than anything else of the era, and having built-in turbo is fantastic. I bought a console and an everdrive at the same time, so I’ve been able to really get crazy and play a ton of games on the system. The shmups alone make owning the system well worth it.
Special mentions:
VIC-20: My first computer, very special to me.
C64: Best gaming computer of all time, hands down. Second computer I owned. Still being developed for quite actively.
Amiga: You guessed it, third computer I owned. Incredibly huge library, and so many good games.
Tandy TRS-80: A couple family members owned them and I have very fond memories of sitting around the TV in their living rooms playing the games on this system.
NES/SNES: Best friend had both of these growing up, so I played them a lot. Eventually got an SNES for myself in the mid 90’s and LTTP is probably my favorite game ever.
Saturn: My most recent love. Never got to experience the system when it came out, but now I own one with a MODE ODE, and it’s just incredible.
PS1: One game, FFVII. Played it through twice on my brother’s PS1 when it came out, and I love it to this day. Last year sometime my brother and I booted up his PS1 for the first time in at least 15 years, I saw that he still has my save games and almost cried.
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It’s pretty cool how so many of us have different favorites. I’m not seeing many trends here.
Also, I feel like on any given day, my top 3 can vary so wildly. I still don’t feel “certain” about what I’ve chosen.
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For me number 1 would definitely be Mega Drive. It was my first own console. The one I look back upon the most fondest. I was lucky enough I could rent lots of games back in the day. So I played it a lot. Some of my favourite games from all time are from this machine.
Number 2 is PS2. After skipping a generation I got back into gaming after getting a PS2. Maybe some of the games are a little dated nowadays, but back then I got into a lot of different type of games and kind of developed my current taste. This is also when I had my first real job, so I had a lot of disposable money to spend.
Number 3: I owned most of the mainstream consoles and the ones I missed were bought at a later time or games were played through backwards compatibility. If I look back then for me the Xbox 360 set the bar for the future of console games. It was truly next gen and for me it did online gaming 100x better than Sony with the PS3. It’s the system that got the best ports and it was my most social period in online gaming, so lots of fond memories. Something I hardly do nowadays due to other priorities (age, family, life).
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Yea, XBOX for me was the most “social” of all of the console experiences I had even though nearly everyone I knew owned a PS2. People actually used voice chat back then and it was awesome ad very new for consoles.
Almost no one really trash talked, and when they did, it was all via voice and much more tastefully done than today. Now someone will just say something crass. I’m convinced it used to be more good natured back then. Tetris Online, MechAssault, Halo 2, Crimson Skies - those were the games that exposed me to online console gaming. Yes, online PC gaming was already established before then, as was the Dreamcast, but XBOX was the first one to be exclusively broadband with voice chat, which - rightfully or wrongfully - felt like it was higher quality than what came before.
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Saturn: I was the only one in my group of friends who had the Saturn during its lifespan. I used to bring it over to my friend’s place when we’d hang out so I built tons of memories of playing 2-player games on the system. Finding games for the system was hard in my area, so the hunt for games made it that much more satisfying. Favorite game on the system: Dragon Force.
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PS1: The library was unbelievable at the time. Some of my all time favorites on the platform, the selection was amazing for all genres of games. Played everything from Guitar Freaks to Symphony of the Night, Klonoa and Tomba. Favorite game on the system: Final Fantasy Tactics.
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GameCube: I lived in Japan during the GC’s days and would ask my parents/brothers to send me games from Canada. I will never forget the evenings playing Resident Evil 4, Wind Waker, Tales of Symphonia, etc. Favorite game on the system: Fire Emblem Path of Radiance.
I grew up on the Master System, then TG-16 and SNES so they all hold such an important place in my heart, but I keep going back to the 3 systems above for pretty much all my retro gaming needs.
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Nice try trying to make me pick, but I’m not falling for it. 
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Such varied favourites are going to make for an interesting final table!
Changed my vote.
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Edited my vote with some of the reasons why I choose the systems that I did.
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I WILL NEVER CHANGE MY VOTE, SEGA MASTER SYSTEM FOR LIFE!
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I consider a vote for SEGA Mega Drive also a vote for SEGA Master System 
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