Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Long before Sonic, Spyro and Lara, there was only one 8-bit icon. Despite being around for nine years before its release in 1990, Mario came to life when popping through pipes on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System – better known as the SNES.

The Japanese firm’s OG console was a trailblazer for its time, adding complex narratives to the basic platformer model that redefined the role-playing genre.

Nintendo GameCube

If the PlayStation was the Buzz Lightyear of the toy box, consider the Nintendo Gamecube more Mr Potato Head.

While competitors tore up the screen with 100 hour-plus epics, the Gamecube’s roster kept things casual – perfect for gamers that preferred a quick blast over a full evening saving the world. Better yet, four controller ports let the full squad plug-in.

Sega Mega Drive

Sega’s own brand of Japanese gaming may have floundered with the Dreamcast – but there’s always a soft spot reserved for the Mega Drive.

The 16-bit console bore a wacky stable of games (often with even wackier soundtracks) that targeted the adult gaming market. Works like Mortal Kombat and Streets Of Rage packed some seriously mature themes, proving that gaming could be all grown up, too.

Game Boy Colour

Unlike its predecessor, the Game Boy Colour wasn’t the size of a chopping board. And in addition to slimming down, the handheld console had the capacity to display up to 56 different technicolour tones. Though such upgrades seem small in the age of super HD, they had big implications.

Old-school classics like Tetris continued to build on their success, yet the new tweaks meant game-changing series of the Pokémon variety could be enjoyed in full(ish) colour and linked up to other consoles for a heated head-to-head.

Xbox 360

While mobile phones were logging on to the internet (albeit through WAP, whatever that was) by the late nineties, gaming was a little slower to the game.