🚀 go-pugleaf

Short and sweet:

Saturn
Pros: Best 2D shooters, best 2D fighters (especially from Capcom & SNK),
Sega's unique arcade library. Cheap cartridge adaptor available to play
imports. Built-in saveRAM; rapid load and save. 

Cons: Many of the best games available only as imports. New development
slacking off, aside from Sega, Capcom, and SNK.

Playstation:

Pros: Lots & lots of games. Only console currently getting games from
Square. Still strong in new game development, with many games due for Xmas
season. Well-designed analog controller.

Cons: Trouble-prone hardware. Hardware modification required to play
imports. Many games mediocre-to-poor. Very few good 2D shooters. Standard
controller unpopular with most consumers. No controller feedback with US
analog model. No built-in saveRAM; slow access to saveRAM carts. CD
loading a bit slower than Saturn.

N64:

Pros: A few really top-notch games, mostly from Nintendo. Clean, smoothed
3D graphics. 4 player compatible without an adaptor. Many games supporting
"Rumble pack" for controller feedback.

Cons: Expensive games. Aside from the handful of great games, remainder
are pretty bad. Not a lot of variety; Nintendo "cuteness" gets a bit
cloying after awhile. Weak in many genres, especially fighters & 2D
shooters. Weak list of new games for Xmas, with many games delayed to '98.
No CD drive.