I really think NES was the best, it was absolutely ground breaking. I mean the systems before it were good, but they didn't win over everyone like NES did. It was kind of a monopoly at that time for Nintendo and they met the demand on games. Even my grandmother was into Tetris.
I agree with Asherlee... the NES is BY FAR the superior system. That or the 2600. Wii, PS3, and Xbox have nothing on those consoles, in terms of introduction to historic gameplay and fun.