Great gaming debates - Part 1 - Sonic Vs Mario

[TiffToff88]

As the title suggests, I've decided to start a series of debates on contrasting popular items from the gaming world. They could be about games, characters, consoles, soundtracks etc...

 

I wanted to start with a big divisive topic in my house. I grew up with a prefverence for the Mega Drive while my wife was a Nintendo fan.

 

Having played both i can safely say that i think Sonic is better. The gameplay, the storylines, the soundtrack and just the characters in general.

 

What sane person would rather play a game where you play as a fat Italian plumber attempting to rescue a princess who is clearly young enough to be his granddaughter?

 

Give me superfast blue hedgehogs any day!

Edited 25 March 2021 by TiffToff88

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

Sonic was a breakthrough when it first came out, and Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles were all great platformers (also Sonic 1, 2 and Chaos for the Master System, fond memories of these games in particular). But let's not kid ourselves, besides the odd decent game since (Sonic Advance 1-3, Sonic Rush, Sonic Mania) most of the Saturn-current era games have landed somewhere between mediocre and downright dogshit. The gimmick of travelling really fast works well in certain levels (especially on Sonic Rush) but the bottomless pits and poorly placed spike traps made a lot of levels infuriating, and that applies to pretty much any Sonic game. Great soundtracks on the early games.

 

I'm not the biggest Mario/Nintendo fan but I had a DS and 3DS, and really enjoyed both NSMB and Super Mario 3D Land - even though neither game was groundbreaking, they were both really polished and stuck well to their roots. Mario Galaxy was good and much better than any 3D Sonic game I can think of. Super Mario Bros 1, 3 and SM64 were both instrumental in shaping the 2D and 3D platformer genres. Super Mario Land 2 for Gameboy was also one of my favourite childhood games

 

Mario wins. 

 

 

What an odd debate. If we were having it in 1992 it'd make more sense!

[TiffToff88]

10 minutes ago, Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo said:

Sonic was a breakthrough when it first came out, and Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles were all great platformers (also Sonic 1, 2 and Chaos for the Master System, fond memories of these games in particular). But let's not kid ourselves, besides the odd decent game since (Sonic Advance 1-3, Sonic Rush, Sonic Mania) most of the Saturn-current era games have landed somewhere between mediocre and downright dogshit. The gimmick of travelling really fast works well in certain levels (especially on Sonic Rush) but the bottomless pits and poorly placed spike traps made a lot of levels infuriating, and that applies to pretty much any Sonic game. Great soundtracks on the early games.

 

I'm not the biggest Mario/Nintendo fan but I had a DS and 3DS, and really enjoyed both NSMB and Super Mario 3D Land - even though neither game was groundbreaking, they were both really polished and stuck well to their roots. Mario Galaxy was good and much better than any 3D Sonic game I can think of. Super Mario Bros 1, 3 and SM64 were both instrumental in shaping the 2D and 3D platformer genres. Super Mario Land 2 for Gameboy was also one of my favourite childhood games

 

Mario wins. 

 

 

What an odd debate. If we were having it in 1992 it'd make more sense!

Sonic 2 has my all time favourite computer game soundtrack.

 

I think the fact that it can still spark a debate all these years later shows how truly great both of them are

[RoboFox]

It's like asking me to pick a bollock to have removed. 

 

Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES, I'm pretty sure, was the first game I ever played when I first inherited the console from a family friend. It also came with the OG game (along with Tetris & Nintendo World Cup). I spent many, many happy hours sessioning the third one especially, discovering its secrets without game guides etc. I never did complete either, though. The latter levels of both were notoriously difficult. My best mate had a SNES with Super Mario All-Stars as well as Mario Kart which I revisited at university when I picked up a SNES second hand and enjoyed it just as much, if not more. Both have to be up there with the greatest games of all time, no question. 

 

Sonic I have less experience with overall but the Mega Drive in general brings back such intense feelings of joyful nostalgia. My cousins had one and would come over from Nuneaton to stay every summer, and we'd just replay Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Sonic & Knuckles over and over for years and I just loved it. Very happy memories. (And those soundtracks!)

 

Looking at both objectively, the quality of Sonic games dropped off a cliff when they tried to go 3D and its never really recovered. The character tends to live on solely due to the nostalgia of players.

Whereas Mario has been consistently reinvented (64, Sunshine, Galaxy, Odyssey etc. the list goes on...) to huge critical success, so really there's only one winner. 

 

But still, a very difficult question nearly 30 years on...

[kingcarr21]

Now i love both characters but i edge towards Sonic. Not because of the games as i think Mario games smash Sonic games all over but as a kid i loved reading Sonic the Comic. Sonic gives me much more nostalgia.

 

Also i loved the Sonic movie. Cant wait to see what direction they go with it

[whoareyaaa]

Mario .. when the made Mario Sunshine that was an absolute joy 

[Zear0]

17 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

Mario .. when the made Mario Sunshine that was an absolute joy 

I've never been so triggered in all my years in here, I despise that game and its camera above almost all other games . Mario is the clear winner, but the Sonic adverts were superb (awful). 

 

 

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Sonic was brilliant back in the day, I had a mega drive and as a youngling would have said sonic hands down. Sonic now is not what it once was, the recent film was actually better than I expected but since the mega drive has there really been a good, never mind great sonic game? Mario has had half a dozen at least. Mario is the better franchise for me. 

[Legend_in_blue]

It's not a clear cut question these days.  It was on release, Sonic was better, but over time Mario has evolved well whereas Sonic has not.

[Greg2607]

important question..... are we including Mario Kart as part of the decision making process???

 

[TiffToff88]

21 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

important question..... are we including Mario Kart as part of the decision making process???

 

I would say so, yes. anything to do with the Sonic or Mario franchises should be considered

[whoareyaaa]

A better comparison would have been Sonic v Donkey Kong

 

Mario is a much better and bigger franchise than Sonic ever was

[Sharpe's Fox]

Sonic was never good! They are awful platformers which barely function. If I want to go fast then I am bumping into everything and losing rings so i play methodically, but then whats the point of playing a Sonic game if I am not playing fast? To be honest if we are judging this on 2D platformers only i don’t even like most of the Mario Bros games except for World but my bafflement that anyone would enjoy playing any of the three main Sonic 2D games makes me vote Mario.

[RoboFox]

1 minute ago, Sharpe's Fox said:

Sonic was never good! They are awful platformers which barely function. 

Mods how do I delete someone else's post?

[Sharpe's Fox]

15 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

Mods how do I delete someone else's post?

[Samilktray]

Based on games I can’t imagine why anyone would choose Sonic 

[Oswinner]

Mario 64 was my first proper Mario game. Got a switch in October and been hooked on Mario All-Stars on the SNES ever since. Well, that and the Donkey Kong Country games.

 

Super Mario Bros 1 is probably my favourite. Just so simple but addictive. Its a good game when played normally but it’s best played arcade style, trying to beat the game without a game over. Furthest I’ve gotten to before the game over is world 7-1.

 

Sonic? I had it on Game Gear back in the day. Cool game but not played it in over 25 years.

 

Mario wins for me.

[spacemunky]

Was playing Mario in 1987 and still am in 2021.

 

Only time I see Sonic is in Super Smash Bros Ultimate on my Switch. 

 

 

 

Edited 26 March 2021 by spacemunky

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

1 hour ago, Oswinner said:

 

Sonic? I had it on Game Gear back in the day. Cool game but not played it in over 25 years.

 

Mario wins for me.

That's not a fair test 🤣 Sonic 1 for Game Gear was the Master System game (already much less power than the Megadrive) but with an even lower resolution aspect ratio, and that screen was so blurry it was pretty difficult to make out what was actually happening a lot of the time!

 

[Sharpe's Fox]

19 minutes ago, spacemunky said:

Was playing Mario in 1987 and still am in 2021.

 

Only time I see Sonic is in Super Smash Bros Ultimate on my Switch. 

 

 

 

Playing a Sonic on Smash Bros is as infuriating as playing a Sonic game, so by that measure the Devs got his character spot on.

[TiffToff88]

53 minutes ago, Sharpe's Fox said:

Playing a Sonic on Smash Bros is as infuriating as playing a Sonic game, so by that measure the Devs got his character spot on.

Your vendetta against Sonic seems even worse than our resident Talksport journalist's Puel vendetta 

[Blue ROI]

This is a Mario-thon, not a sprint.

[Manwell Pablo]

On 25/03/2021 at 17:00, Legend_in_blue said:

It's not a clear cut question these days.  It was on release, Sonic was better, but over time Mario has evolved well whereas Sonic has not.

It’s pretty clear cut. Super Mario land probably even Mario 3 we’re both vastly superior games to any Sonic game, there’s just vastly more to them.

 

And as you've pointed out they’ve been pushing out quality titles ever since where as Sonic Has been completely hit and miss.

[Blue ROI]

Sonic on the Mega Drive would be on a par if not better than what Mario was on the SNES.

 

Sonic lost the plot after the Saturn debacle and Mario 64 started a great run of 3D Mario games. 

 

There has hardly been 1 dud Mario game in any of the consoles since. And that's before you get into the likes of Mario Kart, Mario Tennis etc.

 

Mario all day long.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

17 hours ago, Manwell Pablo said:

It’s pretty clear cut. Super Mario land probably even Mario 3 we’re both vastly superior games to any Sonic game, there’s just vastly more to them.

 

And as you've pointed out they’ve been pushing out quality titles ever since where as Sonic Has been completely hit and miss.

 

Super Mario Land (the original) was absolutely not better than any of the original 2D Sonics. SML2 was a massive upgrade - always struck me as odd that Wario Land was branded as SML3, completely different kettle of fish. Similar with Yoshi's Island being SMW2