Franchise comparison: Mario vs Sonic

[Paralyzer Z]

Two of the most legendary video game franchises of all time. Both led their respective companies (Nintendo and Sega) through the console wars of the 1990s before getting both their asses kicked by Sony.

From "Genesis has what Nintendo'nt " to "Nintendo is what geneisn't" and finally "Blast processing" Sonic and Mario have competed against each other through a clash of game sales.

Mario has often been called the winner due to more superior games (or at least the quantity of them) and Sonic called the failure due to recent disasters such as sonic06 and Ds titles. While Mario has thrived on the WII with critical acclaim on both galaxy games. However this is not IGN gamespot's opinion this yours.

MY personal pick is Mario simply because the games are simpler and more enjoyable to play.

Which franchise has the better games? Why?

Which character do you prefer? Mario or Sonic?

Which one will have the bigger legacy when the fire of their series finally dies out?

 

[Dagger Dias]

Looking at Mario and Sonic is like looking at WWE and WCW where WWE is Mario and WCW is Sonic. Mario had been around a little longer, and all of a sudden Sonic came onto the scene and a huge rivalry started. Then Mario's series emerged victorious when the quality went downhill severely for Sonic's series and Sega eventually got bought out. Nintendo now owns both characters and they are seen together in titles such as Smash Bros Brawl or Mario & Sonic At the Olympics.

There is no question about it, Mario has better games in his series than Sonic does. Sonic has awesome titles of his own such as Sonic 1 through 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, but then came a long list of awful titles full of pointless characters and lackluster gameplay. When it comes to which character I prefer, I do prefer Mario but Sonic is not far behind him. I've always liked Sonic as a character. I just dislike most of his games.

Mario will without a shadow of a doubt have the larger legacy in the end. Sonic's series might finally end one of these days with series like Smash Bros keeping his legacy alive. Mario will never end because as long as there is a Nintendo console in production, there is a Mario game in production right next to it. Any competition from the 90's is now gone and to compare Sonic to Mario anymore is like comparing a little hill in someone's backyard to a mountain.

 

[poppycock]

Mario is WWE and McDonalds... Sonic is WCW and KFC. Both are huge but Mario is the Hulk Hogan of videogames and will have the biggest legacy I feel. I personally prefer Super Mario games over Sonic. As far as characters go I would give that to mario aswell...a short, stubby, fat,cheesy cliche Italian plumber with a 70's porno tash and he still became the greatest video character ever?! Brilliant.

 

[Lee]

Which one will have the bigger legacy when the fire of their series finally dies out?

The Sonic series hasn't had a fire since 2001, there was a bit of a buzz around Sonic 4 but that failed and then there's a buzz around generations which will probably be lost among the other great games due out in November. The fact is Mario will have, and does have, the bigger legacy. You think of Sonic you think of Sega the company that did well with the Megadrive and nothing else, you think of Nintendo and they do well with most things. This generation Nintendo is the biggest seller so much so that Sony/Microsoft have just been comparing sales to each other rather than Wii and goodness help them if they count in the DS.


Which franchise has the better games? Why?

Good Sonic games since the franchise came out: Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Colours. That's Six. Mario has always had a good game whether its 1,2,3,world, 64, sunshine, galaxy or galaxy 2. The closest Mario's had to having a dud major title game is sunshine and that was still pretty decent.

Which character do you prefer? Mario or Sonic?

I think that’s what’s given Mario his appeal over the past 25 years, it was a nice and simple design which has somehow become almost timeless. We don’t know much about his history or how he came accross the Mushroom Kingdom, but I think that adds to it it’s the old fashioned KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid).

“Sonic was popular when rollerblading was popular!” I believe it was College Humor that made that quote and I think that one quote sums up his demise rather nicely. Think the early nineties what was hip and cool, things like Rollerblading and the cool up yours to society mindset. With that Sonic stepped forth and people flocked to him as it was something different, it wasn’t an Alex Kidd and it definitely wasn’t a Mario, he had the attitude and it was very quickly dated. Within five years Sonic was seen as the norm and not this cool hip new thing, not like Pogs!

Mario's easier to relate to than a badass blue hedgehog.

 

[Dusty Roids]

I have always been a Sonic fan, because my first console was a SEGA MEGADRIVE (genesis). And my first game on that was of course Sonic The Hedgehog. I have almost all Sonic games for the Megadrive: Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic CD.

One of my first gaming experiences was with a NES. And it was either Mario or Duckhunt, I first played don't know for sure. I never had a NES until later in years after I already got my Sega. The NES consoles were very cheap because nearly every family had one.
I always thought Sonic and the whole sega brand was more respected by the older gamers. Most of my childhood friends had a NES or SNES.

During the years technology changed and I think after the MD/genesis sonic series there weren't any great Sonic titles. The 2D Sonic titles were awesome and imo better than Mario's series but after that Sonic titles just failed to adapt to the newer console technology. Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast was a good game but not great.

The Mario franchise on the other hand adapted very good to the newer consoles. Not only the standard Mario games but also Mario Kart, MarioParty, Smashbrothes were all awesome and succesfull. So even as a Sonicmark I have to admit the Mario franchise is better and more succesfull. But Sonic was definately competition for Mario. Too bad Sega made some wrong decisions that led to their demise in the console market eventually. But luckily they still produce Sonic games. Still have to try Sonic 4, is it any good?

 

[HKnux5112]

That whole "Mario" was WWE and "Sonic" was WCW, was genius, actually. If you think about it, that's exactly what happened.

Thankfully, "Sonic" is still going and has a decent looking game coming out with Sonic Generations.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Both franchises are near and dear to my heart, but Mario wins this without question. While Sonic has his share of good games, he has a lot of black spots in his career. In terms of the main Mario series, his record is almost spotless. 3D plays a big part in it too. While Mario has thrived in the third dimension, 3D has been like water to Sonic; he constantly flounders in it. Some will disagree, but I've yet to play a truly great 3D Sonic game.

When it comes to my favorite character, I actually like Sonic more. He's been my favorite video game character since I was a kid. Must have to do with signature Sega "'tude". He's just a cool character.

In the end, Mario has the greater legacy. While Sonic will be remembered for being the upstart sensation that successfully challenged Nintendo's plumber, Mario will be remembered for single-handedly revolutionizing the platformer and game design in general.

 

[Matth3w]

Which franchise has the better games? Why?

Mario. I could never get into Sonic, which is unfortunate, as I love my platformers. I remember playing both franchises on my friends' SNES and Sega back in the early 90's when I was 6/7. Sonic I remember being far too fast paced for me in terms of speeding through levels collecting rings. I was always envious at people who were ecxcelent at the game andget through the level flawlessly. Whereas I'd stop/die/bounce off things/go the wrong way by mistake etc.

Mario gets my vote. It has a simple formula: Sidescroll left or right, one button to jump, one button to dash. It was simple, but oh so addictive!

More of a fan of the 2D SNES and later NSMBWii, I never got into the 3D Mario games (Super Mario 64, Mario Galaxies, Super Mario Sunshine etc.)

Which character do you prefer? Mario or Sonic?
Sonic. Dude just looks far too cool:

Which one will have the bigger legacy when the fire of their series finally dies out? [/QUOTE]

Mario. Bar none. As said above, Sonic will always be second to that of Mario. Something great always has a competition: WWE - TNA, McDonalds - KFC, Sony - Nintendo, and Mario - Sonic.

I think Nintendo still make enjoyable Mario games; but from what I've read on different forums, there hasn't been a decent Sonic game in a very long time....