joeblow69

I would have to say Mario, since with every incarnation it added something fresh and exciting to the mix.

All the sonic team could figure out to do was just add in more stupid characters that NO ONE EVER LIKED.

Poink

The Sonic games have a lot more than just speed. They're pure, classic platforming all the way. Seriously, go back and play the original and you'll be surprised at how few and far between the "fast" parts are. Those parts stood out the most because in 1991 it seemed completely insane compared to what had come before.

Ironically, most of the game is actually slower paced than the average Mario level. Sega just used the speed aspect to market it, and here we are 20 years later with the general consensus that all Sonic levels are just 30 second blitzes.

You'll find that Mario games are more "linear" out of the two. With the exception of Super Mario Bros. 2 (which doesn't count anyways), they all scroll left-to-right in every single level. Sonic games go all over the damn place; and in a lot of stages have multiple paths through a level.

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Take note of the fact that the Mario run is 11:09 and the Sonic run is 15:05. Granted, a lot of SMW can be "skipped" whereas Sonic's levels can't be, but the overall pace of Super Mario World is actually faster than Sonic.

I'm only comparing the original Sonic vs Super Mario World, since that's the only fair match up. There were four great Sonic games in the 16-Bit era, while Super Mario World was the only entry. By the time Yoshi's Island came out, Sega already had released the Saturn.

In the grand scheme of things, Mario is obviously the stronger franchise, especially in post 16-Bit generations. However, in 1991 when the two first clashed, Sonic wins.

boredsilly

And to be fair, Mario isn't inherently good either. The reason, the only reason (but the only reason that matters), why that series is so highly regarded is because it had excellent gate keepers. The people behind those games, Nintendo, are arguably the best to ever do it. I think Sonic Team made some exceptional 16 bit games, but they couldn't hope to be as strong as Nintendo was.

I don't think it's a fault of games being a "one trick pony", because if you gave Sonic or Mega Man to nintendo to develop, I bet they would make kickass games with those characters.