I know this poll has been done before, but the old one has been closed and I wanted to ask for people's opinion specifically on the first couple of games, the ones pre 64 bit era before they both made the jump to 3D when the rivalry between the two mascots were at its peak as I think going by the modern offerings the quality of Sonic games really has been very inconsistent with most not being very enjoyable.

So yeah going by that what franchise would you say is your favorite? I personally prefer the old Sonic games in part due to nostalgia but I just simply prefer the old games to Mario. I very much prefer the soundtrack of those games, as well as the environments being less generic in my opinion. Of course the main reason is the more fast paced gameplay, while the old Sonic games did have parts where you needed to take it slow overall especially the first game there's nothing really comparable in Mario to the feeling running through several loop-the-loops That said I do like the old Mario games as well and there are times when I'd rather play those in stead, I think the less zoomed in camera in the Mario games also helps you be more aware of your environment when playing.

I'm sorry I prefer sonic because I played more of sonic than Mario. Plus I suck at Mario games! I did try really but the only good Mario games I am good at are the racing games such as super Mario kart wii, the original on Nintendo, Mario kart 64 and so on. I do try to play regular Mario games if I can though. @.@

Definitely Sonic.One, because Sonic has the best music around.Two, because he's awesome.And three, because there's something about Mario that I find extremely annoying and, for that reason, I just hate the guy, but, no offense to any Mario fans out there.

In that era, Mario was my first experience, although I grew up with the Atari.  I still, and always will prefer Sonic the Hedgehog though.  He would take Mario any day, easily.  Not sure why the only thing that could kill either one of them in their super forms is a hole in the ground, but it is what it is

Pre-1995, I'll take Sonic, Post-1995 I'll take Mario. However, that's not the point. Sonic is the better mascot for SEGA than Mario is for Nintendo. There are plenty of characters from the Mario universe, let alone the Nintendo universe, that function as great mascots. There's Lugi, Bowser, Yoshi, Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, etc. In the Sonic franchise, there's only one character that remains constant through the series: Sonic the Hedgehog. Also, there aren't any other characters from SEGA exclusive games that come to mind that really could top Sonic. There are a few of them, but their franchises aren't around anymore.

I was always more of a Bubsy guy myself, but I guess I gotta go with Sonic. Mario just has no personality, or at least a very dull one.

Well, I can only speak for Mario since I grew up playing his games.

I didn't know Sonic existed until 4th grade, so I don't have any experience in Sonic games in his early years. However, as I grew up I tried a few of his games; Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic & the Black Knight. Didn't exactly like his later years, since the gameplay felt a bit off to me. I assume it's because I'm used to Mario games. I don't know, for some reason I felt freedom with Mario. With Sonic, I felt like I was going fast, then slow, then fast again. I am aware that some Mario levels are side-scrolling, and that's fine. To me, those levels are moderate. However, I believe the levels in Sonic games that require you to slow down for platforming purposes, are pointless. When you hear the name Sonic, what's the first thing you think of? Going fast, right? Then, why must I move slow in a game that even the word means fast? I just don't get it.

Also, sorry for the huge post! Wasn't my intention to write a whole essay.

Zlinqx : I prefer mario I still remember playing mario bros three for gameboy advanced when I was like 7 and it was a lot of fun mario always brought a smile to my face back then ao I gotta go with mario on that one.

I prefer Mario. Mainly because I grew up with Mario games, and the fact he's as a fair bit older than Sonic is. And I had no idea who or what Sonic was until I was in 5th grade. And even then, I never real;ly disliked Sonic. But most of his games didn't click that well with me. Well, Sonic Adventures 1 and 2, along with the Genesis trilogy games I had a lot of fun with. Same with Colors and Generations. But the rest...Just feel like they are missing something.

Whereas to Mario, I haven't avoided playing a Mario game until New Super Mario Bros 2. No games before or after that and NSMBU ever felt off to me. I LOVE Mario 64,Sunshine, and Galaxy. And while those and others aren't without their flaws. They don't leave you feeling like there should have been something more put into it. And the games don't feel empty either.

I prefer Mario.
First video game that I've played in my life was Super Mario Bros.  As I can say for short : I was always playing Mario games with my brother and cousin. (Mostly with brother.) When I was younger Mario in my country was something new and also the best what you could play.

So , as I've said I'll take Mario.

For the answer is very easily Sonic.

Sonic has impacted me story, music and environment wise moreso just about every single time. Mario 64 was my favorite 3D Mario game, and for some reason I never felt quite "full" playing Super Mario Sunshine- maybe because it was just that far removed from the type of feel Mario 64 had started. I'm glad Super Mario Galaxy really tried to reclaim that. Even if it changed the opened ended nature of the previous two games and even messed up the power ups a lot. At least it had good music, and environments ect.

Sonic has many more memorable tunes I'll listen too, including some amazing lyrical themes all the way up to even Sonic Colors. (Though, the Color themes are more "nice" than awesome.) XP

I found that Sonic had advanced levels of character development, depth, and story telling which Mario lacked. Things like Gamma, and Shadow. Chaos and Omega. Even Mephiles if you can understand him, plus, Sonic and Tails aren't quite as dead as Mario is. Though somehow Luigi is considered an interesting and developed character. (He even likes Tails in Mario and Sonic at the Olympics!) Sonic has been pretty cool up until after SA2. Then is when I feel it started to go downhill, not that SA2 didn't have a feeewww problems. Sonic 96 just wasn't finished. And that's it's biggest problem. If it was, then the game would be left with a time travel broken story and that's it. Other than that, I think it would be pretty cool.

Shadow the Hedgehog could have been better, and it's a shame they tried to make it so open that the endings don't mean as much as they should. Yes, you might say that there are too many of them- but only because how you get to them doesn't matter. I feel if the story progression was more like traveling up a tree than traversing a triangular spider web that the game would be better off. The game does need to promote more consistency with your earlier actions in the game and the endings, but it's still pretty awesome.

I find Shadow is one of the games I play the most out of the series though it used to be Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Which is pretty spectacular. One thing that will always stick with me from Sonic are the stories and the music. I can listen to that, and think on those for a long time to come. Plus every game has a few levels that are pretty fun to replay. S3&K, Generations and Shadow being the funnest for me.

Mario give me more childish but homey memories. I wish I could have gotten more into Mario Galaxy, and somehow. . . I ended up playing Mario Galaxy 2 first, and enjoyed it more. The music and some of the environments do put Sonic to shame, but not always. Somehow I could never come to like the hub world we were given in Mario Galaxy. I felt it was all far to small and not nearly as magical as Peach's castle from Super Mario 64.

The retro Mario games on NES, Mostly SMB3 and just. . . Super Mario Bro are better than the Sonic Genesis titles, though the Sonic Genesis titles are way better than Super Mario World. I feel SMB3 is like. . . a crowing achievement in gaming as a whole. It's just. . . such an amazing example of creativity in level design. I wish the New Super Mario Bros series showed as much creativity at times. Though New Super Mario Bros U. . . I felt was a repaste of the Wii title and that it lacked freshness and originality. I had quite enough of New Super Mario Bros after the Wii. And a new, altered copy of the game with so little new to offer I felt was a big let down. Play the Wii, or the Wii U title, but not both. I think most people would enjoy New Super Mario Bros Wii the most, since the game is more fresh in it's original context there.

I think it's great that Nintendo wanted to go back and make things like they did in the past, but I think they tried to hard. Mario 3D World was pretty cool- and much better than New Super Mario Bros U. I just hope they don't try to milk the idea and remember that SM3 succeeded because of what it added onto the original Mario brothers.

That would end my tale, and somewhat describes why I like Sonic more. Sonic. . . just drives deeper most of the time, and has a lot more story and music. Mario is a lot more like a traditional game- though it has done better a lot more consistently than Sonic- probably because it doesn't expect so much from itself.

It's Mario for me. I grew up with Mario like many others. The NES Super Mario Bros games were great! I love the gameplay, soundtrack and everything about it. The old-school Mario games are challenging and very fun to play. Even today the games are still awesome, full with secrets in each new level. Sonic is to me a bit boring compared to Mario if you ask me.

Although they are great mascots for their respective companies and both boast some great games, there's not competition in my honest opinion.

Mario is probably THE MOST recognizable gaming character over the past 30 years. No character has sold more games, more consoles or is more recognizable. The fact that there are still great Mario games being made in a TON Of different game genre's only increases that.

That doesn't even include the advancements in GAME PLAY AND EXPERIENCE that have paced the gaming industry for the entire existence of Mario games.

Mario by a good bit.  While early Sonic games were awesome, they just can't match the feel of a Mario game.  Mario games are slower paced, more suited to my mind, and have a certain depth to them that Sonic games don't have.  Sonic games require the player to keep up with the action.  If you want to play Sonic games to the fullest, you've gotta go fast, and that's something I don't like doing too much.  I like games that I can go at my own pace with.  The earlier Sonic games are great, sure, but they're just not for me right now.

I will say sonic. Going at ridiculous speeds has always been something I have enjoyed ever since I first played burnout 3 takedown on the ps2. My first sonic game was heroes and while i liked that game it wasn't until I played sonic rush was where I really got into sonic. I remember my mouth in complete awe at how fast sonic was going and I really liked the boost mechanic in that game and it is my preferred playstyle in a sonic game (I am a "modernist" as some people say). Going really fast is the reason why I play sonic games and why I prefer him over Mario but I will concede that Mario has had a lot more better games than sonic has. Also another reason was that I grew up with sonic as my parents had a mega drive before I was born and unfortunately sold it. However my mum got me sonic mega collection plus for the ps2 which is the best present I got for my 6th birthday. My parents were very much preferred sega over nintendo when they two were in the "console war".

Seeing this poll being so even makes me sad.

Mario is by far the superior one. Sonic games are all the same. At least Mario has some variety in its game types.

geeogree : Whoops... look at that it's not even anymore XP

I will have to agree with geeo... Mario is by far the best ...

"Objectively" speaking Mario is the better mascot. He inaugurated the modern video game era and still seems to be the first name that comes in mind when people (at least those who grew up with 16-bit consoles) think "video game".

Personally I prefer Sonic. More colorful, quicker and playing with better music.

I've always been a Sonic guy myself. I dunno, I just found a hedgehog who's able to run at the speed of sound a lot cooler than an Italian plumber for some reason.