The Video Game Character Debate: Round 6 - Dragons and MUTANTS!

So, here's the deal; each week, two (or possibly more) characters will be introduced. Your job is to simply pick one between them! Or in other words, which one of the character do you like the best, and why? I also encourage you to be a little creative in your answers, like, could X character beat Y character in a fight? Hm.



Now then, without further ado, Round 1 will introduce two of the most familiar characters in the video game franchise:


Yes, it's Mario vs Sonic the HedgeHog.

Mario from Mario Bros. is probably the most (if not one of the most) well known video game characters there is, as he stars in his Super Mario Bros. Games, collecting Power ups and storming castles in order to save Princess Peach from Bowser, and save the Mushroom Kingdom. He also stars in a variety of Mario sports games, like Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Hoops 3 on 3, etc. The most notable thing about Mario is his amazing jumping ability! He can double jump, triple jump, side jump, long jump, wall jump, spin jump, and the jumping list goes on!

Sonic the Hedgehog is made form Sega, in which he can run as fast as the Speed of Sound. He stars in his Sonic the Hedgehog games where he races through levels, in order to defeat Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman) and his robot minions, to save the animals in his world. Soon, the Chaos Emeralds were introduced, and Sonic and his friends, Knuckles, Tails, etc. must collect them all before they fall in the wrong hands, essentially.


So! From all that, and from all on what you know about these two characters, do you prefer Mario, or Sonic?

I've never really enjoyed Mario games except the sports titles and Mario Kart. Plus he doesn't look as cool as Sonic and is probably one of my least favourite characters of his own series.

Sonic on the other hand is probably my second favourite character from the Sonic series and even though the Sonic games are a bit hit and miss these days, I've still enjoyed them heaps more than the Mario series.

Plus Speed > Jumping. So yeah Sonic is an easy choice for me in this round.

I'm gonna have to go with Sonic. See, Sonic is known for being fast, whereas Mario doesn't really have any "superpower", so to speak. With Mario, he is average in terms of his ability, and doesn't really excel in many categories. Sonic actually has specific attributes and some things that he isn't that good at, making him a more interesting character already.

Sonic runs at the speed of sound, making him faster than anything else (Shadow being debatable) to live. Mario, on the other hand, can jump slightly higher than the average human, which isn't something you can brag about. Mario has to use power-ups to alter himself and give him some sort of power, however this doesn't come down to the actual character, he can't do any of this himself. Sonic's speed is natural to him, and he can use his speed as an advantage. For example, if his is running at his full speed, this will make him stronger as he is able to generate power behind whatever he uses to "hit" something with. So Sonic can actually utilize his speed and do other things with it.

Furthermore, Sonic looks a lot better generally. Yes, Mario has his trademark clothes and hat, but it isn't anything that special. The actual design of Sonic is more aesthetically pleasing than that of Mario. Mario is simply a human, there is nothing special about that. Sonic is a blue, talking hedgehog with a nice look to him. Mario is a plumber in a red outfit. Do I need say more? Okay, maybe, but you get my point, I will just keep talking about how Sonic looks better than Mario.

Easy. I'm not gonna go debating who'd win in a fight because that would put me in the fanfic territory.

Games-wise; Not even close, Mario. Mario games have always been masterpieces of game design, and they are still kings of the platformer genre, 3D or 2D. Whether it comes to clever level design, satisfactory controls or great production value, Mario always has it. In contrast to Sonic, where as he has great games, they are only a few and far between. Most of his games, mainly after the genesis era until the end of this gen, Sonic games suffered from sheer mediocrity. After Sonic 3 and Knuckles it hasn't been until Sonic Colors that we have got another good Sonic game, and even the best Sonic games can't compare with the best of Mario.

Design-wise; Easy as well, Mario. Yes, yes, it's all preferences, but let's look at it this way. Regardless of how dated his design is, Mario has kept going for more than 20 years with the same simplistic design he always had with minor changes (mainly the transition to 3D CG). Why is that? Because his design is simple, and doesn't focus on one demographic. Basically, his design appeals to everyone the same way Micky Mouse does. It's not tacky, it's not cool, it's not hip, it's just simple, and depends on the person, cute (in a weird way) and most importantly effective. His design is very iconic, not only to video games, but it's actually culturally iconic.
Sonic, on the other hand, always focused on one demographic - pre-teens (and teens since Sonic Adventure). While it works for that particular demographic, it's not very effective everywhere else. Sonic has always been portrayed as cool and it's been left at that, and because of that Sonic's popularity fell immensely after the thought that weirdly colored mascot animal are cool died off. Hence, while Mario's design is dated, Sonic's is EXTREMELY dated, and it really shows.

Character-wise; I'll keep it short. Mario's personality, or lack thereof, is much more preferable than "EXTREME BRO IM COOL" blue hedgehog.

Ability-wise; Keeping it short again. Mario's abilities were MADE for the game design. Sonic's abilities have always been a gimmick until Colors.

Overall; Mario in every way

Now to clear things off, I love Sonic. :P

Easily Mario. Based on the games, Mario is far better than Sonic, due to the fact that most of the Sonic games aren't worth playing. Plus, the Mario fanbase is mostly normal. The Sonic fanbase, well, deserves it's infamy.

Based on design, I'd also say Mario. Sonic's design tries too hard to be "cool" and "extreme" whereas Mario's design is very simple and harkens back to the cartoon characters of old. Whereas Sonic looks like he's trying to be an "XTREME KOOL ANIMUU KARAKTER", Mario's design looks classy and natural.

Elgyem said:

Plus, the Mario fanbase is mostly normal. The Sonic fanbase, well, deserves it's infamy.

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Please don't remind me of those people. I was one of them when I was younger and I got scarred for life.

I'd say Mario is preferred. Sonic is okay, but he's had such a rough lifetime through horrible games and characters.

Mario is just more simple. Sure, his games have been lacking innovation, but they still are fun to play occasionally. (Although 3D world sucked imo.)

I'm with Spinosaurus on this one, not gonna decide who's going to win in a fight, although Sonic does help a lot more than Mario in Subspace.

I'm going to side with Mario on this one just because he has a mustache that looks like a pair of wings and a princess who bakes cakes for him, also his games tend to be a lot more fun.

I'm going to have to go with Sonic the Hedgehog. It's not that I don't love Mario games; I do, it's just that Mario's not as an interesting character as Sonic. I mean yeah sure Mario's great, but Nintendo doesn't really give me a reason to like him as a character. He really doesn't have any personality and that's fine but he just kind of seems really boring and monotonous. Sure, I like Mario, but I like him in the same way that every person on the planet likes him... because he's iconic.
Even though he's not the perfect character, Sonic is actually given a bit of personality. I also just really like Sonic's more modern design, much more than I like the look of Mario.
So while I like both characters I think I like Sonic just a little bit more.

For me, it's going to be Mario, for a few reasons. First off, like a bunch have stated previously, Mario is more of a simple, kind, humble character that is much more lovable from a personality standpoint, while Sonic is over confident and has the idea that he's better than everyone else. From that perspective, Mario wins.

Another reason is that Mario's abilities in his games, even if a bit lackluster, were far more resourceful than Sonic's super-speed power. Although Mario doesn't have any superhuman ability or skill such as the one Sonic possesses, he still is just as good a hero and more modest at that. Two for Mario, zero for the hedgehog.

Finally, I'd like to say that from the character design standpoint, Sonic would win without question. I mean, at first glance, it's a sharp looking blue hedgehog with bright red shoes and the ability to go extremely fast, while Mario is a chubby plummer with the ability to jump on things and flaunt his mustache. Somehow, however, Nintendo has taken that chubby plummer and turn it into a symbol of video gaming itself, which should automatically win it the category.

So, to sum it up, Mario is a superior video game character. I do like Sonic more, and quite a bit of occasions I'd take a game of his rather than Mario, but Mario wins in this debate.

Wings Don't Cry said:

although Sonic does help a lot more than Mario in Subspace.

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Well, if you wanna put it that way, Sonic is technically the better character in Brawl. But, that's not saying much, as Mario is one of the worst characters and Sonic is still very mediocre. :P

I'm still sad about Mario in Brawl. Kinda funny how he kept getting worse and worse each game. If only we had Dr. Mario back in his full glory.

Honestly, I've always preffered Mario, if only because he can do everything! Whereas Sonic has a niche as a speed boosting choice scarved revenge killer, Mario has always been the Sashed Nasty Plot (mushroom) Sweeper I've always wanted. He's a jack of all trades, and, while he would lose in an all-out fight against sonic, this is because sonic is great at one thing, while Mario is mildly good at everything, except dodging slow bullets.

If I may make a recommendation for next week's post, can we see Samus (Metroid Prime's Samus, not that abomination Other M's edition) vs. FemShep or another strong female heroine? Maybe BloodRaine or something along those lines?

For me im sorta in the between. Super mario bros 3 was one of the first video games I played. (And everyone can agree that game is god-tier)

I was introduced to sonic only much later. I cant realy remember what was the first sonic game I played. (Could have been Heroes...oh god...) Although I remember reading a realy old sonic comic countles times. (issue #1 of the archie comics I guess) For some odd reason I then got sonic Mega Collection Plus on ps2 and Sonic adventure DX on PC at sometime in 200x. And I was immediatly hooked.

Funny thing is I have newer liked mario games as everyone else seemed (well other than SMB3 and new super mario bros ds and mario 64 ds). I guess they newer felt like my thing?
I dunno even though I started with nintendo it newer became my dominating game company in my game taste. The one nintendo series I could say is my favourite is metroid...and I guess that speaks alot about me.

Also I have always enjoyed Sonic-games soundtrack more. I dont say mario games dont have a great soundtrack....I just like sonics more. And for me a good soundtrack can save a mediocre game.

And now we get to the quality of the francises... I know sonic has suffered from many terrible and mediocre games... usualy in 3d. And Mario games have usualy worked out fine.
I have always thought the reason for this. my opinion is that mario has always stayed to its roots. It has newer tried anything completely different...for the most part. (im talking about the majority of mario games being same... atleast they feel identical for me)
Whereas sonic has had its fare share of completely different titles. Some that worked...and others that flopped.

I know this sounds realy biased. And the more I look into my memory I realise that mario games realy do have some realy great variety. (mario rpg, mario kart etc) But the bottom line is I newer grew onto mario the same way as other titles (Rayman, castlevania, Megaman even sonic) and I dont have much of that nostalgia many others have. So I cant call myself a fan of mario games.

And then theres the point of fandom...oh god the fans. I personaly dont judge a game by its fandom. But the fandom does say something about itself and the game. (mainly what kind of people it atracts) I realy dont care about the fan side of things... Its great to know that there are people who like same things as me, but I newer trie to intergrate myself into one specific fandom. (I hope this makes sense)

And my final verdict... I guess I like sonic more than mario but I can kinda see why someone likes him so much...

Spinosaurus said:

Well, if you wanna put it that way, Sonic is technically the better character in Brawl. But, that's not saying much, as Mario is one of the worst characters and Sonic is still very mediocre. :P

I'm still sad about Mario in Brawl. Kinda funny how he kept getting worse and worse each game. If only we had Dr. Mario back in his full glory.

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I was kind of referring to the cut scenes and not actual game play. Mario kind of gets his ass handed to him by just about every single character he encounters assuming you chose Kirby at the start of the game. Sonic on the other hand only has one cut scene which is just him successfully attacking that one guy who managed to take out everyone in an instant.

Thanks for participating in Round 1! Are you guys ready for Round 2? Because here are the contestants:



King Bowser vs King K.Rool. Two Kings; two evil kings.

King Bowser is the main antagonist from the Super Mario Games - he captures princess peach in order to try and rule the mushroom kingdom. He did many other things too like capture Mario and Luigi one time, and even tried to make his own galaxy. Of course, he's been unsuccessful so far, but, let's root for him! He can breathe fire, teleport, create shockwaves, and grow x2 his size, which sort of differs from each Mario game.

King K. Rool is the main antagonist from the Donkey Kong country games. K. Rool and his gang of minions, the Kremling Krew, came to Donkey Kong Island one stormy night with the intention to steal Donkey Kong's fabled Banana Hoard. King K. Rool sent his Kremling minions to steal the precious bananas. He failed, but tried other things like K. Rool manages to kidnap Donkey Kong and speed him away to the home of the Kremlings, Crocodile Isle, and demands the Banana Hoard in return for Donkey Kong. Like Bowser, he's been unsuccessful, but, let's root for him too! He can throw his crown around like a boomerang, fire canonballs, and can even put on a mean boxing match. Yikes.


So! From all that, and from all on what you know about these two characters, do you prefer King Bowser, or King K.Rool?

Well, they both have pretty crappy motives, but i'm going to go with Bowser. If only because I enjoy his boss fights way more than i enjoyed the fights against King K.Rool.

Unless of course the game in question is New Super Mario Bros for the DS.

Also, what the hell is King K.Rool going to do with Donkey Kong's banana horde anyway? Is it the secret to world domination or something?

Prediction for the next two characters: Megaman Vs Samus, Maybe?

Ehh... I have to say Bowser since Ive newer met this King K.Rool. I havent played any Donkey Kong country games...so yeah... Thats my only reason. :D

Neither one of them is very interesting to me but I'll choose Bowser just because I've played more games that feature him.

Bowser because I've played games involving him, but also because his design is actually good whereas King K Rool looks like he was knocked up in five seconds.

Also don't we get scores for the previous round? I assumed you were going to total up the votes. :P

Without a shadow of a doubt, Bowser for me. I've always been a huge fan of Bowser and he stands as one of my favorite game characters of all time. I like his attitude and approach on certain situations, the way he goes about being evil with complete commitment in doing so.

Generally, I like the character design. The colors used and the details clearly alert you that he is "up to no good", but also that you can recognize him as soon as you see him. I like the whole, big, muscular turtle idea behind him and the way they have managed to develop his features. His hair, spikes, spiky bands; you are warned straight away that Bowser is after Peach you.

Bowser because he's the classic villain, especially in the final battle in Super Mario 3D land, it's better than just getting across some bridge, and pressing a button, in 3D Land you get chased and his castles are awesome and jerkish(I swear I wanted to chuck my DS when I played through new super mario bros ). And his final battle themes are awesome too. I never played any DK country games so yeah.