Were 90s 2d sonic games better than mario bros games at that time?

It's all about perspective. There's a reason Sonic helped start the next generation of console wars. And his early games did just that. Whether they were better or not just depends on the person and whether they played one or another.

We know most were good though, otherwise he wouldn't be here today.

This is it right here. Nothing Sonic has done has even come close.

Never liked Sonic games... Mario did it right.

You're also an idiot, so your opinion is invalid, sniper.

They are very different experiences. I prefer Sonic to Mario, but SMW is definitely one of the greatest games made

Hell no

The first 3 Sonic games on the Genesis are good, solid platformers...but Super Mario World alone shits on every Sonic game in existence.

Mario has always been better

There has never..and never will be a sonic game that is better than a mario game..lol..never..

Indeed, 2D Sonic was far superior.

It's thanks to poor 3D games it's repututation has became irreprably damaged. That, and Nintendo fanboys are borderline Mafioso when it comes to revinist history, enforcing the infamous "Sonic was never good", which, to the young and those short on memory, become gospel.

Thankfully Sonic Mania, with little effort, puntured that perception. Even then, shortly after release, they were back at it.

No but Sonic 3 and Knuckles is pretty damn good.

Sniper making shitty threads daily is the worse than 90's Mario or Sonic.

I loved both when I was younger. Sonic 3 and super metroid came out around the same time. I was extreemly excited for sonic 3 but I had to have super metroid. I was a huge fan of the first metroid. on the nes. I traded a kid at school my genesis for his snes. I had no regrets over it. I still haven't played sonic 3. Although I own it now. One day I'll get around to playing it. I missed out on a lot of good game on the genesis. Although if I had to choose I'd go with mario.

No they were not, and I'm saying this as a huge SEGA fan (I loved Sega's arcade games and their RPG).

Other than being impressed with the graphics in the first 2 games, I never really cared for Sonic's gameplay.

Super Mario World on SNES was a better game.

Compared to Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi Island, and Super Mario 64? Not so.

Not even close. Mario is a near perfect platformer. Sonic is a platformer/racer that does both of those things badly. One second you're going the speed of light only to have you suddenly hit spikes in the middle of the road you needed a rection time of 0.02 seconds to evade. And when you have to do actual platforming, the game is slow and clunky. Sonic is a game that encourages you to go fast, then proceeds to punish you for going fast. Shitty gameplay design.

no

No.

Mario games went more into depth when it came to gameplay. Nintendo changed the game more and more each time a new game came out. Sonic did not do this. Sonic 1-& Knuckles changed very little with only new characters bringing stuff to the table. Being able to play as Tails and Knuckles was really great. Mario games evolved each time with new powerups that could change the way the game is played, Yoshi who became a very iconic character in the Mario series and very different boss fights in most castles in the later 2D Mario games. Sonic's gameplay didn't evolve as much until Sega had already dropped from the console wars and released Sonic Advance on the GBA. Those Sonic games really evolved Sonic 2D gameplay. Too little too late though.

BTW, I love 2D Sonic games more than Mario, despite admitting that I think Mario is the better game. Sonic had more style and fast gameplay is just my thing. Bullet hell, run n gun, shoot em up, etc. are my type of games, and I die and rage EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Mario and Mario 2 were practically the same game, the only reason it's different in the West is because they thought Americans were nubs, reskinning an entirely different game.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 added spin-dash, boost platforms, companion AI/COOP, vehicle sections and Super Sonic to encourage re playability via chaos emeralds.

Sonic 3 added the ability to continue with almost every single thing in the level interactive, basic continuous story-telling and had to be chopped down due to ambition beyond the base Genesis capabilities.

Sonic CD added level changing time travel, the stuff you see in A Link To The Past.

Probably the main problem with the 3D games is specifically they keep trying knew ideas than pinning down the games mechanics properly. Sonic Mania done exactly what they needed to do, look at what made the game appealing in the first place. Releasing Sonic Forces almost directly alongside it was suicide.

Yes, they absolutely were.

I had a SNES, Megadrive and an Amiga at the time. Sonic was faster paced and more varied in its gameplay content; Sonic > Mario. Nintendo was hugely more popular in America though so most people will go with Mario if they didn't own a Megadrive or Sonic at the time, fanboys then were/are the same as fanboys today.

The problem with this comparison:

Nintendo only released three 2D Mario games in the nineties with the mustachioed plumber as the playable character:

Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario World

Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins

All three of those games were brilliant, best of platform/generation entries.

You can be a great boxer of your time and still not be the best, if your time included Muhammad Ali.

The best Sonic games pale in comparison to the same Mario games from the time period. Doesn't make them bad games. Just not the best.

Sonic was faster paced but definitely not more varied, lol.
Mario encompasses many gameplay concepts, while Sonic is bland in that regard.

Guess you're right about ye olde fanboys though.

@Litchie: Happy to read this. First time I see someone sharing my view on 2d Sonic games.

They were both equally good. Stating this is a testimony to how absolutely incredible they were and are worthy of playing today.

Says someone who probably speed attacked every stage and doesn't know sweet ****-all about how absolutely jam-packed with secret spots and alternative paths were in Sonic games. That, or you played the first one and think you know all about Sonic. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is like the FFVI of platformers.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles > Super Mario World >Super Mario Bros 3 > Sonic 2 > Super Mario Bros 1 > Sonic 1 > Super Mario Bros 2 > Doki Doki Panic

I enjoyed Sonic Mania more than Mario Odyssey this gen so yes to me it has and always was.

I could finish Sonic by closing my eyes and holding the forward button.

@Juub1990: oh c'mon, taken literally that's impossible and you know it

Yeah but my favorite Sonic game is Sonic Adventure, love messing with those chao's and chao garden back in the day.

Green hill zone is great. Every other level in every other sonic game is a mess and not fun at all.

I'd say this is an apples and oranges comparison. Yes, they're both platformers, but both have completely different natures, so it all boils down to preference. I will say this, though. I had a Super NES, my friend a Genesis. I kept going over to his house to play Sonic. He kept coming over to mine to play Mario World. Both great games, accomplished in their own right. No right or wrong answer far as I'm concerned.

@Juub1990: Thanks for that insanely stupid comment, every thread needs one.

It is. One of the main problems with Sonic, especially the first one, was the developers being dicks and deliberately making you run into enemies. You can go fast, it will get you across the map faster, but it's insanely risky.

Of course with a recently badly designed game like Sonic 4, you literally do that, go on autopilot.

But the originals? Na. Not even close.

Always loved both series, but Mario a bit more.

Yes. 8 Bit Mario. 16 Bit Sonic. Mario ever since. It was the one era Sonic was better. It's why Sonic Mania was so good. They had the perfect formula.

Sonic instruction manual:

1. hold right d-pad
2. Watch
3. If you see something, press button to jump
4. Watch some more
5. Repeat until credits roll

Yea, try that s*** in the casino stage and see how far you get lol

Really, the comparison should be Sonic 3 & Knuckles vs. Super Mario World.

I love both. It's a tough one. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is really the perfect Sonic game. There's plenty of speed sections, but there is still precision platforming, there are varied levels, good bosses, and a neat little (albeit basic) story. And the music... well the music is the highlight of the series, and especially good in 3&K.

Mario World is colorful, amazing world to explore, plenty of secrets, and the gameplay is great. Music is good and there are a few memorable tunes. But the question for me is really did I prefer Super Mario 3? And in the grand scheme of things, I think I might. There's more game in Super Mario World than Sonic 3&K that's for sure.

I think I'll go with Sonic 3&K ever so slightly. I remember as a kid the first time I saw Sonic 1 on my cousin's Genesis and felt like my mind was blown graphically. Then I saw Mario World when (back then) I rented a Super Nintendo. My parents ended up getting me a Genesis although I remember wanting a Super Nintendo for Mario, because I had a NES. Fell in love with Sonic Genesis games though. I eventually got a SNES later, used, from a friend.

Yeah, I remember fighting the same boss at the end of every level on Mario and then the next level was the same thing with different textures on the tiles. I am right about the old fanboys.

I had both a Genesis and Super NES growing up. Both series were good.

I don't think one was better than the other. It is just that they were different.

They were good in their own way.

true

I feel that 2d sonic games are grossly over rated, I have played most of them and never really enjoyed any of them. Sonic 2 was fun, the rest were garbage.

Mario is the greatest platforming series of all time, in all dimensions.

Mega man is not as good as Mario, but is definitely one of the greatest 2d franchises ever and outside of castlevania and Mario, I don't think I can come up with another series of side scrollers that I enjoy more than the mega man series.

To me Sonic games at the time were always more appealing and fun to play. specially the original Sonic on Genesis was a blast for me. Maybe ive finished that game at the time more than 20 times in order to find secrets and 1ups etc

They were both good.

Yes, without a shadow of a doubt.

Sonic was superior to Mario in almost every single way, from the platforming mechanics and physics, to the level design and depth of game design, to the graphics and audio.

Genesis Sonic games>NES Mario games

But overall, Mario>Sonic

That's how I feel anyway. If you ask me, the Genesis Sonic games have aged better. To the point where that gameplay doesn't feel at all outdated in Sonic Mania. Give me Sonic 3 & Knuckles (and Sonic Mania, for that matter) over any NES Mario game any day.

No.

Sonic takes a deserved silver medal over any other platformer of that time (sorry, Donkey Kong!), but nah he was nowhere near Mario.

Sonic had the flashiness, style and speed, as well as some dizzyingly confusing levels (positive or negative, depending on your point of view, though I liked them) and required a lot of memorisation of levels, hazards and enemies if you ever actually wanted to run fast. As many have said before, it's a game about going fast where you get punished for going fast. I know, I know, "Git gud!", but what's the actual point? I do so for Green Hill zone and a couple other early areas, just so I can get the thrill of pure speed. But beyond a certain point of difficulty I just walk, life's too short to need to memorise entire games just so you can move faster, with no other tangible reward.

Mario was just a whole other level when it comes to gameplay. The controls were tighter, the levels were less frantic and confusing but more fun, with plenty of challenge (especially on NES), with rewards for exploration (secret exits, powerups, new areas). The flying cape, the physics of swimming underwater, Yoshi, the Ghost Houses, the airships, the dungeons, the boss fights against Bowser and his kids... There's just a hell of a lot more going on in Mario's gameplay, it's better designed and executed, and more fun.

Sonic will always have his hardcore fans , but I don't think gamers in general will ever consider his best games on par with Mario's best.