Who had the better 2D platform games: Mario or Sonic?

Discounting the later 3D stuff - who was better in the 16-bit era? And who did you personally prefer?

I didn't really play these games :shobon:

Super Mario Bros. 3 and World are two of the best games ever.

I'd got with Mario.

Super Mario World is better than any Sonic game. But Sonic 2, 3, and & Knuckles are better than every other Mario game. I voted Sonic.

Mario. Sorry, Sega, but you lost this war for a reason.

Mario, but by no means does Sonic lose that battle for me with ease. There are some Sonic games from back then that I liked better than Mario, but the Mario games I liked I hold in much higher regard.

So yes, I was that kid that owned a SNES and Genesis (SPOILER)inb4 "MEGADRIVE!" by non US peeps. You may throw your internet tomatoes at me now.

Sonic

The only Mario game I kinda liked was the 3rd one^^;

I love the Sonic games and I consider 1 through S&K to be masterpieces - and I have more fun with them - but I'm not sure I can say the Mario games were anything less than truly revelatory and not just genre-defining, but industry defining.

I probably played Sanic more in the end. Sonic 1 was fun, but I didn't like that one as much as 2. I recognize Sanic 3 and Kankles is technically the best of the Sanic games, but I still prefer 2.

Also, I really like the first Sanic on Game Gear. I think it's the same one that was released on the Master System, but I'm not completely sure on that. It was much more satisfying to me than the Mario Land games on Gameboy.

Mario World is better than them all though.

It has to be Mario for me.

Don't get me wrong, Sonic was an excellent series of games but the sharpness of controls of Mario and genius level design means that it wins hands down. I always thought the Sonic controls were a little loose and frustrating. Both series were fantastic though.

The console wars are over. Sega lost. Mario 4 lyfe

Since the OP limits this to the 16-bit era, I have to say Sonic - I just didn't enjoy Super Mario World anywhere near as much as its 8-bit forebears. Sonic 2, 3, and S&K were much more memorable and significant for gaming.

I don't know who made the music for SMW or Yoshi's Island but he sure wasn't Michael Jackson.

This is actually a pretty rough choice for me, as my two favorite Mario titles are available in All-Star + World, but I enjoyed the Sonic titles of the era more as a whole.

I'm glad Sonic has a fair amount of votes in this poll. Its contribution to video games can not be underestimated.