Let's go back to the early 90s...

[Aulayna]

...where it was oversized white gloves at dawn! That's right, the era of Sonic v Mario or more accurately Sega v Nintendo.

Which company was the better half of the 8-bit and 16-bit era?

[qwertysaur]

Nostalgia goggles cloud my judgement. I grew up with Nintendo after all.

[DownDiagonalLeftA]

Super Nintendo is still the greatest gaming system of all time. I grew up on Final Fantasy "2 and 3", Chrono Trigger, etc etc. But I also love Street Fighter 2, Mega Man X, Super Double Dragon, Super Mario World, Final Fight, F-Zero, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, WAY TOO MANY GOOD GAMES! You can't lose with a line up like that!

[NeoCracker]

SNES also had Ogre Battle. And Breath of Fire.

Really, if you were an RPG kid, it wasn't even a close competition.

Though Genesis had Toejam and Earl 2: Panic on Funktron. As well as Comix Zone. That scores it a lot of points.

But yeah, SNES. And I can say that having grown up with both. ;P

[The Man]

There will never be a system with a better lineup of games than the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom. I may be being slightly nostalgic about this, but a lot of its best games like Super Metroid and Final Fantasy VI were games I didn't play until my adulthood, so I doubt it.

Which isn't to say Sega was any slouch any at the time, but let's face it, they had tough competition.

[Bolivar]

I grew up Sega but at this point, I have too many favorite SNES games to say it's not a close call.

I understand why the ball goes to Nintendo's court most of the time, but I think it's a mistake to overlook what Sega was and what they did. There was something in that sound chip that took a lot of games to an edgy extreme that was really symbolic of its era. The '90s was the Attitude Decade and that was embodied in games like Sonic, Streets of Rage, and Comix Zone.

Plus the Shining Force games are my favorite 16-bit RPGs.

[Wolf Kanno]

Super Nintendo, but I still have a lot of love for Sega and the Genesis. Its difficult to put Mario Bros. 1 and 2 up against Sonic 1 and not feel a bit blown away by what Sega was doing but I agree with others that in terms of RPGs, the SNES had the better lineup. It was the controller and my love for Street Fighter II that eventually made me go SNES despite most of my friends being Sega fans. Still to this day, I like Sonic better than Mario.

[Bolivar]

The dude in the middle starting at 0:06 has a disproportionately massive head.

[Pike]

I honestly think Nintendo was better but the Genesis did have a pretty fantastic lineup as well.

[Bubba]

My kind of thread!

Lot's of my friends were Sega fans and I must admit there were some truly fantastic games released for the Megadrive... and indeed the Master System. I think the NES and SNES were just far superior machines though. The SNES colour palette and sprite handling wiped the floor with the Megadrive. Though admittedly, as a result of this the Megadrive was by far the faster machine.

They both have their merits but ultimately the sheer wealth of classic titles for Nintendo's machines during this period is still unmatched in my opinion.

I have to disagree with Wolf on the Sonic v Mario debate though. The hedgehog may have had the 'cool' factor but Mario wins hands down when it comes to playability. I always thought that Sonic's control and handling was mediocre at best.

[Rostum]

Oh man I loved this era in gaming. I had a SNES and my friend had a Genesis (or rather Mega Drive). Eventually my parents ended up buying his Mega Drive with his large collection of games really cheap, once he got a PlayStation (though I was really jealous of that).

I can't decide what one I like best, since to me at the time they both had equally good amount of games (even Aladdin was two almost completely different games, and both were fantastic). I loved both Sonic and Mario! Unfortunately we had nothing like Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 4/6, so I never got to try them. I wonder if I would have had the patience for them anyways.

P.S. I love the late 90's better! (PC/PS1/N64 gaming)

[Shorty]

This is kindof tough for me. The first console I ever remember owning was an SNES (but for some reason we didn't have ANY Mario games) and I remember it being really fun. Something happened to the console, though, and it didn't work for very long and eventually ceased to function altogether so we replaced it a Sega Genesis until I discovered PC/playstation gaming.

I'd say based on my experience, I am partial to Sega and Sonic.

[maybee]

Sega Mega Drive.

Strider, Sonic and Rocket Adventures.

Though the SNES wasn't that bad either just lacked Strider and Sonic.

The Sega version of Aladdin was a million times better as well. Better levels, better music and that violent sword of his. Awesome.

I have.... never been a huge fan of Mario. Just don't get it. Sonic was addictive, fast, fun and had fantastic music like the boss themes in Sonic 2. Mario was just really slow placed and jumping on mushrooms.

Zelda. I find the more later ones in the series more enjoyable and wasn't all that keen on Link to the past. Though the music in Link to the past was fantastic.

So yeah, Sega.

[Raistlin]

I have to join the consensus and say Nintendo, what with all of the amazing games on the SNES. But I do miss the Sega era as well; the Genesis had some great games.

[Del Murder]

I grew up during the Sega/Nintendo Console Wars. I was a firm supporter of Nintendo during that time and in hindsight it appears I made the right choice. The NES turned games from a sometimes hobby to a part of people's everyday lives. The SNES was one of, if not the best, console of all time. The hardware was limited back then but they certainly made the most of it with greats like Yoshi's Island, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Super Metroid.

The Genesis had some good games, my favorites being Sonic 2 and Pirates Gold, but it wasn't nearly the behemoth that the SNES was.