Which series is best, Sonic or Mario?

[Ouenben]

Sonic Adventure was a great game and much more intelligent and inventive than people give it credit for. It had a perfect blend of hi paced levels and levels with more emphasis on exploration and puzzles as well as brilliant set pieces but i wouldnt say it was quite as good a package as Mario 64.

If they had spent an extra 6 - 12 months ironing out all the bugs and glitches, took out all the silly characters and just left Sonic, Tails & Knuckles in there and expanded on there games/stories, improved the camera at times and upped the framerate from 30fps to 60fps which was originally what it was meant to run at according to Yuji Naka and what the DC was very capable of handling then i believe it could of been as good as Mario 64.

Instead it was rushed out in time for Xmas 98 in Japan and as a result was a very good game albiet a flawed one.

Yeah the extra characters are a bit stupid they could have just spent more time making more levels for the main three. Though Knuckles levels were pretty dull and uninteresting so it'd be better if they made them a bit more appealing.

[nakamura]

It was a very fun game but hugely flawed. There are many better 3D platformers including Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. Sonic Adventure was not inventive at all. It was simply Sonic in 3D.

Sonic Adventure was a great game and much more intelligent and inventive than people give it credit for. It had a perfect blend of hi paced levels and levels with more emphasis on exploration and puzzles as well as brilliant set pieces but i wouldnt say it was quite as good a package as Mario 64.

If they had spent an extra 6 - 12 months ironing out all the bugs and glitches, took out all the silly characters and just left Sonic, Tails & Knuckles in there and expanded on there games/stories, improved the camera at times and upped the framerate from 30fps to 60fps which was originally what it was meant to run at according to Yuji Naka and what the DC was very capable of handling then i believe it could of been as good as Mario 64.

Instead it was rushed out in time for Xmas 98 in Japan and as a result was a very good game albiet a flawed one.

[Sam The Man]

Yeah the extra characters are a bit stupid they could have just spent more time making more levels for the main three. Though Knuckles levels were pretty dull and uninteresting so it'd be better if they made them a bit more appealing.

Yes the extra characters i thought were stupid especially Big The Cat.

They could of just expanded Sonic, Tails & like you said in particular Knuckles story and added more levels to them.

I thought the Chao garden was a great idea though and loved how many breeding combinations there were. If only the VMS was rechargable and when it was plugged into the controller it recharged instead of the Lithium batters that lasted such a short amount of time.

Sonic Adventure 2 had some good moments but its where the Sonic games started going downhill for me.

[Team Andromeda]

No way was Sonic adventure better than Mario 64. While it was a lot of fun it was just fast flashy visuals and a lot of on rails gameplay. Mario was inventive, intelligent and controlled like a dream.

Also the point made about Sonic on the MS vs the NES incarnation is crazy. NES Mario was created in 1985 compared to 1991 for Sonic. Though I did love MS Sonic games. I loved how you had to find the emeralds in the levels.

For you maybe , but not for me .
Mario 64 and Galaxy were AAA, but after I finished them , I never ever wanted to go back them , unlike Sonic Adv. More to the point I simply enjoyed Sonic Adv, far more as a game , that what counts to me .
It really is one of the best adventures, I'e had in a game , still to this very day love Windy Valley , Speed Highway stages

As for Mario on the NES, I'll count every Mario game made on the NES , even Mario III. I enjoyed Mickey Mouse far more on my Master system as I did Wonderboy , over Mario or Sonic on the bit systems

[Sam The Man]

to this very day love Windy Valley , Speed Highway stages

What about the Lost World stage that was amazing. The first time i ever did that was some of the best minutes of my gaming life. It had tremendous set piece after set piece. The tunnel with fire, the snake chamber, the dark room with the mirrors used to reflect light off, the steep cascading river and waterfall, the Indiana Jones boulder chasing you and the great large room at the end.

Nothing offered that type of exhileration in a game.

[nakamura]

?? Games like Wipeout, F-Zero, games you actually control were much more exciting!

[sj33]

Well, they're aiming to offer different kinds of experiences, so I'm not convinced the comparison is valid. To Sonic Adventure's credit, it had some jaw-dropping set-pieces. I think the Mario 64 Vs. Sonic Adventure is complicated because, aside from both being 3D platformers, they are such different games with such different experiences.

Sonic Adventure is mainly let down by a severe lack of polish, and one too many shortcuts. The underlying game is actually really good.

[Team Andromeda]

What about the Lost World stage that was amazing. The first time i ever did that was some of the best minutes of my gaming life. It had tremendous set piece after set piece. The tunnel with fire, the snake chamber, the dark room with the mirrors used to reflect light off, the steep cascading river and waterfall, the Indiana Jones boulder chasing you and the great large room at the end.

Nothing offered that type of exhileration in a game.

My lasting impression of the Lost World stage was its music , which was off the chart, with its booming music score , I felt like I was in the Incas
Gave me a massive buzz, running at full pelt , with the music and those lovely textures flying by . The set pieces in Sonic Adv were brilliant , be it the killer whale, the helicopter ride , or running down a Sky scraper .

No 3D platformer ever come close to the enjoyment I got , and the sheer brilliance of Sonic Adv

[nakamura]

Perhaps not but to say nothing else offered the same exhileration is a little unrealistic.
Dont get me wrong I did enjoy the game for the most part. But take away the set pieces and on rails fast action and you havent got a lot left.

Well, they're aiming to offer different kinds of experiences, so I'm not convinced the comparison is valid. To Sonic Adventure's credit, it had some jaw-dropping set-pieces. I think the Mario 64 Vs. Sonic Adventure is complicated because, aside from both being 3D platformers, they are such different games with such different experiences.

Sonic Adventure is mainly let down by a severe lack of polish, and one too many shortcuts. The underlying game is actually really good.