Sonic 1 vs. Mario World

[starchildskiss78]

This question is as easy to answer for me now as it was in late 1991. I absolutely loved Mario and his adventures. I remember reading about the Super Nintendo and Super Mario World in Nintendo Power. I chose a Genesis over the Super Nintendo for reasons unknown (maybe it had not come out quite yet? I remember Sonic The Hedgehog recently came out and Altered Beast bundles were still available at Service Merchandise. I actually requested that bundle over the Sonic bundle.)

The Mario games always seemed like an subtle evolution over the previous games in the series. I finally beat Super Mario World 17 years after its release, but I had fun doing so. It has been 20 years since Sonic came out and I still can't beat the game. It isn't for lack of trying. The graphics are nice, the tunes are memorable, and the concept is not bad. I just don't have the patience to beat it. I think it has something to do with needing to get the emeralds to get a "good" ending. I detest any game that forces you to ultra-super-mega beat the game to beat it. I could have (and did the first time) beat Super Mario World with the shortest route possible without getting all the stars and I still won the game and got the ending I deserved.

I guess Mario's games are more rewarding...

[genesisguy]

Sonic 1. It made me want a Genesis for Christmas. I had an NES with Mario 1,2, and 3 already and what I had seen and played of SMW felt like a step in the wrong direction at that time and it still does today. Sonic 1 is still fun to play through to this day whereas if I want classic Mario I go for the NES and either SMB1, 2, or 3.

[Sneak613]

Too long? One reason I like Super Mario World more than SMB3 is its save feature. That makes a huge difference. Even as a child, I rarely had the time (or patience) to make it all the way through SMB3 in one sitting.

And I'd say without warping, SMB3 probably takes as long to beat.

I agree. The save feature was a huge thing for me too. I also agree totally with your opinion on getting through SMB3 without warping takes a long time.

As for my take on this debate, I'll take Super Mario World over Sonic any day.

I'll give Sega credit, and conceed that Sonic was great for them, and gave them a character to market and create games, but nothing will convince me that it was better than SMW.

As I mentioned, loved the save feature, the way you could finish levels in different ways to open different 'paths' on the overhead map. So many hours of enjoyment with that game. I still play it today on occasion.

...In fact, recently I finaly 'ponied up' some money, and ordered a reproduction cart (hack of SMW) "Super Mario World: Return to Dinosaur Land"... I'm hoping I have as much fun with it as I did the original.

[PresidentLeever]

It has been 20 years since Sonic came out and I still can't beat the game. It isn't for lack of trying. The graphics are nice, the tunes are memorable, and the concept is not bad. I just don't have the patience to beat it. I think it has something to do with needing to get the emeralds to get a "good" ending. I detest any game that forces you to ultra-super-mega beat the game to beat it. I could have (and did the first time) beat Super Mario World with the shortest route possible without getting all the stars and I still won the game and got the ending I deserved.

I guess Mario's games are more rewarding...

Not as much as I detest a gamer judging a game that he hasn't beat :P And how did you know about the different endings?
Seriously, the ending you get without collecting everything is fine, it's not that hard to get the emeralds once you know the levels and the reward is minor. It's very much an optional thing for some added replay value. Furthermore it shouldn't take more than an hour of your time to get through it without them.

It seems to me like you just skipped through SMW anyway, so what was so rewarding? Finding secret levels is a big part of the challenge in that game, and anyone can beat it.

[ReaXan]

Sonic 1 was good, but not great. A game like Rocket Knight Adventures would have held up better against Mario as a pak in title.

[NeoZeedeater]

As an aside, I think it's interesting that Super Mario World has a somewhat better critical reputation

It only has a better critical reputation in recent years. In 1991, Sonic got more positive attention from the press. I think nowadays respect for the 16-bit Sonics has decreased because people are unfairly letting the last decade of shitty Sonic games affect their judgement, not to mention the current media's bias for Nintendo when talking of the past.

I love Sonic 1 and SMW. They're both among my favourite platformers but Sonic wins this round. The wiki entry on platform games sums up nicely why it impressed me more.

1990 marked the release of the Super NES, along with the much awaited Super Mario World. In order to fend off the new competition, Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog.[46][47] Whereas Nintendo's offering featured a conservative design, true to the Mario tradition, Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware. Sonic featured large fields that scrolled effortlessly in all directions, as well as all manner of uneven terrain, curved hills, and a complex physics system that allowed players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls.

Combine that innovation with it also being a more artistically striking game. I love SMW's exploration elements but the level design is pretty inconsistent. There are a lot of filler parts. Aside from Labyrinth Zone's annoying water, Sonic 1's level design is top notch.

[ReaXan]

Combine that innovation with it also being a more artistically striking game. I love SMW's exploration elements but the level design is pretty inconsistent. There are a lot of filler parts. Aside from Labyrinth Zone's annoying water, Sonic 1's level design is top notch.

Sonic 1's level design is good but you couldn't do the best Sonic move(down spin) until part 2. That downspin is what made Sonic to me.

[123►Genei-Jin]

Sonic for me.
I had an SNES back then and loved SMW, but Sonic's level design felt more compelling to me.
I can't say anything bad about SMW really, I just think level design gets too simplistic over time.
I simply have more fun playing Sonic than SMW.

[VG_Maniac]

I consider Super Mario World to be the better game. While Sonic 1 was a more revolutionary game at the time and felt more "fresh", Super Mario World just gave you a lot more bang for your buck. It was much longer and has much better replay value. Plus, I've always preferred the gameplay of the Mario series over Sonic (although I still love the classic Sonic series).

[crazyjackcsa]

Interesting that everybody picks up on the fact that Mario was a more refined game, and it was. But If you look at how far Sonic came in just a few short years, Sonic 3 and Knuckles more than compares to Mario. It has the length, mutiple characters, 3 different styles of play, different routes to take, multiple special and bonus stages, 14 chaos emeralds, it really is incredible.

[starchildskiss78]

Not as much as I detest a gamer judging a game that he hasn't beat :P And how did you know about the different endings?
Seriously, the ending you get without collecting everything is fine, it's not that hard to get the emeralds once you know the levels and the reward is minor. It's very much an optional thing for some added replay value. Furthermore it shouldn't take more than an hour of your time to get through it without them.

It seems to me like you just skipped through SMW anyway, so what was so rewarding? Finding secret levels is a big part of the challenge in that game, and anyone can beat it.

I know about the different endings from vgmuseum. I think getting the emeralds may be easy for some but I still concede that the ending is not as rewarding to the player if you don't get all the emeralds. Watching Eggman/Robotnik juggle the emeralds at the end is a kick in the pants.

Oh, and you're entitled to your opinion about someone who hasn't finished the game, but I played far enough to know I am not a fan.

As for Super Mario World, I played every stage and looked for every secret exit to completely beat the game. The autumn theme you get after beating the game is nifty.

[aryoshi]

Think I'm going to go with Super Mario World. I love Sonic The Hedgehog, it was and still is amazing, but comparing the two, I think SMW definitely dominates it. It was much lengthier, there's tons of levels and multiple exits for several, tons of great characters, and best of all? Yoshi!

[treismac]

Looking back, I'd say Super Mario World is a well thought-out, finely-crafted classic, whereas Sonic the Hedgehog is a standard platformer that happened to be backed by Sega's marketing.

Well said, sir.

[PresidentLeever]

I know about the different endings from vgmuseum. I think getting the emeralds may be easy for some but I still concede that the ending is not as rewarding to the player if you don't get all the emeralds. Watching Eggman/Robotnik juggle the emeralds at the end is a kick in the pants.

OK well, what I'd like to know is a gameplay-related reason not to like Sonic 1, I don't see how a three frame animation after the credits could swing someones overall opinion either way. The reward in both these games lies mainly in the enjoyment of beating the levels and collecting stuff, not so much the story/cutscenes.

I was replying to your argument about SMW being easier to beat and still get a good ending (didn't know there were different ones), which I don't see how it makes the game more rewarding when there's less effort involved.

[goatdan]

I always thought that the cape was a wonderful expansion of the raccoon suit. You could stay in the air a lot longer with the cape, from one end of a level to another if your flying skills were good

To me, the cape highlights everything that was wrong with SMW compared to SMB3. The thing that I love about SMB1 and SMB3 is that the controls are extremely simple -- you almost never have an issue with a learning curve, no matter what is going on. And, as the levels get more difficult, you can rely on how they always act. It makes experimenting with what is really a limited set of tools to find the secrets that much more rewarding.

With SMW, between the cape and Yoshi just for instance, you have SO much needless complexity. You're right -- if you're good at the cape you can practically fly from one end of the level to the other. But that is what bugged me and still bugs me about the game -- you had to overcome a serious learning curve for the special things to be able to use them to the full ability. Instead of walking up and knowing exactly what that particular item does, you have to remember what color Yoshi does what and so on.

From the first moment I played SMW, it bothered me that they took the series in that direction. I still find it a decent game, although no where near as good as SMB1 or SMB3.

Back in the day, I also thought that Sonic had a ton of flaws. It was fun to watch, but felt like total luck when playing it. I never liked that the speed impacted your ability to react to things, and it became all about memorization.

It wasn't until Donkey Kong Country that I really felt like this was addressed well by a platformer on either console. So, to me -- the answer for this question is neither.

[Leo_A]

With how optional flying and using the special capabilities of the Yoshi's were, I really don't see how either is much of a problem. You could play through this game nearly from end to end with ease and just utilize the standard capabilities you've had since the first Super Mario Brothers. I can't think of any areas that required you to fly and only one area in the Special World where I believe you all but need the blue Yoshi's flying capabilities to reach the goal.

And it's not like you'd ever be specifically be seeking out a yellow Yoshi (Creates a small earthquake after eating any colored Koopa shell)) or red Yoshi (Shoots fireballs after eating any colored Koopa shell).

[Emperor Megas]

I was a huge fan of the NES trilogy and had high expectations. Super Mario World lived up to all of them...

...Looking back, I'd say Super Mario World is a well thought-out, finely-crafted classic, whereas Sonic the Hedgehog is a standard platformer that happened to be backed by Sega's marketing.

These are my feelings as well, and pretty much a case closer.

[goatdan]

With how optional flying and using the special capabilities of the Yoshi's were, I really don't see how either is much of a problem. You could play through this game nearly from end to end with ease and just utilize the standard capabilities you've had since the first Super Mario Brothers.

No, but that's my point -- the special abilities are not as easy to use as the original capabilities from the earlier games. You didn't need to find the white mushroom houses in SMB3 either, but to me -- unlike in SMW -- when you have that challenge the controls are SO easy to master that it needs simply skill and reflex to react to the levels to win, while SMW needs a lot more mastering of the controls to do the special things.

To me -- and again, I *totally* get why some people like that -- this destroyed the charm of the SMB games being extremely simple, but requiring you to be very creative to find all of the cool little nooks and crannies where the secrets were. Endless 1Ups at the Goomba pipes on Level 1-2 on SMB3 is a perfect example -- I can pull off that trick easily just by playing around with the controls, whereas I don't think I could do something similar with SMW and the cape because it is so much more precise about how many different things the cape can do.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but again -- in reply to the OP - Donkey Kong Country!

[Leo_A]

The cape really isn't that complicated. Hold Y to run and press B to take off. No need to keep pressing a button to fly upwards like in SMB3.

From there, your only options are to either keep pressing left or right in a rhythm (Whichever is the opposite direction you're moving) if you want to fly horizontally, up on the d-pad if you want to dive, down if you want to soar upwards, or keep B pressed in if you want to glide back down (Far simpler than constantly hitting a button to wag your tail to glide down like in SMB3).

It's no more complicated than SMB3. In fact, other than the extremely easy to learn technique for horizontal flight (Which is 100% optional in this game), the cape controls are easier and more sensible than SMB3's raccoon tail is to use, if you ask me.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[SpaceHarrier]

Super Mario World. Even though I love Sonic, the game that made me need a Sega Genesis, there is just so much to do in SMW.

I'd take Sonic 2 over SMW, though.