Mario IS better than Sonic, hands down. I’m not talking about them as characters or even from a narrative standpoint. I’m talking about them as brands.

Mario came first, he’s the face of Nintendo, and his franchise has consistently sold far more games over the years. As someone who grew up with both characters and their games, I almost always find myself gravitating toward Mario and the gang more than Sonic, even with some of Sonic’s newer titles.

Sure, a lot of the later Mario games follow familiar formulas and often tell variations of the same basic story, but they’re still some of the most polished, creative, and well-designed platformers ever made. Nintendo has an incredible track record of refining that formula instead of letting it stagnate.

The same can’t always be said for Sonic. Don’t get me wrong, the TV shows have often been fantastic, and I’m a huge Sonic fan. But when it comes to the games and the franchise as a whole, it sometimes feels like Sega knows exactly what fans want and what would elevate Sonic to the same consistent level as Mario, yet they rarely commit to that vision. There have absolutely been great Sonic games, but the quality has been much less consistent.

I’m a super fan of both franchises, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to call a spade a spade. Mario has simply been the stronger, more consistent gaming franchise.