Who was your favorite in the mid 1990s in gaming?

Donkey Kong is a secondary character from the Mario universe, just like Yoshi's Island or Wario games. So it should had been "Super Mario vs. Sonic The Hedgehog". Donkey Kong's peak was the 80's.

Anyways, Super Mario ALL THE WAY! Throughout the 90's you had Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario All Stars which were SNES remakes of Super Mario Bros 1-3 including Lost Levels, and Super Mario 64! Oh, and I'm still counting Mario Kart 64 in that category too!

Mario all the way. I loved his games up until the Wii U was released, when Nintendo was proven that they weren't original anymore. Sonic on the other hand was only good for the Sega Genesis era, while he had a mini-renaissance during the early and mid 2000s. He never had a good game for over 10 years now, and it shows that Sega just cares for its mascot nowadays.

I was a Mario fan in the mid-1990s, but that's because I only had an NES. Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3, and Mario vs. Luigi were my life :D

Although now that I got to play all the games, I'd say Sonic would've been my preference in the 1993-1995 era, although I loved Donkey Kong Country as well. In 1996 though, nothing can compete with Super Mario RPG and Super Mario 64!

I love Mario but back then it was all about Sonic and Donkey Kong Country for me. So I can't choose.

Sonic has been dead AF since 2005 when they made the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog game.

Mario was the game in our household, and was played both by father and son.

Should we have a poll on this topic?

Sonic has been dead AF since 2005 when they made the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog game.


Frankly, the Sonic Advance trilogy were the last truly good games for the franchise. Shadow the Hedgehog is okay, but not enough reputation to compete well against Mario. Hell, I didn't even care for the game when I was a kid.

Definitely Sonic the Hedgehog for me. I first played the original game over at a friend's house in 1992 and got a Genesis in 1993, and that was also the year I saw Sonic 2 for the first time and liked the new features, especially the Casino Night Zone and new special stages. 1994 was basically the peak for me, as not only I got my own version of Sonic 2, I also got Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3 (with the Knuckles expansion coming in early 1995 for me). I also subscribed to Sega Visions around this time. Too bad Saturn ruined Sega.

Donkey Kong had a revival in the mid-90s thanks to the special Super Game Boy release in 1994 that in addition to having the classic four levels at the start of the game (a bit easier though), a whole new puzzle element added with nine additional worlds. Of course, 1994 also gave us the release of Donkey Kong Country, showing that his comeback was more than just an expansion of an old favorite, and two sequels followed. It may have also inspired some to play the classic games on their NES if they still had it around, or by purchasing secondary used copies at Funcoland.

IMO, Mario's peak was 1988-1992, from around the time Super Mario Bros. 2 was released up until around the release of Super Mario Kart. Of course, right in the middle of "Mariomania", we had the cartoons, SMB3, and Super Mario World, and if you look at the cartridges you'll find for the original Super Mario Bros. game, you'll find that most copies come from the pack-in packaging with Duck Hunt starting in 1988, as prior to that, SMB wasn't a pack-in game for the NES, and such a move helped to bring its popularity up. 1996 was when Mario started to come back again thanks to Super Mario RPG and Super Mario 64, leaving 1993-1995 as the peak of the "Sonic Era".

IMO, Mario's peak was 1988-1992, from around the time Super Mario Bros. 2 was released up until around the release of Super Mario Kart. Of course, right in the middle of "Mariomania", we had the cartoons, SMB3, and Super Mario World, and if you look at the cartridges you'll find for the original Super Mario Bros. game, you'll find that most copies come from the pack-in packaging with Duck Hunt starting in 1988, as prior to that, SMB wasn't a pack-in game for the NES, and such a movie helped to bring its popularity up. 1996 was when Mario started to come back again thanks to Super Mario RPG and Super Mario 64, leaving 1993-1995 as the peak of the "Sonic Era".


The peak of the original Sonic Era was more like 1992-1995, since that's when the Genesis was taken seriously by hardcore gamers.

When I say Donkey Kong I'm talking about Donkey Kong Country and the associated sequels.

It's definitely between Mario and Donkey Kong Country. Sonic was all image and little else. Yeah, he had an cool design and he could run fast, but that hardly contributed to the depth or challenge of the games he was in. Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country's quirks were a lot more fun and helpful to use, yet both provided reasonable challenges, regardless.

Honestly I'll be the original guy here and say Donkey Kong! Don't get me wrong, Sonic and Mario are both great franchises, but when I think 90's platformers that really changed the game, The Donkey Kong Country Trilogy comes to mind! I actually grew up with DKC 2 Diddy's Kong Quest and DKC 3 Dixie Kong's Double Trouble on the GBA in the mid 2000's. Hence why I've always been a big fan of the genre:

Donkey Kong Country in 1994
http://www.onlinemania.es/snes/donkey_kong_country/1.jpg


Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest in 1995 (my favorite from the series)
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tPoZS7Jdi0c/maxresdefault.jpg


Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble in 1996
https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/box/6/3/5/50635_front.jpg


All of these games came out during the tail end of the SNES's popularity and during the transition from 4th gen gaming to 5th gen gaming. Hence the 2-D platformer style the games are modled around along with the introduction 3-D visuals! This was the pinnacle of 90's gaming IMO

I had NES and my brothers had SNES.  I cant even recall The Donkey Kong games right now, but I know we played them. 

Mario and Sonic. I can not choose only one!

Definitely Mario and DK. I played those games all the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Sonic was actually at his peak in the early 90s, when the original Genesis games (as well as Sonic CD) came out. So to answer your question, Mario and Donkey Kong all the way! Sonic began to decline around 1995. Mario and Donkey Kong were still bringing out great quality games (ie., Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country series, etc.).  In the early 90s, it would have been a tie between Mario and Sonic.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Sonic was actually at his peak in the early 90s, when the original Genesis games (as well as Sonic CD) came out. So to answer your question, Mario and Donkey Kong all the way! Sonic began to decline around 1995. Mario and Donkey Kong were still bringing out great quality games (ie., Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country series, etc.).  In the early 90s, it would have been a tie between Mario and Sonic.


I think late 1992 counts as "close enough" to 1993 ;D

Sonic the Hedgehog: June 23, 1991
Sonic the Hedgehog 2: November 24, 1992
Sonic CD: November 19, 1993
Sonic the Hedgehog 3: February 2, 1994 (+Knuckles: October 18, 1994)

I guess technically 1995 is Sonic-free, so maybe that year belongs to DKC.  8)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Sonic was actually at his peak in the early 90s, when the original Genesis games (as well as Sonic CD) came out. So to answer your question, Mario and Donkey Kong all the way! Sonic began to decline around 1995. Mario and Donkey Kong were still bringing out great quality games (ie., Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country series, etc.).  In the early 90s, it would have been a tie between Mario and Sonic.


Sonic began to decline when the Sega Genesis was discontinued. Ever since then, the franchise has been through many ups and downs until 2006 when people realized that the franchise isn't good anymore.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Sonic was actually at his peak in the early 90s, when the original Genesis games (as well as Sonic CD) came out. So to answer your question, Mario and Donkey Kong all the way! Sonic began to decline around 1995. Mario and Donkey Kong were still bringing out great quality games (ie., Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country series, etc.).  In the early 90s, it would have been a tie between Mario and Sonic.


I consider Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island to be more of a Yoshi themed game than Mario. It also introduced the baby Mario & Luigi characters too. Yoshi's Island DS was hard af for me.

IMO, Mario's peak was 1988-1992, from around the time Super Mario Bros. 2 was released up until around the release of Super Mario Kart. Of course, right in the middle of "Mariomania", we had the cartoons, SMB3, and Super Mario World, and if you look at the cartridges you'll find for the original Super Mario Bros. game, you'll find that most copies come from the pack-in packaging with Duck Hunt starting in 1988, as prior to that, SMB wasn't a pack-in game for the NES, and such a move helped to bring its popularity up. 1996 was when Mario started to come back again thanks to Super Mario RPG and Super Mario 64, leaving 1993-1995 as the peak of the "Sonic Era".


I say 1985-1991 or 1993 because the original Super Mario Bros made a huge impact on the gaming industry and had the most copies sold out of all the NES games. It's the reason the Mario series still exist today with tons of characters you still see on the Mario franchise today. Super Mario Bros 2 was probably the most underrated one since it wasn't as good as other ones due to it being a remake of "Doki Doki Panic". The good news is that SMB2 gave us Birdo and bomb-ombs but it's still inferior to all the others. Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World were excellent Mario games for so many reasons I can't even explain. I think Super Mario World or All-Stars is when the peak of Mario ended.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Sonic was actually at his peak in the early 90s, when the original Genesis games (as well as Sonic CD) came out. So to answer your question, Mario and Donkey Kong all the way! Sonic began to decline around 1995. Mario and Donkey Kong were still bringing out great quality games (ie., Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country series, etc.).  In the early 90s, it would have been a tie between Mario and Sonic.


You're not wrong. Sonic the Hedgehog probably peaked right around 1993 or so. Remember, though, that even if there weren't any major Sonic games coming out after 1994, Sonic still remained very relevant during the mid '90s because some folks get consoles later than others. For example, both myself and my cousin did not get a Sega Genesis until 1994. Up to that point, I had only had a Super Nintendo and didn't get to play Sonic unless I was at a friend's house, so, to me, 1994-95 is all about Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles because that's when I spent the bulk of my time playing those games. Mario, for me, is either an early '90s thing (with the NES and SNES games) or a late '90s thing (with Super Mario 64).

Donkey Kong Country can't be ignored, though. That game was absolutely massive during the mid '90s in terms of hype. I wanted DKC so bad, but for whatever reason my parents would never buy it for me. Instead, I was stuck renting it from Blockbuster on the rare occasions they had it in if I wanted to play it. >:(

Definitely Mario and DK. I played those games all the time.


I used to play those games on the NES.

I consider Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island to be more of a Yoshi themed game than Mario. It also introduced the baby Mario & Luigi characters too. Yoshi's Island DS was hard af for me.


True. Still a great game though.

You're not wrong. Sonic the Hedgehog probably peaked right around 1993 or so. Remember, though, that even if there weren't any major Sonic games coming out after 1994, Sonic still remained very relevant during the mid '90s because some folks get consoles later than others. For example, both myself and my cousin did not get a Sega Genesis until 1994. Up to that point, I had only had a Super Nintendo and didn't get to play Sonic unless I was at a friend's house, so, to me, 1994-95 is all about Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles because that's when I spent the bulk of my time playing those games. Mario, for me, is either an early '90s thing (with the NES and SNES games) or a late '90s thing (with Super Mario 64).

Donkey Kong Country can't be ignored, though. That game was absolutely massive during the mid '90s in terms of hype. I wanted DKC so bad, but for whatever reason my parents would never buy it for me. Instead, I was stuck renting it from Blockbuster on the rare occasions they had it in if I wanted to play it. >:(


Hm, that does make sense. I personally didn't get an N64 until 1999.

Sonic the Hedgehog. I played his games on an emulator when I was 10 or 11 years old, my favorite being Sonic CD.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Super Mario Sunshine, but I liked Sonic better in terms of gameplay.

Sonic the Hedgehog. I played his games on an emulator when I was 10 or 11 years old, my favorite being Sonic CD.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Super Mario Sunshine, but I liked Sonic better in terms of gameplay.


I loved playing his first three games on an emulator as well. By the time I was 9, most videos that I watched on YouTube were related to Sonic. I think it was also around the time where I found out about TAS speedruns.

Sonic all the way. My neighbor was the one who introduced me to Sonic, even though she also had an SNES and Mario games as well as Donkey Kong Country. She had the comics too and we watched the cartoons (yes even Sonic Underground) and she'd seen the anime movie (I saw it on my own as well as some episodes of Underground). We stayed even when Adventure came out, I remember getting SO MAD when they changed the designs. Especially Amy's. I hated her being twelve. After Adventure 2, we stopped. However, we played other Sega games like Rez and Super Monkey Ball. When she died of a stroke, I took all of my Sonic stuff to Japan with me in memory.

Well, had Nintendo Nintendo Nintendo so I cant compare Sonic.