which one was best?

I like Mario more. The Sonic games don't really encourage exploration. You basically run/spin dash, watch a lot of the level fly by, suddenly get hit by an enemy or spikes, and then repeat.

I really liked Sonic the Hedgehog. It might have to do with the fact that it was my first coloured game .

For the 8 bit generation it's definitely Mario. For the 16 bit generation I would go with Sonic (although it's close). After Sonic and Knuckles it has been Mario ever since.

Well, I grew up with Mario so my vote goes for Mario.

Well Mario does pack the series for adventure plus the red capped wearing mustache man has stared in Gameboy,Gamecube,DDR,racing,Mario Party games,DS, and Wii I do like the Sonic cartoon though because it's funny

Well first off I have to give respect to both characters. Mario was a fantastic game and character for me as a kid. When Sonic came out he took down the house because it was so much fun because of the speed of the game. But the format is the same in both games. Mario just was not as fast. Because of their similarities I have to go with Mario because he laid the foundation and was a huge influence on Sonic without Mario there would not be Sonic not the other way around.

Mario

I'd have to say Mario, because I just seem to like Mario more.

I like the Mario franchise better, because of Mario Kart, SMB, etc. I don't really see any "Sonic Kart" or "DDR Sonic Remix".

~AZ

Damn it looks like Mario is winning, it was all about Sonic for me, mainly cos my first console was a Master System, then one of those Sega hand helds, cant even remember the name, and then I got a Mega Drive, so it was Sega all the way.