VIDEODROME: Legend of Zelda vs. Super Mario Bros.

WELCOME TO VIDEODROME!

This is part of a series of bloody matches to the death. Show support for your favorite game so it will do better in the fight. You can support it by writing why you think its the better game and more importantly by betting on it. End your first post in this thread with the title of the game you're placing a bet on (i.e. voting for) so its clear to me when reading it later. You have until Friday when I tally the bets and declare the winner. Counting sequels, spin-offs, expansions, system ports and DLC or not is entirely up to you. I will reserve my bet for any tie-breakers.

Although you should be familiar with both games, there is no rule that says you have to have played both of them. The only rule in Videodrome is this:

Two games enter! One game leaves!

I was inspired by JonJacob's Mediadome post, figured we might as well let videos games throw down, too.

On every Nintendo platform, the Zelda game was always better than the Mario game.

NES: Legend of Zelda > Super Mario Bros.
SNES: Link to the Past > Super Mario World
GB: Link's Awakening > Super Mario Land
N64: Ocarina of Time > Super Mario 64

Vote: Zelda

Two childhood favourites. Today, there are some other Super Mario games I'd rather play than the original (Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island), but the original LoZ is still my favourite from that franchise.

Vote: Legend of Zelda

This is interesting because both series really haven't changed all that much from their first iterations...graphics, worlds, equipment, and so on have but is TWILIGHT PRINCESS really all that different than LINK TO THE PAST?

In all, I'm voting Mario. I've enjoyed the Mario titles much more over the years and I think they've got mroe lasting power. SUPER MARIO 3 is just as fun as it was back in the day. LINK'S AWAKENING? Not so much.

In fact, I think I'd say that LINK TO THE PAST is the only ZELDA game that I truly love. Almost all of the more recent ones- from OCARINA OF TIME through TWILIGHT PRINCESS- I love to pieces for about 15 hours and then I get really, really bored with them. I played WIND WAKER recently, and again- for 15 hours, stupidly in love with it. Then it got dreadfully boring, and the thought of playing it any more made me queasy.

SUNSHINE, on the other hand, was the only Mario game I didn't love to death start to finish. SMG is still the top Wii game to date.

Damn it, this is making me want to go out and get NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII...

Schweig! wrote:

On every Nintendo platform, the Zelda game was always better than the Mario game.

I don't know about that. I'd probably put Yoshi's Island above any other game I've ever played.

And as for the Wii, Twilight Princess is pretty bad.

the barefoot killer wrote:

Schweig! wrote:

On every Nintendo platform, the Zelda game was always better than the Mario game.

I don't know about that. I'd probably put Yoshi's Island above any other game I've ever played.

And as for the Wii, Twilight Princess is pretty bad.

I thought Twilight Princess was the best game I've played on Wii. But then, it was my first foray into the world of 3D Zelda games.

Eh...get OCARINA OF TIME and play it...TWILIGHT PRINCESS is really, really close to it in a lot of ways.

I have played both series to death, and depending on my mood, I like one or the other more. When the chips are on the table though, I think I will have to go with Mario. No game series has approached that same level of creativity with platforming. There are more high points with Mario, more replayability, and more lasting challenge. Remember that one part in any of the games? The part you were lucky to pass that one time, and that you dread having to ever do again? Those parts aren't in Zelda.

Having said that, Zelda is a great series. I am a huge fan of WindWaker in particular. Twilight Princess was amazing on the first go-through, but it takes a long time to get going, and it's not as good the second time through.

But yeah. I will be playing old Mario games until I lose the use of my thumbs, particularly Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super MArio Bros., Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario World.

Also, is there a better video game spinoff than SMW2: Yoshi's Island? I submit there is not.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Eh...get OCARINA OF TIME and play it...TWILIGHT PRINCESS is really, really close to it in a lot of ways.

If they're virtually identical won't I be pretty "meh" about Ocarina of Time?

I think the way it works is that if you played OoT, you were "meh" about TP. If you played TP first, you were "meh" about OoT.

There has never been a Mario game that felt as epic as Ocarina of Time. Everything about that game, from the 3D graphics to the side quests, was both revolutionary and really, really well done.

vote: ZELDA

good lord, this is tough. If it is the original vs the original, then Super Mario wins hands down.

If it's franchise vs franchise then it's tough, I've only really enjoyed four games from the two series:

1. original Super Mario Bros - it is what got me into gaming
2. Zelda Wind Waker - one of my favourtie video games of all time. The freedom you feel of navigating a sailboat was amazing.
3. Super Mario Sunshine - i found this game amazingly challenging, difficult and fun.
4. Twlight Princess (Zelda) I thought it was OKAY

man... tough choice. It's basically between Sunshine and Wind Waker. I gotta give it to Wind Waker I think.

Vote: Zelda

ugh

Shit, you should have been brutal and made it a three-way dance with Metroid in the mix.

Tough, tough, tough...but I have to vote Zelda. Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past, and Ocarina of Time are some of my favorite games ever. I even enjoyed Zelda II. The Game Boy iterations have been awesome too.

I played Okami at release on the PS2, so Twilight Princess felt like a duller version of that to me. Link's Adventure and Link to the Past are classics, no doubt, that I can go back to even now. Ocarina of Time has dated in a way I don't think Mario 64 has. I loved Mario Sunshine, but I never finished Super Mario Galaxy.

I'll go with Super Mario Brothers.