Since both Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Sonic Superstars came out the same week, it’s easy to find fault with both of them.
It’s fun to play video games against each other, right? Sometimes these kinds of conversations can get nasty, but when they’re done in good faith, it can be fun to look at two similar places side by side and see where one does well and the other does poorly. One of the most famous battles in video games is between Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. They fought all through the 1990s to be the best platformer game.
This rivalry has slowed down, but Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Sonic Superstars have brought it back to life. Let’s take a look at these two new games and talk about what they’re best at to find the better platformer.
Setting – Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Both Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Sonic Superstars take place in brand-new worlds, which is an interesting accident. While Sonic fights Eggman on the mysterious Northstar Islands, Mario goes to the Flower Kingdom. The Flower Kingdom in Super Mario Bros. Wonder feels more alive than the other worlds, even though both are creative and different for the series.
Many fun and different levels can be found in Sonic Superstars, but the Northstar islands don’t feel very different from other places Sonic has been. The setting doesn’t feel as unique because the same animals and levels keep showing up. The Flower Kingdom, on the other hand, has a prince, people, power-ups, traditions, and monsters that are different from those in other Mario games. The place was chosen after a lot of thought about how it would fit into the world of Mario.
Level Design – Super Mario Bros. Wonder
One of the most important parts of a platformer is the level planning. Most of the time in this type of game, you have to get through obstacle courses, which need to be fun and creative. Sonic Superstars gets off to a great start with well-thought-out level tricks that give each area of the game its own personality.
Zones like Cyber Station and Golden Capital do a lot with their ideas to keep things interesting. But for every clever idea Superstars brings to the table, it has levels that are so hard to get through that they’re annoying. Not only does Super Mario Bros. Wonder make level design better for 2D platformers by making them more interesting and difficult, but it also adds a new feature to each stage called the Wonder Flower. Each level has its own unique feel and is fun to play through. It can change how you play or the whole layout of the level.
Graphics – Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The graphics in Super Mario Bros. Wonder are without a doubt the best. The visuals and art direction are very different from each other, which gives it its own special charm. The color is very clear and stands out on the screen. The lighting effects change in different places as well. This doesn’t mean Sonic Superstars doesn’t look good.
They all stand out well because of how saturated the color cast is. While Super Mario Bros. Wonder has great character models and movements, this game’s lacks that polish. This stands out most in the surroundings. It’s possible for the backgrounds to look fuzzy, and the images on stage aren’t very good.
Gameplay – Tie
The controls and physics in both games are tight, so you can respond quickly. For this genre to work, you need to be able to trust your controller commands. This works really well in Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Sonic Superstars. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy are all fun to play as long as their own special moves are still there.
Even though Super Mario Bros. Wonder doesn’t have a very diverse group, that doesn’t take away from how great the game is to play. It’s easy, accurate, and quick to do moves like the spin and wall jump.
Boss Battles – Sonic Superstars
In platform games, boss fights are hard to handle. With the only way to fight being to jump on the enemy. Often, they need to be made into problems that you have to solve by moving in smart ways. This is where Sonic Superstars really shines, as the boss fights are always adding new tricks that will keep you guessing while still being fun problems to solve. The Emerald skills make every battle even more interesting.
There aren’t as many bosses in Super Mario Bros. Wonder as there are in Sonic Superstars, and while they’re well-designed, solving them never gets as fun after a while.
Difficulty – Super Mario Bros. Wonder
When making platformers harder, the goal is to add complicated but clear dangers that can be safely avoided with enough practice. Both games can be hard, but Sonic Superstars is mostly hard because the ideas and levels aren’t put together well, which is frustrating.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has a difficulty curve that makes the game easier over time before giving you tough tasks. The difficulty comes from the way the levels are designed so that they always push you to get better. This makes the experience of finishing the level satisfying instead of frustrating.
Enemy Design – Super Mario Bros. Wonder
New monsters are added to the rose gallery in Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Sonic Superstars. Both games have interesting enemy designs, but Super Mario Bros. Wonder always has enemies that steal the show in each level. It takes time to learn how to beat these enemies because they are always changing how you play the game.
To beat the new enemies in Tunnel Rush, you don’t need to try anything new. Most of the time, you’ll get rid of them so quickly that they don’t leave an effect or don’t have much to do with how the level is designed, so they can be swapped out for other enemies.
Conclusion – Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder 5 – 1 Sonic Superstars
The Super Mario Bros. Wonder game is unique. The game comes in a beautiful box with creative ideas, easy-to-use controls, fair tasks, and a fun setting. It goes above and beyond what was expected as an improvement on 2D Super Mario.
Sonic Superstars is still a fun game, and fans of the original Sonic will love how interesting the boss fights are. But the game isn’t polished and doesn’t go far enough. Both games are great for platformer fans and should be played.