I miss this thread... So here's a little spark to maybe help bring it back!
VS
Both of these characters come from series with quite a few power-ups in them. Thus, I will be going through their arsenals (along with their natural abilities) and presenting attacks and counterattacks for each character. As for the health system, Mario will be using the health system from his most recent game, that being Super Mario 3D World (power-ups serve as hitpoints). Sonic will be using his usual Ring system (gets hit with Rings, he loses them; gets hit without Rings, he dies), of which he will start off with 999 (I believe he can probably hold more, but I'll be using this agreed number for the sake of this discussion). All items, gear, power-ups, etc. are granted to each character, and they will also have one of each consumable. The arena is a ten-mile wide square arena, with a stone floor and infinitely high solid steel walls; nothing comes in, nothing goes out. With that said, let's get started!
First up, Mario's attacks!
's Attack: Jump Punch
Combining the speed of his jumps with his punches, Mario can deliver an uppercut powerful enough to break bricks.
's Counter: Spin Jump
Sonic's basic attack has him curl up into a spiny, spinning ball to damage enemies. Mario's fist wouldn't make it out of this in one piece.
's Attack: Ground Pound
This attack has Mario leap in the air, charge up for a brief moment, and stomp on the opponent with more force than a regular Jump.
's Counter: Quill Harden
Sonic can make his quills stiff and sharp at will (as demonstrated in his Up Throw from Smash, as well as any time he goes into ball form). Sonic could harden his quills and face them upwards while Mario is charging up to damage Mario.
's Counter Counter: Kuribo's Shoe
This giant boot allows Mario to jump on spikes.
's Counter Counter Counter: Attack From Above
Sonic could get out of the way of the Shoe and attack Mario from his vulnerable top.
's Attack: Hammer
Mario's iron hammer can crush brick blocks, damage foes, and more.
's Counter: Blue Tornado
This attack has Sonic run around in circles to create a tornado that can whisk away enemies and weapons (including the Hammer).
's Attack: Pick Up and Throw
Mario's superhuman strength allows him to pick up heavy objects and foes (including Bowser!) and throw them across large distances.
's Counter: Chaos Control
Using the power of a Chaos Emerald, Sonic can teleport at will by saying "Chaos Control!" This would allow him to escape Mario's grasp and attack from behind.
's Attack: F.L.U.D.D.
This water pack allows Mario to fire a steady stream of water to clean up things. Sonic could also drown from this.
's Counter: Bubble Shield
Sonic's Bubble Shield allows him to breathe underwater without drowning.
's Attack: Fire Flower
This flower grants Mario pyrokinetic abilities, ranging from simple Fireballs to Mario Finale-esque flame attacks.
's Counter: Fire Shield
Sonic's basic power-up is the Shield (provides an extra hit point). The Fire Shield is a variant of this, which negates all fire, lava, and otherwise heat-based attacks (and also protects against one attack that is not fire-based).
's Attack: Super Star
This power-up grants Mario brief invincibility, along with enhanced speed, enhanced jumping, and the ability to damage enemies on contact.
's Counter: Wait it Out
Sonic's natural speed is even greater than that of the Super Star, and since the invincibility only lasts about fifteen seconds or so, Sonic could outrun Mario for more than long enough for the Super Star to wear off.
's Attack: Super Leaf
This leaf has Mario don the ears and tail of a raccoon, which allows him to fly for a short period of time after a running start and spin around to attack with his tail.
's Counter: Sonic Wind
Sonic spins around rapidly to create a blade of wind as a projectile. Sonic could use this to shoot Mario out of the air mid-flight. As for the spinning attack, Sonic could use this to attack from a distance and stay out of tail range.
's Attack: Tanooki Suit
This suit has the same abilities of the Super Leaf, but also has the ability to turn into a statue to become invincible for a little while and crush opponents.
's Counter: Wait it Out/Sonic Wind/Get Outta the Way
The points from the Super Star/Super Leaf segments apply here. As for the crushing, Sonic's speed and reflexes are more than enough to get out of the way.
's Attack: Hammer Suit
Mario dons the Hammer Suit, allowing him to throw an infinite amount of hammers, as well as entering his shell to block fire attacks.
's Counter: Dodge
Sonic can easily dodge projectiles like Mario's hammers due to his speed and reflexes, and regular attacks still work on a blocking Hammer Mario.
's Attack: Cape Feather
Mario dons a yellow cape, allowing him to fly for an indefinite amount of time. Mario can also spin with the cape to attack and reflect projectiles.
's Counter: Extreme Gear
Since the Cape can reflect projectiles, the Sonic Wind is not an option. Thus, Sonic resorts to his Extreme Gear, which is a type of hoverboard. Sonic could ride this up to Mario's height and attack from it (which will be expanded on in Sonic's attack section).
's Attack: Vanish Cap
This hat lets Mario become invisible and intangible for a short period of time, potentially letting him sneak up on opponents.
's Counter: Sense Danger
Sonic's quills can sense danger. This would allow him to realize that Mario was sneaking up on him and counterattack.
's Attack: Blue Koopa Shell
Don't worry, this isn't the one from Mario Kart (that would just be unfair on so many levels). Instead, Mario dons the Blue Koopa Shell from New Super Mario Bros. This grants him many Koopa abilities, such as sliding in his shell to increase his defense and attack enemies.
's Counter: You're Too Slow!
Sonic is well known for his speed, and of course, it's faster than that of the slide granted by the shell. Sonic would outrun the shell, and since Mario needs a running start to slide, he would have to come out eventually. That's when Sonic attacks.
's Attack: Double Cherry
This power-up allows Mario to create a clone of himself, which copies his every move (and dons the same power-ups). This would allow Mario to attack from two angles, so that if one is destroyed, the other could counterattack.
's Counter: Light Speed Attack
This attack allows Sonic to attack multiple enemies in quick succession at light speed. This would allow Sonic to attack both Marios before one could attack.
Now that we're done with Mario's attacks, let's move onto Sonic's!
's Attack: Sonic Speed!
Sonic can run at speeds beyond Mach 1 (or possibly Mach 10+), and can use this to his advantage. He can confuse opponents, outrun them, and apply this speed to his attacks to increase the damage.
's Counter: Jump
I could say "Super Star" for everything, but those are only for a limited time, and Mario only has one; Sonic can run forever. Mario could potentially jump over Sonic's running, however.
's Counter Counter: Gotta Be Faster Than That!
Mario's reflexes aren't nearly enough to dodge a Mach 10-speed hedgehog.
's Attack: Spin Jump
Sonic can utilize his natural ability to curl up into a ball when he jumps, damaging any opponent he comes in contact with.
's Counter: Hammer Suit
Sonic's spinning attacks don't protect him from projectiles, so his hammers are one of Mario's best options here.
's Attack: Spin Dash
Sonic can rev up in ball form, and after a couple of seconds, launch off at top speed in his damaging ball form.
's Counter: Hammer Suit
Again, Sonic can still be hurt by projectiles while in ball form.
's Counter Counter: Maneuverability
Sonic can control his speed very well, even in ball form, and could dodge Mario's hammers easily.
's Attack: Bounce Bracelet
This attack allows Sonic to bounce on the ground in ball form to gain height, as well as attack enemies.
's Counter: Blue Koopa Shell
Mario could hide in his tougher shell until the attack is finished.
's Counter Counter: You Wanna Try Attacking?
Mario has to come out of his shell and become vulnerable again to attack.
's Attack: Homing Attack
This midair attack has Sonic curl up into a ball and rocket towards opponents, homing into enemies (even moving ones).
's Counter: Hammer Suit
Hammers, ball form, you get the idea.
's Counter Counter: Homing Attack Again
Sonic's Homing Attack can also destroy solid projectiles (including the hammers).
's Attack: Light Speed Attack
Sonic revs up similarly to a Spin Dash, but rather than dashing along the ground, Sonic gathers energy to home in on opponents in spinball form at light speed for a devastating blow.
's Counter: N/A
Mario's reflexes aren't fast enough to dodge a light speed attack.
's Attack: Blue Tornado/Sonic Wind
These two wind-based attacks can create a tornado to lift up enemies and their weapons (including Mario's power-ups!) and create blades of wind to attack opponents, respectively.
's Counter: Metal Cap
Mario turns into metal, becoming much heavier and thus immune to being lifted up.
's Counter Counter: Wait it Out
The Metal Cap doesn't last forever, and it runs out after about fifteen seconds.
's Attack: The Wisps
The Wisps are a race of alien power-ups that can grant Sonic different Color Powers. These include a bomb, a black hole, a laser, and more.
's Counter: N/A
Not even the Super Star is invulnerable to a black hole (as shown in Super Mario Galaxy).
's Attack: Chaos Control!
Sonic can use the Chaos Emeralds' power to teleport, freeze time, and more.
's Counter: N/A
Mario has no power-ups that make him immune to time freezing.
's Attack: Super Sonic Style!
Sonic's ultimate transformation, this has Sonic harness the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds to turn into Super Sonic. In this form, Sonic is faster, invincible, stronger, flying, and more, at the cost of one Ring per second. With a maximum of 999 Rings, Sonic can stay in this form for about sixteen and a half minutes. This is more than enough time for someone of Sonic's speed to finish a battle.
's Counter: N/A
Mario does not possess any power-ups that grant him invincibility for that kind of time period.
VERDICT
Although Mario is a competent fighter with his wide variety of power-ups, Sonic's natural speed, agility, strength, and his own power-ups are too much for him to handle.
WINNER:
SOURCES
Mario's abilities Mario's power-ups
Sonic's abilities and power-ups
This analysis is part of the bracket
