The Super Mario Bros. Movie currently dominates Sonic the Hedgehog 3 67–33
The plumber edges out the hedgehog — Nintendo's IP discipline leads.
The Verdict
Horvath and Jelenic's Mario film has a specific discipline: it never asks the audience to engage with anything beyond what the games already established. The Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser, Princess Peach, the power-ups — every element is delivered as confirmation rather than invention. Fowler's Sonic 3 is attempting more: introducing Shadow's backstory, deepening the mythology, asking the audience to invest in emotional stakes that the earlier films didn't require. More ambition doesn't always mean more engagement. The lead says confirmed expectation outperforms expanded mythology when both are adapting beloved games. The simpler adaptation wins.
The Numbers
| The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-Head | 67% | 33% |
| Overall Win Rate | 50% | 39% |
| Championships | 13 | 2 |
| Avg Decision | 1.7s | 1.8s |
| Budget | $100M | $122M |
| Box Office | $1.4B | $492M |
Where This Matchup Sits
In the 2020s on BingeBracket: The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in the upper half and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is in the bottom quarter, out of 57 films.
Looking at shared opponents, Tin Soldier draws a line between them: The Super Mario Bros. Movie dominates that matchup, but Sonic the Hedgehog 3 comes out on the wrong side.
Round by round within tournaments, later rounds favor The Super Mario Bros. Movie while Sonic the Hedgehog 3 fades — the gap between them widens as the bracket deepens.
The championship record tells the same story: The Super Mario Bros. Movie has 13 tournament wins to Sonic the Hedgehog 3's 2. The pedigree gap matches the head-to-head gap.
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Where to Watch
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