Mushroom stomping or coin collecting? Ancient assassinations or surreal stealth? Train or Bus? It can only be the top 10 gaming rivalries...

When one great hero comes along, another will follow. Pele had Maradona, Batman had Superman, Lassie had Babe, and, most importantly, Mega Shark had Giant Octopus. The gaming world, rife with competition, is no different. So, without further ado, here are the top gaming rivalries that people will debate to the end of time.

Age of Empires versus Command and Conquer

Both games are very similar in lay out and gameplay - and both have famous armies from the Roman Empire to the modern day American forces - yet there can only be one winner. Age of Empires 2 was the strongest instalment from the series and had a good single player mode that, if completed, made you a better tactician than Churchill himself. On the other hand, Command and Conquer's single player mode was frustratingly simple, with little challenge and acting worse than 2004’s Catwoman. Then Red Alert 2 came along and changed all this - the game became more fun, more tactical and the new weapons made each gamer their very own pyromaniac. Furthermore, the sequel to Age of Empires 2 was like going from surfing in Hawaii to wearing arm bands in your local paddling pool; a step backwards and one that allowed Command and Conquer to flourish.

Winning Verdict – Command and Conquer

Spyro The Dragon versus Crash Bandicoot

This is the rivalry that will have all ten year olds pulling out their yo-yo's and flicking it in their mate's face. In Spyro, the gamer played as the game's namesake, a dragon of prophecy whose species produced just one of his kind every ten generations. The game involved travelling across a number of different element-based levels, finding wiser dragons and solving a variety of puzzles whilst fire-breathing their way to victory as the cute young dragon. Now, while Crash's gameplay was as equally diverse, the action within was of a much faster pace, with Crash spinning, jumping and slide-tackling his way towards victory over his creator Doctor Neo Cortex.

It’s a close battle between the two - similar to having to choose between a puppy and a kitten - but the excitement of the Easter barred Bandicoot gives him the slight edge.

Winning Verdict – Crash Bandicoot

Gran Turismo versus Burnout

Real racing simulator versus arcade driving game; finding the perfect racing line versus causing as many vehicles to explode as possible; tactical racing strategies versus the power up turbo -  both of these racing games are different in so many ways but their popularity is a close race. The thrill of Burnout made you dribble at the counter when buying the game, but the true racing addicts out there swear by - and have come to love - the realism and beauty of Gran Turismo. Furthermore, the consistency of Gran Turismo has made it the most successful driving game around, whereas Burnout is the kind of game all Sonic lovers will be grabbing to get hold of. Yet, when push comes to shove, the realism and graphical achievments of Gran Turismo continue to prevail, so GT wins this drag race.

Winning Verdict – Gran Turismo

Medal of Honour versus Call of Duty

Anyone who ever played Medal of Honour Frontline will agree that marching onto the beaches of Normandy - with bullets flying everywhere and people dying around you - was one of the most revolutionary and enjoyable moments in gaming history; and, during the first few instalments of the franchise, Medal of Honour had the edge. However, it wasn’t until Modern Warfare that Call of Duty thrust itself into the elite, drawing on a whole new fan base as well as welcoming critical acclaim. As if creating a storymode capable of envoking emotional reactions unseen at a videogame level before wasn't enough, the FPS had the most popular online mode ever seen in a game of any genre, with people around the world leaving their jobs and relationships in order to become the greatest of all the war heroes.

Winning Verdict – Call of Duty

Assassin’s Creed versus Metal Gear Solid

The thought of these stealthy protagonists clashing is enough to have every videogame enthusiast salivating, and is without doubt the closest rivalry amongst our list. Both characters are sneaky, acrobatic and, to put it simply, pretty damn cool. Solid Snake's collection of gadgets are about as impressive as Batman's never-ending Bat-belt - and equally as cool - but there can be no denying the fun of parkouring your way around an ancient city, before descending to ground level to carry out a stealthy assassination.

While pensioner Snake may narrowly claim the title - due to his longer reign at the top - the Assassin is nipping at his heels and, if he continues his frantic rate of assassination, it won’t be to long before a new king of stealth is crowned.

Winning Verdict – Metal Gear Solid

Fight Night versus WWE Smackdown

Is it the Phantom punch or the Rock bottom? Fight Night is the undisputed King of boxing, and Smackdown is the dominant champion of wrestling franchise, so when these two heavy weights collide you can be sure of an amazing battle.

Smackdown first exploded on to our consoles at the turn of the millennium, making other wrestling games look as grim as Rikishi’s backside; whereas Fight Night came in later and introduced us to a new punching system that brought with it a whole new level of realism withing boxing videogames. Naturally Fight Night has a disadvantage in regards to its match types - which are limited when compared to that of Smackdown - but the trend-setting, early instalments of the WWF/WWE franchise, plus its phenomenal career mode, make it a worthy victor. Oh, and there's the fact that Smackdown 2 was one of the greatest games ever to grace the PlayStation platform.

Winning verdict – WWE Smackdown

Championship Manager versus Football Manager

The brilliance of this rivalry is that they used to work together, thus when they split the anticipation of who would be crowned champions was on par with Robbie Williams versus Gary Barlow. The first goal went to Championship Manager, who managed to hold on to the name of the successful franchise, whereas SEGA decided to use the creative name of Football Manager. However, while CM may have scored the first goal it was FM who took the title year after year, leaving all their rivals to focus on the brave task of relegation from the public’s interest (sorry - ed). The rise of Football Manager and the decline of exam results are clearly connected, as students everywhere would rather take Leeds United back to the Champions League than learn about Henry VIII’s six wives and, with its dominant stance, this is a clear winner.

Winning Verdict – Football Manager

Grand Theft Auto versus Any Gangster Game

Where this game went, controversy was sure to follow; and this has continued right through the GTA franchise. The Getaway and True Crime gave it a good go but none have come near the success of the Grand Theft Auto series. While GTA was fun in 2D, allowing for wanton destruction and violent satisfaction, it wasn’t until we had the chance to cause utter chaos in a three dimensional Liberty City that GTA really set the boundaries. At the time, Driver was a real competitor; and The Getaways graphics were as good as Pac Mans eating skills, but it was the silent protagonist Tommy Vercetti who stole the hearts of all the gaming criminals out there. Gangster games keep up the battle, but for the time being there is only one winner.

Winning Verdict – Grand Theft Auto

Fifa versus Pro Evolution Soccer

Ever since Konami introduced us to the first real football simulator in 2001, both forces have battled it out to be crowned the league champions. Fifa had early dominance in the football market , with Fifa 98 being the only game where you could make Burkina Faso World Cup winners. However, when the world was introduced to Pro Evo it changed the way we looked at football simulators and made Fifa’s predetermined shots seem better off on the bench; Pro certainly followed Arsene Wenger's philosophy that it’s not all about the big names, it’s about the beauty on the pitch. Pro dominated from then on until they faulted during the tricky step up to next generation consoles, whereas Fifa embraced this and truly delivered a winning formula. Fifa became slick and sexy and it wasn’t until Pro’s latest instalment that they were able to match again.

Winning Verdict – Pro Evolution Soccer

Super Mario versus Sonic the Hedgehog

For the agoraphobics amongst us - or simply those whose lives became engulfed by videogames - this was the biggest rivalry from the last century. On paper, there was surely only one winner. One is fast, aggressive and made every teenager grease their hair in to the biggest spikes possible, whereas the other was a fat plumber with a dodgy moustache. However it was the Charlie Chaplin lookalike who literally took leaps and bounds (over mushrooms), before breaking all the gaming records there were.

Sonic on the other hand was a cult hero - one that was enroled to defeat the eveil Dr Robotnik (who ironically looked like a bald Mario) on numerous occasions; yet this still wasn’t enough to defeat Mario, with the plumber offering us the excitement of great power ups, great nemeses and a life span that would make Gandalf the Great jealous.

Winning Verdict – Super Mario

Bonus Rivalry: Train Simulator versus Coach Simulator

One is about a train; the other is about a coach.

Verdict – Who cares?

See also:

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