Galaxy is practically perfect in what it does, a self contained small set of great game experiences. It never steps out of its own perceived image and is a refined work of fine craftsmanship.

MGS4 tries so much more. It's story driven, with a story that isn't great, and character driven, with absurd character development. Its main gameplay focus, the stealth action, can be sacrificed at will and its pacing is marred by the overstepping of narration. But it manages to keep it all together because of the ambition and passion, and that in itself is revealing of its real strength.

Surprisingly, because of their genres and settings and imagery, of the two SMG is the one that comes off as the colder effort.
So I'm partial to MGS. It's a weirdly shaped, multicolored pebble versus a shiny, regular diamond. Its conventional value is so much lower, but I know which one I will look at with more interest and which one I want to play with in my pocket.

I'm biased (of course).

What we have here is 2 extremely polished games that show how far their respective series have come (also in some ways how little, given how amazing the formula for these games were originally).

But, I have to give the nod to SMG.
Why?

Remember, these two games are amazingly polished, and any PS3 or Wii owner would be proud to show unknowns these games. The difference is, SMG reinvented the way we see platforming, where physics are not just related to how high mario can jump or the fact that his hat can sprout wings and fly. MGS4 didn't do that for the stealth action genre. Aside from pushing the boundaries of cinematography (arguable, since alot of it is glorified zoomed in on boobage) and technical excellence (it wasn't the best looking game ever on release, but to this day, it's still one of the most technically brilliant and amazingly solid experiences).

That's how I feel about Halo 3, not a technical marvel, but we do marvel at it's amazing standard of quality kept throughout the game. MGS4 is that +50% graphics upgrade

So the nod goes to Mario, though if they were up against any other game, both of these two would obliterate the competition.

MGS4 without a doubt

My signature

I loved both games but I would have to give it to MGS4.

Sorry U R MR GAY.

Snake!!!!!!!!

My favourite out of the two ? MGS4 no doubt.

For those that actually "got" what the game is saying and at least partially understood the mind bending ideological depth of the story, the game is not only the best and most relevant in the series but for those like me that care about this stuff, the best game ever made.

On the other hand, as a pure "gaming" experience, MGS4 may fall short compared to non story driven games like Mario or whatever other strictly gameplay VG.

As an experience though, MGS4 > SMG by miles.

I am actually surprised at this comparison. You just cannot compare the two, they are both in their own leagues. But purely as a gaming experience, MGS4 trumps SMG

MGS 4 for me