User blog comment:MetalShadow272/Sonic=Dragon Ball Z OR Sonic=Super Mario/@comment-115265-20110613014657

Does anyone realize, too, that Super Sonic was thrown into the mix in the development of Sonic the Hedgehog 2?

As Yuji Naka is/was a DBZ fan, and the fact that Super Transformations are visually (and somewhat functionally) similar to Super Saiyans, it's not a stretch to say it's not really a coincidence there.

7 Chaos Emeralds and 7 Dragon Balls... I have to agree with the "possible coincidence" statement. 7 is a very common number. 7 is almost everywhere. It's even my favorite number. Also, Chaos Emeralds work differently than Dragon Balls. But I do know of one strong similarity: They both do something wonderful (or terrible) when they are all together.

Sonic is indeed based on Mario. But some things in Mario can be traced to Dragon Ball Z, or other media like it.

The Sonic franchise has pieces of both worlds in it. So, it's not really "DBZ or Mario" here. It's both. Mario first, then DBZ elements showed up. Coincidences on both sides here and there, but it's both. Plain and simple.