Final Fantasy VII: 1
Final Fantasy IX: 4

Final Fantasy VII has the better story and had more of an emotional impact on me (not because of Aerith though). It also features some of my favourite moments from any RPG I've played and I enjoyed the Materia system a lot. On the other hand IX has a very cohesive creative vision with its beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds and perfect music. I really like that it is more "tradiitonal" compared to other Final Fantasy's since the PS1 era and it has a cast of very likeable and memorable characters. I've often said that I think IX is the better game overall, but because VII has those special moments and a more powerful story I would have to go with VII.

So my choice is Final Fantasy VII - just.

Final Fantasy VII. IX is my third favorite, beaten only by IV and VII. VII is tied with SMRPG for my all-time favorite game.

Final Fantasy VII: 3
Final Fantasy IX: 4

I'm going back a little bit to the Mega Man vote/discussion and especially to the Waver. The whole evolution part of the question threw me for a Sonic shuttle loop. Since I have not played Mega Man beyond SNES and much Sonic beyond Genesis I did not vote. If it was a straight up which is better I would have definitely voted for Mega Man. Seriously though, to put it quite simply, while collecting and rediscovering retro games I am finding so many great hidden gems that are either just as good or better than Mega Man and that is why I think it is overrated. Though I may think its "overrated," which is overrated used word anyway, I still enjoy 8 and 16 bit Mega Man. The nostalgia buzz from 2 and 3 is hard to beat!

Never played Final Fantasy IX so I will vote for VII.

Final Fantasy VII. I would have liked IX if it doesn't play so slow.

Final Fantasy VII: 5
Final Fantasy IX: 4

Ok this is just depressing now

Yes indeed!!

I would've thought a whole lot more people would vote on this one!

Hence my statement before that non-Nintendo titles get less votes :c

I would vote, but I haven't played FF IX yet.

I won't choose which one but IX does have a much better translation which makes it less jarring today. VII has a better battle system though.

I'll go ahead and vote for FF IX.

VII wins by miles and miles and miles (and miles and miles and miles).

IX had the worst, most broken combat of any game in the series. It took what 6 did and ruined it with improper agility / ATB handling. It's also offensively easy and poorly paced. The story's good though, and the music is pretty decent. Still, next to II, my least favorite in the series.

all of this is implying the gameplay in Final Fantasy matters

I'll vote VII. Although admittedly, the time I spent with IX was pretty limited.

Final Fantasy VII: 7
Final Fantasy IX: 5

Sigh... I dislike them both, but VII I'll take. The shiniest of two sh**s.

FFIX. Never played it, but I didn't like 7 all that much.

Dragon Quest