i think p1 obviously had a anime and aloso potential.
The reason why i say this is because back then kishi seemed to have a better grasp of what he wanted to do with ninja's..
Kages back then were expected to have extensive knowledge and a wide range of jutsu's and versatility..
If kishi had introduced people like the raikage back then am sure he would be a little more versatile with his lightening for example.
Also in regards to the animation and potential,if most characters that were introduced in p2 were to have appeared in p1 then i feel it would of resulted in more epic fights..
some things are better in part 1,some things are better in part 2
i guess part 1 was better for me because the world was still wide open...anything could happen and a lot of things were still unknown....shippuuden was great too...but as it is approaching its ending that feeling of interest just isnt the same
P2 was way better.
Maybe because character development from Part I could be easily carried forward.
Way more organised
Much better fights.
Also, something conclusive (which was obvious because it's probably the last part.)