The Hunger Games is the YA fantasy treatment of a set-up I first encountered in the Japanese novel 
 Battle Royale 
 : a futuristic society where, annually, select teenagers are thrust into an enclosed environment and forced to kill one another off while the world watches on tv. 
 Because of the age group it's going for, the tone of The Hunger Games is much lighter and although there are some good dramatic moments, it's less intense than Battle Royale. Still, I felt it was well-plotted, well-paced, and ultimately I enjoyed the ending of this particular book. (I've not yet read the second and third books.) 
 In contrast, when I finished Battle Royale, I remember feeling like I'd just gotten off a thrill ride. Without giving away too much, I think it helped that BR was a stand-alone book, rather than a trilogy (and film franchise in the making, getting ready to cater to the now more mature Harry Potter set). The violence was also not at all tempered in Battle Royale and it felt much more intensely personal, because it was a class of teenagers that all already knew one another before entering the battle. 
 So, for me, Battle Royale > The Hunger Games. I enjoyed both, but for me, Battle Royale has the edge for this particular slice of dystopia.