If railing was an issue, he could have found better ground. No one is dumb enough to fight in a way they know they're going to lose. The Force Surge and the explosive shockwave that followed is the reason he lost,(along with Sidious blasting away his lightsaber) not so much the terrian.
As for Jonathan Mark, sorry for the misunderstanding. He blocked it, but I was reffering to the fact that he couldn't hold it - or blast it back, like he did Tyrannus'.
Yoda can reflect lightning, it's just that the power condensed by Palpatine pouring in more power and Yoda trying to push it all back made that ball of lightning rupture and blow them both apart. Yoda, being lighter in weight and smaller in size, went farther and couldn't get a good grip, and so fell.
I think they would still be relatively equal, but Sidious is the one that's been actively improving his power for the past twenty years. Yoda has only learned the ghost trick, from what we know.
Originally posted by Razielim
Yoda's been sitting on his ass meditating in Dagobah for 20 years.Palpatine's been studying alot of lost Sith secrets, Jedi holocrons and had the ability to practise the Dark Side openly.
They were about equals in RotS. By now Palpatine should have him dusted.
In the Trilogy Sids HAS NO LIGHTSABER he will definately lose