Last topic got purged. So we have a new one, with a slightly smaller crew. Forsaken wasn't having too much fun, so I oked his leave. The previvous analysis's will be up in a few, along with a couple of new ones.
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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 1 - (1) Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. (16) Metal Gear

Moltar's Analysis

Before I begin, I would like to say that I don’t know much about old-school games. The oldest system I have is a Genesis, and I am sorry to say that I haven’t played much NES and SNES games. However, I was played some, and Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of them. This is one of the best games ever. That why it’s in the Best. Game. Ever. Tournament. The graphics and gameplay are beautiful, and you could tell Nintendo put a ton of work into the game. The fans flocked to this game, and embraced it in their Nintendo systems.

Metal Gear, now this is one game I haven’t played before, but I have played Metal Gear Solid 2, which got me to fall in love with the series. Snake makes his way onto Outer Haven and havoc ensues. Destroying Metal Gear, facing Big Boss, and all that other good stuff. The Metal Gear series has spawned a slew of sequels, making Solid Snake a household name among many.

Now onto the first match of the contest. Now unless Metal Gear can make “April Fools” out of us, it will be a cold day down below before it will beat Super Mario Bros. 3. SMB3 has a HUGE fanbase, and is a favorite to win the whole tournament. So expect another Mario vs. Servbot or Link vs. Aiai here folks. Nothing to see except a massacre.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SMB3 will win

Moltar’s prediction: SMB3- 80%, Metal Gear- 20%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/215494



DpObliVion's Analysis

When it comes to classic gaming, no character was more influential than Mario. Whenever you think of video games, you think of Mario. Whenever you think of Mario, you get taken back to the time of the NES. The original Super Mario Bros. will forever be a classic. There wasn’t a whole lot to it though; just run and jump through the levels collecting powerups and stomping on mushrooms. Super Mario Bros. 3 was so much more. Filled with raccoon and frog suits, ships and suns that chase you, and so much more, Super Mario Bros. 3 was easily one of the greatest games of its time.

On the other side, we have Metal Gear. It’s later version, Metal Gear Solid, was a very popular and loved game. However, the original was never as popular. Although another great game of its time, it was never recognized on nearly the same scale that Super Mario Bros. 3 was.

There’s no question that Super Mario Bros. 3 was one of the top games of its time, if not the first. Metal Gear was not. There’s no question that Super Mario Bros. 3 will easily roll over Metal Gear.

Dp's Bracket says: SMB3 will win.

Dp's prediction: Super Mario Bros. 3 over Metal Gear 80%-20%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Forsaken's Analysis

Memories flow back to me as I remember the countless hours that I spent wasting away on Super Mario 3. When I was only but a kid, the time I spent on Mario 3 was more than I spent asleep. I was addicted. I played the game day in day out. When I finally beat the game.. I rested 10 minutes.. and started over. I found only one problem with the whole game... no save function. But that is easily overlooked in today's world of ROMs and GBA ports.

Metal Gear on the other hand.. wasn't all too grand in it's debut on the NES. At least, this was when I was a youngun. All I can remember about this game is being mauled by dogs. I remember punching.. but missing and getting mauled by more dogs. I'd try to use an item, but the cigs were like goggles, and did nothing. Maybe I should replay the game now.. I really would like to play through the original Metal Gear.

On to the match. Super Mario 3 has pretty much everything going for it, including being one of the favorites to win the whole contest. If I was Snake, I'd buy an extra pack of cigs for the long walk out the door to contest shame, losing in the first round.

Forsaken's Bracket says: SMB3 will win

Forsaken's prediction: Super Mario 3 by 77% to 23%



Ulti’s Analysis

For the most part, everything I would want to say has already been said. I will add a couple things if I may. People flat-out love the Metal Gear series, but for most of the fans, the series started with Metal Gear Solid. It`s not like we missed much or anything, especially considering that all we had to do to catch up on all this lost time was to read the mission briefings and such within the opening list of options within Metal Gear Solid. Besides, from what I`ve heard and seen, any Metal Gear game before the Playstation days was sheer garbage, and as Chichiri has already stated, the translation was garbage.

As for Super Mario 3, this is a no-brainer. It`s the most popular game within the Mario series, the most popular game for the Nintendo, and a game that seemingly does not draw an "anti" factor. We may hate Mario because of his Summer Contest actions, but the fact of the matter remains that his games are very enjoyable. At least the games that don`t involve a water pistol.

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 2 - (8) Metroid vs. (9) Pac-Man

Moltar’s Analysis

Alright, two games that I have actually played are going up against each other. Well, time to analyze. First we have Metroid. This game has spawned a multitude of great sequels starring that hot babe we know as Samus. In this game, you run around collecting upgrades and fighting tough enemies. It is not too long, but it is still plenty fun. From the time you fight your first enemy, until the frantic escape part at the end, it will have you always wanting more.

Now for Pac-Man. I have one question for you. Who doesn’t know Pac-Man? Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 23 years, you should have played his game at east once. The objective of it is to try and eat all the pellets and avoid the little ghost things that chase you. The game has spawned a slew of remakes and spin-offs such as “Ms. Pac-Man” and “Jr. Pac-Man”. Samus has her hands full this time.

Time for the match-up. 8 seed vs. 9 seeds are some scary match-ups. Most times it could go either way, not like most times where the higher seed wins (ask Wario). In this Game Contest, we have some very good 8 vs. 9 seed match-ups, and this is no exception. Since I am a big Metroid fan, I hope it can pull through, but we’ll have to wait and see ;)

Moltar’s bracket says: Metroid will win.

Moltar’s prediction: Metroid 55% - Pac-Man 45%

Moltar’s Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/215622



Dp’s Analysis

It’s always tough predicting the 8 vs. 9 match up. Sometimes it might just be easier to flip a coin to predict the winner. This is one of those toss-ups. Like Metal Gear, Metroid was another game that didn’t hit it big until it’s later games. It also wasn’t as good of a game and it’s later versions. But Metroid may be able to pick up some votes because of its later games.

Pac-Man was a simple game. Move a yellow dot along the screen grabbing tiny white dots while avoiding the ghosts. But back in its day, simple was good enough. And man, this game was addictive. Many quarters were wasted for some excitement at the arcade. The people loved it, and it paved the way for gaming.

This is a tough match to predict here. I see Pac-Man as the better game here, but if Metroid can get enough
supporters of the entire series itself, then Metroid could have a chance. But I think too many people who are just fans of the later part of the series will realize that this is Pac-Man, a great game of it’s time, and Metroid wasn’t. Metroid fans will back Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, but I think they’ll let Pac-Man shine for once, like it should. I see Pac-Man pulling the “upset” here.

Dp's Prediction: Pac-Man over Metroid 54%-46%
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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Forsaken’s Analysis

Before Metroid went 'Prime', or even 'Super', there was the original NES title. Much remains the same from the first up through the current Metroid titles. The major things that have been renovated are the graphics and the maps (Aside from the 3D aspect of Prime). Why has so little of the gameplay changed? Just like Megaman, a recipe that works doesn't need to be reworked. Explore, turn into a ball, fight Kraid and Ridley on the way to victory! So it has been for the space hunter Samus Aran. So it will be.

Pac-Man, on the opposite end of the genre pool, delved into the world of the supernatural as the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde chased down a hungry rolling wheel of cheese. Well, at least that's what Pac-Man looked like back in the day. The whole concept of eating all the pellets was catchy and addictive. Pac-Man is definately one of the better "Old School" games around. (Although I am partial to Pong.)

Unfortunately for the Pacster, The GameFAQs population is quite young and cannot grasp the impact that the loveable yellow dot made. Both games are winners in the name recognition department. So who wins? I think that the Gamecube and GBA titles in the Metroid series will throw the match to the favor of Aran. Unless a few power pellets are forced down Pac-Man's non-exsistant throat at the last second, this ones goes to Metroid.

Forsaken's Brackets says: Metroid will win

Forsaken's pick: Metroid by 58% to 42%



Ulti`s Analysis

Personally, I feel that there are two deciding factors in this match. First of all, for some strange reason, the Metroid series is being absolutely worshipped on the board as we speak. This means that on at least some level, the Metroid games are on the rise in terms of popularity. I blame Zero Mission, and the fact that Samus is one sexy little girl ^_^

Okay, seriously, there was a huge gap between Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, and thankfully, Nintendo didn`t screw up the series with Metroid Prime. We anticipated the game, and it delivered very well. My only real complaint with it was an overall lack of difficulty (I found it easier than most people... sue me), and I felt that a third person perspective would have been a better choice than the first person shooter style. With the FPS style, there are simply too many things cluttering the screen, even when some of the options are turned off.

As for the reverse side of this match, look at last year`s Summer Contest. I`ve been looked down upon for basing a lot of choices on past character results, but for this match, I feel it makes perfect sense. Pac Man has lost to Scorpion and a piece of lettuce named Kefka. Now, I don`t know about you guys, but to me, this is a rather large sign that Pac Man is far too outdated to ever make noise in one of these contests. Sure, it was a great series back in the 70s and 80s, but this is 2004. It`s time to move on, really.

Ulti`s Prediction: Metroid wins, 71.63%-28.37%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 3 - (5) Phantasy Star vs. (12) Contra

Moltar’s Analysis

Geez, how am I going to do this? It’s probably going to be the hardest match in the 8-bit bracket to analyze, but it’s got to get done. So here we go.

First off, Phantasy Star. Now I haven’t heard of this game, but I have heard of its later releases. PSO, PSO 2, and in a little bit, PSO 3. Thanks to Dp, I was able to play a little bit, but quickly gave up on it (darn short attention span >_<). All I did was walk around, not too much fun. Now onto…

CONTRA! Ok, this is one game that I have heard of, but never played (Yeah, I’m not too much of an old-schooler). Thanks again to Dp, because he hooked me up with the game, and I played it for a bit. I sucked at it though cause I kept dying quickly. More fun than PS though.

Even though I enjoy Contra more, the contest is not decided by me (Just imagine what a horrible wreck that would be). Phantasy Star might not just get votes coming in for itself, but for it’s later installments. That could give it the edge in this match, but then again, this is one hard tourney to predict, so expect the unexpected!

Moltar's bracket says: PS will win.

Moltar's prediction is: PS 57% - Contra 43%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/215841



Dp’s Analysis

First, I’ll start off by saying I have very little knowledge OR experience with either of these games, so don’t necessarily trust my analysis for filling out your bracket. In fact, I had to dig into the world of ROMs to try to get a feel for both of these games . . . and upon taking my “test drive” of these games, I
have to say that I was not impressed with either of them.

For me, Phantasy Star was a bore. All there really was to do was to walk around. Sure, you could go out and fight some animal-type creature. But that gets boring real quick. Besides the fights, I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know where to go at all; I walked around searching, but I couldn’t find anything. Maybe if I would’ve had the patience to try and go into the game a bit more, my opinions would be a bit different.

Contra, on the other hand, was a bit more interesting, but maybe just because that’s more of the style of game I like to play. But this game also got old fast. Just your basic “run through the level and shoot
things” type game, from what I saw. Good for a little while, but I lost interest in it quickly. A game like this can only keep you interested for so long.

But that’s enough analysis of the games themselves. That’s not really what this is about. This is supposed to be an analysis of the match up. But I don’t really have anything to analyze. Like I said, I don’t really know anything about either game, but I shall try my best anyway.

The fact that Phantasy Star is a 5-seed and Contra is a 12-seed is a bit misleading. Contra faced much tougher competition for votes than did Phantasy Star, so like in the case of Halo being a 1-seed, Phantasy
Star got more nominations than deserved. So much for that helping me decide a winner here . . . This is a
very tough match to decide, but I think what will push Phantasy Star past Contra is the fact that Phantasy
Star is an RPG (after all, this is GameFAQs), and Phantasy Star as a whole series has had quite a bit of
success. Tough call, but I’m going to go with Phantasy Star in this one.

Dp's prediction is: Phantasy Star over Contra 56%-44%


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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Forsaken’s Analysis

This match has me torn. One of the original side scrolling shoot-em-up's against one of the first RPG series that I remember playing as a child. Who takes the match? I think P. Star will. Why?

A few things that will help Phantasy Star to victory:

-Phantasy Star IV, for the Genensis, was probably the best RPG on the console. Those that have played it will more than likely vote for the series.

-Phantasy Star Online is quite a hit. With a new version just released, the votes should roll in.

-Name is more well known than Contra.

-RPG. 'Nuff said.

Forsaken's Brackets say: Phantasy Star will win

Forsaken's pick: Phantasy Star by 62% to 38%



Ulti's Analysis

This is going to be one of the shorter analyses I do within this topic, simply because I haven`t played any of the games in either series. That being said, I simply don`t see how Contra could lose. Phantasy Star, from what I hear, isn`t too good. On that token, could FFMC beat Contra? I doubt it. Therefore, I pick Contra to win. Go me.

Not to be an ass or anything, but other people within this topic, who have played the games, will easily do a better job than I have with this particular match.

Ulti’s Bracket says: Contra

Ulti’s prediction: Contra wins, 56.24%-43.76%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 4 - (4) Final Fantasy vs. (13) Pitfall

Moltar’s Analysis

First, we will start with the legacy of Fantasy. The game that started it all, without it, many of your favorite FF characters would not exist. Sure, most of us have probably not played the game, but just like I am predicting with Phantasy Star, it will get a majority of its votes for its later installments. The FF fanboys and Square fanboys hope to see another Final Fantasy game win this contest, so they’ll support anything (espically those hardcore ones, lol).

Now onto Pitfall, haven’t heard much of it, but I’m assuming that you probably jump over Pitfalls and other obstacles. I’m not biased or anything, I just don’t know much about the game.

Well, I expect no competiton for FF in this match. I’m predicting it’s pretty safe until later on.

Moltar’s bracket says: FF will win

Moltar’s prediction is: FF 85% - Pitfall 15%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/217164


Dp’s Analysis

Here we have an interesting match up. We have an old school game in Pitfall, and the original in arguably the most successful series ever in Final Fantasy. Who shall win? Well, I think it’s pretty obvious.

Pitfall was a great adventure game in its day. But there’s no way that it can stand up to a game like Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy was first in a LONG list of great games that are loved by those on GameFAQs.
Final Fantasy will be able to get votes from the long-time gamers all the way up to the most recent
gamers. Pitfall was quite loved in its day, but that’s about it. The fan base that Final Fantasy has built up over the years is absolutely incredible. Poor Pitfall doesn’t stand a chance here. That’s all that needs to be said.

Dp's prediction: Final Fantasy over Pitfall 83%-17%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Forsaken’s Analysis

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you have heard of the Final Fantasy Series of RPGs. This original incantation came out for the NES back in 1989. The game itself is much different than the Final Fantasy's of the current times. You chose your four characters classes and their names. This gave the game an uncanny ammount of replay value, which is very unusual for an RPG.

I have no information about the arcade version of Pitfall.. which in itself should tell you what the result of this match will be. Final Fantasy moves on to the 2nd round with ease.

Forsaken's Brackets say: Final Fantasy will win

Forsaken's pick: Final Fantasy by 75% to 25%



Ulti's Analysis

Do I even need to make up an actual analysis for this match? We shouldn`t even have to take this poll, as it won`t even be a contest. But if I must, I`ll prove the necessary numbers.

http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.asp?poll=964

http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.asp?poll=1362

Basically, if we stick Cloud against Pitfall Harry, then extrapolate the results to fit estimated Spring 2004 Contest numbers, the score of this match winds up being in the range of 125,000 votes to about 7000. Oh, wait. Cloud isn`t involved in this match?

Oh, that won`t matter. The name "Final Fantasy" will be on the front page, which will suck up votes as if he WERE in the match.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Final Fantasy

Ulti`s Prediction: Final Fantasy wins, 84.37%-13.63%. It will be very ugly, and I may actually be being very nice to Pitfall with my percentage predicton here.
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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 5 - (6) Donkey Kong vs. (11) Duck Hunt

Moltar’s Analysis

Time for Duck Hunt vs. Donkey Kong. Yay.

First we have, the classic Arcade game, Donkey Kong. Now, be honest, who has not heard of or have played this game before? If you haven’t you’ve truly missed out on a classic. Sure it might just look like some guy named JumpMan jumping over barrel and obstacles to save Paulie from Donkey Kong, but it’s more than that…Ok, maybe not, but, it’s still a fun game. In the end, the hero gets the girl and Donkey Kong is defeated. But he came back, much worse than before, as….a…………….rapper.

Next we have Duck Hunt. With the dog and the gun and the ducks. Yeah. Remember the gun you had, and then the ducks would be on the wall, and you would have to shoot them. Also, Duck Hunt is a very popular game, and is possibly underseeded in this Contest.

Well, now for the Last Call. Donkey Kong is a huge hit for the Arcade, while Duck Hunt is an awesome game where you shoot stuff. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is one tough bracket to predict. I’m going with Donkey Kong here, but not by too much. I’m not very confident on this one.

Moltar's Bracket says: Donkey Kong will win.

Moltar's Prediction is: Donkey Kong 55% - Duck Hunt 45%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/217640



Dp’s Analysis

If you played Duck Hunt as a kid, I’m sure you remember all the great times you had playing with that gun. Even when you weren’t playing the game, I’m sure you had fun playing with the gun! But, of course, this isn’t a “Best. Accessories. Ever.” tournament. This is a “Best. Game. Ever.” tournament. But the game itself was also a lot of fun. Try out your accuracy as you shoot ducks out of the sky. And don’t forget that dog!

Duck Hunt was a great game. It was a lot of fun. But when you look at its competition, you have to worry a bit: Donkey Kong. This game started a series of games which were very popular and successful. Not to mention, this game also starred a character by the name of Jumpman, who just so happened to evolve into some character who people called Mario.

This match up features to classis games which provided a lot of fun times. Both happen to be influenced by Mario: as mentioned, Mario starred in Donkey Kong, and Duck Hunt gained much recognition due to the fact that it was combined as a double-pack with Super Mario Bros. I think Donkey Kong takes this match because it has two memorable characters, while Duck Hunt has none, and Donkey Kong is a much more recognized series, while Duck Hunt was only around for one round on the NES.

DpObliVion’s bracket says: Donkey Kong

DpObliVion’s prediction is: Donkey Kong over Duck Hunt 62%-38%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Forsaken’s Analysis

Picture an ape. A big ape. A big ape who likes bananas (then again, what ape doesn't?). Ok, got a mental image? Good! Now picture this ape with a stock of barrels by him. Big barrels. These barrels likely hold some sort of liquid in them (because they roll pretty fast when thrown). Picture this ape and these barrels atop a giant maze of steel ladders and platforms. You are at the bottom, looking up at this vast platuae of steely-ness. Your job is to get to the top, past all these barrels to where the gigantic ape sits, to rescue a damsel in distress. This is the game of Donkey Kong. A classic game of fun and joy.

Unfortunately for this game, it's opposition comes in the form of a neon orange gun and a evil dog. The game "Duck Hunt" for the NES was played by shooting at ducks on your TV screen with a small gun shaped controller. Very fun. Very addicting.

Now am I saying that Duck Hunt will shoot the bajebus out of DK in the vote total department? No. Am I even certain that Duck Hunt will beat DK? No. But, I have a funny feeling that duck hunt can overcome jump over a few barrels (sorry for the pun.. >_>) on the way to victory. If not... shoot me with a neon orange gun.

Forsaken's Brackets Say: Duck Hunt will win

Forsaken's pick: Duck Hunt by 54% to 46%



Ulti's Analysis

This is one of the single hardest matches to call in the first round to call. The gut instinct for many people is to pick Donkey Kong to win the match, but after giving the match a little thought, this is simply not the case.In the last two contests, Donkey Kong has been less than stellar. He gave up a very large chunk of the votes in his match against Bub in 2002. Later in the same contest, he barely escaped a dog fight with Aya Brea. The same Aya Brea, mind you, who stars in what many to believe one of the worst games that Squaresoft has ever produced, Parasite Eve. Yes, some people like the series, but it is also the butt of many anti-Square jokes. Donkey Kong finally got smacked around by Mario the following round that year. In 2003, Donkey Kong beat Vyse in the first round while Tommy Vercetti, star of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, defeated Kite by virtually the same exact score. Again, Donkey Kong found himself in a dead-even dog fight in the second round of a contest, though in 2003, he came up on the short end of the stick. Some people did not think much of Donkey Kong`s loss in 2003, but when everyone realized how weak Tommy Vercetti truly was in the 2003 contest, it made many of us think about the big ape`s true popularity. An interesting note about Donkey Kong is that more people picked Max Payne to win the 2003 contest than Donkey Kong, even though everyone knew that Max Payne stood no chance of beating Sephiroth in the second round of that contest.

Donkey Kong, in the end, doesn`t have that little IT that a lot of the strong characters have in this contest. In every sort of a competition, some of the entities involved have the "IT" factor. In out little contest, the "IT" factor is that which makes a bracketeer second guess himself no matter which choice he makes. A perfect example of this will be any match featuring Super Smash Brothers: Melee, a game that has the "IT" factor. Since it is such a great game, and since it has yet to be in a contest such as this, a lot of people simply have no idea when it will lose in this contest. Donkey Kong, on the other hand, does not posses this feature. Even if he were to win this match, which I think is unlikely, he has no chance whatsoever of taking down The Legend of Zelda in round two.

Duck Hunt, however, has the “it”, at least for this match. Everyone remembers the orange light gun, everyone has played the game at least once, and it should have enough magic left to get it past a very weak Donkey Kong.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Duck Hunt

Ulti`s Prediction: Duck Hunt wins, 50.89%-49.11%. It will be close, but Duck Hunt should pull it out.

Round 1: Match 6 - (3) Legend of Zelda vs. (14) Adventure

Moltar’s Analysis

Almost done with the 8-bit bracket. Time for Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure.

When we think of Nintendo, we think of Mario, Donkey Kong and, wait for it…LINK! Well, here is where it all started. I have not played the original, but judging from the other Zelda games I’ve played, and how successful they are all, this will have an easy time trouncing the competition.

Now to Adventure…………………………WTF is Adventure?

We have the Legend of Zelda, which some say is the greatest game franchise of all time versus Adventure, which I don’t even know how that game got in this competition. Guess it has some sort of cult out there. Unfortunately, this cult will not be able to overcome Link and Zelda. This is probably the easiest match to pick and possibly one of the biggest blowouts of the Contest.

Moltar's Bracket says: Legend of Zelda will win.

Moltar's Prediction: Legend of Zelda 89% - Adventure 11%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/218187



Dp’s Analysis

I literally laughed out loud when I looked at the next match that I had to analyze. Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure. How Adventure even made it in is unknown to all; and it’s a 14 seed, no less! As far as everyone is concerned, take Adventure out of this thing, and put in Mega Man. Anyway, to the analysis.

Well, there’s not really much to talk about here. You have to be either absolutely crazy or going for a 0-point bracket to pick Adventure in this one. Legend of Zelda paved the way for one of the best series of all time (including possible champion Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). And honestly, I hadn’t even heard of Adventure until the start of this contest, and I’m sure I’m not alone. Legend of Zelda is also host of one of the most known and popular characters, Link, who won the Summer 2002 Character Contest, and was the favorite in the Summer 2003 Character Contest. Adventure? Just looking at screenshots of this game tells me that this is a joke of an entry into this contest.

Bottom line is, there’s absolutely no question what game is going to win this. It’s not even going to be close. The real question here is: how ugly is this going to get? And I’ll tell you; it’s going to be VERY ugly. We’re talking Link vs. AiAi ugly. In fact, I’ll even go ahead and use the percentages from that match to predict the percentages in this match (rounded).

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Legend of Zelda

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Legend of Zelda over Adventure 92%-8%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Forskaen’s Analysis

Adventure. Haven't heard of it? Neither have I.

Forsaken's Brackets Say: Legend of Zelda will win

Forsaken's pick: Legend of Zelda 93% to 7%



Ulti's Analysis

This match doesn`t even need an analysis, and in fact, I`m so bitter about Adventure doing nothing more than taking up a spot that could have been better served with Mega Man that I`m not giving Adventure the satisfaction of a decent analysis. If the game gets more than 10%, I`ll be shocked, anyway.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Zelda 1

Ulti`s Prediction: Zelda 1 wins, 90.55%-9.45%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Done with the old. Here comes the new.
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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 7 - (7) Pong vs. (10) River City Ransom

Moltar's Analysis

Another big old-school match. Well, let’s go!

Pong, a game that revolutionized gaming today. It’s graphics and intense storyline and gameplay are often imimated in games today……..Ok, maybe not. But it was a pretty fun game. You controlled a paddle, your opponent controlled another. In between, there was a dot. You would hit the dot back and forth until it got past either you or your opponent. Simple concept. Great game.

River City Ransom, another game I have not heard of. I found it and played it for awhile. Wasn’t too bad. Now onto the Last Call.

Pong is a game known worldwide by a lot of people. River City Ransom has it’s cult of fans. I mean, it got a ten-seed, so it has to be at least semi-popular. However, Pong has a huge fanbase, big enough to get past this round, IMO.

Moltar’s bracket says: Pong

Moltar’s prediction is: Pong 63% - RCR 37%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/218980




Dp's Analysis

Pong: the game that started it all. You couldn’t get any simpler than Pong. Two bars on each end, used as racquets, and a ball. Hit the ball back and forth, and try to get it past your opponent’s bar. It was that simple. However, it propelled the video game industry. Everyone has played Pong, either the original or some newer version of it, sometime in their life.

Now we look at River City Ransom. This was a great mix between a side-scrolling fighting game and an RPG. You fight a whole bunch of street thugs, while at the same time you increase your skill levels like you would in an RPG game. This mix in a game is very rare, and it was done greatly on the NES.

So there’s my little analysis on the games themselves. Now let’s see how they stack up in this popularity
contest. Because of Pong’s influence on gaming, and the fact that it was the first popular game, it has quite a loyal fan base. But because of its simplicity, its popularity isn’t that high anymore. River City Ransom was not a simple game, and it was a very good one. If you round up the Pong fans and then round up the River City Ransom fans, I’d say the Pong fans would be outnumbered here. Do I smell an upset here? Hold on a second. Let’s not forget the people who never got into either game; they’ll contribute votes too. And this is where I foresee a problem for River City Ransom. A very high percentage of the people who never got into either game are going to give their vote to Pong because of its influence on gaming and name recognition. This is what’s going to swing this match into Pong’s favor.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Pong

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Pong over River City Ransom 65%-35%



Ulti's Analysis

The number of people debating this match leads me to believe that River City Ransom is actually a beloved game among the people that have played it. The problem lies in the number of people that have played it. It`s not a game who has very good name value, and against a game like Pong, that may be enough for it to lose. Pong was the second video game ever. For all intents and purposes, we`ll call it the first, simply because I guarantee that virtually no one outside of ChichiriMuyo knows the name of the first video game, anyway. To this effect, far more people have played Pong by now than River City Ransom.

Thankfully for Pong, pretty much everyone has played it, and it will garner the vote from the people who don`t even know what in the world River City Ransom is. And sadly for River City Ransom, that will be a whole lot of people. River City Ransom`s final percentage may surprise the people who think Pong will simply blow RCR out of the water, but either way, I don`t think RCR has a chance to win, no matter how popular it is among its own contingent of fans.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Pong

Ulti`s Prediction: Pong wins, 68.78%-21.22%. Pong is simply too strong, and RCR just doesn`t have enough fans.

Round 1: Match 8 - (2) Tetris vs. (15) Galaga

Moltar's Analysis

The final match of the dreaded 8-bit bracket is this one. Analysis time!

Tetris! My calculator has made me fall in love again with this game. Another ‘simple concept, great game’ game. You place the blocks on top of one another, and try to get a make a complete row. The row then dissappears, and your score goes up. If you haven’t played it before, then shame on you.

Galaga, possibly my favorite calculator game. Well, it isn’t exactly on there, it’s more of a re-make. Anyway, in this game, you, in a ship, blast away at an endless amount of enemy bad guy ships. Another fun game.

In my book, a 2 seed vs. 15 seed is a slaughter. I expect Tetris to win, but I also expect Galaga to put up some sort of fight.

I promise, I will try to make my future analysises longer. I’m kind of rushing this one…>_>

Moltar’s bracket says: Tetris will win.

Moltar’s prediction is: Tetris 69% - Galaga 31%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/218997




Dp's Analysis

It hurts me to write this analysis. As a kid, I absolutely loved Galaga. It’s always been my favorite arcade game. I was excited to see that Galaga had made it into the contest, but then I looked to see its competition: Tetris. A legend of its time, and still played and loved to this day. This is going to be a short analysis, because I hate to write about Galaga’s impending first round demolishing. Simply put, Galaga just doesn’t match up to the power of Tetris. I am not looking forward to this horrid day on April 9th. For my prediction, I’ll go ahead and put the scores close, if for nothing else, out of hope.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Tetris

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Tetris over Galaga 62%-38%



Ulti's Analysis

I love analyses that are an absolute joke. Galaga was decent, but I know the president of Russia, and Tetris simply cannot lose this match.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Tetris

Ulti`s Prediction: Tetris wins, 86.24%-13.76%. Tetris is simply a juggernaut.

Anyone have anything else to add on the 8-bit division?
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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 9 - (1) Chrono Trigger vs. (16) Secret of Mana

Moltar's Analysis

Finally, onto the 16-bit bracket. And we start out with a pretty darn popular game.

Chrono Trigger. One of the biggest video games ever. Now, I don’t have an SNES, but I do know a few things about this game. Like, it put the characters of Crono, Magus and Frog into existence. And that it is a favorite among people that go to GameFAQ’s. Crono showed in both Summer Contests that he could take on Mario, head-to-head. That alone should tell you its popularity.

I don’t know too much about Secret of Mana. I hear that it’s a pretty decent game, but it has no chance of going anywhere. It’s a 16 seed in the Contest, and CT is going to own it, bad.

Chrono Trigger, a favorite to win the tournament, will definitely win this match. Sometimes though, it the first couple of matches that can determine its power throughout the Contest. You can’t look weak on your first match.

Moltar’s Bracket says: CT

Moltar’s prediction is: CT 90% - SoM 10%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/219473



Dp's Analysis

This is another one of those matches where an analysis really isn’t necessary. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Chrono Trigger will win this match. It is one of the games that are highly favored to win it all. But we shouldn’t take anything away from Secret of Mana. This was an amazing game, and fans of it will surely make this match up closer than a 1 vs. 16 should be. However, it just won’t be enough to add up to the fans of Chrono Trigger. Sadly, Secret of Mana is SOL here. It’s just a matter of how close it will end up being.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Chrono Trigger

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Chrono Trigger over Secret of Mana 70%-30%



Ulti's Analysis

This match is disappointing. Secret of Mana was one of the better RPGs I`ve ever played, but it has a 16 seed and is going up against a game in Chrono Trigger that many believe can win this contest. Forget beating Mario, mind you. People think that it`s popular enough to take down the likes of Final Fantasy 7 and Ocarina of Time. That`s pretty scary, especially considering how old the game is. The reasoning for this? Well, in terms of pure popularity, Chrono Trigger is the mascot for the golden age of RPGs, the SNES days. Sure, great games have come out since the SNES days, but it`s been done on a very inconsistent basis; whereas with the SNES age of RPGs, there was an absolute train wreck of RPGs. One after another came out, and virtually all of them were great, with a few rare exceptions. Nowadays, a lot of RPGs come out, but with companies worrying more about graphics than gameplay, the great games have become more of an exception than a rule. But again, this is just my opinion, so don`t bite my head off by telling me how great FFX, Kingdom Hearts, and Disgaea all are. I`m well aware of this ~_^

Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Chrono Trigger will simply own this match, with no questions about it. It`s the mascot for the SNES RPG, and won`t even be tested for a few rounds. This match is just a warmup.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Chrono Trigger

Ulti`s Prediction: Chrono Trigger Wins, 88.18%-11.82%

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Team for Trivia XII: Ultros Ninja Henchmen
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Bump, new analysis hopefully up by tomorrow.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Round 1: Match 10 - (8) Super Mario RPG vs. (9) Street Fighter 2

Moltar's Analysis

Another 8 vs. 9 seed match, and another tough match to predict.

First we have the higher seed game, Super Mario RPG. A pretty big game and introduced us to some new characters. But the most important thing about this match for SMRPG, is the name recognition. This is Mario’s first game in the tourney (not counting Donkey Kong), and even though his name can bring in a ton of votes, it can bring in a ton of anti-votes as well. Remember that…

Now onto the Street Fighter series. Well, at least the one that made it in the Contest, Street Fighter 2. This game is looked upon as the jewel in the series, and fought it’s way to a good spot in the Contest. It is a good thing that it is facing a not hugely popular Mario game, or else it would have no chance.

Well, it’s most likely going to be close, but I think SMRPG is going to pull through this one. In fact, the only fighter I see doing well in the tourney is SSBM. GameFAQs is the land of RPGs man.

Moltar’s bracket says: SMRPG will win.

Moltar’s prediction: SMRPG 53% vs. SF2 47%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/219992



Dp's Analysis

Here we have another tough 8 vs. 9 match. Right off the bat, you see the name “Mario,” and you know it has to have an advantage. However, the question is, will it be enough of an advantage? Mario is one of the
most famous names, if not the most famous name in gaming, so Super Mario RPG definitely has the name
recognition. But don’t let the name recognition alone tell you which game go put ahead to the next round.

Hardcore Mario fans should be worried about Super Mario RPG’s first round match. Street Fighter II may have what it takes to prevent Mario from going a perfect 4 for 4 in the first round. Street Fighter II has its good amount of fans, and I think they will show it well.

Is Chrono destined to restart his rivalry with Mario as early as the second round with a Chrono Trigger vs. Super Mario RPG match up? I say “no.” Street Fighter fans will rise up, with the extra help of those who are anti-Mario, and push Street Fighter II to victory. Chrono vs. Mario will have to wait. It will be close though.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Street Fighter II

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Street Fighter II over Super Mario RPG 52%-48%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Ulti's Analysis

Simply put, this is one of the hardest matches to call in the first round. Both games have very strong cases going for them, and my apologies if this analysis gets long.

I`ll start with Super Mario RPG. It`s another RPG from the SNES golden days of RPGs, which gives it a nice fanbase. Also, it outsold Chrono Trigger for a time when it was first released. CT overtook it in time, so don`t panic or anything. As for actual game, it has a ton of factors going for it. It`s a Nintendo game made by Squaresoft, featuring a fun little cast of characters, it doesn`t carry the “anti” tag that some other Nintendo games have the burden of dealing with, and the game is very well-done. I myself have played through it many times, and with the Level 3 challenge, it has even bigger replay value. It`s just that much fun. What other game features Mario with a hammer, Peach with a frying pan, Bowser kicking ass, and Yoshi?

…..>_>

Okay, so we`ve seen those things before, but that`s not the point. This game was a 32 bit game done on a 16 bit system, much like Chrono Trigger. And we all know how well-loved Chrono Trigger is. It`s the FF7 of the SNES era. Actually, wait, I think FF7 is the Chrono Trigger of the Playstation era, but let`s not go there. Simply put, Mario RPG is a GREAT game, fun to play, very memorable, and a game with high replay value due to different combinations of characters, a unique leveling system with allocated stat points per level up, and unique and humorous script. Oh, and a very difficult optional boss always helps. Just look what a certain pair of WEAPONs did for FF7 ^_^ Simply speaking, Mario RPG has many things going for it that helps it get the push in this match.

However, it`s going up against one of the most popular fighting series of all time, and its sole representative in this contest: Street Fighter 2. Before getting into this, I ask everyone whether or not they have played a Street Fighter. Most of you will say yes. For this reason, I think Super Mario RPG may be in trouble in this match. Many people have played Street Fighter, and have liked it. Look at Ryu in the last two contests. He has scored 40+% against the likes of Samus and Solid Snake. Could Super Mario RPG score those types of numbers against Super Metroid or Metal Gear Solid? Well, see, that`s where the problem lies in this match. Honestly, I think Super Mario RPG would virtually equal Ryu`s scores if the universes between game and character contests were superimposed over one another. Why? Simple. Street Fighter 2 is a great game, and its series pretty much set standards for its genre. Say whatever you wish about Mortal Kombat, but I maintain that Street fighter did more for the genre. Blood and gore do not mean a great fighting game. Just look at Soul Calibur 2. Street Fighter 2 benefits from the same aspects that Mario RPG does in that it has a memorable cast of characters, and they`re all fun to use in the game they star in.

So how does one call this match? It will be very difficult, yes. Even more difficult when one considers just how even the two games truly are. For every factor one game has, the other than create an argument to equal said factor. Sure, Mario RPG was in Nintendo, but Sega was no slouch in the mid 90s. Yes, Super Mario RPG is a Square game, but it is a cult classic presently. Street Fighter 2 has undoubtedly been played by more people by this point, which can cancel out the “anything made by Square will win” syndrome. That certainly didn`t benefit Aya Brea against Donkey Kong, did it? And yes, our site is RPG friendly, but don`t forget that not everyone who comes to our site is a regular here. I`d venture that well over half the people that vote in these contests simply vote for their favorite game and move on. Well, if they`ve never played Mario RPG, why would they vote for it? Street Fighter 2 will garner more of the casual vote than will Mario RPG.

So in the end, it simply comes down to who shows up to vote that day. This match is a crapshoot; it will be close, and whoever wins will simply be decided by who votes on the day of the match. And if you guess wrong, don`t worry. Half of the brackets will be wrong with you, and in the end, you`re only losing a single point. Big deal. If either of these games beat Chrono Trigger, I will close Slowflake`s account, then rob MWIS so that I can give everyone $20. Seriously.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Super Mario RPG. If the game gets the vote of Nintendo, Square, RPG lovers, and the SNES RPG lovers (I classify them seperately), then Mario RPG should get just enough to win.

Ulti`s Prediction: Street Fighter Wins, 50.24%-49.76%. This may be the first match in which our crew has differing opinions between their bracket and the predictions. Simply put, I think Street Fighter 2 has the best chance to win. However, I feel that bracket voters and our website may not allow this to happen, much like the Vercetti/Donkey Kong match in the Summer of 2003. Call it a hunch, call it a risk, call it whatever you want. Either way, it`s one point in the end, which doesn`t mean all that much. Still fun to analyse, though ^_^






Now come on, Ulti has to get SOME props for that.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

heh, interesting ;/
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Divine Ninjas of the Wind. aka DWN

Yes, Ulti gets MANY props from me. Great job making us look bad!

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
CABLE: http://boards.tokyotosho.com

daBUMP

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DpObliVion's better but younger alternate account.
Join the CABLE Message Boards: http://boards.tokyotosho.com

My head is killing me.
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Thanks for saving this topic. I'll post a new one later, after school.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient
Moltar Fact #6: Moltar has never won a User Contest at GameFAQs.

Bump/.
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Round 1: Match 11 - (5)Sonic 2 vs. (12)Shining Force

Moltar's Analysis

Sonic, one of the most recognizable video game characters in gaming history, made his way into the Best. Game. Ever tournament. What game with him came along? Sonic 2. That game IMO is the hardest Sonic game I have played, followed by Sonic 1. Those games took me years to beat. (I stopped playing it for a while.) Sonic 2 also introduces Tails, Sonic’s buddy. Can this dynamic duo take down the Force?

Shining Force that is. Now, I don’t own a copy of the game, but I do have it on a Sega collection disk. It was actually pretty fun. Haven’t played it in years though, and I didn’t get too far. Oh well.

Easy match to predict here. The Sonic series is just too recognizable to lose first round. I’m still a little surprised at the fact that Sonic 2 beat S3&K in noms.

Moltar’s Bracket says: Sonic 2 will win.

Moltar’s prediction: Sonic 2 75% - SF 25%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/220466



Dp's Analysis

Everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog against another old Sega Genesis game, Shining Force. My fondest memories as a kid growing up playing video games were racing through the levels of the early Sonic the Hedgehog games. As you probably have noticed in my time here, when it comes to college basketball and video game characters, I bleed blue. I’m sure most of the other Sega fans bleed blue as well.

The fact here is that if Shining Force were on another system, it might have a slight chance at pulling off the upset. However, since Shining Force was on the Sega Genesis, it’s a safe assumption to say that most people who played Shining Force have played Sonic the Hedgehog. Sorry, Shining Force, this just isn’t a great match up for you. Most Sega fans who will be split between the two games will give their vote to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, simply because it’s Sonic. Sonic is the Mario of Sega, and Sega fans will surely push Sonic the Hedgehog 2 over Shining Force.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 over Shining Force 77%-23%



Ulti's Analysis

For the record, this analysis will be short, it will be sweet, and it will suck on account of lack of information. I`m simply too tired and upset to care right now ~_^

Anyway, we all know Sonic 2 will win. Popular RPGs during the SNES era were on, you guessed it, the SNES. A Genesis RPG has no chance of beating the very mascot of the genesis, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Sonic 2

Ulti`s Prediction: Sonic 2 wins, 77.50%-22.50%

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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Metal Gear - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (0/192)

Sweet. I`ll get to the next few matches, because they`re all jokes.
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Round 1: Match 12 - (4) Super Mario World vs. (13) The Simpsons

Moltar's Analysis

Ahhhhh, The Simpsons

*insert theme song here*

Who doesn’t know that tune? We all (well, at least most of us) love the Simpsons. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and little Maggie. But wait…their video game made it in? Awesome. I love playing that game in the Arcade at Chuck E. Cheese. At least, I used to. >_> Moving on…

Now onto the next Mario game, which is Super Mario World. It got a really good seeding in the tourney, and an easy first opponent. What more is there to tell you about the game that you haven’t already head? Nothing. Exactly.

Another predictable match. SMW all the way until it gets to Crono.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: SMW will win.

Moltar’s prediction is: SMW 83% - Simpsons 17%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/220957



Dp's Analysis

Well, Bart and his skateboard, along with Marge and her vacuum cleaner, and all your other favorite characters of the Simpson’s were able to get enough votes to make the tournament. However, if you listen hard enough, you could probably hear Homer shouting out “D’oh!” as he looks at their first round match up.

With Super Mario World vs. The Simpson’s, we have a name recognition battle here. However, the problem for our 13-seeded game is that this is a video game contest. Super Mario World has the name recognition within the gaming community, while The Simpson’s has the name recognition within the entertainment community. And we’re not comparing the game Super Mario World to the TV show “The Simpson’s;” we’re comparing the game Super Mario World to the game The Simpson’s.

Now I’m not trying to take anything away from the game itself – after all, it was a pretty good, fun game –
but most of The Simpson’s’ popularity is a result of the TV show. Now, fans of The Simpson’s might be able to make this match close . . . but I doubt it. Super Mario World will easily be able to roll through to the next round.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Super Mario World

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Super Mario World over The Simpson’s 79%-21%



Ulti's Analysis

This match is a damned shame. The Simpsons was my favorite arcade game of all time, and though I`m happy it`s in the contest, it`s really getting the shaft by being put up against SMW in this match. Seeing it win a match would have been pretty cool.

Anyway, down to business. TV and movie popularity doesn`t mean jack squat on gamefaqs polls. Just ask Lara Croft, who had a movie come out the weekend before her match with Zelda and still lost. The same thing will happen to the Simpsons. Not only does the game have no chance whatsoever to beat SMW, but the series on FOX is in trouble, as well. A current contract dispute may mean the end of the series, and thus, FOX officially becomes the single dumbest TV station there is.

But aside from that, this isn`t a TV contest, it`s a game contest. Mario is the mascot for video games, and as such, he`ll take this match with the utmost of ease. Not only was his game packaged with the SNES, arguably the greatest system there ever was, but you`ll find that Mario`s best games simply won`t see first round losses in this contest.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Super Mario World

Ulti`s Prediction: Mario World wins, 82.11%-17.89%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Metal Gear - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (0/192)

ahh karma post
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New Sig Challenge:
Get Laid by a pack of bloodthirsty and horny monkeys

SMB3 - 82.3%
Metal Gear - 17.7%

Looks like me and Dp where the closest in our predictions. Also everyone predicted it right. ^_^
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Metroid vs. Pacman - Bracket: Metroid - Vote: Metroid (1/192)

I predicted an 84-16 win for SM3, but you didn`t post it.
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The few, the proud, the TOasted!
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Oh, then I stand corrected. Ulti got the closest. Congrats.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Metroid vs. Pacman - Bracket: Metroid - Vote: Metroid (1/192)

Thanks for your efforts, good read.
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Supporting Super Smash Brothers Melee for the 2004 Spring Contest going ALL THE WAY.
It's tankalicous, like DK.

Yeah, and if you want proof, search "Oracle". You`ll see solarshadow`s topic. Granted, I don`t copy my exact numbers from this topic into his, but they`re close enough.
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The few, the proud, the TOasted!
MIASU! Boards Hunted: 3509 (Arcade - R)

Metroid.........68.51%
Pac-Man.......31.49%

Ulti was the only person to predict a big win for Metroid. Congrats to him. However, Dp lost his perfect bracket on this match. ;_;
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Phantasy Star vs. Contra - Bracket: PS - Vote: PS (2/2)

Ulti’s prediction: Contra wins, 56.24%-43.76%

Dudes, go look at the current percentages.
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The few, the proud, the TOasted!
MIASU! Boards Hunted: 3509 (Arcade - R)

Actually, screw that. Look at this:

Phantasy Star 43.79% 6481
Contra 56.21% 8318

Even if the percentages get really screwey in the next few hours, I`m pretty proud of myself at the moment.
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The few, the proud, the TOasted!
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Round 1: Match 13 - (6) Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past vs. (11) Gunstar Heroes

Moltar's Analysis

First up, we have The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. Released in 1991, it has become a classic over the years, loved by many LoZ fans. The star of the game? Link, winner of the 2002 Summer Contest. Can’t see this one losing first round.

Gunstar Heroes. I know 2 things about this game. 1) It got an 11 seed in the bracket and 2) Dp said it was a good game. Go me!

Pretty predictable match. We need more of these kinds of matches. However, after this road bump, it has to scale a mountain. Super Metroid isn’t a pushover.

Moltar’s Bracket: LoZ will win

Moltar’s Prediction: LoZ 76% - GH 24%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/221341



Dp's Analysis

Well, I just got done trying Gunstar Heroes for the first time. I have to say it was a pretty fun game. But will it be able to measure up to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past? I don't see how any Legend of Zelda game can lose in the first round, and this match isn't any different.

This match is a 6 seed vs. an 11 seed, but it's not going to be as close as it should be. Link to the Past looks like its under-seeded in this division, and just the mere fact that it is a Legend of Zelda game will get it plenty of votes to blow Gunstar Heroes away. Gunstar Heroes will try to put up a fight, but it won't be enough.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Link to the Past

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Link to the Past over Gunstar Heroes 71%-29%



Ulti's Analysis

To quote Wally, one of our gamefaqs mods:

“I`m not even going to dignify this with a response.”

No, seriously. I`m not. LTTP is the best Zelda game over Ocarina of Time IMO, and this match is a waste of time. Just hand LTTP the 85-15 win and be on with it.

Ulti`s Bracket says: LTTP

Ulti`s Prediction: LTTP wins, 85.00%-15.00%

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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Phantasy Star vs. Contra - Bracket: PS - Vote: PS (2/2)

Looks like it's 3-0 for Ulti. Come on Moltar, Dp and Forsaken! Wake up >_>
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The Reaper is always a step behind you ncr...
http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/ncrdrg/images/ncrdrg.jpg

Phantasy Star.. 38.98%
Contra............. 61.02%

Bah, that genius Ulti. Me, Dp and Forsaken all got it wrong. Congrats to him.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Final Fantasy vs. Pitfall - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (2/3)

Round 1: Match 14 - (3) Super Metroid vs. (14) Phantasy Star 4

Moltar's Analysis

Supa Metroid, considered by a lot of people as the best in the Metroid series, has recevied a 3-seed in this tourney…Don’t look at me like that. Well, actually, 3 seeds have been cursed in past GameFAQs contests. However, I think this one can make it to face FF6, but beating LttP is gonna be a toughie. Go Samus!

Phantasy Star 4, meh, I’m already mad about PS losing to Contra. I hope SM obliterates it.

My perfect bracket ;_; Darn you Phantasy Star series! *Places curse on j00*

Moltar’s Bracket: Super Metorid will win

Moltar’s prediction is: SM 79% - PS4 21%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/221597



Dp's Analysis

The Phantasy Star series has 2 games from it in this contest: the original, and Phantasy Star IV. In the 8-bit bracket, the 12th-seeded Contra upset the 5th-seeded Phantasy Star. That's not a good start for the Phantasy Star series. The problem is, that match was probably the only chance the Phantasy Star series as a whole had at winning a match.

So now, Phantasy Star is eliminated in the first round. That just leaves Phantasy Star IV, which will surely join its predecessor. Unlike Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star IV was not given a very high seed. Phantasy Star IV is given a 14 seed in this match up, which means it will face a 3 seed in the first round. Unfortunately for Phantasy Star IV, it's probably the toughest of the 3 seeds. It is up against Samus Aran in her biggest hit, Super Metroid.

Samus Aran has proven to be a tough competitor in the Summer Character Contests, while Phantasy Star doesn't get any representation. Samus has also already had a game advance: a very convincing win for Metroid over the classic Pac-Man. Samus is about to go 2 for 2 with her 2nd convincing win in this match.

DpObliVion's Bracket Says: Super Metroid

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Super Metroid over Phantasy Star IV 76%-24%



Ulti's Analysis

Yay, another easy match to analyse! Might as well save my hands for the matches that actually matter. In all seriousness however, many PS fans believe PS4 to be the best in the series. I`m sure that might save it from scoring under 20% against what one magazine called the greatest game of all time. Not the best Metroid, mind you. The best game. PS4 = pwned in this match.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Super Metroid

Ulti`s Prediction: Super Metroid wins, 82.50%-17.50%

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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Final Fantasy vs. Pitfall - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (2/3)

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Duck Hunt

Ulti`s Prediction: Duck Hunt wins, 50.89%-49.11%. It will be close, but Duck Hunt should pull it out.

For the record, this is false. I changed my bracket to DK shortly after writing that analysis, and if you want tproof check the CDC Contest topic. DK is seriously in my bracket.
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 3509 (Arcade - R)
Married to Alanna82 on 4/5/04 at 9PM EST

Final Fantasy. 87.64%
Pitfall.............. 12.36%

We all were close in predictions, but I break Ulti's streak. Congrats to me.

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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Donkey Kong vs. Duck Hunt- Bracket: DK - Vote: DK (3/4)

Donkey Kong....50.07%
Duck Hunt...... 49.93%

Whew, in this nailbiter, me, Dp and Ulti come out with another point. Ulti predicted the match the closest. Sorry to all the DH fans.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure- Bracket: LoZ - Vote: LoZ (4/5)

Round 1: Match 15 - (7)Earthbound vs. (10) Doom

Moltar's Analysis

Earthbound vs. Doom, finally a not too predictable match.

First we have Ness’s game, Earthbound. Let’s push away the game for a minute, and look at Ness. The kid with the psychic powers and the yo-yo. This is his game, but new schoolers learned his name and game from the Super Smash Brothers series. The hardest to unlock in SSB with decent moves. In the Summer contest, he did not too well against Bowser, but he hopes to win over his opponent this time.

Now we have Doom! Let’s see, I played a copy of this game once on a computer. The graphics stunk, but it was all right none the less.

Haven’t played either very much, but you should already know whom I am voting for by the write-up. I know Ness, meaning I know Earthbound. Most people know Ness, meaning most people will vote for Earthbound. (Note: This does not apply for all matches. ^_~)

Moltar’s Bracket: Earthbound

Moltar’s prediction is: Earthbound 60% - Doom 40%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/221936



Dp's Analysis

I have some early memories of Doom. Not too much of playing it though, just watching others play it. I didn't really like FPS games back then. I liked watching it be played though; I just could never get into playing it myself. Doom has been around for a long time, and Duke Nukem was one of the first big PC names out there. Duke Nukem can fight, and he's going to give it his all in his match against Earthbound.

Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with Earthbound, so it's going to be tough to write this side of the analysis. What I do know though, is that it is a pretty popular and well-liked game. It's also an RPG, and we all know what genre this site is going to lean towards.

So, will this match follow the trend? RPG's tend to do much better in these contests here than FPS's. Doom is pretty high up on the list of FPS's, but, based on the general consensus of the board, it seems to me like Earthbound will pull this one out.

DpObliVion's Bracket Says: Earthbound

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Earthbound over Doom 63%-37%



Ulti's Analysis

What a strange match. If you look at last year, you`d automatically think that Ness` beloved Earthbound was about to get rocked in this match. However, a few recent factors may at least give Earthbound a decent chance. For starters, more people have been buying the Gamecube lately, and simply put, if you don`t own SSBM after getting a Gamecube, then your right to buy games should be revoked for life. I would go on, but what I`m trying to say is that Ness has gotten some recent exposure. Furthermore, Ness has a fanbase. They`re a cult following, small, and very vocal, but they are there. Starman.net is a guarantee to send legions of Ness fans to vote for their beloved Earthbound. The question is whether or not it will make a difference. After all, even with Starman.net and Super smash Brothers: Melee, Ness scored all of 25% against Bowser last year.

Doom is no Bowser, but it`s no slouch in this match. Doom defined the First Person Shooter genre, and unlike Earthbound, everyone has heard of Doom. They may not have played or liked it, but they have heard of it. That gives it an inherent edge over Earthbound from the start. Furthermore, most of Ness` popularity came from Smash Brothers, not Earthbound, and Smash Brothers is not the game in this contest. Simply put, a lot of people won`t come to this poll and say “Wow, Ness = Earthbound!”. It was a good game and our site has a RPG bias, but I`d be very surprised if it won. It will get a decent score, but I doubt it actually wins.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Doom

Ulti`s Prediction: Doom wins, 64.55%-35.45%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure- Bracket: LoZ - Vote: LoZ (4/5)

Round 1: Match 16 - (2) Final Fantasy 3(6) vs. (15) Mortal Kombat

Moltar's Analysis

The last match of the 16-bit Division. YAY!

First we have FF3…..or 6. Whatever. The third….or sixth installment of the Final Fantasy series. Now we all know about the Final Fantasy series, the most popular being 7. This game is second IMO, I mean, who can forget Kefka, and his hate.

Now onto Mortal Kombat. A very popular fighting game series. Too bad this game’s chance to win isn’t as good as the other fighter in it’s division, SF2.

FF3….or 6 is winning. No further questions. End of story.

Moltar’s Bracket: FF3(6) will win.

Moltar’s prediction: FF3(6) 84% - MK 16%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/222095



Dp's Analysis

Mortal Kombat may have been a great fighting game series . . . it's facing Final Fantasy III. Mortal Kombat just does not match up to it. Whether it's a blowout or not will have to depend on its fans. I think the poll results will be bad, but it shouldn't be too ugly. Mortal Kombat has a nice group of fans, from the people who picked up every game and loved them, to the casual arcade gamer, and even to those who just watched the movie. But you don't even need to look at the number; just see the words "Final Fantasy," and you know Mortal Kombat doesn't have a chance.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy III (VI)

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy III over Mortal Kombat 71%-29%




Ulti's Analysis

Yay, another joke of an analysis. I love these, especially when I`ve just come home from work, am dead tired, and have yet to count up the day`s Prophet challenge.

Anyhoo, I maintain until the end that MK was popular because of the gore, not the actual game itself. Yes, it has a couple of decent characters, but I remember everyone talking about the blood more than them when this game was huge back in the day.

As for Final Fantasy 6, it`s the best Final Fantasy in the main series. Period. End of story. Yes, it`s not FF7, and no, it does not suck.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Final Fantasy 6

Ulti`s Prediction: Final Fantasy 6 wins, 82.11%-17.89%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure- Bracket: LoZ - Vote: LoZ (4/5)

I need to get to writing, don`t I?
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 3509 (Arcade - R)

Yep.

The Legend of Zelda... 95.2%
Adventure................4.8%

None of us expected Adventure to flop this bad. That was just a massacre. Forsaken predicted it the closest. Congrats.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Pong vs. River City Ransom- Bracket: Pong - Vote: Pong (5/6)

Pong...............68.01%
River City Ransom.. 31.99%

The rabid RCR fans had to watch it be owned by Pong. Must have been hard. Ulti gets the nod this time with his scarily close prediction.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Tetris vs. Galaga - Bracket: Tetris - Vote: Tetris (6/7)

Round 1: Match 17 - (1)Final Fantasy VII vs. (16)Suikoden II

Moltar's Analysis

Now we’re onto the Genesis, PS, GB and N64 era. The era where I was introduced to the wonderful world of videogames.

First we have the favorite in this tournament. Final Fantasy 7. Most people probably picked this game to win the whole thing. I mean, the finals of the Summer Contest 2003 were Cloud and Sephiroth, two big stars of the game. Aeris also did well against Sonic. So they’re all strong singles competitors, but can the game itself reign supreme?

Now onto it’s unfortunate opponent, Suikoden II. The Suikoden series has a big cult following. But in this world Fanboys > Cults in numbers. It’s really sad to see a favorite among many be completely wiped out in the first round.

Well, the Last Call says Final Fantasy will win. However, it will need to put on a Cloud like performance if it wants to go far in the tourney. Good numbers in all the rounds equals a better chance of winning. However, it soon has to go up against another favorite, a match that most fans have been wanting to see for a while, FF7 vs. OoT.

Moltar’s Bracket: FF7 will win.

Moltar’s Prediction: FF7 90% - Suikoden 2 10%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/222626



Dp's Analysis

This match features the second Final Fantasy game in a row. We go from Final Fantasy III’s beat down of
Mortal Kombat in the last match of the 16-bit division, to Final Fantasy VII vs. Suikoden II in the first match of the 32/64-bit division.

To me, this match looks a lot like that of Chrono Trigger vs. Secret of Mana. Like Secret of Mana, Suikoden II has a nice group of fans to give it a push. However, like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII is just too big of a power to go down to a 16-seed in the first round. Final Fantasy fans are just too numerous, especially when it comes to Final Fantasy VII, their pride and joy.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Final Fantasy VII over Suikoden II 76%-24%



Ulti's Analysis

Another easy analysis. Sucks, too, because Suikoden II was one hell of a game.

But this is Final Fantasy 7, a game that that has lost one poll on our site: Poll #3. Since then, no game has even come close. This one is a foregone conclusion.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Final Fantasy 7

Ulti`s Prediction: Final Fantasy 7 wins, 93.50%-6.50%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Tetris vs. Galaga - Bracket: Tetris - Vote: Tetris (6/7)

Wow, my percentages for this match are WAY too leniant....

Well, I didn't really put too much thought into this match, since it was FF7 vs Suikoden II. The next match, however, was quite an interesting writeup......

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Hehe. I just want to say that you guys are doing a good job with the analysis... Kudos to you all..

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SpC2k4 Winner Prediction: Final Fantasy VII
Current Score: 7/7
Today's Prediction: Tetris vs. Galaga

Thank you, we appreciate the comment.

Tetris.....78.25%
Galaga...21.75%

Well, even though in this topic I predicted Tetris to win with only 69%, I really expected it to be bigger. We under and overestimated it. Ulti is the closest by a hair.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Chrono Trigger vs. Secret of Mana - Bracket: CT - Vote: CT (7/8)

Just wanted to post here to say good job, guys, I always enjoy reading these comprehensive analysis topics.

The one thing that really threw me is that nobody (except Ulti, who didn't make it clear but I assume did) had ever even *heard* of Adventure before the contest. Granted, having been made in 1978 makes it about ten years older than it's competition in LoZ, as well as older than most of the users here. But it's one of the most influential games of all time in a lot of ways (first console game with multiple rooms/transportable items and overall quest, first hidden surprise (Easter Egg) in a game, set the ground for all future console adventure, and to a lesser extent, action-RPG games, including Zelda), and I'm really surprised that even those who haven't played Atari games had never heard of it if they'd done the slightest bit of research into video game history. While I agree it didn't have any chance in this contest, it deserves mention in a list of classics as much as Pong (or Zork or Space Invaders) do. It didn't get into the contest for no reason.

Enough of my nitpick, it's still good work, keep it up.

Just gonna post so I can find this topic easily. And good job, too.

Wow, pretty impressive that Adventure was the first game to have those features. For that it does deserve some recognition. Makes me wonder why so few people know about it.

Chrono Trigger 79.39%
Secret of Mana 20.61%

Well, not the blowout I expected but still very good. Guess SoM was a tougher opponent than I expected. Dp and Ulti both under and overpredicted it. But I think Ulti beat him by a couple tenths. New analysis up in a few.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Mario RPG vs. Street Fighter 2 - Bracket: RPG - Vote: RPG (8/9)

Round 1: Match 18 - (8)Pokemon G/S/C vs. (9)Xenogears

Moltar's Analysis

Now we have a popular series vs. a cult favorite.

First we have Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal. It’s 3 different games, but they are all similar. What was your primary main objective? To catch all the Pokemon and become a Pokemon master. Ahh, those were the good old days. With the TV show and the cards. I remember bringing my cads to school, because everyone was, and trading and battling with friends. Those where the old-schoolers. After that we had The G/S/C generation. This is after Pokemon had died down a bit. However, most look upon these games as the best in the series. I agree with them. I had the Gold and Crystal versions, my brother the Silver. I have 80+ hours logged onto Gold and quite a bit on Crystal. These games also introduced 100 new pokemon. 151 were enough for me though. I had them all memorized too (Thank you Pokerap…) Now we have Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire…Let’s not speak anymore on them.

Now we have the cult classic Xenogears. I wish I could do a big long write-up on this, but I have never played the game. (I really, really need to get a Sony System.) I do know about one of the main characters though. Sweet, deadly KOS-MOS. The blue-haired robot who Notre had the biggest crush on. She got a seven seed in the last Summer Contest, performing well against Crash before bowing out to Samus.

Well, we have a toughie here. I’m going with Pokemon here. Everyone’s heard of it, which is both good and bad. Good meaning that it will bring in votes, bad meaning it will bring in anti-votes. Pikachu did horrible in the Summer Contest, but hopefully the games are better liked than he is.

Moltar’s Bracket: Pokemon G/S/C will win.

Moltar’s prediction: Pokemon G/S/C 57% - Xeno 43%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/223055



Dp's Analysis:

Are the kiddies going to be able to give Pokemon a first round win (along with the privilege of being the 2nd round fodder to Final Fantasy VII)? Let me give you some things to consider.

First thing is the age group. Most people who are fans of Pokemon are in the younger age group: I’d say 13-15 (of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong if you’re above that age group and play, so no offense if you fall there). Unfortunately for Pokemon, the biggest age group here is probably about 16-19, and of course the total age group ranges much higher than that. Up in that age, you’re not going to be finding many Pokemon fans, which poses a big problem for Pokemon: where are you going to get the votes from to beat Xenogears?

My second thing is an example. Summer 2003 Contest: (8) Pikachu vs. (9) Fox McCloud (Poll #1306, for
reference). Just like Pokemon in this match, its representative Pikachu was an 8 seed in the last character contest. Pikachu lost in the first round 68.67%-31.33%. That’s a sign of things to come, which isn’t a good one for Pokemon.

If Pikachu could only get 31.33% against Fox, things only look to get worse from here. Pokemon fans old and new will vote for Pikachu. But Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal may lose the votes of the early Pokemon fans who only played Red/Blue/Yellow. Also, the fact that Pokemon and Xenogears are the same general genre, most of the split will probably go to Xenogears, whereas with Pikachu vs. Fox, there isn’t a genre split, so RPG fans would generally vote in Pikachu’s favor.

I hate to call such a bad beat down of an 8 seed by a 9 seed, but based on what I’ve brought forward, not only will it be bad for Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal, but it should be even worse than Pikachu’s match against Fox. This is probably my boldest prediction yet, and maybe even my boldest prediction you’ll see in the whole contest.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Xenogears

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Xenogears over Pokemon G/S/C 71%-29%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Mario RPG vs. Street Fighter 2 - Bracket: RPG - Vote: RPG (8/9)

Ulti's Analysis

Tough match. On one hand, we have a game in Pokemon that was a worldwide craze that has only recently started to die down. It has spawned title after title, TV show after TV show, and numerous spinoffs that are popular even today, including Yugioh.

As for Xenogears, the game is a cult classic that sort of gets lost among Square`s best titles. But mark my words, the game`s storyline is one of the greatest ever made. Period. The problem is that the game simply wasn`t played as much as Pokemon. Whether this will have an impact on the voting remains to be seen, but I picked Xenogears to win simply because Pikachu barely beat PaRappa the Rappa. Anti votes only count in any one type of match, and all of them feature a Pokemon. Gamefaqs hates them.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Xenogrears

Ulti`s Prediction: Xenogears wins, 56-44. Close due to its relative obscurity, but I don`t see XG losing.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Mario RPG vs. Street Fighter 2 - Bracket: RPG - Vote: RPG (8/9)

Yeah, I`m decent with predicting percentages, but my bracket now blows. If we take all things into account, I think I know how the rest of it will go, and it doesn`t look good.
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MIASU! I mean, everytime you guys *****, moan, complain, whine, and other things...it actually gives me a hard-on. -Smokin

Super Mario RPG......56.24%
Street Fighter II.......43.76%

It was considered the DK/DH match of this division. Pretty close until Mario RPG pulled away early in the day. I got the closest guess this time. Yay!

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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Sonic 2 vs. Shining Force - Bracket: Sonic - Vote: Sonic (9/10)

2 more matches written, MM.
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MIASU! I mean, everytime you guys *****, moan, complain, whine, and other things...it actually gives me a hard-on. -Smokin

I got them. Now I need Dp's, but I haven't seen him online in a few days.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Sonic 2 vs. Shining Force - Bracket: Sonic - Vote: Sonic (9/10)

Uh, Moltar, KOS-MOS was NOT in Xenogears.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Score: 9/9, Next Winner: Super Mario RPG

But mark my words, the game`s storyline is one of the greatest ever made. Period.

Urge…to kill…rising…*twitch*…

Love your analyses, guys. Great fun to read.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Score: 9/9, Next Winner: Super Mario RPG

All in good opinion, smitelf :)
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MIASU! I mean, everytime you guys *****, moan, complain, whine, and other things...it actually gives me a hard-on. -Smokin

Any thoughts on my Xenogears/Pokemon prediction? You think I'm ****ing crazy, or it might happen?

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Xenosaga, Xenogears...Anyone who hasn't played either could've made that mistake right?...>_>

New analysis up in a few.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Sonic 2 vs. Shining Force - Bracket: Sonic - Vote: Sonic (9/10)

Round 1: Match 19 - (5)Final Fantasy Tactics vs. (12)Dance Dance Revolution

Moltar's Analysis

First we have the Final Fantasy Outcast. Well, not really, but it’s the only FF that doesn’t have Roman Numerals at the end of it’s name (besides Tactics Advance and Crystal Chronicles, so that disproves my statement, heh). Final Fantasy Tactics. What’s this, like the 3rd Final Fantasy game in a match-up over the span of 4 days? Wow, just goes to show you how big RPGs like Final Fantasy are on GameFAQs.

DDR! We all know what a DDR machine looks like, in fact, I bet most of us have even tried to play one before and did horribly. If that’s the case, head down to a big place with DDR machines and watch the pros play. It like watching Adult Entertainment, except it’s faster and there’s dancing instead of love-making.

Dance Dance Revolution might be good, but FFT will win this no doubt.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FFT will win.

Moltar’s prediction is: FFT 70% - DDR 30%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/223275



Dp's Analysis

Dance Dance Revolution is a unique game in which to play with your feet instead of your hands. The title does indeed describe the game: it's a revolutionary game in which you dance! Dance Dance Revolution is a pretty amazing game if you're into that kind of thing. The problem with it in this contest is how many people are into it? Well, obviously enough to get it into the tournament, and with a 12 seed. But will it be enough to hold off a Final Fantasy title?

Of course not. It's not of the bigger Final Fantasy titles out there, but it still has the words "Final Fantasy" in its title. A game like Dance Dance Revolution, which just has a smaller group of fans who love it, has no chance against a game like Final Fantasy Tactics, and we know how big of a fan base Final Fantasy has.

How much respect does Dance Dance Revolution deserve in this match up? Before this contest, I never knew that Dance Dance Revolution was this well liked. Then again, it might be safe to assume that this match up was only made possible due to the nomination system. Either way, I don't think that Dance Dance Revolution has the fan base to even make it close. This should be one of those matches that will be over after the first update.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy Tactics

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy Tactics over Dance Dance Revolution 78%-22%



Ulti's Analysis

Hey look, it`s the game that Ulti has more hours into than any other, by far. And no, I`m not talking about DDR. If you know anything about me, you know about the mini-obsession I once had with FFT. It sucked over 4000 hours from my life, as well as a ton of money due to medical bills. Great game, albeit one of the worst translations for a modern game there is.

As for its strength in this contest, I doubt it will be all that strong. Ramza lost to Kirby last year, and even though FFT > Ramza in any one poll through comparisons, FFT simply isn`t strong enough to duke it out with the big guns in this contest. It`s strrong enough to easily win this match, but that`s about it.

Dance Dance Revolution is an up and coming cult favorite of the modern era, hence why it`s actually in the contest above games such as Star Fox 64, Smash Brothers, and any of the PSX Mega Man games. But that`s about where its popularity should stop, as it`s nothing more than a novelty item in this contest. Nice to see it here, but its spot could have been given to someone else more deserving. We should all thank CjayC`s flawed nomination system for this one.

Ulti`s Bracket says: FFT

Ulti`s Prediction: FFT wins, 77.34%-22.66%

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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Sonic 2 vs. Shining Force - Bracket: Sonic - Vote: Sonic (9/10)

Hey, Dp, hope you don't mind if I rip your Xenogears/Pokemon analysis to shreds. It's all in good fun, promise.

First thing is the age group. Most people who are fans of Pokemon are in the younger age group: I’d say 13-15 (of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong if you’re above that age group and play, so no offense if you fall there). Unfortunately for Pokemon, the biggest age group here is probably about 16-19, and of course the total age group ranges much higher than that.

I will direct you to the Top 10 FAQ listings for GameBoy, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance. They all have something in common, and that something is that the word "Pokemon" is in the title of all three games in the #1 spot. This tends to signal to me that lots of people around here play Pokemon and since even the original GameBoy version is #1 it leads me to believe that its popularity is not so transient as some lead themselves to believe.

Pikachu lost in the first round 68.67%-31.33%. That’s a sign of things to come, which isn’t a good one for Pokemon.

I've put hundreds of hours into Pokemon and even I didn't vote for Pikachu. Pikachu is more a mascot of the TV series than of the Pokemon game series; if Mewtwo had been in that spot, Fox may have run into trouble. In general, those who like Pokemon do not like Pikachu in particular, and some even loathe him for the cutesy reputation the yellow rat has given the games. In short, Pikachu's performance is not a good way to measure the performance of the Pokemon games.

Pokemon fans old and new will vote for Pikachu. But Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal may lose the votes of the early Pokemon fans who only played Red/Blue/Yellow.

I already gave my reasons for why any comparison to Pikachu is crap so I'll skip that part. As for losing votes to those who only played Red/Blue/Yellow, the G/S/C era was actually the high point of the series. Don't count on older Pokemon fans breaking rank because of the initials after "Pokemon".

Also, the fact that Pokemon and Xenogears are the same general genre, most of the split will probably go to Xenogears, whereas with Pikachu vs. Fox, there isn’t a genre split, so RPG fans would generally vote in Pikachu’s favor.

Woah, woah. Pokemon and Xenogears may be from the same "general genre" but they're about as far apart in that genre in every possible way as two RPGs could be. Why would most of the split vote go to Xenogears? Pokemon has greater name recognition so I would think anyone on the fence would go for it. And don't give me that bull about Pokemon being hated around here; see my prior point about the Top 10 FAQs. Any game supposedly so hated would not be so popular. This has as little basis in fact as the supposed "anti-FF vote".

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Xenogears over Pokemon G/S/C 71%-29%

Heh, the other way is more likely, but either way I doubt the gap would ever be that great. Xenogears may be a Square RPG but it doesn't have "Final Fantasy" in the name. Pokemon is a top selling game that clearly has a large support base on this site. There is good reason for Xenogears to be the favorite (again, it's a Square RPG) but there is no way in hell that it will get anywhere near 70%.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Score: 10/10, Next Winner: Sonic 2

You make good points, smitelf. It's good to hear counter-arguments to these analyses instead of just me, Moltar, and Ulti doing them.

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2...80.71%
Shining Force..............19.29%

All of us underestimated Sonic, winning by a slightly bigger margin than we predicted. Go Ulti!
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Mario World vs. The Simpsons - Bracket: SMW - Vote: SMW (10/11)

Hey Moltar, has the topic caught up to me again? Let me know so I can go type some more.
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MIASU! I mean, everytime you guys *****, moan, complain, whine, and other things...it actually gives me a hard-on. -Smokin

Super Mario World....81.47%
The Simpsons.........18.53%

We were all close, but Ulti just gets the closest one....again.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Link to the Past vs. Gunstar Heroes - Bracket: LttP - Vote: LttP (11/12)

Round 1: Match 20 - (4) Metal Gear Solid vs. (13) Resident Evil

Moltar's Analysis

Wow, a match with 2 games that I have actually played before. Doesn’t happen too often.

Let’s go with Metal Gear Solid first. We have already seen Metal Gear destroyed by Mario 3; does the sequel hold the same fate? MGS, in most people’s opinions, launched the Metal Gear series on the map. The main character is Solid Snake, who’s gotten to the Elite 8 in both Summer Contests, and he’s back on another stealth mission. Well, I would tell you the actual storyline line, but I can only make my analysis so long. Snake’s mission, basically, is to stop the launch of Metal Gear. Along the way, it seems as if the world is against you. You have numerous regular bad guys to get around, along with some major bosses. Here are some of their names, which you might remember. There’s Revolver Ocelot, Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf (<3), but the biggest enemy is your brother, Liquid Snake. But there’s got to be someone on your side, right? Yep. Meryl, Snake’s partner and “love-interest” in the game. The colonel, Naomi, Master, and the amazingly cool Ninja. The game was recently re-released on the Gamecube as MGS: The Twin Snakes, with improved graphics, new music and voices, and some new features.

Now from one stealth/shooter, to another. The Resident Evil series has been on the map for awhile, just like the MG series. The main characters of the first Resident Evil were Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Jill Valentine…sounds familiar? It should. She’s been in both Summer Contests. In 2002, she went all the way to the Sweet 16 before bowing out to the future Champion. She got pretty far, I wonder why *cough*TJF*cough* In 2003, she was blasted in the first round by Squall. Does this show something? Possibly. Has Jill, along with the Resident Evil series popularity reduced that much? Possibly. Will the news of Resident Evil 4 being released soon bring in some votes for RE? Possibly. Will…nah, I’ll lay off on the questions.

Let’s use metaphors this time as the final part of the analysis. MGS is Chris from RE, full health, with a shotgun, while RE is a regular old zombie. Not good enough? Ok. MGS is Solid Snake, full health, with a Stinger, while RE is a regular guard. Meh, fine. MGS is winning.

Moltar’s bracket: MGS will win.

Moltar’s Prediction: MGS 65% - RE 35%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/223544



Dp's Analysis

I love these matches. The ones that are so ridiculously obvious that it doesn’t even need an analysis. Well, it’s our job to analyze each and every match, whether it be Halo vs. StarCraft, or The Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure. Of course, this will be one of those that are more like The Legend of Zelda vs. Adventure. The 4th seeded game is coming off of two big blowouts. While this match shouldn’t be as big of a blowout as the first two of its kind, it should still be pretty lopsided.

When Resident Evil first came out, it was a big game. It got some good reviews at the time, and was pretty
popular. However, from my experiences here, its popularity has not been able to overcome the test of time, unlike other games in this contest. One of those such games is Metal Gear Solid. Snake is coming off two Elite 8 appearances in the character contest, and his best game is ready to go to work in the game contest. Although Final Fantasy VII stands in its way in its hope for another Elite 8 appearance, it should still easily make it into the Sweet 16. Resident Evil sure as hell isn’t going to stand in its way.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Metal Gear Solid

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Metal Gear Solid over Resident Evil 81%-19%
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Link to the Past vs. Gunstar Heroes - Bracket: LttP - Vote: LttP (11/12)

Ulti's Analysis

Interesting match, and it`s about damned time that the makers of Resident Evil see the series they have driven into the ground beaten to death by one of modern gaming`s more superior series. In its day, Resident Evil was one of gaming`s greatest achievements. It was a great concept, semi-scary, and pretty controversial. But like many others series go, the general signal that your series is dead is when you make a movie. Final Fantasy aside, I have yet to see one game release a movie and live to tell about it afterwards. Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, Street Fighter, and Resident Evil were all pretty bad movies IMO, and I felt they were released to try and give their respective series a boost. That didn`t work out too well.

Oh, I can`t possibly ignore MGS in this little paragraph. As if wasn`t already a near-lock for the Sweet 16 as is, The Twin Snakes was just released. This is just the boost that Metal Gear Solid needed to perform well in this contest, not that it wasn`t going to to begin with, but its release guarantees it a win in this match. Period. No excuses. The only question to be asked with regards to this match is just how strong Metal Gear Solid actually is come contest time. If you ask me, this matchup is more about a preview for SSBM/MGS2 than anything else.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Metal Gear Solid

Ulti`s Prediction: Metal Gear Solid wins, 67.99%-32.01%, the rumbling of a possible FFT win will loom should MGS do worse in its match, but remember that RE is a far superior title than friggen Dance Dance Revolution.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Link to the Past vs. Gunstar Heroes - Bracket: LttP - Vote: LttP (11/12)

Heh, me and my lucky percentage predictions.
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MIASU! I mean, everytime you guys *****, moan, complain, whine, and other things...it actually gives me a hard-on. -Smokin

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past...91.15%
Gunstar Heroes...................................8.85%

We all underestimated LttP in this match, but Ulti predicted the highest. So he gets it.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Super Metroid vs. Phantasy Stay 4 - Bracket: SM - Vote: SM (12/13)

How far along are you guys? I`m dying to see the board reaction to that Halo/Starcraft mess I typed up.
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MIASU! I mean, everytime you guys *****, moan, complain, whine, and other things...it actually gives me a hard-on. -Smokin

I have to go to the city today, so after I get back I'll do some

Super Metroid........83.29%
Phantasy Star IV....16.71%

No surprise here. Ulti is closest again and SM blew out PS4.
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Team for Trivia XII: I am Not a Taco Ingredient.
Earthbound vs. Doom - Bracket: EB - Vote: EB (13/14)

Which city?
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MIASU! I think im going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

I went to Chicago.

Earthbound......42.96%
Doom.............57.04%

Another match that has cost alot of people one point. Ulti is the only one in our Crew that actually got the match right.
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Moltar's Contest Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF 3(6) vs. MK - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (13/15)

I am? That`s strange.
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MIASU! I think im going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

Final Fantasy III (VI)..73.08%
Mortal Kombat...........26.92%

If this is a sign of things to come for FF3, my bracket is gonna be hurt soon. Dp got the closest this time.
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Moltar's Contest Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. Suikoden 2 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (14/16)

Round 1: Match 21 - (6)Perfect Dark vs. (11) Castlevania: SotN

Moltar's Analysis

The first game on the list is Perfect Dark. Some say it’s Goldeneye with a female main character. Who is this female main character? None other than Joanna Dark. It’s a pretty basic story with plenty of missions to keep you busy for a while. It also had a great multiplayer, complete with plenty of maps and even different rankings you can achieve.

Now we have Castlevania: SotN. I haven’t played it, but from what I’ve heard an seen, it can take down Perfect Dark. We also had a Castlevania represent in the Summer Contest last year, who did quite well.

Since I have played PD, and not SotN, I picked it assuming it would advance with an easy victory. Now I’m losing confidence as the match grows ever closer. I’m scared, and so is my bracket.

Moltar’s Bracket says: PD will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: PD 55% - SotN 45%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/224403



Dp's Analysis

Okay, I honestly don't know anything about either game. All I know is that Alucard stars in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and he's a pretty well liked character. So, because of my little knowledge of this match up, I really can't make an in-depth analysis. All I can really say is, a lot of people were saying that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night would pull off the upset against Perfect Dark, it seemed to me like a good upset to pick, so I went with it.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Castlevania: SotN over Perfect Dark 56%-44%



Ulti's Analysis

This is the toughest match in the 64 division to call, and mostly because Goldeneye is in the very next match. For starters, if someone has Symphony of the Night beating Perfect Dark, why couldn`t it beat Goldeneye? And if Goldeneye could beat Symphony of the Night, why couldn`t Perfect Dark do just the same? These questions are littered all over the place, and Alucard`s good performances in the past two contests doesn`t help matters much. But the fact of the matter is that Alucard`s popularity comes from Symphony of the Night, which happens to be up in this match.

Now Perfect Dark is one of my all-time favorite games, and it kills me to see that it will probably lose this match. The game was created at a time when the N64`s popularity was going downhill fast, and not enough people might have even played the game for it to win the match. Even today, some people still say it`s the best FPS there ever was, complete with the best multiplayer there ever was. I wouldn`t disagree, considering that I`ve played Halo.

So what will happen in the match? I doubt anyone knows. It`s going to be one of those close matches that the entire board hypes up for days, and we could easily see a match decided by less than a percent. It`s all going to come down to how many Perfect Dark fans show up, and whether or not Goldeneye fans will vote for it based upon it being a child of their beloved title. As for SOTN, their fans will show up. There is no doubting this. It`s all a matter of whether or not they outnumber the PD fans.

And is it just me, or is “Symphony of the Night” the greatest name ever given to a video game? Honestly, that just REEKS of “Play me or die, *****”.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Symphony of the Night

Ulti`s Prediction: SOTN wins, 50.09%-49.91%

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Moltar's Contest Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. Suikoden 2 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (14/16)

Up we go.
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MIASU! I think im going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

Final Fantasy VII...85.63%
Suikoden II..........14.37%

FF7 puts up good numbers against Suikoden. I got the closest guess this time. ^_^
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Moltar's Contest Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Bug in my sig. Will be back up tomorrow.

Rofl, I forgot about you breaking your foot Ulti... were the medical bills really that expensive?
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God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. - cyko
Trivia XII Team: Neo Diehards

Round 1: Match 22 - (3) Goldeneye vs. (14) Panzer Dragoon Saga

Moltar's Analysis

Goldeneye. The game that got me into the whole 007 series. Before I had not seen any movies, this game brought me to them. It was a great game in which you played as James Bond, Secret Agent. As him, you would travel through 20 levels with missions and objectives you had to complete. You also had a mulititude of enemies. Your biggest one, 006. This game was also pretty challenging, even on Agent mode. Today, I still haven’t beat some of those 00 Agent levels. Just…too….hard…>_<’

Panzer Dragoon Saga. Haven’t heard of this game. No point wasting time on it either.

Two words for this match people: Blow-Out. Wait, that’s just 1 word seperated by a hypen. Umm…*runs*

Moltar’s Bracket: GE will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: GE 85% - PDS 15%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/224408



Dp's Analysis

Ah, this should be an easy match. The winner in this one is pretty obvious. Which is a good thing, because I know nothing about the underdog in this match. I honestly didn't know that Goldeneye was popular enough to get a 3rd seed, but I have had a good time playing it. Hey, it's James Bond. It has to have some success.

007 finds himself in a match against Panzer Dragoon Saga. This is an RPG from Sega's last effort at a system, the Sega Saturn. By this time, a good portion of gamers were switching to other systems: Nintendo 64, which Goldeneye is from, and the new, incredible Sony Playstation. Ah, the Sony Playstation . . . I was in heaven when I took out $200 from my savings account, went to the store, and bought myself one of these. In fact, the first night that I brought it home, I stayed up until 3 AM, pretty much just playing my only game, NHL Faceoff, and Tekken 2 from the demo disc that came with it. My mom sure was sore with me the next morning . . . oh, yeah, this is about Goldeneye vs. Panzer Dragoon Saga, isn't it? Sorry, I guess I got a little sidetracked. Probably because I really don't have anything to say about this match except for that it should easily be a win for Goldeneye.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Goldeneye

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Goldeneye over Panzer Dragoon Saga 68%-32%



Ulti's Analysis

I`m not even going to dignify this with a response. Goldeneye sold over 8 million copies, and Panzer Dragoon Saga is a Sega Saturn title. Game over.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Goldeneye

Ulti`s Prediction: Goldeneye wins, 90.72%-9.28%



I think Ulti is trying to develop some kind of catchphrase. Keep an eye on his next couple of analysis's. ^_~
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Pokemon vs. Xenogears - Bracket: Poke - Vote: Poke (15/17)

And is it just me, or is “Symphony of the Night” the greatest name ever given to a video game? Honestly, that just REEKS of “Play me or die, *****”.

If only I had room for that quote...
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 17/17, Next Winner: Pokemon

Round 1: Match 23 - (7) Super Mario 64 vs. (10) NiGHTS into dreams

Moltar's Analysis

Almost done with the 32-64 bit games.

First on the agenda in Super Mario 64. This was one of my favorites on my N64, and I have a lot of games. This was the game where I would play for a bit, then give it a rest for a while. Later play it again, then rest. Rinse and repeat. I still remember the day when I got the final star and visited Yoshi on top of the castle. ^_^. This game the first game released for the N64 (if my memory serves me correctly) in 1996. Since then, it has been a top-selling game.

NiGHTS Into Dreams. Odd name for a game, and what’s with the caps? Don’t know too much about this Saturn game except that the main character was purple and that he made numerous appearances in Sonic games.

Super Mario 64 is a great game, and NiGHTS is probably a great game too. SM64 is just more popular.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: SM64 will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: SM64 83% - NiD 17%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/224817



Dp's Analysis

Earlier, I made the mistake of ignoring name recognition, as I predicted Street Fighter II over Super Mario RPG. Making that decision and losing that point, along with the one where I predicted Pac-Man over Metroid, will always bewilder me. Well, I'm not making the same mistake with this one. We have a Mario title in this 1st round match up, and I will be rightly making the prediction that it will then.

Then again, this is a lot easier of a decision than Super Mario RPG vs. Street Fighter II was. Street Fighter II is a very well known, respected, and liked game, which definitely had somewhat of a shot to defeat a Mario game. Now, I don't mean anything negative towards NiGHTS into dreams… - I'm not the type who would make negative opinions towards a game that I have not played - but I'm sure most, if not all of you can agree with me when I say that it is a much more obscure game that Street Fighter II is. Personally, I had never heard of it until this contest.

Fans of NiGHTS into dreams… will tell you that this is a great, extremely underrated game worthy of beating Super Mario 64. The problem is, how many of those fans are around to tell you that? The fact is, NiGHTS into dreams… does not have nearly the recognition that a Super Mario game has. Unfortunately, the Sega game bites the dust.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Super Mario 64

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Super Mario 64 over NiGHTS into dreams… 82%-18%



Ulti's Analysis

I`m not even going to dignify this with a response. Mario 64 is arguably the best Mario game outside of SMB3, and NiGHTS is a Sega Saturn title. Game over.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Super Mario 64

Ulti`s Prediction: Super Mario 64 wins, 90.72%-9.28%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Pokemon vs. Xenogears - Bracket: Poke - Vote: Poke (15/17)

Congrats on picking that match the closest, Moltar! :)

And smitelf, it`s called sacrifice. Take one for the team!
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MIASU! I think im going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

Round 1: Match 24 - (2) Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time vs. (15) Fallout 2

Moltar's Analysis

Final match of the division. Only one more until Round 2!

First we have the HUGE hit Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The Zelda games were already popular, but this game is considered the Star of the series. Zelda’s first adventure game on the N64 took you through the town of Hyrule. Now to be honest, we didn’t get this game a while ago. In fact, I think we bought it within the past year. I was a big fan on Majora’s Mask, but had never played OoT. So recently we bought it, and it was awesome. Another big thing in this match is the characters. The stars are Link, Zelda and Ganondorf. Sound familiar? It should. This trio was in the Summer Contest. Link won the thing in 2002, but in 2003, Link lost to FF7 star Cloud. Zelda and Ganondorf both bowed out in Round 2 to Megaman and Magus respectively. However, they put up decent numbers against both. OoT is gonna be a huge force in this Contest.

Fallout 2. Um..Fallout 3 is coming out soon…>_>

These biased analysis’s should tell you something. If they don’t, you need to me smacked. OoT is winning, no doubt about it.

Moltar’s Bracket says: OoT will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: OoT 91% - Fallout 2 9%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/224851



Dp's Analysis

Next up, the 128-bit division, where we really get our money's worth. Okay, we're doing this voluntarily, but it's the effect of the expression that I was going for. But first, we have a nice, simple match to finish off the 32/64-bit division.

Here we have Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was one of the favorites to win the whole thing even before the bracket was revealed, against Fallout 2. The bottom line is that Fallout 2 will not be a problem whatsoever for Link and Co. The Legend of Zelda series has proved pretty strong so far, picking up pretty convincing wins, and this one should be no different.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

DpObliVion's Prediction is: LoZ: Ocarina of Time over Fallout 2 85%-15%



Ulti's Analysis

I`m not even going to dignify this with a response. Ocarina (I think) has sold over 10 million copies, while most of the voters will have never even heard of Fallout 2. No contest.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Ocarina of Time

Ulti`s Prediction: Ocarina wins, 93.12%-6.88%




Ok, next match is Halo/Starcraft. Now, me and Dp's analysis's might not be too different than our usual one's. But Ulti went all out this time. You might think he last couple of one's were a joke, but this one blows all his previvous one's out of the water. This is a warning. Be prepared. ;)
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Pokemon vs. Xenogears - Bracket: Poke - Vote: Poke (15/17)

<pirate> Arg, where be the Halo vs. Starcraft analysis? Get to work, ye bilge rats!</pirate>
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 17/18, Next Winner: Final Fantasy Tactics

Heh, advertising that 9K rant for me, Moltar? I appreciate it ^_^

And smitelf, I had my Halo matchup done last week.
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MIASU! I think im going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

And smitelf, I had my Halo matchup done last week.

<pirate>Get those other bilge rats to work, then! Arr!</pirate>
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 17/18, Next Winner: Final Fantasy Tactics

*points to Dp*

Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal..42.05%
Xenogears..............................57.95%

Another Bracket-hurting match to some. Xeno upsets G/S/C. I would have had the closest prediction, but I picked the wrong game. >_< Ulti = closest as usual.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFT vs. DDR - Bracket: FFT - Vote: FFT (15/18)

Final Fantasy Tactics....76.03%
Dance Dance Revolution...23.97%

Ulti gets the closest guess as usual. FFT puts up a decent performance against DDR. New analysis up in a few...

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Round 1: Match 25 - (1)Halo vs. (16)Starcraft

Moltar's Analysis

Well, we are starting off the 128-bit Division in a BIG way. Could we have a possible upset?

One day, a billionaire named Bill Gates got this idea in his head. He already owned Microsoft, so what now? He and his people thought his idea was good, but who knew it would be the butt of many jokes to many people. In November 2001, it happened. The Xbox system was released. Along with it was a game called Halo. Soon, it became the talk among many Xbox owners. Heck, that’s all my friends talked about at school, and it drove me crazy. Soon my brother fell into the hype and we got a Xbox for Christmas in 2002. We got 3 games with it, one of them was Halo. I must admit, it wasn’t to bad, and it is pretty fun to play with a lot of people. Now let’s go inside the game. The main character is Master Chief. Last year Master Chief was in the Summer Contest, and he actually had quite a bit of people thinking he would be the winner. That did not happen, as the Xbox hate here almost cost him the match against Felix. Yet in an odd turn of events, The Chief put up decent numbers against FF7 star, Aeris in the 2nd round. Back to the game…There were 10 levels in Single Player. Might not sound like much, but they were actually quite lengthy. Downside is that they were way to repetitive later in the game. Let’s get back to the Contest. I have a question. Ceej might have answered it before but still…How could Halo manage to get a 1-seed? I mean, over SSBM, WW, KH, MP, FFX, and all the other great games in the division? Let’s see if it can prove to all of us that it deserves to be a 1-seed.

Well, I’ll come out and admit it right off the bat. I’m one of the 6 people who haven’t played Starcraft. However, you don’t need to go as so far and say that I’ve never heard of it, because that statement would be false. Very false. In fact, I know all about your Zerg, Terran and Protoss units. Yeah, I’m hip, I’m cool. I also know it was released in 1998, a bit further back than most of the other games in this division. Now let’s see how many people know that! =P

Well, GameFAQs is going to be crazy on this day, either the Halo or Starcraft fans are gonna be complaining, and it isn’t going to be good. Now, even though I did a better analysis on Halo, doesn’t mean I’m counting Starcraft out. I really wish I actually had the time and patience to go look up info on it or go out and buy it. But I can’t, I really can’t. Know why? Cause I have a life!…Fine I’m just too lazy. There! You have your truth, not leave me be.

Moltar’s Bracket: Halo will win

Moltar’s prediction: Halo 54% - SC 46%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/225309
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Dp's Analysis

Ah, a 1-seed versus a 16-seed. Yup, another one of those easy analyses where I just ramble on for a little bit before saying how badly the 1-seed beat the 16-seed. Okay, so what’s the match up this time…………..Oh. Heh, that’s interesting. Damn, I actually have to do some work on a 1 vs. 16 match!

Is it possible for a 16-seed to upset the 1-seed in the first round? Well, considering that Halo is over seeded and StarCraft is under seeded because of the nomination system, it may very well be possible. Of the main systems (we won’t count N-Gage), X-Box definitely gets the worst support here. Halo: Combat Evolved is without a doubt the pride and joy of Microsoft’s system, however. Halo would probably have a pretty good chance at winning the whole thing, at least its division, if this were a true contest to decide the best game ever. But Halo is extremely handicapped by the fact that this is a popularity contest on GameFAQs. It should still get a good amount of support though.

PC doesn’t have a great amount of support here either, but it doesn’t have the haters that X-Box does. StarCraft is one of the bigger games that the PC has to offer, and it has a great amount of followers. Most of the StarCraft fans are already claiming victory in that match, but they better not get too confident. StarCraft is still the underdog here. This will be a good fight, and it may come down to the casual voters, which I believe will be giving support to Halo.

I’m a huge sports fan. My favorite time of the year is March Madness: the NCAA Tournament. I’ll use that to help my analysis. In the history of the NCAA Tournament, a 16-seeded team has never beaten a 1-seeded team. I remember 3 years ago, (1) Kansas vs. (16) Holy Cross. Kansas struggled, and Holy Cross put on a good show, but Kansas was still able to pull out with a victory. I see this match going like that game. StarCraft is going to be tough. It will be a very close match, and it will give Halo a scare. But 16-seeds don’t beat 1-seeds.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Halo: Combat Evolved

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Halo over StarCraft 52%-48%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Ulti's Analysis

Finally, a match worthy of being read into. Too many first round joke polls. CjayC has openly stated that Halo is a #1 seed because it got more nominations than any other game. Fair enough, but this means nothing whatsoever. How many of those nominations were from actual fans? Many people just didn`t feel like leaving the Xbox part of the form blank, so they put Halo in due to not being able to think of anything else. This allowed Halo to get a ton of nominations from people who hate the Xbox. Starcraft, however, completely earned its spot in this contest. The PC has been around producing games for well over 15 years, yet thanks to CjayC`s horrendous nomination system, we could only nominate one game per system, two for the PC if you were smart enough to realize there was both a Windows and a Mac PC form. That being said, Starcraft is in this contest after splitting an absolute **** load of PC nominations with a load of other games. If anything, this match proves how bad the nomination method was. Here we have Halo being nominated because people could think of nothing better, while Starcraft had to claw its way into the contest by beating out 15 years of PC games.

Now, for the actual poll. If anyone remembers 2003, you all know about Master Chief and how badly he performed. In the first round, he only managed to beat Felix by around 6000 votes, and was completely whipped by Aeris in round 2. Some people say that MC was respectable against Aeris, but I disagree. He was picked by over 2000 people to win the entire contest, and lost in the second round. Furthermore, any doubt about whether or not he would lose in the first round were blown to bits after his pathetic first round performance. I mean, honestly, does everyone think that all the people who voted for Felix were actually fans of Felix and Golden Sun? Let`s get real here. There is an absolute loathing of the Xbox on gamefaqs, and the 2003 character contest was black and white proof of it. The Xbox and Halo has a lot of fans, yes, but they are horribly outnumbered by the people who would rather play in dog waste than with an Xbox.

Then there`s Starcraft. Being in this contest is an accomplishment in and of itself, but to put this in perspective, look at this more closely. Console games on gamefaqs have a few heavy hitters to choose from. Coming into this contest, it was a guarantee that we`d see games from the Zelda series, the Mario series, the FF series, and the heavy hitters from each console. Hell, we even got the heavy hitters from consoles that are now used as emergency flotation devices and self mutilation. I mean, honestly, some of these systems are that old. But for the PC, no game was a guarantee. Look at the seeds of the PC games in this contest. And if any of you mention that Final Fantasy 7 is a 1 seed that was on the PC, you`re getting kicked square in the crotch. Look at the PC games that were only on the PC. Doom, Half-Life, Fallout 2, and Starcraft are all seeded low. This is no accident, as they all stole nominations from one other while console games were nominated in with little resistance from themselves. Starcraft even had to beat out Halo, Final Fantasy 7, and every other BLIZZARD game in existence. And what does it get for its efforts from having to duke it out with Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 before the contest even started? A 16 seed and a date with the most overseeded game in the entire contest.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Ocarina of Time sold about 7 million copies, 6 million by last checked stats. ^_^
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Nintendo® - The Beginning and the End
Heroic Mario`s back! Bigger and badder than ever before!

But the match is far from being decided yet. The 1 vs 16 stereotype means nothing in this match. Link proved last year that most people could not possibly give two ****s about their bracket given the right match. All over gamefaqs, there were topics asking people to vote for Link, and in ALL of them, you could find at least three people saying they had Link in their bracket, but could care less that he was going to lose. That`s just how this contest is. Yes, there are a ton of people who have Halo in their bracket simply because it has the big 1 next to its name, but I can promise most of you people that most of those people don`t like Halo and would rather drink nuclear waste than buy an Xbox. It`s evident in every poll featuring the Xbox and/or Halo. People simply don`t like the Xbox. And for even more proof, does anyone remember the state of the site during the GameRiot polls that sponsored the Xbox? There topics and petitions to bring them down all over the place, and our own Spring Contest which was strategically placed below the GameRiot poll in an effort for it not to draw attention away from GameRiot`s beloved Xbox still pwned the GameRiot poll right in the face, and refused to help clean up afterwards. Those polls were a disgrace, plain and simple, and gamefaqers all over the place let it be known.

So magically, everyone that has hated the Xbox all these years is going to magically turn around and vote for Halo just because they have it in their brackets? Are you people on the very drugs that our TOS has now banned us from discussing on our site again? There are legions of people out there who could not possibly give two rat`s ****s about losing this match if it meant taking down Halo and letting all hell break loose all across gamefaqs. I for one cannot wait for this match, as it has the makings of being the biggest event to hit our site since Mario/Crono 2. This match can seriously cause that much damage all across the boards. This thing could get to the point where people use glitches to spam Barney`s Hide and Seek in an effort to gain votes for either side. Seriously, this match could easily be the biggest and baddest match in the history of these contests on our site. The whole thing comes down to the flawed nomination system overseeding Halo and underseeding Starcraft. It also comes down to how much pride each side has in their favorite. Are the Halo fans and bracket voters ready to support their opinions to the death, and do PC gamers have the grapefruits to finally make the single biggest stand ever seen on the site? Honestly, the PC gamer should feel like they`ve been slapped by one of the single greatest games on ANY MEDIUM OF ALL TIME being a mere 16 seed in this contest, and if they have any pride whatsoever, they`ll at least make sure Starcraft puts up one hell of a fight in this match. Halo beating Starcraft with ease would be the biggest disappointment in this contest. Halo winning a tight match is one thing, but a 63-35 beatdown would be far worse than any Mario victory over Crono and any Samus voter that waited until the final two hours to vote against Sonic.

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Go to any social board on the site. Compare the number of “OMG LET`S GO PLAY HALO ON XBOX LIVE!!” topics to the number of topics where people are calling for their friends to come out for an asswhipping in Starcraft. There is no contest, Starcraft wins. Starcraft has sold millions upon millions of copies across the world, while Halo seems to be more of a cult following among gamers who have nothing better to do on Friday nights than to watch Red vs Blue on Master Chief in Puma yaoi and declare Friday nights the Halo night. And furthermore, compare the two biggest factors among the players of both games. Starcraft is still played by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide on battle.net for free, while Xbox Live has attracted a few thousand people, tops, who were willing to sell themselves out to the lap dog of the revolution in Bill Gates and spend all that money to play a few Xbox games online. Oh by the way, my PS2 port cost me $40, and it gave me no increase in my internet bill whatsoever.

Oh, how could I POSSIBLY forget about the Koreans?? Starcraft saved a country. Seriously, it saved a country. South Korea had practically no economy whatsoever, then along came Starcraft. After some advertizing on everything from soap to potato chips, Starcraft became the national sport of Korea, and the country has a TV channel dedicated to Starcraft 24/7. Have any of you people ever played against or with a Korean in Starcraft? You`re either going to get your ass whipped or have the greatest ally there is. And the population of South Korea has to at least be a few million or so. Think what kind of damage they could cause if this contest was actually advertized over there. If a mere 1% voted in our poll, Halo would stand no chance. What group does Halo constitute being the national sport of? Like I said, people who would rather play Halo on a Friday night. Again, no contest.

So in the end, we have a poll that is completely up in the air. Seedings don`t mean jack in this match. The people that vote will simply vote for their favorite and move on. Starcraft has the favor of Xbox hate votes, any and all BLIZZARD fans of the site, the PC gamer, the underdog vote, and the people who simply want to see all hell break loose on gamefaqs. Halo has the vote of the 23 people who like Halo. Should be close.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Starcraft (like you couldn`t figure that out)

Ulti`s Prediction: Starcraft wins, 50.00%-50.00% (I seriously hope Starcraft wins by 1 vote)
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Damn... just damn. Thanks for posting that thing, Moltar ^_^ Now we just need some people to actually read it all.
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 4098
I think I`m going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

There topics and petitions to bring them down all over the place

There WERE, even :)
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 4098
I think I`m going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

*Stares in awe*
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SP2k4C : Winner - Chrono Trigger

*set*
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 4098
I think I`m going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

Although i just noticed the part about how horrible a 63-35 Halo win would be...

Yeah, it would be pretty horrible...so horrible that the percentages wouldn't even add up right afterwards.

;)
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SP2k4C : Winner - Chrono Trigger

*bump*
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 4098
I think I`m going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

Yep... Sam Fisher would take the remaining 2%, of course.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 015/019 --- Matches: 15/19 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: MGS

*SPIKE*
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MIASU! Boards Hunted: 4098
I think I`m going to mark this topic for being too intelligent for GameFAQs. -Tulidian

I'm voting for Starcraft even though I have Halo in my bracket. I just want a close match, I hope Starcraft wins but If Halo wins I want it to barely make it through this one.
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Proud Konami Fanboy since April 19th, 2004
Visit 1369! http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards/gentopic.asp?board=1369

Hmmm...but we got to still take in account the fact that Master Chief did NOT get pwned by Aeris. Halo is a strong game, and it should be able to make it out of round 1.
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Yes, Indeed.

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Holy Cross. Kansas struggled, and Holy Cross put on a good show, but Kansas was still able to pull out with a victory.
With teh help of a couple of awful calls.
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"Yes, yes, yes….the black wind howls…wails…blows…….does a somersault….whatever" ~MMXcalibur

Ulti...there is absolutely nothing I can argue with in that analysis. Nothing left out, nothing not said with enough emphasis...it's just perfect. Absolutely ****ing perfect. That is the best post I have ever read anywhere, ever. I don't know words that can describe the beauty of what you wrote. It was as touching as a post on video games could ever aspire to be.

Okay, now that the touchy-feely crap is over with, damn you! I was looking forward to ripping your analysis apart, but noooo, you have to write as if you tore the thoughts out of my mind -- no, my very soul -- and then go about making them articulate! I curse your perfection!
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 18/19, Next Winner: Metal Gear Solid

If only I could quote all of that.

And I love you, too <3
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Ulti and Smitelf? what would MWIS think?
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I have good reasons for doing this, even if it means taking the lives of a million people.

Quote updated. Aeon Azuran of all people gets booted by smitelf from my profile. w00t to her.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

I actually said 63-35? Aww, hell.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

hmmm, someone doesn't seem to be a big fan of the x-box or Halo for that matter hehe.

Well, I don't see the 16 seed upsetting the number 1, why?
because my bracket says so, but also because Halo is the game for x-box, is it not, or at least from the hype I've heard anyway...
ok, also, there was a poll not too long ago, the do you know or have you ever played yada yada yada, and we have the largest votes being for No, I have never played one at all. Now granted, the yes's have a decent split among themselves, and I'm not quite sure what to make of the "used" to sections, does that mean you don't anymore? or you play it on a different console? But there is still 21,000+ that have never played an online game. However, in another poll we have 28,000+ who don't want an X-Box. hmmm, well that makes it more interesting. I don't know, can you really discredit the bracket voters? I guess we'll see, but not to rain of anyone's parade, I don't think even if Starcraft wins it will be that big a deal, because 1)KH can likely take the winner down, and 2) I don't know, barring the annoying people who make topics like "OMG x is losing to y" we're kind of ready for it, we know halo nor starcraft doesn't deserve their seeds, and I can't see the insanity approaching Mario/Crono level, but who other than them can?

but it was still a great review, and the day should prove to be exciting.
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Figure out the code, yay ^_^
wansoweyoirotniu

Damn you, Ulti. It's when people like you posts analyses like that (and yours was by far the best one) that make me lose every last bit of confidence in Halo winning this match.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if StarCraft won. Unfortunately though, I'd be putting that match right next to Phantasy Star vs. Contra under my "Why the **** didn't I listen to everyone?" section of my lost points.

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Holy Cross. Kansas struggled, and Holy Cross put on a good show, but Kansas was still able to pull out with a victory.
With teh help of a couple of awful calls.

Who cares? This isn't basketball. -______-

Back on topic..uh..yeah...nice..lengthy..review, Ulti. Wow..but,Halo will beat StarCraft. I don't care if it's 50.01%-49.99%, 60%, 65%, 66%...Halo's not gonna lose in the very first round. Why? Cause if it really got a No.1 seed, it's not that sucky.

Many people just didn`t feel like leaving the Xbox part of the form blank, so they put Halo in due to not being able to think of anything else. This allowed Halo to get a ton of nominations from people who hate the Xbox.

A No.1 seed is pretty good for people feeling bad...wait, you just presumed that! -_____- Anyways, like I was saying, a No.1 seed is pretty good for people feeling bad for a game system and just thinking "uh..what is there to nominate for Xbox..uh..Halo? Oh..I'll just nominate it to show pity for the Xbox...:-)"

That's a lotta XBox fans. That's a lotta anti-Xbox fans..no wait, you presumed that too?! I hate when people presume other people's opinions! Dude, what the [ ] makes you think that first, people hate the XBox, but would then nominate a game for it? You're..you're...acting like smitelf! *gasps in horror* Yeah, please answer.

Apart from that..yeah..pretty good review. :-)

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Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions. - Tai.

This was teh excellent. Nice work, gentlemen. And, if one of you is a woman, nice work, gentlemen.
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Hylian Knight
Baritone Saxophone in the SpC2K4 Band

I wasn`t presuming anything. I based those opinions purely off of the bimonthly Xbox polls in which the majority of people didn`t want to own or care about the Xbox.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

*serve*
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Ulti has brought LIFE into my topic! YAY!
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MGS vs. RE - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (16/19)

Brilliant analysis Ulti.

Though, while it would be incredibly poetic for Starcraft to win by one vote, I seriously doubt percentages will be that close in a match between games with unknown popularity on this site (in one case) and unknown amounts of hatred (in the other). A 60-40 for Starcraft would not totally surprise me, nor would a 55-45 for Halo (though, Halo winning 65-35 I would be shocked by; the X-Box hater base may be as high as 40% by my analysis).
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision

Thanks, metroid :)
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

I know it doesn't mean much, but look at this poll hosted by the World Cyber Games:

http://www.worldcybergames.com/funstuff/b61_poll_result.asp?poll_idx=14

Starcraft owns Halo (and every other game on the list) hardcore...

LordOfDabu
A legend beyond all ages.

And you also forgot that Warcraft 3 also beat Halo in that poll. Even Counterstrike beat Halo in that poll.

Heh, this is going to be damned good.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Xbox Haters = Blind Nintendites and Ignorant Sonyphiles
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SC2K4: 21/24! Read my Satirical Contest Commentary!
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

Ulti...there is absolutely nothing I can argue with in that analysis. Nothing left out, nothing not said with enough emphasis...it's just perfect. Absolutely ****ing perfect. That is the best post I have ever read anywhere, ever. I don't know words that can describe the beauty of what you wrote. It was as touching as a post on video games could ever aspire to be.

Okay, now that the touchy-feely crap is over with, damn you! I was looking forward to ripping your analysis apart, but noooo, you have to write as if you tore the thoughts out of my mind -- no, my very soul -- and then go about making them articulate! I curse your perfection!

I agree its the best for this match I have yet seen...but Its only the best til my humorous mockery filled take on this overblown match comes...and it all comes Monday :)

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SC2K4: 21/24! Read my Satirical Contest Commentary!
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

HA! But will your commentary cause smitelf to have orgasms? I think not =)

<3

And toi be serious, you`ve been doing a nice job with that commentary of yours.

*steals steve`s voice and runs like a scurrd little *****!

There, now you can`t speak! OHO!
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Why thank ya :) Appreciate your kind comments Ulti. And that analysis was LONG...and GOOD...and made me laugh. Not many can do that. I can tell which side of it you are on! :)

Orgasms? Well...that is a tough act to follow...but I will certainly try to 'pleasure' her in that regard, as u apparently did! :)
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SC2K4: 21/24! Read my Satirical Contest Commentary!
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

Ah, nice one Ulti. ^-^, I had a similar logic although I didn't dig too much into it when I chose it to upset Halo.
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The Reaper is always a step behind you ncr...
Go Habs Go! Current Status: 0-0 vs Tampa Bay

Heh, thanks guys. I`m glad the old vets like it ~_^
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Metal Gear Solid..70.62%
Resident Evil.....29.38%

MGS wins by a nice margin and Ulti gets the closest guess. Did you expect something different?
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
PD vs. SotN - Bracket: PD - Vote: PD (17/20)

Perfect Dark......................................46.82%
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night....53.18%

After a very hectic day yesterday, SotN is able to get the victory. Dp predicted this match the closest.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Goldeneye vs. PDS - Bracket: GE - Vote: GE (17/21)

Up we go.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

*orgasms over Ultis Halo and Starcraft analysis*
LOL, just kidding....
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What even is NiGHTS into dreams anyway? I pick the game I have heard of to win. Level 1: Fluff Bunny (130 points)

Goldeneye.................80.81%
Panzer Dragoon Saga....19.19%

GE wins by a good amount, and I got the closest pick. Go me!
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. Nid- Bracket: SM64 - Vote: SM64 (18/22)

Xbox Haters = Blind Nintendites and Ignorant Sonyphiles

Don't forget the Brainless Squareheads. :-)


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Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

Round 1: Match 26 - (8)Soul Calibur vs. (9)Kingdom Hearts

Moltar Analysis

The calm after the storm…

First up we have Soul Calibur. A fighting game in which two characters fought it out on a stage with weapons of sorts. What were they all fighting for? The Soul Calibur. A weapon of indescribable power…However, probably many others, and I had not known about the series before Soul Calibur 2, which came out for the big 3 systems. PS2, GCN and Xbox. SC only came out for Dreamcast, but don’t let that fool you. It still has a pretty decent fanbase.

Now we have it’s opponent, Kingdom Hearts. Now, you might be wondering how some Disney game even got in the tourney. I mean, Disney…Mickey Mouse, Goofy…those characters get in the Best. Game. Ever. Contest. Well, just take them, throw in some FF cameos and OMG, You’re Winner! This is the same Kingdom Hearts game that many believe we’re the reason for the Finals last year, Cloud vs. Sephiroth.

Well, this match is the easiest 8 vs 9 match to call IMO. KH is a very popular game, and SC has about half to 3/4ths of it popularity. KH is also an RPG, and we know the saying about RPGs at GameFAQs…

Moltar’s Bracket Says: KH will win

Moltar’s Prediction: KH 60% - SC 40%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/225874



Dp's Analysis

This is another example of bad seeding due to the nomination process. The only reason why Soul Calibur II has a higher seed than Kingdom Hearts is because Kingdom Hearts could only get the Playstation 2 vote, while Soul Calibur II could've have been filled in to any of the three major systems. So don't let the fact that Soul Calibur II is the 8-seed and Kingdom Hearts is the 9-seed fool you.

What? Oh, wait a minute, that's right. This is the original Soul Calibur, not Soul Calibur II! Well, analysis over I guess. I would've went on about Soul Calibur II being a fighting game, Kingdom Hearts being a great RPG, blah blah blah.....But we're talking about the original Soul Calibur here, which is even less popular than the sequel! Soul Calibur II wouldn't have been able to beat Kingdom Hearts anyway. Looks like we have another Pokemon G/S/C vs. Xenogears here, only with less analyzing needed. Soul Calibur is over seeded. First of all, I don't even know how it got in instead of Soul Calibur II. You can't put Cloud, Sephiroth, and a bunch of other Final Fantasy characters along with Sora and a bunch of Disney characters in the same game and not expect it to do well.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Kingdom Hearts

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Kingdom Hearts over Soul Calibur 62%-38%



Ulti's Analysis

Thankfully, the SMRPG match has already shown us who will win this match. If SMRPG > Street Fighter 2, then Kingdom Hearts should have no problems wiping the floor with Soul Calibur.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Kingdom Hearts

Ulti`s Prediction: Kingdom Hearts wins, 57.65%-42.35%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. Nid- Bracket: SM64 - Vote: SM64 (18/22)

Round 1: Match 27 - (5)Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker vs. (12)Skies of Arcadia

Moltar's Analysis

Here is the advanced calm after the calm.

Wind Waker…didn’t this game win Game of the Year one year? I don’t remember. If it didn’t, it deserves one. It was a beautiful game in which you, the main character, follow in the footsteps on Link. And wait…here’s the awesome part…you do it in a BOAT! There’s more, the boat…has a NAME…The King of the Red Lions. Most of the game is sailing throughout the islands doing quests. Sounds boring, but it’s worth it to get to those dungeons. And the final boss fight with Ganondorf…yummy.

Skies of Arcadia, an RPG released on the Dreamcast………..*crickets chirp*………. *person coughs*.

Well, it pretty obvious what’s going to happen in this match, a massacre.

Moltar’s Bracket says: Wind Waker will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: WW 85% - SoA 15%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/226079



Dp's Analysis

Here we have Wind Waker vs. Skies of Arcadia. Or, more simply, a Legend of Zelda game vs. a Dreamcast title. Yeah, another easy analysis here. Look, we can all agree that no Legend of Zelda game will lose in the first round. The series is just too dominant. And we can also agree that Sega games, with the obvious exception of Sonic the Hedgehog, are getting no love. So, tell me, why should this match be any different?

If anything, an argument can be brought up that Skies of Arcadia was an RPG, and Skies of Arcadia Legends was later released on GameCube. Well, that might be enough to get it a few extra votes. But nothing to make it even a close match against Wind Waker.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Wind Waker of Skies of Arcadia 83%-17%



Ulti's Analysis

The Wind Waker in no way, shape or form can lose this match.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Wind Waker

Ulti`s Prediction: Wind Waker wins, 81.45%-18.55%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. Nid- Bracket: SM64 - Vote: SM64 (18/22)

Bump

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

*set*
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Super Mario 64..........84.83%
NiGHTS into dreams......15.17%

SM64 wins and I get the second closest pick in a row. I'm scared...
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
OoT vs. Fallout 2- Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (19/23)

YAY MOLTAR!!
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

I feel that this topic deserves a bump now more than any other time.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

bumpity bump
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complete manifest

*ahem*
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

*ahem*

Somebody's actively begging for some positive reinforcement.

What? Did daddy not love you enough?
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

No, I was bumping the topic so that phil could find it easily.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Hi.

*waves*
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There's such a long way that we came, still got a long way we're going.
We're never going to be the same. We carry no regret.

Somebody's actively begging for some positive reinforcement.

What? Did daddy not love you enough?

the sweet, rampant, and juicy irony....
---
There's such a long way that we came, still got a long way we're going.
We're never going to be the same. We carry no regret.

No, I was bumping the topic so that phil could find it easily.

Oh :P

However, I still maintain your daddy didn't love you enough :-)
---
Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

phil, don`t even think about it ~_^ That`s personal.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

However, I still maintain your daddy didn't love you enough

~

phil, don`t even think about it

......please?

---
There's such a long way that we came, still got a long way we're going.
We're never going to be the same. We carry no regret.

phil, don`t even think about it ~_^ That`s personal.

Whoa...I hope I didn't accidentally hit on some touchy subject O_O
---
Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
SC2K4.com

Um, NO. That`s not even something to joke about, and if you actually post it, all communications are off.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Oh, not at all.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Trust me, I love Ulti plenty.

>_>
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There's such a long way that we came, still got a long way we're going.
We're never going to be the same. We carry no regret.

Even after me having not been social on the FFTSB in months? Aww, how sweet.

And look, if Starcraft wins, I will have been the only one to even get the match right. Omgyay2mi.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

But Starcraft isn't winning now. Omgboo2u.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time..86.31%
Fallout 2........................................13.69%

OoT wins and Dp gets the closest prediction. Congrats.

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Halo vs. Starcraft - Bracket: Halo - Vote: Halo (20/24)

It was for quite some time, and it took everyone Halo has to get this lead. It`s not over yet.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Round 1: Match 28 - (4)Metroid Prime vs. (13)Half-Life

Moltar's Analysis

After Halo/Starcraft today, the rest of this round is going to be a snorefest.

Metroid Prime, a game I KNOW won Game of the Year in 2002 (I hope). Another installment in the Metroid series, this game is looked upon as one of the best. The main character we saw before in action in Metroid. It moved on to Round 2, and Prime will most likely follow. In this game, Samus, the main character, loses all her power-ups (again) and you have to travel to different parts of the world and get them back. This game has beautiful graphics, excellent gameplay, and awesome bosses. I love it. ^_^

Hey, it’s Half-Life. Isn’t our lovable loser Gordon Freeman in this. Heh. I think Ceej puts him in these Contests just to see him lose…

If you are trying to win, then I hope you put Metroid Prime as the winner in your bracket. Cause if you didn’t</cheap Homer Simpson imitation>

Moltar’s Bracket Says: MP will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: MP 81% - HL 19%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/226521



Dp's Analysis

Half-Life is another one of those decent games that just doesn't get the respect that it deserves on GameFAQs. Unfortunately for it, it is up against the mighty Samus and one of her games, Metroid Prime. We all know of Samus' popularity here. And we all know of Half-Life's lack of popularity here. So this should be a fairly easy match to predict the winner of.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Metroid Prime

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Metroid Prime over Half-Life 79%-21%



Ulti's Analysis

Well well, if it isn`t our unloveable loser, Gordon Freeman. All this match is going to prove is how big a joke Gamespy`s contest was. That`s it.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Metroid Prime

Ulti`s Prediction: Metroid Prime wins, 76.66%-23.34%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Halo vs. Starcraft - Bracket: Halo - Vote: Halo (20/24)

Moltar:
Hey, it’s Half-Life. Isn’t our lovable loser Gordon Freeman in this.

Ulti:
Well well, if it isn`t our unloveable loser, Gordon Freeman.

Heh.....

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Ulti's been drinkin' the hateorade. =P
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Halo vs. Starcraft - Bracket: Halo - Vote: Halo (20/24)

I think this topic deserves a bump about now.

Starcraft > j00
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

But Starcraft isn't winning now. Omgboo2u.

Oh, really? Hmm, let`s see here... *points to the final results*
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

I will laugh my ass off if Half-Life wins that match. SC`s performance today shows me that this entire division is the most unpredictable we`ve ever had.
---
Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

...

Halo: Combat Evolved..49.83%
Starcraft...............50.17%

In 2002, it was Sonic vs. Samus
In 2003, it was Mario vs. Crono
In 2004, it is Halo vs. Starcraft

Early the match favored Starcraft, then Halo took the lead and lead for most of the day. Then night kicked in, and so did the SC voters. Starcraft was able to pull off the upset of the century here. Ulti is the only one to see this one coming. As for my bracket...as of now, I have no bracket. ;_;
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. KH - Bracket: KH - Vote: SC (20/25)

Round 1: Match 29 - (6) Final Fantasy Tactics Advance vs. (11) Fire Emblem

Moltar's Analysis

Now we have FFTA vs. Fire Emblem. Here we go!

We have already seen FFT in action earlier in the tournament, putting up decent numbers against DDR. I think FFTA can do the same.

Now onto Fire Emblem. Most people were introduced to Fire Emblem not through the game, but the characters, Marth and Roy, in SSB:M. Now it’s on the GBA.

Bleh, I don’t really feel like writing today. I haven’t played either game, don’t know too much about either and GameFAQs is a mess right now. Really bringing me down.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FFTA will win

Moltar’s prediction is: FFTA 64% - FE 36%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/226755



Dp's Analysis

Final Fantasy is definitely a very dominant series. If you had to pick out a weak point though, it would be Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Does this mean we have a chance at a Final Fantasy game being upset?

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is, as the name would suggest, a GameBoy Advance game, so that may hurt it. However, the Fire Emblem it finds itself against is also a GameBoy Advance game. Well, that erases that advantage that it could have had. So now you have to look at the series as a whole, because fans of other games in the series will be voting for their respective games. What do we find? Final Fantasy vs. Fire Emblem.

Well, that certainly doesn’t look too good for Fire Emblem. Looks like Final Fantasy will have 6 out of 6 advance to the second round. Fire Emblem fans should be able to give it somewhat of a respectable number though. If anything, Final Fantasy haters will know that at least one of them won’t make it to the Sweet 16. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is looking at a second round match up against Final Fantasy X.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance over Fire Emblem 76%-24%



Ulti's Analysis

There are more first round joke matches than in any other contest we`ve had on this site. Fire Emblem deserves to win, but sadly, it won`t. It won`t be a huge blowout, though.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: FFTA

Ulti`s Prediction: FFTA wins, 63.89%-36.11%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. KH - Bracket: KH - Vote: SC (20/25)

Soul Calibur.......49.4%
Kingdom Hearts...50.6%

Wow, few expected it to be this close, and even less expected Soul Calibur to be leading most of the day. KH/SC in Round 2 is looking quite unpredictible now... Ulti got the closest guess.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
WW vs. SoA - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (21/26)

Round 1: Match 30 - (3)Final Fantasy X vs. (14) Shenmue

Moltar's Analysis

Well, another Final Fantasy vs. Other Game matchup. This time, the Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy X. It was released on the PS2 and it was so popular, it spawned a sequel, FFX-2. I didn’t see FF7 do something like that…Last Summer Contest, we saw FFX star, Tidus, who was 5th seeded, get upset by Ganondorf. However, it was a close match, with both gaining more than 57,000 votes. Will the game meet the same fate?

Now onto Shenmue…how about no.

Sorry to all the Shenmue fans, but I’m not going to waste my time on an analysis for it. I haven’t played it and barely heard of it. I have played FFX though and it is a very popular game. See how I work? Lots of popularity + favorite to win + not obvious match = analysis for you. (Soon your going to see me pulling an Ulti analysis…lol)

Moltar’s Bracket Says: FFX will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: FFX 80% - Shenmue 20%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/227054



Dp's Analysis

For the second time in this contest’s first round, we will have two matches in a row featuring a Final Fantasy game. Just like the first time, both should be coming out on top and advancing to the 2nd round.

As if the fact that Shenmue is a Dreamcast game wasn’t holding it back enough. It finds itself against Final Fantasy X. We all saw how Gunstar Heroes performed against the other superstar series, Legend of Zelda. And Gunstar Heroes was supposed to be one of the top Sega games. You can only expect a similar beating for Shenmue, probably worse. Gunstar Heroes was only able to get 8.85% against Link to the Past. I’ll round it down for this match.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Final Fantasy X

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Final Fantasy X over Shenmue 92%-8%



Ulti's Analysis

Another match, another easy call. Just ignore me. I`m saving my strength for the matches that actually stir up debates ^_^

Ulti`s Bracket Says: FFX

Ulti`s Prediction: FFX wins, 83.23%-16.77%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
WW vs. SoA - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (21/26)

Well, calmness has returned to the topic...

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker...74.71%
Skies of Arcadia...........................25.29%

Again proving ths is the most unpredictible division, WW under-performs. We all over-predicted it, but Ulti had the lowest percentage.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MP vs. HL - Bracket: MP - Vote: MP (22/27)

Round 1: Match 31 - (7)Grand Theft Auto: Vice City vs. (10)Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Moltar's Analysis

AND I RUN! I RUN SO FAR AWAY!

Remember that song? Not when it first came out, but when it was on the commercial for GTA:VC? I do. Vice City scored a 7-seed in this tourney. Vercetti scored a 3 in the Summer Contest. Vercetti went on to lose to the 2nd seeded Megaman in the Sweet 16. Keep this in mind.

Now onto a Star Wars game released on the Xbox. Uh-oh, I said the X-word. Unlike Halo, KOTOR is not widely hated at GameFAQs, and actually stands a chance of upsetting Vice City. I have KOTOR and it is a very fun game. Best Star Wars game I’ve played, except for the stupid battle system.

Remember when I said Vercetti lost to the 2 seed earlier, I foresee the same fate for Vice City. However, anything can happen in this division.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: VC will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: VC 56% - KOTOR 44%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/227334



Dp's Analysis

It’s the battle of the long-named games! I guess we could just shorten them to GTA:VC and KOTOR, respectively.

Earlier, I thought that Vice City would win easily. But upon thinking about it more, KOTOR might make this match interesting. KOTOR was one of the more popular X-Box titles. Vice City also made an appearance on X-Box; however, that was being bundled with Grand Theft Auto 3 after the series became a huge success on the Playstation 2. Advantage: GTA:VC. However, Star Wars is pretty popular outside the gaming world, especially with the new trilogy that KOTOR is from. That may even the score a little bit. Another factor is that the Grand Theft Auto series has its group of haters because of the whole point of the game. Are we seeing a possibility for an upset yet?

With that in mind, we turn our attentions to the Nintendo fans. Let’s look at the series as a whole. The Grand Theft Auto series got all its glory from the Sony side of gaming. It has never appeared on a Nintendo system, and has only recently been re-released on X-Box. Star Wars has had games all over the place, spreading throughout the years, including many on Nintendo systems. So that means that Star Wars may have the Nintendo vote.

So far, this analysis would probably point to a slight advantage for KOTOR. But this analysis isn’t over yet. This is a best game tournament. I know that it’s mostly popularity, but the affects that these games had will matter. Those who like Vice City and KOTOR equally will probably vote for Vice City. KOTOR is just another Star Wars game, while the Grand Theft Auto series is part of a very small specific genre of games (True Crimes: Streets of LA is the only other big one that I can think of that would be in it), which fans give a lot of credit for it. Also, for Vice City’s final push to win this match, we look to the pure bracket voters. I’m sure the majority has Vice City in their brackets, and those whose votes will be determined by their brackets will be voting for it. I think this will be closer than most people think (especially with the way that this division has gone so far).

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: GTA: Vice City over Star Wars: KOTOR 54%-46%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MP vs. HL - Bracket: MP - Vote: MP (22/27)

Ulti's Analysis

See, now here`s a match that at least looks like it could cause some problems to a lot of people. However, there are two things that overwhelmingly favor Vice City in this matchup. First of all, Vercetti`s performance last year and Vice City`s performance in this match will not be the same. There was simply no way for someone to see the name “Vercetti” and automatically pinpoint it to Grand Theft Auto if they`ve never played a single game in the series. The other thing is that Vice City almost beat KOTOR in a “Best PC Game for 2003” poll (poll 1487, if you`re curious). And that`s just the PC vote right there. Add in the PS2 vote, and KOTOR stands little chance in this match. Another lovely little tell is poll 1130 in which Vice City beat Kingdom Hearts. Would KOTOR beat Kingdom Hearts? I think not. Simply adding the polls together tells you who is going to win this match.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Vice City

Ulti`s Prediction: Vice City wins, 54.39%-45.61%. Close, but KOTOR shouldn`t be able to win.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
MP vs. HL - Bracket: MP - Vote: MP (22/27)

Metroid Prime...56.16%
Half-Life........43.84%

What did we learn from this match? Gordon Freeman =/= Half-Life. We all thought it was going to be a blow-out, but we were wrong. Ulti has the closest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFTA vs. FE - Bracket: FFTA - Vote: FFTA (23/28)

I'm surprised you guys think VC vs. KOTOR match will be so close. I wish it would be so close...*sigh*...but I think you've all been too jaded by the recent close matches. We're talking about one of the most popular PS2 games against...what? A semi-popular Xbox game? You saw how Halo did. KOTOR is nowhere near as popular as Halo, to my dismay.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 27/28, Next Winner: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

smitelf, we usually write our prediction days in advance.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Round 1: Match 32 - (2)Super Smash Bros. Melee vs. (15)Metal Gear Solid 2

Moltar's Analysis

The final match of Round 1, and if you listen closely, you’ll hear my bracket cheering.

First up is the 2 seeded Super Smash Bros: Melee, one of the greatest games on the Gamecube. Almost every Cube owner has a copy, cause it’s that good. SSB:M is a fighting game in which many Nintendo characters duke it out on a stage. The stages are places from Nintendo videogames. The single player mode is alright, but if you have a couple of friends over, some food and beverages, and some hot girls who like videogames, the multi-player mode will keep you all up all night. Now, I would take a look at the characters in the match, but need I really analyze for Mario, Luigi, DK, Link, Samus, Pikachu, Fox, Ganondorf, Yoshi, Bowser, Kirby, and Zelda. That’s like half the characters in the game man!

Next is the underseeded, IMO, Metal Gear Solid 2. I have never played Sons of Liberty, but I own Substance. It is possibly my favorite Xbox game. In the game, you were Snake. Mission: Stop Metal Gear. Nex…wait…what is that? You were not Snake? BLASPHEMY! I’ll go double check right now.

…

Excuse me, you were Raiden, who ironically lost to Snake last year in the Summer Contest. Raiden is the cutie boy who gets naked in the game. And remember the part with Colonel and the Codec later. Good times. And that Emma…always getting into trouble. Good times.

This will be a close one folks, but after a 1 vs 16 loss already, I can’t afford a 2 vs 15 loss. My money is on SSB:M here. It will get the Nintendo vote, which is pretty big. Also, if a person has a character from the game that they like alot, they’ll probably vote for SSB:M. MG also has a pretty big fanbase. It will be close.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: SSB:M will win.

Moltar’s Prediction: SSB:M 55% - MGS2 45%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/227451



Dp's Analysis

Here we have another match that should be interesting. Most people see a 2-seeded Super Smash Bros. Melee against a 15-seeded Metal Gear Solid 2, and think it’s a lock for SSBM. Yes, you could argue that Metal Gear Solid is a much better game than Metal Gear Solid 2. But I just don’t see why the popularity won’t be much different. If you are a Metal Gear Solid fan, chances are you’ll be voting for Metal Gear Solid 2.

We already saw the 16 take out the 1; can we see the 15 take out the 2 as well? This whole division is a
toss up, so anything can happen. But will this upset happen? Like I said, Metal Gear Solid 2 should get a
lot of votes coming in from the Metal Gear Solid fans. But others are going to realize that Metal Gear Solid 2 isn’t on the level that Metal Gear Solid is on, and unless they’re diehard Metal Gear Solid fans, they might give their vote to Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Super Smash Bros. Melee is GameCube’s Halo. Chances are high that if you have a GameCube, you have Super Smash Bros. Melee. And chances are high that if you have Super Smash Bros. Melee, you love it. Either for the addictively fun fighting style, or the wide variety of Nintendo characters. Or both. Either way, Super Smash Bros. Melee is a great game, and I think it will pull through in this match. But I think Metal Gear Solid 2 can make it surprisingly close. On to Round 2!

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Super Smash Bros. Melee

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Super Smash Bros. Melee over Metal Gear Solid 2 59%-41%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFTA vs. FE - Bracket: FFTA - Vote: FFTA (23/28)

Ulti's Analysis

I absolutely hate this match. They are my two favorite games on their respective systems, yet they they`re going at it in the first round because of MGS2 being vastly underseeded. This sucks, because MGS2 could cause serious damage in the 128 division if it was somewhere else.

But that being said, not everyone that owns a PS2 owns MGS2. And not everyone that played MGS2 even liked the game because of it being Metal Gear Raiden. But still, I liked it, and if you try to convince me otherwise, I`ll care less. MGS2 is a guilty pleasure of mine.

But on the flipside, it is pure sacriledge to not own SSBM if you own a Gamecube. Even today, the game is popular all over the place, and the SSBM board has remained one of the largest gaming board on the site despite its age. And MGS2 may be my guilty pleasure, but SSBM simply causes orgasms by looking at me, and I have returned the favor by playing with it MANY MANY times over the past few years.

</sexual innuendo>

So yes, SSBM will win. Not with ease, but it will win. And trust me, I hate the fact that one of my two favorites is getting bumped out like this.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: SSBM

Ulti`s Prediction: SSBM wins, 56.34%-43.66%. Closer than some may think, and the debates about SSBM`s chances of winning the division will be raging after this match.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFTA vs. FE - Bracket: FFTA - Vote: FFTA (23/28)

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance..66.36%
Fire Emblem..........................33.64%

FFTA wins by a 2:1 split and i make a scarlily close prediction. YAY!
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX - Shenmue Bracket: FFX - Vote: FFX (24/29)

Final Fantasy X.......74.48%
Shenmue...............25.52%

FFX somewhat underperforms against Shenmue and I get the closest prediction again.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
VC vs. KOTOR- Bracket: VC - Vote: KOTOR (25/30)

'Somewhat' underperforms. SSBM will kill it if it doesn`t turn things around.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Round 2: Match 33 - (1)Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. (8)Metroid

Moltar's Analysis

First match of Round 2, let’s get started!

Super Mario Bros. 3:
Round 1 - vs. Metal Gear (SMB3 82.3% - Metal Gear 17.7%)

Well, it put up pretty nice number of votes against Metal Gear. This round should prove as no problem for Super Mario Bros. 3.

Metroid:
Round 1 – vs. Pac-Man (Metroid 68.51% - Pac-Man 31.49%)

Many people smelt an upset here. “Metroid can’t beat a classic like Pac-Man.” What happened? Metroid beat Pac-Man, pretty bad too. Most people thought it would be within 60-40.

Hope you all like the new format of my analysis’s. SMB3 is a favorite to win this tournament. However, Metroid showed in Round 1 that it is not a game to be taken lightly. SMB3 wants to come out of this match looking strong going into the Sweet 16. If SMB3 can not break 70-30 against Metroid, big problems await it in the future rounds.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SMB3 will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: SMB3 76% - Metroid 24%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/227889



Dp's Analysis

Okay, let's take a look at my bracket. Here we have Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Pac-Man. Now, Pac-Man is a great old game, but it's nothing compared to Super Mario Bros. 3. Pac-Man stands no chance, as Super Mario Bros. 3 will easily stomp all over it.

Oh wait, that's right. Metroid dealt me the first of my losses. Sigh, oh well. Let's try this again.

Here we have Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Metroid. Now, Metroid isn't a great old game, and it's definitely nothing compared to Super Mario Bros. 3. Metroid stands no chance, as Super Mario Bros. 3 will easily stomp all over it. Since both games are Nintendo, the vote won't be divided between systems, so Metroid is going to really struggle to find votes.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Super Mario Bros. 3

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Super Mario Bros. 3 over Metroid 76%-24%



Ulti's Analysis

Do easy analyses make the Ulti cry?

Yes, yes they do. This match is all how about how much Mario 3 wins by. People even thought that Pac Man could take down Metroid. Pac Man! And now it`s supposed to take on Mario 3? The only thing of note in this match is that we have a new layout for the match pic. Character portraits from the game they starred in, baby! Woohoo!

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Mario 3

Ulti`s Predication: Mario 3 wins, 72.94%-27.06%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
VC vs. KOTOR- Bracket: VC - Vote: KOTOR (25/30)

Round 2: Match 34 - (12)Contra vs. (4)Final Fantasy

Moltar's Analysis

Contra:
Round 1 - vs. Phantasy Star (Phantasy Star 38.98% - Contra 61.02%)

First upset of the contest and man it was a big one. Contra beats a 5 seed by more than 60-40. Ouch.

Final Fantasy:
Round 1 – vs. Pitfall (Final Fantasy 87.64% - Pitfall 12.36%)

Final Fantasy easily destroys Pitfall with an extremely high percentage. Who didn’t see this coming?

Not too much to say about this match. Final Fantasy is moving on to Round 3 to face most likely SMB3. FF will have to look very strong in this match to show us that it may be able to upset the 1-seeded SMB3. By very strong, I mean 80 percent of the votes. If it can somehow reach that, then you all can begin to worry about SMB3’s chances.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FF will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: Contra 30% - FF 70%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/228095



Dp's Analysis

Here we see the 2nd of my losses, with Contra beating Phantasy Star. Now, it faces Final Fantasy. Contra had a nice upset victory over the 5th-seeded Phantasy Star. However, the difference between the 5th-seeded Phantasy Star and the 4th-seeded Final Fantasy are huge. The 4th-seeded game is spelled "Fantasy" rather than "Phantasy," and it also has the extra word "Final" in front of it. Also, Final Fantasy was an NES game; Phantasy Star was on the Sega Master System. Sorry Contra fans, but one upset is all it has.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy over Contra 64%-36%



Ulti's Analysis

Do easy analyses make the Ulti cry?

Yes, yes they do.

Ulti`s bracket says: Final Fantasy

Ulti`s Prediction: Final Fantasy Wins, 77.77%-22.23%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
VC vs. KOTOR- Bracket: VC - Vote: KOTOR (25/30)

Anyone got any comments, suggestions, etc.?
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
VC vs. KOTOR- Bracket: VC - Vote: KOTOR (25/30)

Guess not...

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.......................60.32%
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.......39.68%

VC performs well in the match and I get my third closest prediction in a row. Everything is looking good.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SSBM vs. MGS2- Bracket: SSBM - Vote: SSBM (26/31)

Cat, I`m a kitty cat. And I dance dance dance, I dance dance dance.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Round 2: Match 35 - (6)Donkey Kong vs. (3)Legend of Zelda

Moltar's Analysis

Donkey Kong:
Round 1 - vs. Duck Hunt (Donkey Kong 50.07% - Duck Hunt 49.93%)

The closest match of the 1st round was Donkey Kong vs. Duck Hunt. DK barely pulled through here.

Legend of Zelda:
Round 1 – vs. Adventure (The Legend of Zelda 95.2% - Adventure 4.8%)

Look at the percentages for this match. Nothing else to say. I think there are more girls going to GameFAQs than people that voted for Adventure.

The winner of the closest match so far faces the winner of the biggest blowout so far. Interesting. Now, Donkey Kong first round opponent was a toughie. Duck Hunt just had a bad seed. Put somewhere else in this division, it could have had some impact. Even though Duck Hunt is strong, LoZ makes it look like a walk in the park. DK has no chance of toppling LoZ. What Legend of Zelda needs to worry about is it’s next round match against either Pong or Tetris. Both of these games stand a chance against LoZ, Tetris having the bigger advantage. LoZ needs to put up decent numbers this round to look to move on past next round. LoZ will have to score at least 5% better than the winner of Tetris/Pong to stand a chance, IMO.

Moltar’s Bracket says: LoZ will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: DK 31% - LoZ 69%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/228368



Dp's Analysis

Let's compare first round matches here. In the most exciting finish of the contest, Donkey Kong nearly lost to Duck Hunt, only winning by 143 votes. Incredibly, The Legend of Zelda was able to get a contest-record 95.2% of the votes in its match against Pitfall. Now you can argue that Pitfall is a very weak game. However, 95.2% is just unbelievable.

Now let's compare previous character battles. Link has proven to be the most popular character. In 2002, he won the whole thing. Last year, he was beaten in the semi-finals to the future champion Cloud. There's no denying Link's strength. Last year, Donkey Kong had a disappointing 2nd round loss to Tommy Vercetti. Donkey Kong underachieves, while Link has shown greatness.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: The Legend of Zelda

DpObliVion's Prediction is: The Legend of Zelda over Donkey Kong 72%-28%



Ulti's Analysis

Do easy analyses….?

Okay, you get the point. Nothing of note here. Link scores another blowout en route to the showdown with Mario 3.

By the way: http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=988

Expect a similar beating, though it`s very possible it could actually be worse. Same Fanbase Factor, you know.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Zelda 1

Ulti`s Prediction: Zelda 1 wins, 81.98%-18.02%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SSBM vs. MGS2- Bracket: SSBM - Vote: SSBM (26/31)

Bump

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Super Smash Bros. Melee.....56.72%
Metal Gear Solid 2.................43.28%

SSBM wins in a close match with MGS2. The important thing though, is that Ulti was a mere .38% from predicting the match perfectly. Big congrats to him.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. Metroid- Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (27/32)

Round 2: Match 36 - (7)Pong vs. (2)Tetris

Moltar's Analysis

Pong:
Round 1 - vs. River City Ransom (Pong 68.01% - River City Ransom 31.99%)

Pong performs well against RCR. I can still hear the RCR fans crying themselves to sleep.

Tetris:
Round 1 – vs. Galaga (Tetris 78.25% - Galaga...21.75%)

Tetris also puts up a decent showing against Galaga. Now to get inside the match.

A 68/32 split is a pretty good showing for a 7 vs. 10 seed match. 78/32 for a 2 vs. 15 seed match though is a bit low. BUT, you must ignore that in this match. If RCR and Galaga went up one on one, I would put my money on Galaga winning. RCR is a cult favorite while Galaga is very-well known. I am putting my money on Tetris in this match. Should not be too much for it. If Tetris wins this match, it has a really tough bout coming up with LoZ next round. I have faith in Tetris winning, but it is looking to be extremely close.

Hopefully in this match, Tetris can prove to me and all the other doubters that it can take on LoZ next round. As I said for the LoZ/DK analysis, Tetris needs to score as well as LoZ to make itself look decent in its next round match. The better Tetris performs in this match, the better its chances are next round.

By the way, I am really looking forward to the match picture for this match. ;)

Moltar’s Bracket says: Tetris will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: Pong 22% - Tetris 78%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/228481



Dp's Analysis

Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth some more. That's the game of Pong in a nutshell.

Move. Flip. Drop. Move. Flip. Drop again. Fill in lines. That's the game of Tetris in a nutshell.

So, which one will win this match? It's the battle of the Left Pong Paddle vs. The "L" Block! Well, Pong is the simplest of games. But it is also the first really popular game. It has the nostalgia factor. Many people love it just because of that. But there really isn't much to it. There's not a whole lot to Tetris either, but it is quite a bit more complex in comparison. Arguably the greatest puzzle game of all time, Tetris has had a very slow decline of popularity over time. People loved it back in the day, and they still love it.

The problem for Pong here is that most of the reasons that people would vote for it are also true for Tetris. Pong's going to have to rely on the mighty fanboys, and there just aren't enough of them. Pong is just too simple of a game to push past Tetris. Most people would consider Pong lucky for getting past River City Ransom because of its obscurity. However, Tetris does not have this obscurity. 99% of the people that know Pong know Tetris. Tetris is the much more complex game, and the better game. Tetris will win.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Tetris

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Tetris over Pong 76%-24%



Ulti's Analysis

Pong vs Tetris

There are people on the board who think that Pong stands a chance here because of its amazing showing against River City Ransom paired with Tetris now performing up to standard against Galaga. People also forget just how good and well-known a game Galaga is.

I don`t see what the possible hype is about. Tetris has the honor of being the game to get killed by Zelda 1.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Tetris

Ulti`s Prediction: Tetris wins, 65.00%-35.00%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. Metroid- Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (27/32)

Tetris has the honor of being the game to get killed by Zelda 1.

...excuse me?
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This is the alternate account of swirldude.

Super Mario Bros. 3...78.04%
Metroid.................21.96%

Ahh, good seeing a blowout again. SMB3 puts up an excellent performance against Metroid. Me and Dp got the closest predictions.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. Metroid- Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (27/32)

Contra..............29.95%
Final Fantasy.......70.05%

FF easily squashes Contra and I was only .05 from calling the match perfectly. Nice guess, eh?
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
DK vs. LoZ - Bracket: LoZ - Vote: LoZ (31/36)

Round 2: Match 37 - (1)Chrono Trigger vs. (8)Super Mario RPG

Moltar's Analysis

Chrono Trigger:
Round 1 – vs. Secret of Mana (Chrono Trigger 79.39% - Secret of Mana 20.61%)

Chrono Trigger’s first match turns out to be a good one. Crono’s game wins by a good margin.

Super Mario RPG:
Round 1 – vs. Street Fighter II (Super Mario RPG 56.24% - Street Fighter II 43.76%)

In a nail-biter match that made the whole board go crazy, SMRPG wins over SF2.

Well, well, well. It’s Crono vs. Mario, kinda. The 1-seeded Chrono Trigger, which stars Crono, goes up against the 8-seeded Super Mario RPG, which stars Mario. Crono and Mario have a rivalry of sorts in GameFAQs Contest. You can’t forget what happened in 2002, when Crono had the match won, thanks to some “cheater”. After Ceej subtracted the “cheater’s” 500 votes, Mario came out the winner. In 2003, Crono was leading for most of the day, until Mario received a huge amount of votes at the end. All he needed was a little extra time and he got that. Mario was victorius again.

This match however, will be different. Crono will not be the loser this time. Chrono Trigger is a favorite to win the Contest, while SMRPG could barely get past SF2. What is really funny, is that if Chrono Trigger wins this match, it might have to face Super Mario World next round, and possibly SMB3 later. Can Chrono Trigger take down all these Mario games in its way? It will need to perform well in this match, and I think it has the strength to do that. Anything over 65% and I’ll be satisfied.

Moltar’s Bracket says: CT will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: CT 69% - SMRPG 31%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/228930



Dp's Analysis

Here it is. Spring 2004 Contest – Mario vs. Crono: Part I. We know the two characters have quite a history in the character contests. But this isn’t a character contest; this is a game contest. Super Mario RPG is going to need a little bit more than an extra 15 minutes to pull off the win. It’s going to need something more along the lines of a miracle.

But what makes this game contest so interesting is that it really is a popularity contest, so one character or the fact that it is in a certain series of games can make a mediocre game perform a lot better than expected. We may see that in this match up. Chrono Trigger is expected to do well, and it should. Many project it to win the division. But don’t think that Super Mario RPG is going to do poorly just because it is an 8-seed. It has that one character: Mario. It is part of the Super Mario series. Which means that many Mario fans will be voting for it. However, one character or being in a certain series is not all it needs. People who are split between the two will be voting for Chrono Trigger, as well as bracket voters.

The outcome will be different than your typical Mario vs. Crono match in a character contest. Super Mario RPG could put up an interesting fight, but in the end, Chrono Trigger will be voted as the better game.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Chrono Trigger

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Chrono Trigger over Super Mario RPG 62%-38%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
DK vs. LoZ - Bracket: LoZ - Vote: LoZ (31/36)

Ulti's Analysis

Well well, if it isn`t a Crono/Mario duel. We get character pictures for the matches, so if Jeff decides to use a Mario vs Crono theme, this could get pretty interesting. But that being said, this isn`t about characters. It`s all about the games.

Mario RPG struggled with Street Fighter 2 for a good six hours before running away with the poll, while Chrono Trigger crushed Secret of Mana. And Secret of Mana is a game that is semi-well-known, and one that many people have played. And CT absolutely killed it. I think Crono can avoid that Mario blitzkreig for at least this match, though the next round could be quite interesting.

And interesting note is that SMRPG and CT were pretty close in sales until CT pulled away with a lead back in the mid 90s. Something to at least remember should SMRPG perform well.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Chrono Trigger

Ulti`s Prediction: Chrono Trigger wins, 63.85%-36.15%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
DK vs. LoZ - Bracket: LoZ - Vote: LoZ (31/36)

I use the word interesting a bit much. And swirldude, I meant that the only thing the Pong/Tetris match means is that the winner is getting killed in the next round.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Donkey Kong............12.96%
The Legend of Zelda...87.04%

Man, this one was ugly. LoZ destroys Donkey Kong and Ulti nails the cloest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Tetris vs. Pong - Bracket: Tetris - Vote: Tetris (33/38)

Dp, I need some matches from you tomorrow.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Tetris vs. Pong - Bracket: Tetris - Vote: Tetris (33/38)

Pong.....26.53%
Tetris...73.47%

Dp lands the closest prediction in this match. Tetris just pwned Pong. Great match pic too.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMRPG - Bracket: CT - Vote: CT (35/40)

lol
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Am I seeing that correctly? Does that actually say that I got the closest prediction in that match? How did that happen?!

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Round 2: Match 38 - (5)Sonic 2 vs. (4)Super Mario World

Moltar's Analysis

Sonic 2:
Round 1 - vs. Shining Force (Sonic the Hedgehog 2: 80.71% - Shining Force: 19.29%)

Sonic had to go through another Sega game to get to Round 2, and it did with no problem.

Super Mario World:
Round 1 – vs. The Simpsons (Super Mario World: 81.47% - The Simpsons: 18.53%)

SMW, with help from it’s LUEshi picture, gets past The Simpsons Arcade Game. Simpsons fans go “Do’h”

Well, the first match of Round 2 that is actually tough to predict. Most people are going with SMW because it is the higher seed, and they think Mario > Sonic, so SMW > Sonic 2. However, this match can prove everyone wrong. Sonic 2 is old-school Sonic. Toughest in the whole series IMO. Gamers like challenging games, and Sonic 2 was no exception. SMW however has TMF. The Mario Factor. I mean, look at Chrono Trigger vs. SMRPG. It is supposed to be a 1 vs. 8 seed match. The 1 seed supposed to be pwning the 8 seed, like SMB3 vs. Metroid. CT probably is gonna end up 65-35, or somewhere close. The Mario name gets SMRPG votes, and that’s what counts. Other voters will also vote for SMW because it is a big favorite on the SNES.

SMW vs. Sonic 2 is gonna be a close one, as 5 vs 4-seed matches should. I am pulling with SMW, but Sonic 2 is definitely giving it a scare. If SMW wins next round, it faces Chrono Trigger, where it is most likely doomed. SMW is going to need to rack up some large numbers if it wants to have a chance to win. Same thing for Sonic 2. If SMW pulls…70% on Sonic 2, then I’ll say it is a threat to Chrono Trigger.

*snicker* There’s no way it’s reaching that.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SMW will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: Sonic 2 42% - SMW 58%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/229328
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMRPG - Bracket: CT - Vote: CT (35/40)

Dp's Analysis

Ah, it's the match that I've been waiting for since the brackets were announced: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 vs. Super Mario World. Of course, being the huge Sonic fanboy I am, I'm going to be pulling for the upset here. Maybe my judgment is being clouded by hope (the same hope that almost had me putting Sonic 2 over Chrono Trigger). But it's more than that. I honestly do believe that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a legitimate chance at grabbing the upset.

It wouldn't be a huge upset; it's a 4 vs. 5 match, not something like a 2 vs. 7, so an upset isn't all that unlikely. Now, if this were a character contest between Sonic and Mario, we can probably agree that Mario would win. We can also probably agree that there are more Nintendo players than Sega players. Things might not be looking good for Sonic so far, but let's keep going.

Sonic fans absolutely love him. If you ever owned a Sega system, I'm sure you loved Sonic. Like I said earlier, a character contest between Sonic and Mario would put Mario on top. But this isn't a character contest, and like Chrono Trigger vs. Super Mario RPG has proved, it's not just about the characters.

My first system was an NES. I had a lot of fun games for it, I played it a lot. Mostly sports games, of course. But I also loved playing my Mario games. They were a lot of fun. Then I got a Sega Genesis. I don't know what it was, but there was something about the Genesis that just made me fall in love with it. Again, a good chunk of my playing time went into sports games. But another good chunk went into playing the series that would stick with me forever as my favorite series, and also bring out my favorite character of all time: Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was the best. Flying through the levels, jumping on bad guys, beating up Dr. Robotnik over and over again…great times.

The point I'm trying to make is that when you're a kid, racing through those levels is the best. Sonic fans know that. I'm sure there are plenty of Mario fans that also played Sonic. Which side will they vote for? Sonic. Why? Because they know Sonic games are better and more fun than Mario games. I count six games in this contest that feature Mario. And only one with Sonic. Super Mario World is just another Mario game. Sonic 2 is special. It's great. Anyone who has played it knows it. Who wants to see another Mario game in the Sweet 16? Even those diehard Mario fans who also loved Sonic will agree that they'd rather see Sonic 2 get a chance in the Sweet 16 instead of another Mario game; there are already plenty of those going to the Sweet 16, as well as the possibility of having two of them in the Final Four.

Maybe I can sway some voters from the Mario side to the Sonic side. We're tired of seeing Mario. Vote for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Do it for Sonic. Do it for Tails. Do it for Knuckles. Do it because it's right.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 over Super Mario World 53%-47%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMRPG - Bracket: CT - Vote: CT (35/40)

Ulti's Analysis

Hey look, a tough matchup! If this were a character contest, a matchup between Mario and Sonic would be a highlight from day one. Sonic was designed specifically to be cooler than Mario, and it worked. You can`t find many things Mario does that Sonic doesn`t do better. But again, this is about the characters, not the games.

Sonic 2 is Sonic`s only representative in this entire contest, so if people are as zealous over this contest as some people think, that could be a factor. There is also the aura of Sonic being the cooler Mario coming into play, as well as the fact that this match will feature match pics. IT might actually take LUE`s love for Mario World to avoid an early blitz at the hands of Sonic, who knows.

But all that being said, I myself picked Mario World to win this one without thinking much about it. Sonic has not been able to increase himself in terms of gamefaqs popularity ever since poll #994.

Here, need a link? http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=994

That poll killed Sonic. I seriously believe that. After the backlash from that matchup, he simply hasn`t ever been able to regain his aura in these contests. Cloud absolutely killed him in 2003 in a match that many thought could be dangerous for the eventual 2003 champion. Yeah, right. For Sonic to break this pattern, he has to actually improve, something that has been very difficult for him in the last year or so.

Lastly, compare these two polls:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1611

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1612

In a high-scoring poll, Mario World scored higher and allowed less against what I believe to be a stronger opponent. Few people have even heard of Shining Force, while everyone knows who The Simpsons are. The similarity of the polls might be cause for a close match, but name the last time that Mario has lost a close match.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: Super Mario World

Ulti`s Prediction: Super Mario World wins, 51.73%-48.27%. It could be close, but I simply don`t think Sonic can do it. I could be wrong though, so who knows.


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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMRPG - Bracket: CT - Vote: CT (35/40)

Round 2: Match 39 - (6)Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past vs. (3)Super Metroid

Moltar's Analysis

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past:
Round 1 - vs. Gunstar Heroes (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 91.15% - Gunstar Heroes 8.85%)

The pwning Gunstar Heroes received can only be given by a Zelda game. LttP in this case.

Super Metroid:
Round 1 – vs. Phantasy Star IV (Super Metroid 83.29% - Phantasy Star IV 16.71%)

Super Metroid also delivers a whooping to Phantasy Star IV. Go Samus!

Look at those numbers for LttP. It is considered by most to be the strongest Zelda game in the series, and definitely proves that here. The average game would only muster up around 80%. Those numbers that LttP put up made a lot of people confident that LttP was going far. Now look down to Super Metroid’s numbers. There pretty good, but compared to Link’s game, they’re nothing. Speaking of Link, remember last Summer Contest when he faced Samus? We remember who won that bout. However, as we have seen in the past *cough*Half-Life*cough*, that a characters strength =/= games strength.

Well, I hate to do it, but I have to. I have to go against my bracket. I might have stuck with it in the past to give myself false hope, but I can’t anymore. Looking at board support, reading the other analysis’s, they opened my eyes, and now I see Super Metroid has a small chance of winning. LttP is just looking too dominant so far. I really doubt having it lose to SM this round. Next round it will most likely have to face FF6. If LttP can garner up 60%+ in this match, then FF6 is heading into a BAAAAAD storm.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SM will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: LttP 60% - SM 40%

Moltar's Comic of the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/229401



Dp's Analysis

This has the possibility to be a very interesting match up. It may also be a preview for a future match between Wind Waker and Metroid Prime. Many people have one of the Metroid games beating a Legend of Zelda game. There's probably more that have Super Metroid winning, but I have Metroid Prime. Although Super Metroid may be stronger than Metroid Prime, Wind Waker is much weaker than A Link to the Past. I think if Metroid wants a chance for the Sweet 16, it's going to have to come later on. The Legend of Zelda series has proven to be very strong in this contest, and A Link to the Past is one of its stronger games. I just don't see how Super Metroid can overpower it. Sorry Samus, but you're going to be 0/2 in the 2nd round.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

DpObliVion's Prediction is: A Link to the Past over Super Metroid 62%-38%



Ulti's Analysis

Instead of being long-winded about this, I will simply point to one poll, and one poll only:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1361

Good game, Metroid. You deserved more.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: LTTP

Ulti`s Prediction: LTTP wins, 62.06%-37.94% (exact percentages in the noted poll)

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMRPG - Bracket: CT - Vote: CT (35/40)

Oh, my pick is .06% higher than Dp`s. That could wind up being interesting.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Chrono Trigger..........67.06%
Super Mario RPG.....32.94%

I'm really getting better at this. CT is able to beat Mario RPG and I get the closesst prediction. Congrats Crono!
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Sonic 2 vs. SMW- Bracket: SMW - Vote: S2 (37/42)

Round 2: Match 40 - (10)Doom vs. (2)Final Fantasy 3/6

Moltar's Analysis

Doom:
Round 1 – vs. Earthbound (Earthbound 42.96% - Doom 57.04%)

Doom upsets Earthbound to move onto Round 2. This was a sad day for RPG fans.

Final Fantasy 3/6:
Round 1 – vs. Mortal Kombat (Final Fantasy III (VI) 73.08% - Mortal Kombat 26.92%)

The Final Fantasy fans triumph again. This time they bring FF3/6 into Round 2 over the fighter.

So far, the end of Round 1 to now have been mostly unpredictible. Ever since Halo/Starcaft, this tournament has been crazy. In Round 2 alone, we have seen LoZ crush DK, SMRPG put up a decent performance, almost making CT look weak. Today, SMW is actually looking like a threat to CT, and tomorrow, e have LttP vs. SM. Crazy round so far. This match is going to be just like the good old predictible days of the Contest. FF6 goes up against Doom. Final Fantasy 6 is part of the well-known and well-loved Final Fantasy series. The name alone brings in votes. It is also an RPG, and RPG’s = big help on GameFAQs. Doom is a popular FPS on the PC. It’s going to do alright in this match, but alright doesn’t cut it.

In one of the more predictible matches in Round 2, FF6 should squash Doom into the ground. However, it needs to squash it good in this match, because next round, it faces either LttP or SM. IMO, LttP would be a much tougher opponent for FF6. Super Metroid, if it advances, will also put up a fight. FF6 needs to get at least 75% in this match. Actually, now that I think about it, 75% might be a bit low, but it’s good enough. As long as LttP/SM is close, 75% is just fine.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FF6 will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: FF6 74% - Doom 26%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/229551



Dp's Analysis

Ha. The only reason why Doom is even in this match because Earthbound is a cult classic, while Doom has been a PC hit for years, and still keeps showing up everywhere. Everyone knows Doom, not everyone knows Earthbound, and that's why it won. Now, Doom's luck has run out. Because now it draws a game that is known by all, and is part of the most popular gaming series: Final Fantasy III.

Doom cost me one point last round, but it definitely isn't going to cost me two more points here. Final Fantasy III doesn't have to worry about this match at all. Instead, it should be worrying about its Sweet 16 match against Link to the Past (assuming it advances past Super Metroid). As for this match; this will be a slaughter.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy III

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy III over Doom 84%-16%



Ulti's Analysis

Do easy analyses make the Ulti cry?

*people throw tomatoes

Fine, be that way ^_^ But there is no way that Doom can win this match, so I`m just filling up space. Yay2me.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: FF6

Ulti`s Prediction: FF6 wins, 78.23%-21.77%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Sonic 2 vs. SMW- Bracket: SMW - Vote: S2 (37/42)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2.....29.43%
Super Mario World..........70.57%

We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in this Contest. This match goes under the ugly category. SMW blows Sonic 2 away and I land the best prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Sonic 2 vs. SMW- Bracket: SMW - Vote: S2 (37/42)

Round 2: Match 41 - (1)Final Fantasy VII vs. (9)Xenogears

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy 7:
Round 1 - vs. Suikoden II (Final Fantasy VII 85.63% - Suikoden II 14.37%)

No competiton here for FF7. Suikoden 2 was just an ant in FF7’s path.

Xenogears:
Round 1 – vs. Pokemon G/S/C (Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal 42.05% - Xenogears 57.95%)

Cult-Classic Xenogears upsets the Internationally known Pokemon games. Jigglypuff won’t be singing tonight.

Well, it’s here. The match we have all been waiting for. It is…oh wait, that is later. Nevermind. Final Fantasy 7, after a spectacular showing in round 1, is going up against Xenogears, who also put on a good show. Final Fantasy 7…what has not been said about this game. Everything from “It’s the best game ever created” to “It sucks.” Xenogears is a much less known game and is just more food for FF7 to eat up.

Most might think this match is unimportant, but I think otherwise. The only 1-seed that has performed well both rounds so far is SMB3, scoring 80%+ in both it’s first round matches. Chrono Trigger is not looking that strong after a weak performance in Round 2, and Halo…yeah. FF7 needs to step it up a notch in this match, or else…we’ll just say Link will get his revenge if FF7 doesn’t kick it into high gear. Xenogears isn’t too much for FF7, so I’ll say it needs 80%+. If FF7 can do that, then it’s looking good in my book.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: FF7 will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: FF7 85% - Suikoden 2 15%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/229757




Dp's Analysis

Do easy analyses make Dp cry? Oh, wait, that's Ulty's line.

Actually, easy analyses don't make Dp cry; they make me smile. Because that means I don't have to write much for them! Anyway, to the point. This is a match up between not just two Playstation games; not just two Playstation RPGs; but two Playstation RPGs made by Square Enix. The only thing that could possibly cause a bigger vote split is if both games were from the same series.

Thankfully, the two games are from different series', so that means that the vote split will fall to one side. In this match, we have Final Fantasy VII, considered the favorite to win the tournament, against Xenogears, which "upset" Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal. I think it's pretty obvious which way the vote split will fall. And you can pretty much assume that the difference in popularity between the two series', without people being able to vote based on system, genre, or company, will cause a huge vote difference.

You know what? I bet that Pokemon would do better against Final Fantasy VII than Xenogears would. At least Pokemon could get the Nintendo voters on its side.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy VII over Xenogears 88%-12%



Ulti's Analysis

Xenogears comes off of a highly debated match against Pokémon, and a poll that had to be restarted because of new poll code. And even then, Pokemon lost. Congrats Xenogears, you get to be a victim of Final Fantasy 7, Same Fanbase Factor, and bracket voting.

Ulti`s Bracket Says: FF7

Ulti`s Prediction: FF7 wins, 78.00%-22.00%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
LttP vs. SM- Bracket: SM - Vote: SM (39/44)

There, I have writeups for every match all the way through Chrono Trigger and Mario World.
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Boards Hunted: 4098
I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Thanks Ulti.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past...74%
Super Metroid..................................26%

Ulti has the closest prediction, even though he was off by more than 10%. LttP kills SM. Poor Samus.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Doom vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (39/46)

Round 2: Match 42 - (5)Final Fantasy Tactics vs. (4)Metal Gear Solid

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy Tactics:
Round 1 - vs. Dance Dance Revolution (Final Fantasy Tactics 76.03% - Dance Dance Revolution 23.97%)

Another Final Fantasy game triumphs in Round 1. FFT easily beats DDR.

Metal Gear Solid:
Round 1 – vs. Resident Evil (Metal Gear Solid 70.62% - Resident Evil 29.38%)

Snake makes his way to Round 2 after a well-fought battle against Resident Evil.

Remember when I said that Super Mario World vs. Sonic 2 would be close, and that SMW had no chance of breaking 70%? Remember when I said Link to the Past vs. Super Metroid wouldn’t be higher than 60-40? Well….those didn’t happen, but then again, I also said that this Contest has been crazily unpredictable since Halo/Starcraft. Well, insanity might have hid its face today, and possibly when Final Fantasy 7 will face Xenogears, but it will resurface in this match. This match is looking to be the closest match in Round 2 so far. A FF game vs. a very loved Metal Gear game.

We need to break this one down folks. First let’s look at Round 1 stats. Final Fantasy Tactics and Metal Gear Solid both did 70%+ on there opponents. Also notice how FFT did better than MGS by a couple of points. But, we also can not forget that MGS had to face a stronger opponent. If Resident Evil and Dance Dance Revolution went up in a match, I’d put my money on Resident Evil. So that is a plus in MGS’s favor. Next, let’s look at name recognition. You would think FF would win this, but this is the Metal Gear series, so I would call it a tie here. Final Fantasy might have had more games, but a lot of FF gamers haven’t even played most of the FF games before 7. Now let’s look at the games compared to there series. Tactics is a pretty well known Final Fantasy game, but not more than the newer ones. MGS is looked upon by most as the best in the series, so it gets my plus here. Now let’s move onto the voters. Tactics has a big advantage since the contest is being help at RPGameFAQs. 2 pluses for it here.

So that’s….2 pluses for FFT and 2 for MGS? Ok, to break the tie, we’ll look at the final category, Main Character’s performance in Summer Contests…Snake has been to the elite 8 in both Contests, so it easily wins here. This makes MGS the winner, but don’t count on my analysis, I have been wrong before.

Now for the Last Call. It will be a close one, as 5 vs. 4 seed matches should be, but I think MGS can just pull through. There are a lot of Metal Gear fans that are behind this game, and the recent release of The Twin Snakes should help it. Snake Eater might also help bring in some votes. The Triple F’s (Final Fantasy Fanboys) will make their impact though, so either game can win. Speaking of the winner, it goes on to face FFVII next round. If the winner of this match gets at least in the 65%-70% range, it shouldn’t be too bad…

Moltar’s Bracket Says: MGS will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: FFT 45% - MGS 55%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/229946
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Doom vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (39/46)

Dp's Analysis

Well, the "plenty-of-Mario-games" factor obviously didn't help Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in its attempt at a 5 over 4 upset. Now we have a different scenario; the "plenty-of" here is the 5th seed looking for the upset. Yet another Final Fantasy game, - yes, we do have 3 matches in a row with a Final Fantasy game - Final Fantasy Tactics, is up against Metal Gear Solid.

We all know the power that Final Fantasy brings to the table. The series has had easy victories in all 8 of its matches so far. Will this all change? Well, even if it doesn't, it will change for one of them in the 2nd round, but we'll talk about that when the time comes. Now, although this is a Final Fantasy game, it is Final Fantasy Tactics, which is generally weaker than the main Final Fantasy games. But it's still Final Fantasy, so I don't think that will matter all that much. This may not be a matter of how weak Final Fantasy Tactics is, but rather how strong Metal Gear Solid is.

Metal Gear Solid's main character, Snake, has proven to be a very strong competitor in the character contest. His success should also be true for the game. Metal Gear Solid is a very popular game, and has fans drooling in anticipation for Metal Gear Solid 3.

The one thing that stands in its way is the fact that it faces a Final Fantasy game. However, Metal Gear Solid will be gaining the bracket votes, which should be enough for it to win. Should Metal Gear Solid win, the amount it wins by could be very important when you look ahead to its next match against Final Fantasy VII. If Metal Gear Solid beats Final Fantasy Tactics in a close match, Final Fantasy VII should have no problem. However, if it's a landslide victory, Final Fantasy VII fans may need to start worrying.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Metal Gear Solid

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Metal Gear Solid over Final Fantasy Tactics 58%-42%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Doom vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (39/46)

Ulti's Analysis

Because of Sonic 2 and Mario World being a surprise blowout, this is our first truly tough to call match in the first round. The issue with FFT is that people either love it or hate it. But FFT has done this to itself with its ‘the game can be very hard or very difficult, you decide which’ nature. Though one thing I will say is that the supporters of FFT all come off as very intelligent, while most of the people who mindlessly bash FFT are not only wrong, but usually know little to nothing about the game itself. I`m not trying to be an arrogant loser or anything, but hey, I have to defend what first made me famous on this site, you know? ~_^

But in all seriousness, check out the FFT boards. They feature many intelligent people. We even had an Ivy League student write our Battle Mechanics guide, and similar intelligence levels are all over the FFT community. Does this mean that FFT players are smarter than everyone else? Of course not. Personally, I think that FFT`s appeal to such a smart community happened by accident due to it being a Final Fantasy strategy RPG released during FF7`s prime. But thankfully, I`ve played other strategy RPGs, and realize how brilliant many of them are. The problem is that they never seem to draw enough fans to draw any staying power. It`s a shame too, because games like Disgaea deserve more credit than they get from the mainstream crowd.

But enough of the mushy stuff. Whatever the reason may be, some of the smartest members of our site have loyally stood by FFT. Fine with me, I guess, but please don`t misintepret this as “OMFG FFT IS SMART0RZ THAN J00!!1@12!1”. I`ve just been on those boards since day one, and in comparison to the other boards I`ve been on, FFT has gained a reputation of being a smart board.

Oh yeah, I must actually analyse the match. FFT is strong enough to win this match, plain and simple. IT has blatant flaws that may turn many people off from the game (l..i…t…t..l…e….m….o…..n…..e….y……………), but the ingredients for victory are there. The issue here is that the game is not truly mainstream like Metal Gear Solid. If anything, Final Fantasy Tactics can be called both mainstream and cultist at the same time. I can`t exactly explain what I mean in words, but look at both Super Mario RPG and Perfect Dark fo comparisons. I can`t put my finger on it, but I think you know what I mean here.

But after all of my blatant favoritism for FFT, I still have MGS winning this match, and for one reason: The Twin Snakes. Before the release of that one game, I would pick FFT to win this match in a New York second. But with a new crowd being introduced to the inevitable aura of badass that is Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid should have gotten the slight boost that it needed to win this matchup. The evidence was there in the first round if you look close enough. Metal Gear Solid held Resident Evil, once one of the best series in gaming, to 25% even during the hype for Resident Evil Outbreak. FFT meanwhile scored a mere 80% on an arcade dancing game. The match should be close, but it is Metal Gear Solid`s to lose.

Ulti`s Bracket: Metal Gear Solid

Ulti`s Prediction: Metal Gear Solid wins, 53.52%-46.48%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Doom vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (39/46)

Can I orgasm over Ultis Metal gear solid/FFT analysis>
Why am I asking for permission
*orgasms*
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"But Alanna, Luc and Sasarai ARE almost the same character." - Malneuy7319 Apparently I'm like Luc and Sasarai ^_^

If only I was a genius like Ulti...
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Doom vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (39/46)

Doom........................27.28%
Final Fantasy III (VI)...72.72%

FF3/6 performs nicely against Doom. I get the closest prediction. YAY
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFVII vs. Xenogears- Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (41/48)

Round 2: Match 43 - (11)Castlevania: SotN vs. (3)Goldeneye

Moltar's Analysis

Castelvania: Symphony of the Night:
Round 1 - vs. Perfect Dark (Perfect Dark 46.82% - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 53.18%)

SotN upsets the popular shooter in a close match. Too bad I didn’t see this coming earlier.

Goldeneye:
Round 1 – vs. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Goldeneye 80.81% - Panzer Dragoon Saga 19.19%)

The Nintendo 64 favorite comes out of this match looking strong. Go Bond!

Well, at the very beginning of the Spring Contest, when brackets were just released, a ton of people were expected a Perfect Dark/Goldeneye match in Round 2. Slowly, more people started turning to support SotN. The extra support helped it, and SotN won in a very weird match. (Polls were down for about half the day.) Everyone knew Goldeneye was going to Round 2, and if you didn’t, shame on you. Anyway, let’s go to the match. This one does not need too much analyzing. I see Goldeneye winning this match easily, but the board can make you think twice. Most of them seem to be supporting SotN, making it seem like a close match. Can SotN pull off another upset?

IMO, the answer is no. I believe Goldeneye will shine in this match and move on to Round 3. However, I can’t count out SotN. The winner of this match gets the winner of SM64/OoT next round. I don’t want to say anything now, but I will say one thing. The winner of this match is going to need at least 65% if it wants a chance next round.

Moltar’s Bracket says: Goldeneye will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: SotN 41% - GE 59%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/230181



Dp's Analysis

This analysis makes Dp cry. Not because it’s an easy analysis, but because I have no idea what to say for this match. Well, in the first round, we saw Castlevania: Symphony of the Night pull of a nice (although expected) upset over Perfect Dark, while Goldeneye cruised to an easy victory over Panzer Dragoon Saga. Well, I expect 007’s momentum to carry through into this match, although Alucard and Co. should put up a decent fight for an 11-seed.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Goldeneye

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Goldeneye over Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 61%-39%



Ulti's Analysis

Despite what so many are saying, I maintain that Goldeneye is a lock to win this match. Beating Perfect Dark is nice, but the fanbase of Goldeneye in comparison to Perfect Dark is a completely different animal. The fact that Perfect Dark performed so well despite being released during the dying days of the N64 says something about how this match should play out. Sorry, but Goldeneye is not equal to Perfect Dark. SOTN could make the score respectable, but that`s it.

Ulti`s Bracket: Goldeneye

Ulti`s Prediction: Goldeneye wins, 55.05%-44.95%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFVII vs. Xenogears- Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (41/48)

Bump for anyone who wants to read some analyses.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFVII vs. Xenogears- Bracket: FF - Vote: FF (41/48)

Final Fantasy VII...80.03%
Xenogears.............19.97%

The FF game comes out victorious again as FF7 wallops Xenogears. Ulti lands the closest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFT vs. MGS - Bracket: MGS - Vote: MGS (43/50)

I forget what I even picked for that match.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Final Fantasy Tactics...49.98%
Metal Gear Solid..........50.02%

In the second closest match in GameFAQs history, MGS wins a good match aganst FFT by 38 votes. Wow. Ulti lands the closest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SotN vs. Goldeneye - Bracket: GE - Vote: GE (45/52)

I thought that match would be close, but that was insane.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Round 2: Match 44 - (7)Super Mario 64 vs. (2)Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Moltar's Analysis

Super Mario 64:
Round 1 - vs. NiGHTS into dreams (Super Mario 64 84.83% - NiGHTS into dreams 15.17%)

The old 64 favorite crushes NiGHTS. After the match, Mario and Yoshi went out for some fine wine.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
Round 1 – vs. Fallout 2 (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 86.31% - Fallout 2 13.69%)

OoT also beats the stuffing out of Fallout 2. Link was a step ahead this time.

Look at those Round 1 stats for both games. At first glance, some will go, “OMG, SM64 IS JUST AS STRONG AS OoT! IT’S DOOMED.” Well, they both put up good percentages, SM64’s being more spectacular, but Fallout 2 is the stronger game here IMO. We have seen the power of the other Zelda games so far, with LoZ and LttP dominating. OoT should have around the same strength as them. Not much analyzing needs to be done for this match. All I needed to do was talk about those percentages, because they sure look tricky.

By tricky, I mean that it would be easy for a regular user to say that SM64 vs. OoT is going to be close. I disagree. SM64 got to face a very, very easy game, while OoT got to face just a very easy game. OoT should get at least 65% in this match. SM64 might know its going to lose, but it sure will put up a fight.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: OoT will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: SM64 68% - OoT 32%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/230686



Dp's Analysis

Well, basically this is Mario vs. Link, so this one could be close. But I think it's obvious which one should win. Link has outperformed Mario in the character contests. Ocarina of Time is one of the stronger Legend of Zelda games, and before the brackets were announced, many thought it would come down to Final Fantasy VII vs. Ocarina of Time. Well unfortunately, that match is scheduled to happen in the division finals as opposed to the contest finals. Right now, however, Ocarina of Time must deal with Super Mario 64. Super Mario 64 is a pretty strong Mario game as well. But I think Ocarina of Time is stronger. It should also have the bracket voters voting for it.

As we have seen, it is not just about the individual games; it is also about the characters and the series'. While Super Mario is great, Legend of Zelda has been greater. While Mario has been great, Link has been greater. Although it may be close, Ocarina of Time should have no problem.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Ocarina of Time over Super Mario 64 59%-41%



Ulti's Analysis

One of the all-time great Mario games is up for complete execution in this match.

*rewinds tape of the 2002 final

Should be something along those lines.only far worse.

Ulti`s Bracket: Ocarina of Time

Ulti`s Prediction: OOT wins, 72.00%-28.00%

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SotN vs. Goldeneye - Bracket: GE - Vote: GE (45/52)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night...40.72%
Goldeneye.......................................59.28%

I was dead on this match. Goldeneye puts on a decent performance against SotN.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SotN vs. Goldeneye - Bracket: GE - Vote: GE (45/52)

Round 2: Match 45 - (16)Starcraft vs. (9)Kingdom Hearts

Moltar's Analysis

Starcraft:
Round 1 - vs. Halo (Halo: 49.83% - Starcraft: 50.17%)

UPSET SPECIAL! The 16th seeded Starcraft beats the 1-seed Halo. When told about the loss, Bill Gates claimed that giving Starcraft the win was the biggest thing the Koreans have ever done.

Kingdom Hearts:
Round 1 – vs. Soul Calibur (Soul Calibur: 49.40% - Kingdom Hearts: 50.60%)

This was supposed to be the upset everyone knew would happen. Instead, KH just barely manages to beat Soul Calibur.

Halo vs. Kingdom Hearts. Another potentially close match in Round 2. I personally have Halo winning the match in my bracket but I believe KH will put up a decent fight. Nothing else to say.

…

This is what my analysis would have sounded like if Halo would have won its first round match. However, Starcraft is able to pull off the upset of the century. Rarely does it happen that a (16) seed loses to a (1) seed. This is the first time in a GameFAQs contest this has happened. Who is it to blame that Halo lost, screwing up many brackets. The anti-Xbox voters? Battle.net? KOREA?! No, you can thank the nomination system for this. Starcraft had to fight its way through hundreds of PC nominations while Halo…well…is one of the few uber popular games on the Xbox. So when people went to nominate a game for the Xbox, I’m assuming that most people picked either Halo or KoToR.

Now let’s start looking at this match. Halo was winning most of the day until Starcraft went into high gear during the night. What does this have to do with the match? Well, a lot of people are blaming the big jump of votes on Battle.net and Korea. Did they have that big of an impact on the match? Who knows. Will Starcraft get the night vote in this match? We’ll find out soon.

Wait, we can’t leave out Kingdom Hearts. Who remembers the board during this match? They were shocked. Soul Calibur was supposed to be nothing for Kingdom Hearts. I even remember most of the predictions in the Oracle Challenge with for KH with 60%+. Well, when the match kicked off, and Soul Calibur started a lead. Heh, craziness. Throughout the day though, Kingdom Hearts kept moving forward and eventually won this match. But from this match, some big questions arose. Did Soul Calibur over-perform, or did Kingdom Hearts under-perform? Did Kingdom Hearts really improve Cloud, Sephiroth’s, and other FF characters performances in SC2K3? Is KH still a top-contender to win this division? I’ll leave the answering up to the pros.

Well, I hate to admit this, but I have to. For the first time in this Contest, I have no clue whatsoever on who is going to win this match. Starcraft put up the better performance, but the board is leaning toward KH winning. Gunmage said it best in his Spread Betting topic: Kingdom Hearts looked really weak, not even leading for a while before pulling away from Soul Calibur. Starcraft, on the other hand, took down the flagship title for the X-Box, and is showing strong signs of support. So why is KH the favorite?

Hmm, I wonder if I can get a girl to orgasm over this analysis…maybe I should analyze deeper into this match.

*insert Ulti’s Analysis here*

And that’s all I have to say about this match.

Moltar’s Bracket says: …Halo

Moltar’s Prediction is: SC 49% - KH 51%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/230868
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (47/54)

Dp's Analysis

Hey, isn't this supposed to be 1 vs. 8? What happened? Well, in two somewhat expected upsets, StarCraft beat Halo: Combat Evolved, and Kingdom Hearts beat Soul Calibur. Now, the two face off in Round 2. Who shall move on? For the first time, I don't have my bracket to influence my analysis; I predicted Halo over Kingdom Hearts (I hate losing 2nd round winners in the 1st round).

The question on everybody's minds when they were filling out their brackets was, "How will Halo do?" It came in as a 1-seed, in fact it got more nominations than any game in any division. It should do pretty good, right? Wrong. Even CJayC himself acknowledged the fact that because of the nomination system that was used, Halo got way too many nominations, because it had practically no competition for the X-Box nomination. But Halo is still quite a game. How will it do?

We look again at the nomination system to see StarCraft as a 16 seed. It should do bad, right? Wrong. While Halo was over-seeded because of the nomination, StarCraft was under-seeded because of its competition. StarCraft is a very popular PC game. So questions began to rise as to whether or not we could see a 16 seed take out a 1 seed in the first round. There were a lot of mixed feelings, with some people going with the fact that X-Box is hated and StarCraft is underrated, and others (like me) going on the basis that even though X-Box is hated, it's still Halo, a great game, and it's still a 1 seed. In the end, it was StarCraft that came out on top.

As far as the other side, well, it was pretty much assumed that Kingdom Hearts would win.

Now we go to the 2nd round, which brought up questions again during the predicting period. If Halo were to sneak by StarCraft, how would it do against Kingdom Hearts? Or, if StarCraft won, would it carry over into a good performance against Kingdom Hearts? Well, the general consensus was that Kingdom Hearts is a pretty strong RPG, and whichever game it would face, it would win.

Now, StarCraft is a very good competitor, but let's face it. It's up against Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts is an RPG. Kingdom Hearts is made by Square. Kingdom Hearts has Cloud, Sephiroth, Squall, and other Final Fantasy greats. This is GameFAQs remember. StarCraft stands no chance.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Halo: Combat Evolved (haha)

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Kingdom Hearts over StarCraft 59%-41%
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SM64 vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (47/54)

Ulti's Analysis

I`m just going to copy-paste a post I made on this subject a few hours ago:

I think Kingdom Hearts will win. You all have to remember that when the bracket was released, Halo vs Starcraft was above and beyond the most hyped-up match os the first round. The thought of a 16 seed having a chance to take down a 1 got everyone`s gears turning, especially with Master Chief`s flop against Felix last year. The basic argument was that with the Xbox hate and the fact that Felix is not even close to being a character strong enough to lose by merely 6000 votes to a normal 3 seeded character, that Starcraft should be able to make up a mere 6000 votes. The debates on SC2K4 were insane all around. The arguments were everything from Halo not being able to lose due to its 2 seed to Starcraft having what it takes to win due to what would happen should Korea find out about this contest.

So with all the hype, the match was elevated from the start. Starcraft jumped out to an early 1045 vote lead with the backing of the hardcore evening vote, and it was clear that vote totals were going to be high for the entire match (in the end, it wound up being the most popular first round match we had ever seen).

But over the next 14 hours or so, Halo not only came back to take the lead, but it built its own lead up to 1108. Now remember, for the entirety of this match, people were going insane all over the site about this match. I spoke to a moderator upon its conclusion, and he noted modding a good 600 Starcraft/Halo posts all on his own. Extrapolate that to the other mods, and you`re looking at thousands of moderated messages because of this one match. And this doesn`t even count the messages that weren`t modded at all.

Anyway, you know the rest of the story. Starcraft comes back to win on the wings of the other half of the hardcore late night vote, battle.net, underdog voters, anti-Xbox voters, then rides off into the sunset to leave one of the biggest backlashes ever seen on the site. But that`s just the thing. From day one, the vast majority of people on SC2K4, as well as many places on the internet, were gearing up to help Starcraft pull a possible upset. The match was hyped for weeks. As such, a massive and successful battle.net spamming took place.

This time around, I don`t think Starcraft has that same magic. Unlike the match with Halo, this one isn`t being hyped nearly half as much. It`s almost as if everyone is happy that Starcraft won, but isn`t ready to give that same energy into taking down Kingdom Hearts. After all, most people have Kingdom Hearts winning in their brackets. As for the people that are willing to devote their day into spamming for Starcraft, I don`t think it will help nearly as much. Spamming battle.net once was risky enough, and various topics were rallying people to vote for Halo to stop the spamming the first time around. Trying to spam twice in a row won`t work nearly as well, because people on battle.net are volitle.

The match should be close, but I see Kingdom Hearts winning a 50.5%-49.5% type of match. Sorry SC fans =( But hey, I`d be lying if I said I wasn`t rooting for Starcraft.

Ulti`s Bracket: Kingdom Hearts

Ulti`s Prediction: Kingdom Herts wins, 50.50%-49.50%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (47/54)

oh... Ulti and starcraft... *orgasms*
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And the chaos has returned! But this time, something is missing.... Someone that loves the chaos as much as me.

bump
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (47/54)

Super Mario 64...............................23.74%
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time...76.26%

LoZ games continue to show their power. This time, OoT destroys SM64. Ulti gets the closest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SM64 vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (47/54)

Round 2: Match 46 - (5)Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker vs. (4)Metroid Prime

Moltar's Analysis

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker:
Round 1 - vs. Skies of Arcadia (Zelda: Wind Waker: 74.41% - Skies of Arcadia: 25.29%)

The latest Zelda adventure advances to Round 2 of the Contest.

Kingdom Hearts:
Round 1 – vs. Half-Life (Metroid Prime: 56.16% - Half-Life: 43.84%)

In a closer than expected match, Metroid Prime is able to beat Half-Life, but not by much.

Wow, from Starcraft/Kingdom Hearts to this. Another potentially close match will be this one here folks. In Round 1, both games under-performed a bit. After seeing the previous Zelda games in the tourney, this one was bound to get 85%+ like the other Zelda games, right? Wrong. Wind Waker does not even break 75%, showing to us that it is definitely the weakest Zelda game in this Contest. Prime did not do so well itself, putting up only 56% against Gordon Freeman’s game. Sure Half-Life is popular, but on GameFAQs? Not really.

Can’t do a long analysis now because I have other stuff to do. Even though Wind Waker’s the weakest LoZ game in the Contest, I think it has enough to take down Metroid Prime, and after this it faces the official “Dark Horse” of the tourney, Starcraft. I’m thinking this match is going to be a lot like LttP/SM, except the margin won’t be as big. 60-40 would be good though.

Moltar’s Bracket says: Wind Waker

Moltar’s Prediction is: WW 58% - MP 42%

Moltar's Comic for the Match - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231063



Dp's Analysis

Before the contest started, it was agreed that the 128-bit division would be the toughest to predict. It proved so in Round 1, with the 1st seeded Halo losing, as well as a lot of close matches that weren't expected to be close. And that was just beginning. It just keeps getting tougher from there. Fresh off what should be an interesting match between StarCraft and Kingdom Hearts, we have Wind Waker vs. Metroid Prime.

Let me say this. I'm ready to put a couple X's on my bracket and take off 6 points right now. I had Metroid Prime winning this match, and then winning its next match as well. I thought to myself, "There are two 2nd round matches which features a Metroid game versus a Legend of Zelda game. Metroid should be able to take one down." Well, that's one of my many mistakes. Legend of Zelda is just too strong, even if we may be looking at the weakest of its games in the contest. A Link to the Past defeated Super Metroid 74%-26%. There's just no way that Metroid Prime can erase that 48% difference, even if we're talking about Wind Waker. What was I thinking when I filled my bracket out?

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Metroid Prime

DpObliVion's Prediction is: LoZ: The Wind Waker over Metroid Prime 68%-32%



Ulti's Analysis

People still think Metroid Prime has a prayer in hell of winning this match?

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1361

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1590

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1639

Ulti`s Bracket: Wind Waker

Ulti`s Prediction: Wind Waker wins, 71.34%-28.66%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Starcraft vs. KH - Bracket: N/A - Vote: KH (49/56)

Starcraft..........53.57%
Kingdom Hearts...46.43%

For the first time in this Contest, all 3 of us called the match wrong. Starcraft continues to show it's power by defeating KH.

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
WW vs. MP - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (49/58)

Round 2: Match 47 - (6)Final Fantasy Tactics Advance vs. (3)Final Fantasy X

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance:
Round 1 - vs. Fire Emblem (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 66.36% - Fire Emblem 33.64%)

FFTA advances to Round 2 by defeating Fire Emblem with a 66/33 split.

Final Fantasy X:
Round 1 – vs. (Final Fantasy X: 74.48% ; Shenmue: 25.52%)

FFX doesn’t beat Shenmue as bad as we thought it would. Still won though.

I’m going to pull an Ulti here. I have other things to do and I don’t feel like doing a super long analysis right now. Why analyze for what is shaping up to be one of the most boring Round 2 matches in the Contest? Just a SFF match, nothing special. FFX is going to win, and by a lot. It better be by 65%+ too, or else I doubt it’s making it past the next round.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FFX

Moltar’s Prediction is: FFTA 32% - FFX 68%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231235



Dp's Analysis

This is an interesting match up: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance vs. Final Fantasy X. These are the kind of matches that are the easiest to predict. You don't have to worry about how many fans there are for this series versus the other series, or how characters have stacked up against each other, etc. This is purely a poll of which is a more popular game in the Final Fantasy series. I think it's pretty obvious that Final Fantasy X is the more popular game here. Hell, it even had a sequel of its own inside the Final Fantasy series itself. That should say something. But don't underestimate Final Fantasy Tactics Advance; it could make it somewhat close. However, Final Fantasy X should win with relative ease.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy X

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy X over Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 64%-36%



Ulti's Analysis

I`m not even going to dignify this with a response

Ulti`s Bracket: FFX

Ulti`s Prediction: FFX wins, 81.34%-18.66%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
WW vs. MP - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (49/58)

Wow, everybody in the analysis crew underestimated Metroid Prime.
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision

For the first time in this Contest, all 3 of us called the match wrong. Starcraft continues to show it's power by defeating KH.

I still called the match the closest =)
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Meh...

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker...55.22%
Metroid Prime....................................44.78%

Metroid Prime puts up a good fight, but Wind Waker is just too much for it. I called the match the closest.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX vs. FFTA - Bracket: FFX - Vote: FFX (51/60)

Round 2: Match 48 - (7)Grand Theft Auto: Vice City vs. (2)Super Smash Bros. Melee

Moltar's Analysis

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City:
Round 1 - vs. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (GTA: VC: 60.32% - SW: KotOR: 39.68%)

Vice City pulls by the Xbox game in a rather close match.

Super Smash Bros. Melee:
Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (SSBM: 56.72% - MGS2:SoL: 43.28%)

SSBM puts on a good show against MGS2, a favorite on the PS2.

The last match of Round 2 is going up in a couple of hours. Which will advance? Vice City or Melee? Let’s find out now.

Let’s look at Round 1 performances. Vice City put on a rather weak performance against KoToR. I’m not saying that the Star Wars game was a easy opponent, but compared to Metal Gear Solid 2, it’s nothing. Melee had to face the stronger game here and won by a nice margin. I would have to give SSBM the nod here. Now onto name recognition. Both games are huge names in the gaming world. SSB was a huge hit on the N64 and Melee is a top-seller on the Cube. As for the GTA series. GTA 3 was also a big hit and Vice City surpassed it. Tie here. I could look at SC2K3 performances but…I won’t. Vercetti almost lost to Donkey Kong. ‘Nuff said.

I am going to have to give this one to SSBM. I can see it being close, but I think SSBM can pull through. The winner will go up next round against a rather weak looking FFX. I know I said 65%+ was enough, but after I thought about it, it really should have been 70%, like I had originally planned. Winner of Vice City/Melee should try to get at least 60% on it’s opponent.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SSBM

Moltar’s Prediction is: VC 42% - SSBM 58%

Moltar's Comic for the Match http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231441



Ulti's Analysis

After SSBM`s ‘disappointing’ effort against MGS2, everyone now thinks that Vice City will win this matchup. Forget that Vice City went up against KOTOR (an Xbox title) and that MGS2 should have been at LEAST a 6 seed in this division. MGS2 is a strong title despite what many believe to be apparent flaws in the game.

And yes, I`m aware of the low vote total for SSBM`s match. I`m also aware that most of the site was in a complete uproar about the layout change and could honestly care less about the poll. A perfect chance for MGS2 to pull the upset, but in reality, the match was close for 30 minutes. I would honestly be beyond shocked if Vice City won this thing.

Ulti`s bracket: SSBM

Ulti`s prediction: SSBM wins, 53.89%-46.11%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX vs. FFTA - Bracket: FFX - Vote: FFX (51/60)

Dp's Analysis

I really don’t know how to analyze this. These are two completely different games, on separate systems, created by two completely different companies, and each has a good-sized fan base. It’s tough to tell which game will come out on top, because both deserve to advance into the Sweet 16. I say we just take out Super Mario World and send both Vice City and Super Smash Bros. Melee into the next round. But of course, that will not happen. One of those games has to be sent packing in this round. Which one will it be?

Let’s use the point system to find the winner. First off, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released on the PC, PlayStation 2, and the X-Box, while Super Smash Bros. Melee was only released on the GameCube, so give one point to Vice City. However, for GameCube owners, having Super Smash Bros. Melee is almost a necessity, while Vice City only reaches out to a select group. I don’t know the numbers, but my bet would be that Super Smash Bros. Melee is the highest selling game for GameCube (but don’t quote me on that, because that’s just a guess). SSBM evens the score. While not as basic as others, Super Smash Bros. Melee is still just another fighting game. Vice City, on the other hand, pretty much invented its genre, and owns it. Vice City is revolutionary, and introduced gamers to a new style of gaming. It’s much more in depth, the game play is incredible, and it reaches out to the mature gamers. There’s another point for Vice City. However, the style of game that gave it its last point will also cause for a deduction of one point for Vice City. The Grand Theft Auto series has its fair share of haters because of its style, while Super Smash Bros. Melee does not have that crowd of haters.

We find ourselves tied at one apiece again. Where does the edge come from? Why, it’s the annoying bracket voters, of course! Super Smash Bros. Melee is a 2 seed, while Vice City is a 7 seed. A good percentage of people have Super Smash Bros. Melee winning the match, so they’ll be voting for it. That may be what pushes SSBM over the edge in this tough-to-call match. I’ll be voting and rooting for Vice City, but I love both games, and I won’t be too disappointed if Super Smash Bros. Melee advances.

This marks the end of Round 2.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Super Smash Bros.
Melee

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Super Smash Bros. Melee over Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 54%-46%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX vs. FFTA - Bracket: FFX - Vote: FFX (51/60)

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance...33.46%
Final Fantasy X...........................66.54%

FFTA put up a small fight against FFX. The end percent fell between me and Dp's predictions, but I was slightly closer. Yay.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
VC vs. SSBM - Bracket: SSBM - Vote: SSBM (53/62)

Round 3: Match 49 - (1)Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. (4)Final Fantasy

Moltar's Analysis

Super Mario Bros. 3:
Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear (SMB 3: 82.30% - Metal Gear: 17.70%)
Round 2 – vs. Metroid (SMB 3: 78.04% - Metroid: 21.96%)

SMB3 puts on another great performance as it completely blows out Metroid.

Final Fantasy:
Round 1 – vs. Pitfall (Final Fantasy: 87.64% - Pitfall: 12.36%)
Round 2 – vs. Contra (Contra: 29.95% - Final Fantasy: 70.05%)

Final Fantasy puts on a decent performance in Round 2. Not all that great

First match of the Sweet 16 and sweet it will be for Mario fans. As you can see from Rounds 1 and 2, SMB3 has put up much better numbers. Even though Final Fantasy scored better in Round 1 against Pitfall than SMB3 did against Metal Gear, it’s ok. Metal Gear is a much stronger game than Pitfall. In fact, SMB3 had much harder games to face than FF in both rounds. Final Fantasy’s trip to the Sweet 16 was just a walk in the park. Any of the other games in the Sweet 16 could have beating Pitfall and Contra.

Well, not much more to say about this match. SMB3 is a widely popular game that has sold millions of copies, while Final Fantasy just has the Final Fantasy name. SMB3 should have no problem in this match. However, Final Fantasy should put up a decent fight. The Square fans refuse to go down easily (The MGS fans would know). I hope SMB3 can get 60%+ in this match, because the rest of its matches are going to be tough.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SMB3 will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: SMB3 61% - FF 39%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231502



Dp's Analysis

Many people are talking about the possibility of Final Fantasy beating Super Mario Bros. 3 because, after all, it is a Final Fantasy game. However, we shouldn’t underestimate Super Mario Bros. 3. In my opinion, if this weren’t a popularity contest, Super Mario Bros. 3 would win the whole tournament. Unfortunately, this “Best. Game. Ever.” tournament is really just a popularity contest. So with the Final Fantasy series’ massive popularity, the original may have a fighting chance against the power that is Super Mario Bros. 3.

But is the popularity of later games such as Final Fantasy VII really going to push the original to victory? When Final Fantasy came out, it did not have near the popularity that the series has today. Final Fantasy was not a household name. Super Mario Bros. was, however. The original Super Mario Bros. was a huge hit. Everyone’s played it. And as it evolved, Super Mario Bros. 3 was an even better and more popular game. Super Mario Bros. 3 was the game of its time. Final Fantasy was nowhere close to it. Sure, the Final Fantasy series is bigger than Mario is today.

It would really be an atrocity if Final Fantasy was to win this match, and I hope the people realize this. Mario fans will be voting for Super Mario Bros. 3, while Final Fantasy fans will be voting for Final Fantasy. However, I am really hopeful that those that are impartial will realize that Super Mario Bros. 3 is the much better game, and that it’s the game that deserves to win, and they will vote for it. So maybe this analysis isn’t about which will win, but rather which should win. But I’m fairly confident that the game that should win, will win, and that these people saying that Final Fantasy will win will be shut up.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Super Mario Bros. 3

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Super Mario Bros. 3 over Final Fantasy 57%-43%



Ulti's Analysis

If this were most other FF titles, Mario 3 would have its hands full. But this is Final Fantasy, a game which gets most of its votes from the name and 8 Bit Theater. It has no chance.

Ulti`s Bracket: Mario 3

Ulti`s Prediction: Mario 3 wins, 70.34%-29.66%

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City...46.46%
Super Smash Bros. Melee.........53.54%

SSBM can now be declared a bracket killer. Only 22% of the brackets, including the Analysis Crew, got this match right. Ulti landed the closest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. FF - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (55/64)

Round 3: Match 50 - (3)Legend of Zelda vs. (2)Tetris

Moltar's Analysis

Legend of Zelda:
Round 1 – vs. Adventure (LoZ: 95.20% - Adventure: 4.80%)
Round 2 – vs. Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong: 12.96% - LoZ: 87.04%)

LoZ continues to show it’s power by destroying the Arcade favorite Donkey Kong.

Tetris:
Round 1 – vs. Galaga (Tetris: 78.25% - Galaga: 21.75%)
Round 2 – vs. Pong (Pong: 26.53% - Tetris: 73.47%)

The L block > The Right Pong Paddle. Tetris is able to beat Pong by a very good percentage.

All the Zelda games are still in the Contest. Look at LoZ’s numbers in both rounds and that should give you some sort of clue as to why. With the exception of Wind Waker, they have all been putting up monstrous numbers in both rounds. LoZ even won the award for biggest margin for a victory in GameFAQs history. Now let’s look at Tetris. It has put up decent numbers in both rounds. Nothing more to say. Did good against Galaga, did good against Pong. Which game had the tougher path to Round 2. I’d say Tetris. Galaga would beat Adventure and Pong would beat Donkey Kong. But could Tetris put up those kind of numbers on Adventure and Donkey Kong? I think not.

I know I’m not the best predictor when it comes to expecting upsets, (I have predicted 7 out of the 9 upsets in this Contest wrong.) but I saw this upset coming a mile away, and LoZ past matches have only made me more confident. Since I’m expecting Zelda to win, it will have to face SMB3 next round. I’ll say it should get at least 70% to make it look like a real threat.

Moltar’s Bracket says: LoZ

Moltar’s Prediction is: LoZ 69% - FF 31%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231654



Dp's Analysis

Both of these games have had a very easy road to this match up. Tetris had easy victories over Galaga and Pong, while The Legend of Zelda had very convincing victories over Adventure and Donkey Kong.

The Legend of Zelda series has easily been the most dominant series in this contest, even more so than Final Fantasy, and the original has proven to be the biggest example. After giving Adventure the worst beating in contest history, The Legend of Zelda showed its strength by defeating Donkey Kong 87%-13%. Before the contest started, The Legend of Zelda over Tetris was a pretty easy upset to pick. In fact, The Legend of Zelda was easily the favorite in this match. Tetris is a simple puzzle game, while The Legend of Zelda is a huge adventure game, which was the start of one of the most popular series’ in gaming. Tetris was doomed from the start, and the way that The Legend of Zelda has performed so far just shows that Tetris is in even worse trouble than originally anticipated. The Legend of Zelda is making a serious run at winning this division, and there is no way that Tetris will stand in its way with even a fighting chance.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: The Legend of Zelda

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: The Legend of Zelda over Tetris 79%-21%



Ulti's Analysis

Another match that will be a complete joke. The only drama here will be to see how well Mario 3 and Zelda 1 stack up against one another, and frankly, Zelda could very well be the favorite after this matchup. The beating will be that bad.

Ulti`s Bracket: Zelda 1

Ulti`s prediction: Zelda 1 wins, 86.11%-13.89%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. FF - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (55/64)

Super Mario Bros. 3....59.6%
Final Fantasy............40.4%

54.94% of brackets predicted this right. Lower than I expected.

The Square fans put up a good fight, but SMB3 is able to beat it. The final match percentage falls in between me and Dp's predictions, but yet again, mine is slightly closer.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
LoZ vs. Tetris - Bracket: LoZ - Vote: Tetris (59/68)

Round 3: Match 51 - (1)Chrono Trigger vs. (4)Super Mario World

Moltar's Analysis

Chrono Trigger:
Round 1 – vs. Secret of Mana (CT: 79.39% - SoM: 20.61%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Mario RPG (CT: 67.06% - SMRPG: 32.94%)

CT performs decently in Round 2 in Part 1 of the Mario Gauntlet.

Super Mario World:
Round 1 – vs. The Simpsons (SMW: 81.47% ; The Simpsons: 18.53%)
Round 2 – vs. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sonic 2: 29.43% ; SMW: 70.57%)

SMW blows Sonic out of the water in a bigger margin match than most expected.

Crono’s second Mario game in it’s path is Super Mario World, and it’s a big step up from SMRPG. Let’s look at first and second round numbers. In Round 1, SMW put on a few more percentage points than CT, but CT arguably had the tougher opponent. Right, hopefully I am? In Round 2, SMW put up better numbers than a much harder opponent. Sonic 2 would probably own SMRPG in a match. So looking at past rounds, SMW is stronger, right? Possibly. Maybe Sonic 2 was weaker than we had expected? Maybe SMRPG was stronger than expected? I DON’T KNOW!

If you would have asked me who was going to win this match 2 months ago, I would have said CT easily. Now if you ask, I would say CT by a bit. It should be close, but think Crono can get past this obstacle. Hopefully it can get more than 55% too.

Moltar’s Bracket says: CT

Moltar’s Prediction is: CT 54% - FF 46%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231954



Dp's Analysis

First of all, I must say this: Sonic 2 Shouldve Won.

Okay, now that I have that out of the way, my attention must turn to the match that we unfortunately have. Yes, this should have been Chrono Trigger vs. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but we'll have to do with Chrono Trigger vs. Super Mario World. Now, Chrono Trigger's opponent could have been different, but in the end, the result of this match isn't going to change.

Chrono Trigger should have no problem winning this match. We found out earlier that this is not like the character contest, and the fact that it is Mario vs. Crono means nothing. Last round, Chrono Trigger cruised to an easy 67%-33% victory over another Mario game, Super Mario RPG. Super Mario World should put up a bit of a better performance, especially after its shocking (and heartbreaking) 70.5%-29.5% victory over Sonic the Hedgehog 2. But Chrono Trigger is the powerhouse of the 16-bit division, and Super Mario World should not stand in its way.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Chrono Trigger

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Chrono Trigger over Super Mario World 59%-41%



Ulti's Analysis

Oh, lovely. In a hyped matchup with Sonic 2, Super Mario World beat down the blue hedgehog in a 70-30 rimp. The doors for Mario/Crono 3 have opened again, and this match could create some serious hell on the boards and brackets alike.

But that being said, I feel that Mario World did that well against Sonic 2 because frankly, Sonic 2 was one of the weakest Sonic titles for a contest setting. Sonic 3 & Knuckles would have done better. It wouldn`t have won, but it would have done better. The Mario World/Sonic 2 matchup, proved that mainstream Nintendo titles are NOT to be taken lightly in this contest. However, Chrono Trigger, despite its weak showing against SMRPG (only a 66-33 win), should have one good match left in it before it gets creamed by LTTP.

Ulti`s Bracket: Chrono Trigger

Ulti`s Prediction: Chrono Trigger wins, 54.29%-45.71%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
LoZ vs. Tetris - Bracket: LoZ - Vote: Tetris (59/68)

Round 3: Match 52 - (6)Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past vs. (2)Final Fantasy 3/6

Moltar's Analysis

Link to the Past:
Round 1 – vs. Gunstar Heroes (Zelda: ALttP: 91.15% - Gunstar Heroes: 8.85%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Metroid (Zelda: ALttP: 74.00% ; Super Metroid: 26.00%)

LttP puts up amazing numbers in Round 2 against Super Metroid.

Final Fantasy 3/6:
Round 1 – vs. Mortal Kombat (FFIII/VI: 73.08% ; Mortal Kombat: 26.92%)
Round 2 – vs. Doom (Doom: 27.28% ; FFIII/VI: 72.72%)

FF3/6 wins it’s match, just not as good as LttP.

Here comes another scary Round 3 match. We have seen the power of the Zelda’s so far, and LttP is one of the strongest. 74% in Round 2 versus Super Metroid. Can you blame that on the curse of the 3-seed? *Looks at Legend of Zelda pwning the 8 bit division* Probably not. But LttP really showed it’s power in both rounds. FF3/6 on the other hand, put up decent numbers. Nothing to go crazy over. It also had one of the easiest paths to Round 3, so it should have put up 80% easily in both rounds. Instead, it does not even break 75%. LttP has the advantage in this department.

What we really need to look at though is the match-up behind the match. Nintendo vs. Square. We saw in Round 3 Final Fantasy get 42% on SMB3, the top seed in the division. And that was just the first FF. FF3/6 is considered by most to be one of the best in the series. This is a really interesting fact in this match, and could be the only thing that is keeping the hope of the Square fans up. Can the Square fans pull off this win?

I would say they can’t, but then again I’ve been wrong a lot of times. I wish I had known when I made my bracket about the power of the Zeldas. I had the first getting to the Elite 8, LttP losing to Super Metroid, OoT bowing out to FFVII, and Wind Waker going to the Final Four. ‘>_>. Winner of this match should get at least Chrono Trigger’s win percentage to have the match look very interesting.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FF3/6

Moltar’s Prediction is: LttP 56% - FF3/6 44%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/231996



Ulti's Analysis

All the recent events have really confused people about this match. First LTTP kills Super Metroid, then as I type this, Chrono Trigger has 60% on Super Mario World, the same Mario World that went 70-30 on Sonic 2.

But all that withstanding, LTTP is far closer to Ocarina of Time than FF6 is to FF7. LTTP should have no trouble winning this match, though it may be stronger than I originally thought.

And has anyone seen the match pic for this thing yet? What a piece of ****.

Bracket: LTTP

Prediction: LTTP wins, 55%-45%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMW - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMW (63/72)

Dp's Analysis

This may very well be the biggest match so far in the contest. It marks the first meeting between the two biggest series': The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. Both seem unstoppable, but one game has to budge. While we all have been anxiously awaiting the 32/64-bit division championship, which should be Final Fantasy VII vs. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, this should prove to be a very interesting preview.

This is one of these matches where you have to ignore the seeding. We already saw the 6-seeded Link to the Past easily defeat the 3-seeded Super Metroid, 74%-26%. And Super Metroid was supposed to put up a good fight. But that's not too much of a surprise; the Legend of Zelda series has been extremely impressive, and a close victory for it has been a surprise.

Final Fantasy III will make sure that this isn't another blowout for A Link to the Past, because Final Fantasy III has plans of winning. After all, it is a Final Fantasy game, and it's the number 2 seed in the division. While The Legend of Zelda has been very dominant, Final Fantasy has been dominant as well. It hasn't been as dominant though. Doom scored more against Final Fantasy III than Super Metroid did against A Link to the Past. Maybe because Super Metroid is also an NES game, while Doom is a PC game. But Super Metroid definitely under-performed against A Link to the Past.

Like always, we have to look at bracket voters. But I think in this match, the bracket voters should be pretty much split between the two. Also, with the success of Final Fantasy in these contests, there are many who have turned to hate the Final Fantasy series, so it may fall victim to some anti-votes, although that little advantage for A Link to the Past should be erased by the small advantage that Final Fantasy III should have with the bracket voters.

This should be a very close match. When I filled out my bracket, I chose A Link to the Past. I knew both series' would be dominant, but The Legend of Zelda would be slightly more dominant. This has proved to be the case, and I can confidently stand by my original prediction.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

DpObliVion's Prediction is: A Link to the Past over Final Fantasy III 51%-49%

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMW - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMW (63/72)

The Legend of Zelda...74.57%
Tetris........................25.43%

About 71% of the bracket's called this match right. Pretty good.

LoZ continues to show it's power by destroying Tetris. The match falls between me and Dp's predictions again, but this time, he is closer.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. SMW - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMW (63/72)

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Round 3: Match 53 - (1)Final Fantasy 7 vs. (4)Metal Gear Solid

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy 7:
Round 1 – vs. Suikoden II (FFVII: 85.63% - Suikoden II: 14.37%)
Round 2 – vs. Xenogears (FFVII: 80.03% - Xenogears: 19.97%)

FF7 continues to squash anything its path. It takes Xenogears out easily.

Metal Gear Solid:
Round 1 – vs. Resident Evil (MGS: 70.62% ; Resident Evil: 29.38%)
Round 2 – vs. Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT: 49.98% ; MGS: 50.02%)

MGS wins in an extremely close match with FFT. Congrats Snake.

After one of the most unpredictable matches in Round 3 (LttP/FF6), we come to this match. FF7 vs. MGS. This match is just some free points for all the bracket people. FF7 got 80%+ on both of its weak opponents. MGS got 70 on RE which is quite impressive, and beats FFT in a close one, also impressive. But even though MGS had a much tougher path to Round 3, FF7 still comes out the dominant one here.

This match will be important for FF7. It has to go up against OoT next round. (Goldeneye has no chance, ok guys?) It will have to put up really impressive numbers in this match, since MGS and Goldeneye are about equal in strength. I hope FF7 can pull at least 65% in this match. That should be good enough.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FF7

Moltar’s Prediction is: FF7 66% - MGS 34%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/232316



Dp's Analysis

"Should Metal Gear Solid win, the amount it wins by could be very important when you look ahead to its next match against Final Fantasy VII. If Metal Gear Solid beats Final Fantasy Tactics in a close match, Final Fantasy VII should have no problem. However, if it's a landslide victory, Final Fantasy VII fans may need to start worrying."

That was the statement that I made in my 2nd round analysis of Metal Gear Solid vs. Final Fantasy Tactics. As you can see, I said that if Metal Gear Solid won in a close match, Final Fantasy VII should have no problem. Well, Metal Gear Solid won in the closest match of this contest, and almost the closest match in contest history. Metal Gear Solid defeated Final Fantasy Tactics by only 38 votes! Final Fantasy VII should definitely have no problem whatsoever making up those 38 votes.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy VII over Metal Gear Solid 56%-44%



Ulti's Analysis

I`m not even going to dignify this with a response. Sucks that such an easy to call blowout is in the third round, too.

Bracket: FF7

Prediction: FF7 wins, 76.24%-23.76%
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LttP vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: LttP (67/76)

Chrono Trigger........59.01%
Super Mario World...40.99%

Dp is .01% off on ths match. Excellent prediction by him. CT wins this match easily. About 62% of the brackets called this match right.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
LttP vs. FF3/6 - Bracket: FF - Vote: LttP (67/76)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past...52.66%
Final Fantasy III (VI)..............................47.34%

FF3 puts up a fight, but LttP is just too much. Only 40% of the brackets saw this upset coming. Dp had the closest prediction for the second day in a row.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. MGS - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: MGS (67/80)

Round 3: Match 54 - (3)Goldeneye vs. (2)Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Moltar's Analysis

Goldeneye:
Round 1 – vs. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Goldeneye: 80.81% - Panzer Dragoon Saga: 19.19%)
Round 2 – vs. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Castlevania: SotN: 40.72% - Goldeneye: 59.28%)

Goldeneye performs well against SotN to earn its Round 3 spot.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
Round 1 – vs. Fallout 2 (Zelda: OoT: 86.31% - Fallout 2: 13.69%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Mario 64 (SM64: 23.74% - Zelda: OoT: 76.26%)

OoT is able to blow Mario into another dimension. Look at those numbers,

Well, from one easy to predict match, to another. Goldeneye performed all right in the first round, and a bit better in the second round. 60% on Alucard’s game isn’t bad. OoT also does well in Round 1, and better in Round 2. 75%+ on Super Mario 64? That’s impressive. Now let’s see who had the easier path to Round 3. I think Fallout 2 could beat PDS, but with SotN and SM64, that would be close. I would put my money on SM64 though. This means OoT had the tougher opponents, but since OoT is a strong game, F2 and SM64 don’t even look that tough at all.

Well, in the 32-64 bit division definitely has the most predictible Round 3 in the Contest. FF7 is beating MGS as expected and tomorrow, OoT will beat Goldeneye. Next round is a toss-up though. I’ll get into that for my analysis for this match next round. Since I see MGS being a bit stonger than Goldeneye, I want to see OoT get 75% in this match to match FF7.

Moltar’s Bracket says: OoT

Moltar’s Prediction is: GE 25% - OoT 75%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/232551



Dp's Analysis

Goldeneye? This game is only into the Sweet 16 because it had a very easy road to get there. The highway suddenly comes to a dead end for James Bond. His puny little sports car is backed up to the wall, and the tractor-trailer that is Ocarina of Time is coming full speed.

Okay, enough of that analogy. Final Fantasy VII and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have been destined to meet each other since the announcement of this match. It is the match that will make or break your bracket. I'm going to save my energy to type that analysis up when the time comes, so I'll keep this short and to the point.

James Bond has finally met his match. Ocarina of Time wins easily. The End.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Ocarina of Time over Goldeneye 78%-22%



Ulti's Analysis

The irony of it all. The most popular game for the N64 was Goldeneye until a ceratin Zelda title came along.

However, I`m not even going to dignify this with a response. Sucks that such an easy to call blowout is in the third round, too.

Bracket: OOT

Prediction: OOT wins, 72.50%-27.50%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. MGS - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: MGS (67/80)

Final Fantasy VII...71.3%
Metal Gear Solid.....28.7%

FF7 destroys MGS by a pretty big margin. 79% of the brackets called the match right. The percentage fell between me and Ulti's, but he beat me by a little bit.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Goldeneye vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (71/84)

Ocarinas performances so far would suggest to me that it is well capable of defeating FF7.

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www.geocities.com/characterbattle2004 - The Spring Character Battle

Round 3: Match 53 - (16)StarCraft vs. (5)Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

StarCraft:
Round 1 – vs. Halo (Halo: 49.83% - StarCraft: 50.17%)
Round 2 – vs. Kingdom Hearts (StarCraft: 53.57% - Kingdom Hearts: 46.43%)

The Dark Horse rides on. StarCraft is able to upset KH in Round 2

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker:
Round 1 – vs. Skies of Arcadia (Zelda: WW: 74.41% - Skies of Arcadia: 25.29%)
Round 2 – vs. Metroid Prime (Zelda: WW: 55.22% - Metroid Prime: 44.78%)

The Red Boat sails on. Wind Waker is able to upset MP in Round 2.

This is, by far, the strangest Sweet 16 match in GameFAQs history. I mean, 1 vs. 4 is expected, but 16 seed vs. 5 seed is just…wow. Well, first we look at StarCraft’s past numbers. Upsetting Halo is good, but the KH victory is more impressive IMO. Many people had KH beating Halo in Round 2, so SC performing better against KH than Halo is a good thing for it. Now for the Wind Waker. It put up decent numbers against SoA and good numbers against Prime. Sure it might not look like much, but Prime is a very strong game. 55% on it is great in my opinion. Now let’s see who had the harder path. This is how I see it. MP > KH > Halo > SoA. So seeing as Metroid Prime would own both of StarCraft’s opponents AND SoA gives Wind Waker the nod here.

Ok StarCraft fans, let me tell you something. Starcraft has gotten this far because it has had a SUPER EASY PATH. It had the Anti-Xbox, underdog and Battle.net votes against Halo and just barely squeaked by. More people then jumped on the Starcraft bandwagon and it was able to barely get past KH. Wind Waker just has the Nintendo vote to back it up and it got to Round 3. Also, all the Zeldas have won there matches so far, and the Nintendo fans aren’t going to let this one fall behind. It’s going to be a close one here folks. Hopefully, the bleeding of the brackets because of Starcraft end here. If Starcraft beats Wind Waker, I will be beyond shocked. Winner of this match has winner of FFX/SSBM next round. Wind Waker of StarCraft better hope it can pull at least 55% on the other.

Moltar’s Bracket says: WW

Moltar’s Prediction is: SC 44% - WW 56%

Moltar's Comic of the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/232848



Dp's Analysis

Careful, don't slip on the blood. I'm talking about all the red that fills the top of the 128-bit division in my bracket. As of right now, I have missed 15 points. Between Halo and Metroid Prime, 9 of those 15 points are in this top half of the 128-bit division alone. In this match, I had Metroid Prime beating Halo. Wow.

Instead, we find the surprising StarCraft against The Wind Waker. Because of StarCraft's surprising success, with wins over Halo and Kingdom Hearts, many people are talking about the possibility of it taking down Wind Waker. Well, if they're going to pick on a Legend of Zelda game, Wind Waker is the one to pick on. It is clearly the weakest of the Zelda games. However, the fact of the matter is that it is still a Legend of Zelda game, and no PC game in this contest, no matter how popular or how much momentum it has, is going to beat a Legend of Zelda game.

Everyone knew that Halo would be weak. It proved that. Kingdom Hearts was questionable, and after a very poor showing against Soul Calibur, it was known that it wasn't very strong either. StarCraft has beaten both in close matches. The people who think that StarCraft has a chance at beating Wind Waker are extremely overestimating it.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Metroid Prime…

DpObliVion's Prediction is: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker over StarCraft 58%-42%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Goldeneye vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (71/84)

Ulti's Analysis

You know, Starcraft has become a bigger board favorite than CATS and Gordon Freeman. Too bad it has no chance. It`s nice to think that it can beat a 1 seed, then a Square RPG, then a Nintendo title, but it simply won`t happen.

I`d go in depth, but it`s not necessary. If Starcraft so much as ties the Wind Waker, then this shows that Soul Calibur could beat Metroid Prime and/or that Halo is as strong or stronger than Wind Waker. Wind Waker may be the weakest Zelda in this contest, but it`s certain stronger than Halo. Still, it`s interesting to see that the board favors Starcraft by a whopping 4:1 ratio? Can Starcraft actually win this match? Who knows.

Bracket: Wind Waker

Prediction: WW wins, 53.23%-46.67%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Goldeneye vs. OoT - Bracket: OoT - Vote: OoT (71/84)

Goldeneye........................................26.95%
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time...73.05%

Ulti lands the closest guess in this match. OoT destroys the Bond game. A surprising thing though is that only 60% of the brackets had OoT going this far. This means that more people had FF7 advancing to the Elite 8 than OoT. Hmmm...
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. WW - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (75/88)

Round 3: Match 54 - (3)Final Fantasy X vs. (2)Super Smash Bros. Melee

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy X:
Round 1 – vs. Shenmue (FFX: 74.48% - Shenmue: 25.52%)
Round 2 – vs. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (FFTA: 33.46% - FFX: 66.54%)

FFX is forced to beat another FF game. It will be all worth it though if it can beat Melee.

Super Smash Bros. Melee:
Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear Solid 2:Sons of Liberty (SSBM: 56.72% - MGS2:SoL: 43.28%)
Round 2 – vs. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (GTA:VC: 46.46% - SSBM: 53.54%)

SSBM wins in a tough match against Vice City.

Well, a lot of people said that SSBM under-performed in both rounds. I disagree. I think SSBM had the toughest path to the Sweet 16. Only 22% of the brackets had it going this far, so that by itself says something. Sure it's a 2 seed, but look at its opponents. They could have easily scored 3 and 4 seeds if we had a Contest with just 128 games. Look at FFX’s opponents; they were both walks in the park. It performed decently against Shenmue, and a bit disappointing against FFTA, although SFF might be to blame.

Yes, I got straight to the point this analysis. This match is important to a lot of people. After Starcraft/Wind Waker, the results of this match will either make or break your bracket. I’ll use the Crew for examples, Ulti and me had Wind Waker winning today. If SSBM wins tomorrow, Ulti will have a possible shot at first and I might get on the board. This helps us. Now Dp had Prime winning today, minus 4 points there. I know he has SSBM winning this match, so if SSBM wins, it will nullify the loss from today’s match. If FFX wins, it will destroy his bracket.

Well, you saw it up there, my prediction is that SSBM will win in a close match. FFX has put up nothing but lackluster performances thus far, and SSBM is winning some pretty tough matches. However, after I saw the match pic for this match, I am now a bit more confident in SSBM’s chances. I still know it’s going to be close though. I can’t even give a percentage on this match. This Division is just too messed up. Any three of the remaining games have a shot. (Starcraft isn’t coming back folks.)

Moltar’s Bracket says: SSBM will win

Moltar’s Prediction is: FFX 49% - SSBM 51%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/232992



Dp's Analysis

Super Smash Bros. Melee will win. Why? Because I say so.

Okay, fine, I’ll do an actual analysis.

Link. Ganondorf. Zelda. Mario. Luigi. Yoshi. Bowser. Samus. Donkey Kong. Fox. Pikachu. Kirby. And many, many more. That’s quite a list of characters featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee, probably the most popular GameCube game. It finds itself in a match against Final Fantasy X, an average game in comparison to the others in its series. But it’s still a Final Fantasy game, which brings in a ton of votes for it.

But looks at its competition. Sure, it’s Final Fantasy. But this match is basically Final Fantasy versus everything else. Chances are good that if you’re not a Final Fantasy fan, you have a character in Super Smash Bros. Melee that you love, even if you don’t have the game, or even if you don’t have a GameCube. And if the game or characters don’t interest you, you may vote for Super Smash Bros. Melee just to spite Final Fantasy X.

A stronger Final Fantasy III lost to a Legend of Zelda game. This is a weaker Final Fantasy game, and it faces not just characters from Legend of Zelda, but from many Nintendo games. Even though Final Fantasy X is a Final Fantasy game, I just don’t like its chances.

The Elite 8 is set.

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Super Smash Bros. Melee

DpObliVion’s Prediction is: Super Smash Bros. Melee over Final Fantasy X 53%-47%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. WW - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (75/88)

Ulti's Analysis

Well look at what he have here. Why, it`s the match I`ve been looking forward to the most in the third round. On one side we have FFX, a game that has gone far below expectations against both Shenmue and FFTA. On the other, there`s SSBM, a game that has gone below expectations against both Metal Gear Solid 2 and Vice City. Neither game has really shown itself to be a contender for the division here, but then again, neither has Starcraft or the Wind Waker. In the end, the winner of this division will take it by default.

However, I think that SSBM has the best chance. And no, this isn`t just because of my bracket. Against MGS2, a strong PS2 game, SSBM won by 10000 votes. Against Vice City, a game stronger than Vice City in strength in polls, SSBM won by 5000 votes. Now it`s up against FFX, a game which has shown itself not to be very strong in this contest, but still, it`s stronger than Vice City. But by how much? Certainly it would beat either MGS2 or Vice City in a poll, but is it stronger enough than both games to take down SSBM, a game that has been isolating and defeating the various fanbase of the PS2? It may be taking the entire Gamecube voter population of our regular voters to beat these isolated groups, but wins are wins either way. Also, the prediction percentage for Vice City before it faced SSBM was 79.11%. The prediction percentage of FFX before facing SSBM, you ask? 79.81%. Not that big a difference at all, and when you pair this with FFX`s horrid showing thusfar, SSBM has a chance to win this match. All it has to do is not allow FFX to make up the 5000 votes that Vice City missed out on, which I feel is very possible. SSBM outsold FFX, has more replay value than FFX, and has grown stronger with time. FFX has grown weaker, especially with the horrid game known as FFX-2 tarnishing its name.

Am I guaranteeing a win for SSBM? Not at all. But this match will definitely be close. SSBM has everything needed to win, but then again, so does FFX. All depends on who comes out to vote, to be honest.

Bracket: SSBM

Ulti`s prediction: SSBM wins, 50.11%-49.89%
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SC vs. WW - Bracket: WW - Vote: WW (75/88)

Starcraft................................................50.1%
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker...49.9%

Wow, it did it. Starcraft overcame the odds and won. Wind Waker was ahead 2,000 votes when I wrote my analysis, guess I was wrong for assuming it would lose. I said this in the chat last night, and I'll say it again here, Starcraft put up a damn good match, and now I believe it can take the division. Only 7% of the brackets saw this happening. Wow.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX vs. SSBM - Bracket: SSBM - Vote: SSBM (75/92)

Super Mario Bros. 3: Who knew Mario in a Raccoon Suit would be such a fashion statement?

Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear (SMB3: 82.30% - Metal Gear: 17.70%)
Round 2 – vs. Metroid (SMB3: 78.04% - Metroid: 21.96%)
Round 3 – vs. Final Fantasy (SMB3: 59.60% - FF: 40.40%)

SMB3 takes FF 60-40. Slightly disappointing.

Legend of Zelda: Sorry Link, but the princess is in another dungeon.

Round 1 – vs. Adventure (LoZ: 95.20% - Adventure: 4.80%)
Round 2 – vs. Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong: 12.96% - LoZ: 87.04%)
Round 3 – vs. Tetris (LoZ: 74.57% - Tetris: 25.43%)

LoZ puts on a great performance in Round 3 against Tetris.

Well, the top half of my analysis has now turned into a slightly modified version of MMX’s intro. Go me. But now let’s go to the match. First let’s look at last round numbers. SMB3 doesn’t give FF the big win like most wanted. Instead, it makes FF look strong instead of itself. In the bottom half of the bracket, LoZ breaks the three seed curse and is able too easily get past Tetris. Advantage FF, right? Wrong. Final Fantasy would own any one of Zelda’s opponents, even Tetris, just cause it has the Final Fantasy name. Advantage, SMB3. Hmm, now it’s tied. Well, let’s go into game franchises. Both Mario and Zelda games are known worldwide, but SMB3 gets the nod here. It is the biggest selling game of all time. The first Legend of Zelda doesn’t even come close.

Well, it’s bound to be a close match, but I think the top seed can pull through. LoZ is now the weakest Zelda game in the Contest since Wind Waker is gone. I just can’t see LoZ beating SMB3, but I can see it being an awesome match. This whole Elite Eight is going to be the best in GameFAQs Contest history.

Moltar’s Bracket says: SMB3

Moltar’s Prediction is: SMBE 52% - LoZ 48%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/233214



Ulti's Analysis

The most overrated match ever. Mark my words, Mario 3 will win this. It is the strongest Mario game in this contest, while Zelda 1, at best, is the third strongest game in the series. If anything, Mario 3 is equal to LTTP in strength. I`ve ignored how well each game has done in this contest, because Zelda 1 may have performed better, but it was all against horrific opponents in matches where all of the voters were going by the nostalgia factor. I don`t believe for a second that Mario 3 wouldn`t have killed Zelda`s opponents in the exact same manner, perhaps even moreso.

Bracket: Mario 3

Prediction: Mario 3 wins, 53%-47%. SFF could go AGAINST Link in this match and make it not as close as everyone thinks.

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX vs. SSBM - Bracket: SSBM - Vote: SSBM (75/92)

Dp's Analysis

Match #2 in my quest for a perfect finish. With Super Smash Bros. Melee currently holding a lead (although StarCraft has proven that such a lead is not safe) on Final Fantasy X to end the Sweet 16 round, we now go to the start of the Elite 8, the division finals, in which we see Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. The Legend of Zelda.

Now, for the most part, the Legend of Zelda series has been pretty dominant in this tournament (The Wind
Waker doesn't count). And, for the most part, the Super Mario series has not performed very well at all...with the exception of Super Mario Bros. 3.

In this match, we have a pretty split fan base. The Super Mario series and the Legend of Zelda series are the two big series' from Nintendo. We already saw one match between the two. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time delivered a mighty 76%-24% beating on Super Mario 64. However, Ocarina of Time is a very strong Legend of Zelda game, and was one of the favorites to win it all before the contest started. Super Mario 64, on the other hand, was a 7-seed, and a weak Super Mario title. The win was expected, but the margin of victory is cause for concern for Super Mario fans.

That margin of victory between the fan base split can be attributed to the difference in popularity of the
games. Ocarina of Time is a much greater game than Super Mario 64 was, so the split fell to OoT's side. However, the situation is different in this match. This isn't just another Super Mario game. This is Super Mario Bros. 3, the biggest in the series, and arguably the biggest game for the NES, or even for the whole time period.

Super Mario Bros. 3 faces another titan of its time, The Legend of Zelda. But, like I have said, they are both very popular Nintendo games, so the fan base will be relatively similar. To Nintendo fans, Super Mario Bros. 3 is the game of its time. The fact that the Legend of Zelda series (with the exception of the weak Wind Waker) has been extremely dominant in this tournament, while the Super Mario series has not been, does not matter here. The entire Nintento fan base will not be riding on The Legend of Zelda. It will be split between the two, and I believe it will fall in Super Mario Bros. 3's favor, because it was a bigger game than The Legend of Zelda was. As far as the other voters go: Super Mario Bros. 3 has more of the bracket voter's vote, and other non-Nintendo gamers will probably vote for Super Mario Bros. 3 because of what it meant to gaming.

Let's face it. If Super Mario Bros. 3 was able to hold off the entire Final Fantasy group of voters and beat the game 60%-40%, it should be able to hold off The Legend of Zelda, because it is not one entire group going against another, it is one entire group fighting in itself, and the edge will go to Super Mario Bros. 3 from within that group, and from the outsiders. I don't care what the numbers have said so far in this tournament; Super Mario Bros. 3 will win.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Super Mario Bros. 3 over The Legend of Zelda

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Super Mario Bros. 3 over The Legend of Zelda 54%-46%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FFX vs. SSBM - Bracket: SSBM - Vote: SSBM (75/92)

I want some CT LttP analysis love action!
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Nominate Id from Xenogears and Kain from FFIV for SC2K4
SpC2K4 Status - Winner: Crono Trigger - Finalist: FF7 - Semifinalists: SM3, FFX

Yes, it will hopefully be up today Odd. I need the analyses from Ulti and Dp still.

Final Fantasy X....................49.06%
Super Smash Bros. Melee...50.94%

SSBM overcomes all the odds and is able to take down 3 huge PS2 hits in a row. I was only .06 points off from predicting the match perfectly. Only 14% of the brakcets had this match right, and 3 of them were the Analysis Crew's. Go us!
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. LoZ - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (79/96)

Round 4: Match 56 - (1)Chrono Trigger vs. (6)Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Moltar's Analysis

Chrono Trigger: There’s no “h” in Crono…</noob response>

Round 1 – vs. Secret of Mana (CT: 79.39% ; SoM: 20.61%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Mario RPG (CT: 67.06% ; SMRPG:LotSS: 32.94%)
Round 3 – vs. Super Mario World (CT: 59.01% ; SMW: 40.99%)

Chrono Trigger shows Mario that it refuses to go down to him again. CT wins easily.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Where’s the sequel, LoZ: A Link to the Future?

Round 1 – vs. Gunstar Heroes (Zelda: ALttP: 91.15% ; Gunstar Heroes: 8.85%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Metroid (Zelda: ALttP: 74.00% ; Super Metroid: 26.00%)
Round 3 – vs. Final Fantasy III/VI (Zelda:LttP: 52.66% ; FFIII/VI: 47.34%)

In a close match, LttP is able to beat a stronger-than-expected Final Fantasy 3/6.

Well, the Elite 8 continues with this match. Chrono Trigger vs. Link to the Past. Last round, a lot of people had doubts that CT would beat Super Mario World. Well, CT shut them up and beat the stuffing out of SMW. LttP on the other hand was the big favorite going into this match. The FF fans though almost proved them wrong, as LttP wins by less than most expected. Who comes out looking stronger this round? Well, look at Chrono’s performances, then the Zelda’s game performances. LttP did better in Round 1. LttP did better in Round 2. Hard to tell in Round 3 though, because I see FF3/6 beating SMW, but CT did put up good numbers that round, so I’ll give it the nod. So, the final results declare LttP the winner.

BUT…look at today’s poll. SMB3/LoZ was supposed to be a toss-up, but instead, it’s going to win with 56-57%. Is this the power of the 1-seed finally coming out? Can CT pull a SMB3? I think so. But just to stay safe, I’ll say it will be a close match.

Moltar’s Bracket says: CT

Moltar’s Prediction is: CT 51% - LttP 49%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/233493



Ulti's Analysis

Sorry if this analysis is all short and sucky, but I can`t be late for work.

It is the most hyped match in the division, but today`s beating of Zelda 1 lets me know that Zelda isn`t invincible. LTTP only managed a weak victory against FF6, and as we all know, FF6 is not nearly as strong as Chrono Trigger on our site. I should be close, but I don`t think LTTP can win. CT is much closer to FF7 than LTTP is to OOT.

Bracket: Chrono Trigger

Prediction: Chrono Trigger wins, 52.94%-47.06%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. LoZ - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (79/96)

Dp's Analysis

A solid win by Super Mario Bros. 3 puts it into the Final Four, and we continue on to the 3rd match in my quest for a perfect finish. We come to Chrono Trigger vs. A Link to the Past. Square RPG vs. Nintendo.

Now, we've already seen Chrono Trigger take down two Mario games: Super Mario RPG and World. Another Nintendo game now stands in its way. However, it is A Link to the Past, which itself has taken out another strong Square RPG, Final Fantasy III. Which game has the advantage? The task of taking down Final Fantasy III is much tougher than taking down Super Mario RPG and Super Mario World; Chrono Trigger was supposed to win with ease. A Link to the Past is the one that has been put through the real test and come out alive.

So, after taking down one Square RPG, is A Link to the Past ready to take down another one? Keep in mind that A Link to the Past only beat Final Fantasy III 47.34%-52.66%. So Chrono Trigger just needs to find a way to gain back about 5% of the votes. I think it should be able to do it.

While Final Fantasy III was a great game, Chrono Trigger was greater. It got more nominations than Final Fantasy III and was able to get a 1 seed in the division. Final Fantasy III has its number of anti-voters because it is a Final Fantasy game, while Chrono Trigger does not have as much. While A Link to the Past vs. Final Fantasy III was a toss-up, Chrono Trigger has been the favorite to win the division, so it will also have more bracket voters. Chrono Trigger is very popular among the masses. When it was announced that fan art would be used for the final 3 rounds, Chrono Trigger pictures shot up all over the place. I'd say that more than half of the pictures that came up were of Chrono Trigger. The combination of Crono, Magus, and Frog are extremely loved.

Look ahead to the Final Four opponent that the winner of this match will face: Super Mario Bros. 3. What's the most storied rivalry in the contests here? Mario vs. Crono. With Super Mario Bros. 3 having won, Chrono Trigger winning this match will secure another titanic match between the two, this time in game form (CT vs. SMRPG and SMW just don't compare to SMB3). Are these two destined to have another showdown?

I think that there is enough evidence out there to say that Chrono Trigger will make up for what Final Fantasy III lost, and will advance past A Link to the Past. Oh, and one more thing: Ultimaterializer predicted that Chrono Trigger would win, and we know how well he has done.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Chrono Trigger over The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Chrono Trigger over A Link to the Past 52.4%-47.6%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. LoZ - Bracket: SMB3 - Vote: SMB3 (79/96)

Super Mario Bros. 3...56.78%
The Legend of Zelda...43.22%

We all predicted this match to be alot closer than it actually was, but instead, SMB3 wins by a decent margin. Ulti gets the closest prediction and only 40% of the brackets called this match right.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. LttP - Bracket: CT - Vote: LttP (87/104)

Round 4: Match 59 - (1)Final Fantasy 7 vs. (2)Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy VII: Took them 7 tries, but Square finally did it. The big Final Fantasy.

Round 1 – vs. Suikoden II (FFVII: 85.63% - Suikoden II: 14.37%)
Round 2 – vs. Xenogears (FFVII: 80.03% - Xenogears: 19.97%)
Round 3 – vs. Metal Gear Solid (FFVII: 71.30% - MGS: 28.70%)

FF7 takes down MGS easily. Too easily if you ask me.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Props to whoever messed up the blue flute. Yeah, it was supposed to be a flute.

Round 1 – vs. Fallout 2 (Zelda: OoT: 86.31% - Fallout 2: 13.69%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Mario 64 (SM64: 23.74% - Zelda: OoT: 76.26%)
Round 3 – vs. Goldeneye (Goldeneye: 26.95% - Zelda: OoT: 73.05%)

Even James Bond can’t stop the awesome power of Link. OoT decimates Goldeneye.

It’s final here. The day brackets were put up, people were taking about this match. The biggest match in the whole Contest in many people’s opinions. The winner of this match, has a big chance of winning the whole Contest. On one side, we have Square’s Final Fantasy VII, looked upon by most as the best FF game ever. On the other side, we have Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, also looked upon by most as the best LoZ game. These two games go at it not in the finals, not in the Final Four, but in the Elite 8. A lot of people’s brackets are depending heavily on this match. 8 points can either be a big help, or a big hurt. It gets worse too, if you had one of the games winning, and then it loses this match, your bracket is gone.

Let’s compare the two games past performances first. In Round 1, both games put on near-identical performances. FF7 and OoT both beat Suikoden 2 and Fallout 2 respectively by a nice percentage. I’ll call this a tie. In Round 2, OoT steps it up and gives a beating to Super Mario 64. FF7 also puts on nice numbers, but I’m giving OoT the nod here. 76% on SM64 is insane. In Round 3, FF7 blew MGS out of the water. I really did not see FF7 getting over 70% on MGS, but it did. OoT was all right, but I see Goldeneye being weaker than MGS. FF7 gets the nod. So pretty even performances so far. Ok, let’s continue then.

Let’s see Summer Contest performances. In 2002, Link came out the winner. Cloud and company also did well. Aeris made it to the Sweet 16, Cloud made it to the Elite 8, and Sephiroth made it to the Final 4. In 2003, Cloud won the whole sha-bang and beat Sephiroth in the finals. Aeris fell out early to Sonic in the Sweet 16. Link had some friends in the Contest too this time. Both Ganondorf and Zelda lost in Round 2, and Link lost in the Final Four. Gah, still tied up.

Ok, finally, let’s look at the other games of the series and see how they did. First the LoZ series. The original Legend of Zelda lost against SMB3 yesterday. LttP is giving Chrono Trigger a tough time today. As I have been typing this, the lead has been switching back and forth. Wind Waker was eliminated last round by the Dark Horse, preventing the possibility on an all Zelda Final Four. Final Fantasy on the other hand has been all over, but only 1 reached the Elite 8, FF7. OoT wins here.

Ok, so after all this, it looks like OoT would be the favorite. BUT, I would still put my money on FF7. Why?

1. It got more noms than OoT.
2. I have it advancing in my bracket, and winning the whole thing. Don’t want to kill my hopes now.
3. It seems to be the board and bracket favorite.

OoT does have a big advantage going for it though. An FF7 character won the Summer Contest last year. A lot of people don’t want to see a repeat. They see that OoT has a big chance to end this possible threat. Can it do it? Winner of this match takes on the winner of Starcraft/SSBM next round. As I have said before. Best. Contest Finish. Ever.


Moltar’s Bracket says: FF7

Moltar’s Prediction is: FF7 51% - OoT 49%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/233714



Ulti's Analysis

*ignores the long-winded stuff*

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1365

It should go something like that. This match might easily be the most overhyped even to ever grace gamefaqs. Simply put, FF7 and Chris MacDonald are what made gamefaqs famous. Without Final Fantasy 7, there is no gamefaqs, like it or not. FF7 is the site`s unofficial mascot, and though OOT will make it interesting, I don`t think it has any chance whatsoever. All of this anti-voting voodoo doesn`t exist.

Bracket: FF7

Winner: FF7, 51.13%-48.83%

Dp's Analysis

It's strange that there is only one divisional final that features the top two seeds in the division. Although, if you were to say that only one 1 vs. 2 match would occur, it was pretty obvious that it would be this one. In fact, this was the only 1 vs. 2 that I had in my bracket, so I'm not too surprised at the result.

Before the brackets were announced, the two favorites for this contest were Final Fantasy VII vs. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Many people believed that the contest would come down to these two games. Unfortunately, when the brackets were released, it was revealed that due to the way the divisions were set up, that this match would happen in the divisional finals. With the only other real challenge in that division being Metal Gear Solid, it was pretty certain that the match would happen. My perfect 32/64-bit division comes down to this pivotal match up.

While the Legend of Zelda series has been very dominant in this contest, Final Fantasy VII has proven to be the game to beat after embarrassing Metal Gear Solid 71.3%-28.7%. However, this is the second major Final Fantasy vs. Legend of Zelda battle in this contest. In the previous round, we saw A Link to the Past upset Final Fantasy III by about 5% of the votes. Does Final Fantasy VII have what it takes to erase that margin of victory?

Let's compare games. Both A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time are arguably the top two games in the series, while the same can also be said about Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy VII. However, it can probably be said that A Link to the Past is slightly more popular than Ocarina of Time, while Final Fantasy VII is slightly (although more so than in the previous group) more popular than Final Fantasy III.

But does that really matter all that much? In essence, it is still basically Legend of Zelda vs. Final Fantasy. Those who voted for A Link to the Past are likely to vote for Ocarina of Time, while those who voted for Final Fantasy III are likely to vote for Final Fantasy VII. So maybe, after all, the difference in individual game popularity does not mean much.

Or does it? This is the reason why Final Fantasy VII has come out to be the game to beat. It was expected that Final Fantasy VII would beat Metal Gear Solid. But after Metal Gear Solid beat Final Fantasy Tactics by a slim margin, it was expected that Metal Gear Solid would not fare too badly against the titan. Similar fan bases, right? Maybe it would be about a 60%-40% victory for Final Fantasy VII. That's what most thought. Well, we know how that match turned out.

However, it can also be argued that Final Fantasy III is much more popular than Final Fantasy Tactics, so the difference between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics will be much less than between that and Final Fantasy III. But I believe that Final Fantasy VII will have enough power in it to get past Ocarina of Time, but it should be quite an interesting match to follow Chrono Trigger vs. A Link to the Past.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII over The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy VII over Ocarina of Time 54%-46%

It should go something like that. This match might easily be the most overhyped even to ever grace gamefaqs. Simply put, FF7 and Chris MacDonald are what made gamefaqs famous. Without Final Fantasy 7, there is no gamefaqs, like it or not. FF7 is the site`s unofficial mascot, and though OOT will make it interesting, I don`t think it has any chance whatsoever. All of this anti-voting voodoo doesn`t exist.

Bracket: FF7

Winner: FF7, 51.13%-48.83%

Short but exactly what I was thinking. I really don’t see this match being mind-numbingly close like today’s (then again, I didn’t think today’s match would be this close, either). I just can’t see Final Fantasy VII losing this match. It seems untouchable on this site. Add to that the fact that I find FFVII’s victory over MGS more impressive than OoT’s over Goldeneye and I agree that OoT has a high probability of taking the plunge tomorrow.

And that’s just about the percentage I see happening, as well. FFVII should win by a little over a percent – nothing embarrassing for OoT but a clear lead for FFVII for most of the match, nonetheless.

I just realized my commentary on your commentary was longer than your commentary itself :)
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 87/104, Next Winner: Chrono Trigger

It should go something like that. This match might easily be the most overhyped even to ever grace gamefaqs. Simply put, FF7 and Chris MacDonald are what made gamefaqs famous. Without Final Fantasy 7, there is no gamefaqs, like it or not. FF7 is the site`s unofficial mascot, and though OOT will make it interesting, I don`t think it has any chance whatsoever. All of this anti-voting voodoo doesn`t exist.

Bracket: FF7

Winner: FF7, 51.13%-48.83%

I completely agree with Ulti.. I just really can't see Final Fantasy VII losing.. It's just too powerful and strong.. and at gamefaqs, Final Fantasy VII always reign supreme...

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"What I have shown you is reality. What you remember, that is the illusion."
- Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)

Interesting. Ulti does a three line analysis, yet it says more than either mine or Dp's analyses.

*takes notes*
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
CT vs. LttP - Bracket: CT - Vote: LttP (87/104)

No matter how long, Ulti's always showing us up....

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Yeah, lol.

Chrono Trigger........................................50.18%
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past...49.82%

This match was by far the most intense match in the Contest. For 9 hours, the two games kept switching leads. CT ran away with the night vote though and is able to move on to the Final Four. I got the closest prediction in the Crew, and only 37% of brackets called this match right.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs OoT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: OoT (95/112)

Um...that's supposed to be 34%. Sorry.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs OoT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: OoT (95/112)

No matter how long, Ulti's always showing us up....

That is SOOO not true. I have been the weak link in this topic, to be honest. You guys have given one hell of an effort for every matchup, whereas I`ve gone all-out on five matches, tops. It`s not my fault by the way, it`s just that I do too many things at once and can only truly write good stuff on my days off.

Though a certain someone called this match pretty well, wouldn`t you say? ~_^
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Married to smitelf on 5/21/04
I would like to take this moment to politely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Round 4: Match 60 - (16)StarCraft vs. (2)Super Smash Bros. Melee

Moltar's Analysis

Starcraft: 16 SEED HAS ARRIVED! To the Elite 8 that is.

Round 1 – vs. Halo (Halo: 49.83% - Starcraft: 50.17%)
Round 2 – vs. Kingdom Hearts (Starcraft: 53.57% - Kingdom Hearts: 46.43%)
Round 3 – vs. Zelda: Wind Waker (Starcraft: 50.10% - Zelda: Wind Waker: 49.90%)

Pulling off another miracle upset, Starcraft is able to get past Wind Waker.

Super Smash Bros. Melee: You deserved that beating Mario. Peach DID tell you not to drop the plates.

Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (SSBM: 56.72% - MGS2: 43.28%)
Round 2 – vs. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (GTA:VC: 46.46% - SSBM: 53.54%)
Round 3 – vs. Final Fantasy X (FFX: 49.06% - SSBM: 50.94%)

SSBM screws over many brackets by beating FFX.

Well, back to the crazy 128-division. This match is looking to be more crazy then today’s….”match”. Only 7% of brackets had Starcraft getting this far, and twice that had SSBM getting this far. Not a lot of people saw Starcraft and SSBM getting past those tough opponents, but they did. Starcraft had to fight past the weakest 1 seed ever, Halo, the weaker-than-expected Kingdom Hearts, and it’s toughest opponent yet, Wind Waker. SSBM had to get past 3 tough opponents in a row. As I stated in my last analysis of SSBM, I believe that MGS2 and VC could score 3 or 4 seeds in Contests with just 128 games. FFX was also expected by many to beat it, but like Starcraft, it proved them wrong. I’ll say they both had equally as tough paths.

Both of these games are so similar in the Contest, it isn’t even funny. Neither has scored over 60% against there opponent. Both are big underdogs in this division. Both had tough paths to the Elite 8. It is going to be close, and no clear winner. The board favorite is Starcraft as usual, but in this match…Starcraft isn’t the underdog. Both games are equal in this match. This is how I see the match going. Starcraft jumps out to an early lead, SSBM catches up early and builds a lead during the day, much like Wind Waker. Then it’s déjà vu from last round. Starcraft gains a huge surge of votes, but I believe SSBM’s lead by then would have been too big to catch up. But that’s only what I think, and I’ve been wrong before. I haven’t jumped on the Starcraft bandwagon before, and I am not starting now.

Moltar’s Bracket says: Wind Waker….

Moltar’s Prediction is: SC 49% - SSBM 51%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/233896



Ulti's Analysis

Starcraft`s strength varies in comparison to its opponent. It barely squeaked by both Halo and the Wind Waker, but put down Kingdom Hearts with ease. I`d act like I know how this match will go, but I don`t. Sorry, I can`t know everything. Battle.net is simply too fickle to gauge correctly.

What I DO know is this. SSBM is in my bracket to win this division, and it took down the Final Fantasy game of the generation. If it is destined to be another victim of Starcraft`s snake bites, then it will go down fighting. SSBM is the strongest 128 bit game in this division, as I have been saying since day one. It`s lead SHOULD be larger than the lead Wind Waker had before the comeback started. Will it be enough? Who knows.

Bracket: SSBM

Prediction: SSBM wins, 50.01%-49.99%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs OoT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: OoT (95/112)

Dp's Analysis

First off, I'd like to say this: I fear the power of StarCraft.

Since Super Smash Bros. Melee started off with a win against Final Fantasy X, I have gone 4/4 in my quest for a perfect finish. With a good portion choosing Ocarina of Time to beat Final Fantasy VII, and a very low amount of people predicting Super Smash Bros. Melee to even be in this match, let alone win it, Super Smash Bros. Melee winning this match may very well put me in the Top 100 predictors.

But I fear StarCraft. Super Smash Bros. Melee is going against the surprise of the tournament. StarCraft started by taking out the 1 seed, Halo. Then it took out the Square RPG Kingdom Hearts. It followed that up by eliminating a Legend of Zelda title, The Wind Waker. Now, no disrespect for StarCraft, but those opponents are on the weak end of their groups. Halo was only a 1 seed because of the nomination system, and it was well known that it was extremely over-seeded. Many people predicted a 1st round upset, and it happened. Kingdom Hearts also under-performed. Also, Wind Waker is obviously the weakest of the Legend of Zelda games in this contest.

StarCraft is riding on a lot of momentum, however. It seems like nothing in the 128-bit division can stop it. The general belief across the board is that Super Smash Bros. Melee stands no change to defeat StarCraft. I, however, feel differently. StarCraft beat Halo 50.17%-49.83%. It beat Kingdom Hearts a little more comfortably, 53.57%-46.43%. It followed that up by squeaking by Wind Waker 50.1%-49.9%. As you can see, three close matches, two that were extremely close. StarCraft has been getting by while living on the edge this whole tournament. If it only got 50.1% against Link and Co. (in a weak Legend of Zelda game, as well), what will happen when it goes against Link, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Donkey Kong, etc?

Remember: Mass Characters > Mass Carriers.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Super Smash Bros. Melee over Metroid Prime

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Super Smash Bros. Melee over StarCraft 50.5%-49.5%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs OoT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: OoT (95/112)

Bumparoony. This is great.
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"This is why fighting games have 2 rounds, cause sometimes you get owned and want another round."- shanegamer, I think

Match is going like expected so far

Final Fantasy VII............................53.82%
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time...46.18%

Well, this match did not live up to the hype. FF7 got and mantained the lead the whole day. Yawn. Dp is only .18% away from calling the match perfectly. Alot of brackets called this right. Around 59%.

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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. SSBM - Bracket: N/A - Vote: SSBM (103/120)

One thing I forgot to mention, and that is SSBM may benefit from the Halo affect. When I was on Bnet during the Starcraft match, a lot of the users there said that they also liked Halo. Bnet wasn`t exactly the biggest supporter of SC that night. The support was there, but there were also Halo fans all over the place. That`s why the late swing was only 1450 votes, as opposed to the 2150 we saw in the Wind Waker match.

Now look at SSBM. It has the same sort of love that Halo does. Legendary multiplayer games are not easy to come by, and Melee is one of THE best. If Melee manages to build a big lead in this match, there are enough people that may vote for it because of it being a recent smash hit. Kingdom Hearts and Wind Waker didn`t have the luxory of being beloved, and were subsequently beaten.
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Married to smitelf on 5/21/04
I would like to take this moment to politely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Well I hope you guys are wrong about this current match ^_~. I have never seen SC in a poll before, so I'm happy it is doing well... Even if some other fans are acting annoyingly immature, saying they won after 15 minutes >_>. Idiots.

Geez, have you guys predicted a loss for SC every time? :p
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StarCraft (stär`kraft) v. to snatch away at the last instant; to do something at the last minute - Mario StarCrafted Crono twice - Polaris

No, Ulti predicted a win for SC against Halo (his "orgasmic" analysis ^_~), and I think against Kingdom Hearts. But he bet against it for TWW and now against SSBM.

I didn't really check the others, but I'm pretty sure they expected SC to lose against Halo... I can't remember what they said about KH, but you can always look for that =P.

Ulti predicted a 1 vote win for SC against Halo. Ever since then, he predicted StarCraft's opponent would win.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. SSBM - Bracket: N/A - Vote: SSBM (103/120)

Oh? Well never mind what I said about Kingdom Hearts, then.

Round 5: Match 61 - (1)Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. (1)Chrono Trigger

Moltar's Analysis

Super Mario Bros. 3: Will Mario StarCraft Crono a third time?

Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear (SMB3: 82.30% - Metal Gear: 17.70%)
Round 2 – vs. Metroid (SMB3: 78.04% - Metroid: 21.96%)
Round 3 – vs. Final Fantasy (SMB3: 59.60% - FF: 40.40%)
Round 4 – vs. Legend of Zelda (SMB3: 56.78% - LoZ: 43.22%)

In what was thought to be a close match, SMB3 comes out of this match looking stronger than ever.

Chrono Trigger: Looks like CT is good at taking out games that begin with “Super Mario”.

Round 1 – vs. Secret of Mana (CT: 79.39% - SoM: 20.61%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Mario RPG (CT: 67.06% - SMRPG: 32.94%)
Round 3 – vs. Super Mario World (CT: 59.01% - SMW: 40.99%)
Round 4 – vs. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (CT: 50.18% - Zelda:ALttP: 49.82%)

In a back-and-forth match, CT is able to capture the night vote and pull away from LttP.

Remember when people said that there is a chance of an all Zelda Final Four? Well, that didn’t happen. NO Zelda games got to the Final Four, and you can send part of the blame to these two games. SMB3 and CT both had to take out Zelda games to get to the 5th Round, and now they must face each other.

Last Round, SMB3 had to face the original Legend of Zelda. Many people doubted SMB3 because of LoZ’s past performances. Almost 75% on Tetris is a lot, while SMB3 had a rather disappointing performance against Final Fantasy. When the match kicked off, it wasn’t even close. SMB3 gained the lead and LoZ had no chance of coming back. Chrono Trigger on the other hand, had to face a much tougher Zelda game. LttP had gotten 74% on Super Metroid. 74%! It then went on to beat Final Fantasy 3/6. It was looking unstoppable before that match, but FF3/6 showed us that LttP could be beaten. CT had just come off a decent win against Super Mario World, so some people still had faith in it. The board was pretty split on the match, and the voting numbers during the day showed it. Match stayed pretty even during the day. Everytime one game was going to build a lead, the other game quickly caught back up. However, CT received the night vote as expected, and pulled ahead of LttP. It eventually went on to win. So who had the tougher Round 4 match? CT obviously. Who had the harder path? I would say SMB3, but the LttP match gives CT the nod.

Another match that is completely in the air. SMB3 could win, CT could win, this one is a tough one to predict. I see the match going like this. CT starts off with the early lead. SMB3 begins to come back during the early morning. Now here is where the match goes crazy. If SMB3 pulls away during the morning and the day, CT has a small chance of catching back up. If SMB3 catches up, but fails to take a nice-sized lead during the day, the night vote will most likely favor CT again. Who am I going with this match? Chrono Trigger. Simply because that is what my bracket has. I honestly have no clue who will win. Both games have put on pretty equal performances. Winner has to face either a rather strong FF7, or SC/SSBM. Good luck.

Moltar’s Bracket says: CT

Moltar’s Prediction is: SMB3 50% - CT 50%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/234178
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. SSBM - Bracket: N/A - Vote: SSBM (103/120)

Dp's Analysis

The Final Four is set. The winner of this match goes to the finals. Will it be the classic Super Mario Bros. 3, or that great RPG Chrono Trigger? Well, look at that. Mario vs. Crono.

The Super Mario series has already shown great weakness to Chrono Trigger. But, as Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda both found out, Super Mario Bros. 3 brings in many more votes than the other Super Mario games in this contest.

Let's look at two similar opponents that these two games have gone against. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past beat Final Fantasy III by about 5%. Chrono Trigger then came out on top against A Link to the Past in a daylong neck-and-neck battle, which had the two swapping leads for a good portion of the day. Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros. 3 scored a 56.78%-43.22% victory over The Legend of Zelda.

With Chrono Trigger barely getting past A Link to the Past, and Super Mario Bros. 3 giving a good beating to The Legend of Zelda, the advantage there goes to Super Mario Bros. 3. But let me get to the point. Sure, Chrono Trigger made easy work of Super Mario RPG and Super Mario World. But Super Mario Bros. 3 is on a much higher level then them. Super Mario Bros. 3 was the biggest game of its era, and while Mario fans will let Chrono Trigger slide and beat Super Mario RPG and Super Mario World, in the end, Mario always gets the last laugh on Crono. In two previous character battles, Mario has pulled out the win against Crono. We come now to a huge battle between their two best games, and Mario will come out on top once more.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Super Mario Bros. 3 over Chrono Trigger

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Super Mario Bros. 3 over Chrono Trigger 50.8%-49.2%



Ulti's Analysis

After the madness we`ve seen in this contest, the last thing we need is another Mario vs Crono duel. But we can`t do much about it, as the time is upon us.

To keep this very short and concise, I simply think that LTTP can and would rip Mario 3 a new one if they ever met in a poll. And Chrono Trigger took down LTTP. It wasn`t easy, it it happened. Is Chrono Trigger the favorite here? SLIGHTLY. The night vote should favor CT, as the Starcraft community of predominantly Asian late-night voters loves Square RPGs in the first few hours of the poll. If the night vote favors Chrono Trigger, then historically, it should win. The night vote usually goes both ways in these polls.

Of course, there is the fact that Chrono Trigger has not managed well during the afternoon vote in a single poll in this contest. If Mario 3 manages to take a huge lead during then, it has a great chance to win. As if Mr. 18.7 million needed help in the first place. If this poll were on most other sites, such as Yahoo or Google, Chrono Trigger would have no chance. But this is Gamefaqs.

Mario/Crono 3, here we come!

Bracket: Chrono Trigger

Prediction: Chrono Trigger wins, 50.34%-49.66%
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SC vs. SSBM - Bracket: N/A - Vote: SSBM (103/120)

Starcraft......................49.73%
Super Smash Bros. Melee...50.27%

After a very controversial match, SSBM is able to get a big day vote and keep it's lead during Starcraft's night vote. Dp predicted this match the closest and only 7% of the brackets had SSBM moving on to the Final Four. Dp, great job with the pic. Ulti, congrats for getting to 2nd place.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. CT - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMB3 (103/136)

You do realize I was second place after FF& thrashed OOT, yes?
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Married to smitelf on 5/21/04
I would like to take this moment to politely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Did I say congrats back then? No. So I said it there. =P
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. CT - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMB3 (103/136)

Round 5: Match 62 - (1)Final Fantasy VII vs. (2)Super Smash Bros. Melee

Moltar's Analysis

Final Fantasy VII: For celebration, the FF7 Crew is gonna cook up some Baby Stew.

Round 1 – vs. Suikoden II (FFVII: 85.63% - Suikoden II: 14.37%)
Round 2 – vs. Xenogears (FFVII: 80.03% - Xenogears: 19.97%)
Round 3 – vs. Metal Gear Solid (FFVII: 71.30% - MGS: 28.70%)
Round 4 – vs. Zelda: Ocarina of Time (FFVII: 53.82% - Zelda:OoT: 46.18%)

In the most over-hyped match of the Contest, FF7 is able to take OoT out easily.

Super Smash Bros. Melee: The Division 128 winner is a game for the GCN? I <3 GameFAQs.

Round 1 – vs. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (SSBM: 56.72% - MGS2: 43.28%)
Round 2 – vs. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (GTA:VC: 46.46% - SSBM: 53.54%)
Round 3 – vs. Final Fantasy X (FFX: 49.06% - SSBM: 50.94%)
Round 4 – vs. StarCraft (StarCraft: 49.73% - SSBM: 50.27%)

The 16 seed is FINALLY put to rest. SSBM just barely gets by it.

Last round, FF7 and OoT went up against each other. This would finally put a rest on the topic of which game was more popular at GameFAQs. Just like the Summer Contest 2003, Cloud beat Link. FF7 beat OoT by a good margin. The next day, Starcraft had to go up against SSBM. SSBM jumped out into the early lead, but SC caught up near the end. It was not enough though, and SSBM was declared the winner. Now these two meet in the Final Four. Even though I believe SSBM had the toughest path to get here, FF7 put up the better numbers.

Yes, this is a short analysis. Division 128 was a mess. Most of the games came out looking about the same strength. The point is that none of the games in this Division could take down any of the other Final Four competitors. It is by far the weakest division. Even though SSBM came out of it alive, FF7 is going to gobble it all up. Almost 54% on OoT is amazing. FF7 is definitely looking to be the favorite to take it all.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FF7

Moltar’s Prediction is: FF7 58% - SSBM 42%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/234327



Dp's Analysis


That last bunch of matches required quite a bit of extensive writing for the analyses. This match, however, does not require a lot of writing, which is a good thing, considering I don’t have much time to write this anyway.

In the Sweet 16 round, Super Smash Bros. Melee advanced past Final Fantasy X by a slim 51%-49%. Final Fantasy VII has been an unstoppable powerhouse, whose only competition is a Legend of Zelda title, Super Mario Bros. 3, or Chrono Trigger. It took out Ocarina of Time last round, and Super Mario Bros. 3 is battling Chrono Trigger to face the winner of this match in the finals. I might as well just say that Super Mario Bros. 3 is battling Chrono Trigger to face Final Fantasy VII in the finals though.

Super Smash Bros. Melee beat Final Fantasy X by 2 percent. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Final Fantasy VII will easily make up that difference. Besides the fact that Final Fantasy VII is a powerhouse that is much stronger than Final Fantasy X, Super Smash Bros. Melee unfortunately will not be blessed by having my contest art used for its match picture.

Final Fantasy VII says to Super Smash Bros. Melee: You have no chance to survive make your time!

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII over Super Smash Bros. Melee

DpObliVion’s Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII over Super Smash Bros. Melee 57%-43%




Ulti's Analysis

This match needs an analysis?

Bracket: FF7

Prediction: FF7 wins, 67.35%-32.65%


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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. CT - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMB3 (103/136)

Super Mario Bros. 3...47.77%
Chrono Trigger.........52.23%

Looks like CT has what it takes to go up against FF7. Crono's game beats Mario's best and Dp gets the closest pick. Almost 25% of the brackets called this one right.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
SMB3 vs. CT - Bracket: CT - Vote: SMB3 (103/136)

I didn't get the closest prediction, I said SMB3 would win (and it should've).

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Oh yeah. Whoops. Then Ulti did.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. SSBM - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: SSBM (119/144)

The Deathster bumps it up a notch.
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"WUT? Korean girls are hot, how can they look like Zergs?"-Marklee03 on this one topic somewhere

Round 6: Match 63 - (1)Chrono Trigger vs. (1)Final Fantasy VII

Moltar's Analysis

Chrono Trigger: From Mario, to Link, to Cloud. Sometimes, I think Ceej just hates the guy. (Crono)

Round 1 – vs. Secret of Mana (CT: 79.39% - SoM: 20.61%)
Round 2 – vs. Super Mario RPG (CT: 67.06% - SMRPG: 32.94%)
Round 3 – vs. Super Mario World (CT: 59.01% - SMW: 40.99%)
Round 4 – vs. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (CT: 50.18% - Zelda:ALttP: 49.82%)
Round 5 – vs. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Super Mario Bros. 3: 47.77% -CT: 52.23%)

CT is able to take out the strongest Mario game in the Contest. Easily too.

Final Fantasy VII: FF7 in the finals. Did you expect something different? I mean, look at SC2K3. C’MON PEOPLE!

Round 1 – vs. Suikoden II (FFVII: 85.63% - Suikoden II: 14.37%)
Round 2 – vs. Xenogears (FFVII: 80.03% - Xenogears: 19.97%)
Round 3 – vs. Metal Gear Solid (FFVII: 71.30% - MGS: 28.70%)
Round 4 – vs. Zelda: Ocarina of Time (FFVII: 53.82% - Zelda:OoT: 46.18%)
Round 5 – vs. Super Smash Bros. Melee (FFVII: 60%+ - SSBM: 40%+)

Even though FF7 isn’t finished with its match, it’s plainly obvious that it is going to win. Besides, you have to do an analysis for the Finals.

So, the two most POPULAR games on GameFAQs are Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 7. Doesn’t surprise me at all. Didn’t surprise Ulti either, because both he and I have this match for the finals. Let’s now look at past performances. After CT’s performance in Round 4, some people had their doubts that it would get past SMB3. However, look who came out victorious? That’s right, Chrono Trigger and it did pretty well. So well, it makes LttP look stronger than SMB3. Now let’s move onto FF7. It has been looking unstoppable thus far, putting up great numbers against MGS and OoT. Today, it is going to get 60%+ on SSBM, which is incredible. After the Cloud/Sephiroth finals in 2003, some people thought there would be a big anti-FF7 vote. Instead, the game is doing just as well, if not better, than the characters.

Unfortunately, for the finals, this match does not need a super-long analysis. Look at FF7’s match for Round 4 versus OoT. Those are the numbers I am expecting for this match right here. I see CT being around the same strength OoT is. I’m sorry CT fans, but FF7 is looking to be the winner of the Contest. Congratulations are in order for everyone who did well with predicting their brackets, and thanks for Ceej for putting this whole thing together. It was one to remember.

*Cue flashblacks of previvous matches here, such as SC vs. Halo, MGS vs. FFT, CT vs. LttP, and other great matches.*

Ahh….the memories.

Moltar’s Bracket says: FF7

Moltar’s Prediction is: FF7 54% - CT 46%

Moltar's Comic for the Match: http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar/234529



Dp's Analysis

I don't even want to write this analysis, because I have no interest in this match whatsoever. I should be excited over the final match, but it's between two games that I have absolutely no interest in, and the winner seems pretty obvious. These are both Square RPG's, so there will be a split fan base. The difference here will be that Final Fantasy VII is much more known by the casual gamers. It's a damn shame that Chrono Trigger beat Super Mario Bros. 3, but I guess complaining about it won't do me any good. Well, I guess now we have the Summer Contest to look forward to.

DpObliVion's Bracket says: Final Fantasy VII

DpObliVion's Prediction is: Final Fantasy VII over Chrono Trigger 58%-42%

Hopefully Ulti will post his analysis seperately.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. SSBM - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: SSBM (119/144)

Final Fantasy VII....................62.43%
Super Smash Bros. Melee.....37.57%

SSBM tries, but it just can not take down FF7. I get the closest prediction and about 47 and a half brackets had FF7 going to the finals.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. CT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: FF7 (135/160)

CORRECTION:

I had Super Mario Bros. 3 winning this match.

Sorry, I guess I was so uninterested in this match that I didn't even put the right game down. Bleh, what a ****ty final......

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He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.

Poor Dp...
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. CT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: FF7 (135/160)

BTW - If you have a Spring Contest site, can you please save this topic to it. Don't want all this hard-work wasted.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. CT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: FF7 (135/160)

Now for a couple extra stats, let's find out who predicted the most matches correctly. Props to Xan for haveing me do this. (This is assuming FF7 stays around 58% and Dp gets the best prediction.)

Moltar: 20
DpObliVion: 13
UltimaterializerX: 29
Forsaken: 1

I might get more into detail at some other time.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. CT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: FF7 (135/160)

Aw ****, I forgot about it.

CT vs FF7

FF7 IZ WINNAR.

Bracket: FF7

Prediction: FF7 wins with 58.30% =)
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Married to smitelf on 5/21/04
I would like to take this moment to politely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

And I thought Halo/StarCraft would be his best....
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
FF7 vs. CT - Bracket: FF7 - Vote: FF7 (135/160)

Chrono Trigger........41.76%
Final Fantasy VII....58.24%

There you have it. FF7 is the winner of the Best. Game. Ever. Contest. 39% of the brackets had it winning and Dp got the closest prediction.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Final Bracket Score: 167 points. Finished in the top 416 brackets.

`scuse me? I do believe I had the closest prediction in that match =)
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Married to smitelf on 5/21/04
I would like to take this moment to politely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Well, that's true. Your prediction was very close. At first I wondered why it was so good, then I realized it was late. DISQUALIFIED
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Final Bracket Score: 167 points. Finished in the top 416 brackets.

Again, if anyone has a Spring Contest related site, it would make us happy if you put this topic on there. Thanks.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Final Bracket Score: 167 points. Finished in the top 416 brackets.

Bump for anyone with free time.
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Moltar's Comics - http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/Moltar
Final Bracket Score: 167 points. Finished in the top 416 brackets.