But do you think SFF is involved today? I seriously doubt it.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 053/060 --- Matches: 40/46 --- Rank: 01002/40940 --- Today's pick: FF10

If it is, it certainly doesn't appear to be as strong. I dunno. Maybe it's just this division. Wind Waker didn't seem to benefit from SFF either.
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Spring Contest 2004: 52/60
Today: (3)Final Fantasy X over (6)Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

What gets me is that according to our board, Starcraft may very well beat the Wind Waker. And if that happens, brackets will die all over the place.

Oh, another thing I pointed out somewhere were the odd percentages between Metroid Prime, Half-Life, and the Wind Waker. Prime`s low percentage against Half-Life leads me to believe that a lot of people thought that Gordon Freeman could take down Link.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

SFF? Maybe, maybe not. But like I said when FFX went against Shenmue, it`s not as strong as it needs to be to win this division. I maintain that the favorites are SSBM, and dare I say it, Starcraft has boosted its status. Its matchup against Wind Waker might be damned close.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Well the stats are here...kudos to any and all of my fellow elites from this thread that made it. That means you smitelf, and you too Ulti :)

As for me ever being on that leaderboard...well I like to stay optomistic...and doing that means that if I can win every single match to come, which I still theoretically could based on who is still in my bracket...then maybe by the end Ill squeak in there, but if not, oh well, I am having fun commentating.

FFTA doin better than I thought it would...but I aint worried about FFX overall chances yet...I am ready for Round 3 though..now it starts getting real good.

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SCK24: 52/60 Trivia XIII: Diehards Forever
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

dare I say it, Starcraft has boosted its status. Its matchup against Wind Waker might be damned close

I double dare it...it WILL be close. So close I have lowered my oracle pick to the low 50's, and I am not too confident of it right now, thanks to YOUR informal poll.
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SCK24: 52/60 Trivia XIII: Diehards Forever
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

C'mon. Halo coming close to Metroid Prime, let alone Wind Waker, just sounds totally undoable on GameFAQs.

Don't let board hype get to your head, people.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 053/060 --- Matches: 40/46 --- Rank: 01002/40940 --- Today's pick: FF10

Starcraft seems to share quite a few traits with, of all things, CATS. Both were 16th seeds, both are board favorites and both have spamable catch phrases. Obviously Starcraft is a lot stronger than CATS and has a lot more going for it than a few catch phrases, but it is kinda interesting.
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''Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts...''
''All dreams are but another reality. Never forget...''

I can't believe you just tried to make that comparison. That's an insult to Starcraft. >.<

LordOfDabu
A legend beyond all ages.

C'mon. Halo coming close to Metroid Prime, let alone Wind Waker, just sounds totally undoable on GameFAQs.

Half-Life came a lot closer to MP than almost anyone expected. Starcraft is arguably more popular than Half-Life...don't be so sure it cannot give Wind Waker a run for its money.
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SpC2K4 Points: 56/60
Today's Pick: FFX --- Tomorrow's Pick: GTA: VC

All your respect are belong to CATS! Bow down before the great CATS, for great justice!

Seriously, do you really think Halo deserved that 1-seed? If Starcraft beats Wind Waker, that's what it means - Halo would be second or third best in that division.

Starcraft vs. Half-Life will be a more interesting comparison - Half-Life would've gotten 39.26% against WW. I'm not convinced Starcraft can do much, much better than that.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 053/060 --- Matches: 40/46 --- Rank: 01002/40940 --- Today's pick: FF10

I must say, it's very impressive to see that Half-Life get 40% on Wind Waker.

Now you guys can stop bashing Gordon Freeman, Half-Life is much stronger than you think. Live with it.
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Points: 52/60/192
My pick for today: (3)Final Fantasy X over (6)FFTA - Tomorrow: (2)SSBM over (10)KoToR

"Half-Life would've gotten 39.26% against WW"

You realize that number is meaningless, right?

And Starcraft winning its next round says NOTHING about Halo's strength. It had 76% of the brackets going for it, after all.

LordOfDabu
A legend beyond all ages.

Why would we stop bashing Gordon Freeman? He's funny. It has nothing to do with his game.
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Nominate Death for the 2004 Character Contest

On the contrary, that makes the Gordon gag all the more hilarious. All this potential... and we get THIS.

And Halo may have had the bracket vote... but do you have any idea how it actually affects the vote, especially on a popular match? Sure, Duck Hunt may have won without it, but that's about it.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 053/060 --- Matches: 40/46 --- Rank: 01002/40940 --- Today's pick: FF10

We will continue to bash Gordon Freeman all we damned well please. So Half-Life is stronger than he is. Big deal.

And to be honest, I wouldn`t be surprised to see Halo wind up being one of the stronger games in this division.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Oh, and CATS and Starcraft have little to do with each other. CATS has a mistranslated intro. That`s it. The game itself is on par with Superman 64 from what I hear.

Now Starcraft, it`s loved for all the right reasons. It downed a 1 seed, it downed a Square RPG, it`s one of the most brilliant games ever made, and to this day, still runs strong. It is a board favorite because of it being a good game, not because it has some good quotes and was a 16 seed in a contest where it obviously should have been seeded higher.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

And Starcraft winning its next round says NOTHING about Halo's strength. It had 76% of the brackets going for it, after all.

Not everybody is a bracket voters. I saw plently of people say "Halo on bracket, voting for Starcraft".
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''Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts...''
''All dreams are but another reality. Never forget...''

I think it's pretty obvious that if the seedings were different Starcraft would have destroyed Halo.

But what do I know?

LordOfDabu
A legend beyond all ages.

Most definitely. My analysis for that match clearly stated that people don`t care about their bracket given the right circumstances.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Well, depends on whether you call a 1500-win "destruction" or not, I guess. I hear Ulti has pretty low standards for these terms.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 053/060 --- Matches: 40/46 --- Rank: 01002/40940 --- Today's pick: FF10

However good Starcraft is, it won't be able to beat even the weakest Zelda game. Honestly, would Halo (only barely beaten by SC) win against the Wind Waker?!

Starcraft's run ends next round.
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Current Score: 56/60 Tied for 168th
Today's Pick: FFX over FFTA

The sad thing is, we don't know. I would say that Halo could put up a fight against WW, and I would bet would beat it on any other sites.

However good Starcraft is, it won't be able to beat even the weakest Zelda game

Precisely.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
You are doing well, lad. But can you break through this secret technique of Darkness?

Well, depends on whether you call a 1500-win "destruction" or not, I guess. I hear Ulti has pretty low standards for these terms.

What do you mean?
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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

Very surprising result for this match for me. I was expecting possibly 80%. I never expected less than 70%. I guess it shows the power of the Final Fantasy name...even against other Final Fantasy games! Stupid SFF, never strikes when you expect it to.

I wonder if the adorably cute sprite for Tactics Advance played a role :o)

I still think that Final fantasy X is a force in this division, because this is about what I would've expected if I hadn't factored in SFF; so I think it's doubtful that SFF came into play. Lends some weight to the hypothesis that older games are more susceptible to SFF. Unless FFTA did suffer from SFF and is just really strong...which I guess is possible, since Tactics was equal to MGS. FFTA might even be equal to MGS2. I really have no idea.

I think it's pretty obvious that if the seedings were different Starcraft would have destroyed Halo.

But what do I know?

Not much, apparently :) (sorry, couldn't resist, too obvious)

There has never been any evidence of bracket votes coming into play, other than anecdotal board evidence, and plenty of evidence that it didn't. Why would Cloud vs. Link go almost exactly as expected if bracket votes mattered? And the "it was too late in the contest for people to bracket vote" explanation seems shady. Most people just vote for who they want to, we've seen this over and over.

Maybe bracket votes made a difference in Samus vs. Sonic, MGS vs. Tactics, DK vs. DH, and the Mario vs. Crono matches. But that's about it, and any random thing could've made a difference in those matches.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
http://SC2K4.com/frog (click on the galleries)

Match #46 Review:

Eh...nothing too out of the ordinary. At the rate WW's going, though, it could have its hands full next round...

Match #48 Preview:

I think you guys are discounting VC way too quickly. I do think it has a legitimate shot at beating SSBM, and that's what my bracket says (yet another "what was I thinking?" moment from me...), so let's just wait and see how the match goes before we jump to conclusions.
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"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."
-Toad in Super Mario Bros.

Vice City has a shot. A great shot. But not too great a shot. Slightly less of a shot than it should have had.
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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

One thing I would have loved to see were insta-updated during Starcraft/Halo. I still think that one of the factors for our contest not being as popular as the past are the 15 minute updates. Rather than everyone going nuts around the clock for the better matches, people have to do it in 15 minute intervals.
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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

I wonder...

If SSBM beats Vice City, what if its third round match pic has Mario, Link, and Samus? Instant win?
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"Delicious morsel! Let me get my bib...!" - Ultros
Vote SSBM!

My take on today`s match before I go off to work.

SFF was supposed to allow FFX to have a blowout victory here, but it didn`t. In fact, FFX is underperforming so badly that I`m starting to feel like even Vice City can take the game down in a poll. Hell, Vice City might even win the division if it can get past SSBM. FFX is this disappointing to me. The only thing I can think of here is that FFTA benfits from being on the Nintendo, as well as having the words 'Final Fantasy Tactics' within the title. But even then, no reasonable excuse can justify why FFX is only scoring 66% right now. Is FFTA strong enough to benefit this much from being on the GBA and having the namesake? SFF or no, I`m personally shocked by it being able to score 33% on FFX, and I honestly feel like FFX will have some serious problems with the winner of the SSBM/Vice City match, whoever wins.
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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

Tidus, Auron, and Yuna vs. Mario, Link, and Samus = Best match pic ever
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Spring Contest 2004: 52/60
Today: (3)Final Fantasy X over (6)Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

About the ssbm match pic, I'm kind of upset that Mario gets to have the match picture, it could have just as been Link or anyone, or even that great shot of them all looking into the horizon, does Mario really need another game shot?

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Silly Rabbit...Trix are for....kids.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.-Old Klingon Proverb

Can someone project what FFTA would get over Shenmue? Remember, FFX is a weak link in the FF chain, as is TA. FFX only got what, 75% against that? I think FFTA would get about 60-40 on Shenmue, which would be in line with how it's doing right now.

And now that I think about it, SFF is hurting X more then FFTA. The Tactics bunch, who like FFT and FFTA, are separate from the regular FF fans. Thus, the Tactics bunch is going to throw it's weight behind the Tactics game, which would hurt FFX which would normally do much better. This is part of the reason I had FFT in a bout of insanity beating VII, because I simply felt the fans of FFT would put it's weight behind VII, allowing for a possible win.

I'm annoyed with the match pic because of the ridiculous advantage it gives to SSBM. Biased much, Ceej?

I don't think any of the games in the bottom half of Division 128 can give FFX trouble despite its performance today. They're all underperforming. In the top half, I could see Wind Waker making waves (or, dare I say, Starcraft).

**** my bracket if Starcraft can make it to the Final Four. **** it, I say! That would be the single coolest thing to happen in any of these contests.
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 57/60, Next Winner: Final Fantasy X

About the ssbm match pic, I'm kind of upset that Mario gets to have the match picture, it could have just as been Link or anyone, or even that great shot of them all looking into the horizon, does Mario really need another game shot?

Mario is lacking a game in the 128 division so him getting the SSBM is perfectly fine if you ask me. And since it is one singular character its best that Mario represents SSBM. ^_^
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Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
You are doing well, lad. But can you break through this secret technique of Darkness?

Mario is the closest thing Super Smash Brothers Melee has to a main character. After all, he is Mr. Nintendo. Vercetti hasn't had a good picture yet including last summer, so he's usually at a disadvantage one way or another.
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Spring Contest 2004: 52/60
Today: (3)Final Fantasy X over (6)Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Yeah, of course you like it Heroic Mario :p, but having Mario there is like saying he's the main charcter of the game, and he isn't, he's one of them, but hopefully next round he won't get the picture all to himself.

And I don't know if its safe to assume that the original Tactics people like, or even have, Tactics Advance. I think the system difference is behind the closer results in this match, not the hardcore Tactics fans.

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Silly Rabbit...Trix are for....kids.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.-Old Klingon Proverb

He`s not the main character of the game, like you said, but he is the best representative. He represents Nintendo and in the cast of Nintendo All-Stars it seems fitting to have him there. And he`s only there because there are single character shots and not groups, this next round I`m imagining is more of a group shot.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
You are doing well, lad. But can you break through this secret technique of Darkness?

And now... TA-DA! FF10 isn't even able to double FFTA! (Of course, it's not over, it could change back.) Either we blatantly underestimated FFTA - I totally didn't expect it to double FE, but most did for a reason I can't comprehend - or FF10 is so weak tomorrow's winner has a real shot if it does so by a decent margin. However, given their first round performances, I could see SSBM giving WW a fight, but not Vice City. And if MGS2 is really Snake's top contender, as has been suggested by certain users here, then SSBM looks primed for a Final 4 appearance. But I definitely doubt this, at least until we have statistical evidence, and evidence not potentially ruined by a FF7/FF10 or OoT/WW match, please.

Hehe, with the Starcraft panic gaining this topic (who would have possibly thought?), I thought maybe part 19 would've been created by the time I got home. Wonder where that panic comes from... I mean, what are the odds of us underestimating Halo, Starcraft AND Soul Calibur in comparison of the odds of us underestimating Kingdom Hearts alone? Of course, that is the same logic I used for the Link/Sephiroth theory, so I betcha Creativename is ready to call Starcraft the winner just because of what I said in this paragraph.

You want another frightening story to chill the spines of the Starcraft positive thinkers? If Starcraft does as much as tie Wind Waker, Soul Calibur would beat Metroid Prime with 51.19% of the vote. Holy ****.

Speaking of which, Starcraft's 4-pack IS the tightest in history, as Soul Calibur, the weakest game in it, would get 45.87% against Starcraft. The previous record belongs to Alucard's 2003 4-pack, where Bomberman got 35.54% against it. In other words, this 4-pack of doom shattered so many records of so many kinds. To think, I gave more thought to this silly BangFang Triangle.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 053/060 --- Matches: 40/46 --- Rank: 01002/40940 --- Today's pick: FF10

You want another frightening story to chill the spines of the Starcraft positive thinkers? If Starcraft does as much as tie Wind Waker, Soul Calibur would beat Metroid Prime with 51.19% of the vote. Holy ****.

Silence, you. Do you want me to break out the "Wish Upon A Star" song again? Hmm?
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Married to UltimaterializerX on 5/21/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 57/60, Next Winner: Final Fantasy X

In what will be my last hoorah on the leaderboard, I shall make my prediction while it may actually carry credability: the contest winner will miss 4 points...
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Tied for 21st overall... Damn you Starcraft!!! Pull it out GTA, and I am money!!

Ulti:
I still think that one of the factors for our contest not being as popular as the past are the 15 minute updates.

Not in the least...who would actually stop voting because of that? Or caring less about the contest?

The reason is the site layout change, like we all know. But it isn't just because the poll is moved down. It is because the site layout change has completely PWNED GameFAQs. (combine the two lines)

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/
traffic_details?&range=2y&url=gamefaqs.com

You can clearly see the steep decline around the time the layout changed, beyond the previous downward trend. The site traffic rank is now much lower than it has been at any time in the past 2 years.

The traffic doesn't really matter too much to CNet, the only thing that matters is revenues--of course, the two are always extremely correlated, but revenues might've gone up with the increased advertising. But the traffic has gotten its ass kicked by the new layout.

In fact, FFX is underperforming so badly that I`m starting to feel like even Vice City can take the game down in a poll. Hell, Vice City might even win the division if it can get past SSBM.

Hahaha! That made me laugh. Vice City, winning the division? Dear lord, if that happens, I will change my sig to some nonsense about worshipping Tommy Vercetti. Will never happen.

FastFalcon:
About the ssbm match pic, I'm kind of upset that Mario gets to have the match picture, it could have just as been Link or anyone, or even that great shot of them all looking into the horizon

I totally agree. It is preposterous for Mario to represent SSBM. There is nothing close to a main charcter in that game. If anything, Master Hand should've represented it.

smitelf:
I don't think any of the games in the bottom half of Division 128 can give FFX trouble despite its performance today. They're all underperforming. In the top half, I could see Wind Waker making waves (or, dare I say, Starcraft).

I totally agree with this too. Vice City is no threat to anything, and I think Tactics Advance might very well be close to MGS2 (though I never woulda thunk that before). Now FFTA might not be close to MGS2 at all, and SSBM might very well take Final Fantasy X down, it's very possible. But I still don't think so.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
http://SC2K4.com/frog (click on the galleries)

I shall make my prediction while it may actually carry credability: the contest winner will miss 4 points...

Hmmm, quite possible. That would be very impressive. The contest has definitely been more predictable than the Summer contests so far. The unpredictability has gone up drastically, but it may still be possible to get 188. It would be amazing if it happened though. I would not expect it at all, but you can't dismiss the possibility.
---
Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
http://SC2K4.com/frog (click on the galleries)

I totally agree. It is preposterous for Mario to represent SSBM. There is nothing close to a main charcter in that game. If anything, Master Hand should've represented it.

For a game consisted of Nintendo All-Stars there is no main character, but the first one in line who would come close would be Mario. If you take a look at the "Nintendo All-Stars" portion who beats all of them to the front? That`s right, Mario. While I agree there is no main character, not even close to one, Mario is still not a bad representative.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
You are doing well, lad. But can you break through this secret technique of Darkness?

I totally agree. It is preposterous for Mario to represent SSBM. There is nothing close to a main charcter in that game. If anything, Master Hand should've represented it.

Heh; with all due respect, that's ridiculous. Look at the SSBM cover art. Note which character is featured most prominently.

Now turn the game on. Watch the opening. Note which character is shown first, with by far the most screentime.

Now consider the name of the game. Super Smash Bros. The name is a pun on another game. Just drop the Smash, and replace it with a _____.

Mario is clearly the 'main' of SSBM, just as Ryu was the main of Street Fighter 2. Just because you can play as everyone equally doesn't mean one character isn't more emblematic of the game than the others.

And on another note, SFF doesn't seem to be kicking in for FFX/FFTA. Doesn't really change my opinion of FFX; heck, I'm not sure it changes my opinion of FFTA (though, I think I have a higher opinion of FFTA as a vote-getter than some). Rather, it probably confirms what the two Zelda/Metroid matches taught us; SFF, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to strike as hard with recent games.

I still feel FFX is the clear favourite in round 3, and give it odds as good as any other game to take the division.
---
Ever intrigued by the idea of RPG characters fighting each other?
The RPG Duelling League: www.rpgdl.com

Huh, my brother just told me Bowser was the boss in SSBM. I had no idea. So I guess Mario does make sense.

Heh; with all due respect, that's ridiculous. Look at the SSBM cover art. Note which character is featured most prominently.

Yeah, I don't know about ridiculous, but it does make a lot more sense than I stated.

And on another note, SFF doesn't seem to be kicking in for FFX/FFTA. Doesn't really change my opinion of FFX; heck, I'm not sure it changes my opinion of FFTA

Same here. Though I did think there was a chance FFTA might be pretty weak, and that obviously isn't true. In that way FFTA did earn some respect from me as a competitor.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
http://SC2K4.com/frog (click on the galleries)

Huh, my brother just told me Bowser was the boss in SSBM. I had no idea. So I guess Mario does make sense.

Your brother is not quite right. There are various different modes in SSBM and they all have a different final boss. However the only one that also appears in SSB is Master Hard. So he could probably be considered the main final boss.
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''Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts...''
''All dreams are but another reality. Never forget...''

In Event Mode Giga Bowser was the "Final Boss" , in Classic it was Master Hand, Adventure was Bowser, and All-Star was pretty much facing everyone in different groups until you got to the 25 Mr. Game & Watches.


---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
You are doing well, lad. But can you break through this secret technique of Darkness?

It sure is a close one today....things aren't lookin so high for SSBM
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"Just heed my advice, you need a girl who's name doesnt end in .jpg"