Bowser goes up a little bit (35.37%) if we set Snake equal to 2003, which would give Kirby the win with 50.67%.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

...huh? Wait a second. Bowser got 30% on Cloud in 2003, so that means, like, 31% on BL, and Bowser got adjusted for SFF in 2004... so how could a 4% increase on BL not even give Kirby a full percent over Dante?
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

Match 60: (1) Sonic the Hedgehog vs. (1) Mega Man

Past Performances

Sonic the Hedgehog

Summer 2005
Beat Jin Kazama, 76.15% - 23.85%
Beat Diablo, 68.55% - 31.45%
Beat Tifa Lockheart, 56.40% - 43.60%

Win - Lose Record
11-3

Mega Man

Summer 2005
Beat Conker, 76.02% - 23.98%
Beat Leon S. Kennedy, 64.56% - 35.44%
Beat Yoshi, 68.08% - 31.92%

Win - Lose Record
13-3

Analysis

Before the contest started this was one of the matches I wanted to see and now we’re getting it. It’s the Battle of the Blue. The only match I want to see with the characters left is Mario vs. Mega Man/Sonic and with Crono doing not so well performances that just might happen as well.

Sonic did a good job on Tifa. She’s not an easy character to defeat, but after her struggle with Luigi I thought Sonic would do more, but then again we don’t have a very good reading on Luigi since he’s been in the line of SFF for most of his years. After a very bad performance against Leon Mega Man turned around and laid a beating on Yoshi. If you believed that Link could SFF Mega Man then you should believe that he SFF Yoshi, but all in all it was a very impressive performance by Mega Man.

So who’s the favorite going into the match? Well out of the 3 rounds 2 of them Mega Man looked more impressive so I have to give the slight advantage to Mega Man here. Mega Man has shown over the years that he can take out Noble 9 characters or Snake, but if Sonic is going down it won’t be by more than what Mega Man did to Snake in 2k3. Sonic on the other hand has never won against a elite character, but he’s token out near-elites such as Zero, Aeris, Ryu (in 2k4) and Tifa without being in the danger of losing it (not including the first few hours since Sonic is weak during the night). They both have impressive track records.

I don’t know who’s going to win tomorrow, but I would rather have Sonic win and see a Mario/Sonic final, but Mega Man going to the finals would be okay as well. I’m siding with Mega Man, but I won’t be surprise if Sonic took it as well. For Mega Man to win, he better hope he gets a good night vote and build a lead of a few hundred (or a thousand) so he can stop Sonic from gaining in the morning. If the match goes 50/50 during the night I think Sonic will easily take it once morning comes.

charmander6000’s Bracket: Mega Man over Sonic the Hedgehog

charmander6000’s Prediction: Mega Man wins, 50.10% - 49.90%

---
17 have challenged Nintendo in the handheld market, 17 have failed. (see quote for list)

Because he's not being based on Bowser 2003. He's being based on Spring Contest Bowser, which is at 34.79%.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

I think Leonhart means Bowser's Sp2k5 number.
---
"It shall be engraved upon your soul! Divine Assault: Nibelung Valesti!" ~ Lenneth Valkyrie

we don’t have a very good reading on Luigi since he’s been in the line of SFF for most of his years.

Huh? 60% on Squall isn't a good read? I don't think Yoshi SFFed him, either... the match was just too close for that to occur. Luigi only stopped sucking this year, face it.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

He said 2004 though... he meant SpC2K5? Oh, now that makes sense... except for the whole "Bowser going UP from this spring" gig.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

60% on Squall isn't a good read?

There's that whole deal with Link/Samus SFF.

I don't think Yoshi SFFed him, either... the match was just too close for that to occur

And then he's behind SFF again.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

Oh, now that makes sense... except for the whole "Bowser going UP from this spring" gig.

It's barely noticeable, you could chalk it up to random variation, the picture, whatever.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

Squall's not really the argument you want to use for Link/Samus SFF... besides, Yoshi through Bowser 2003 called the match against him to perfection.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

Squall's not really the argument you want to use for Link/Samus SFF...

He's behind SFF in 2004, too, so you really can't say he's proof against it either.

besides, Yoshi through Bowser 2003 called the match against him to perfection.

*looks at 2003 stats, sees Tidus and Shadow as near equals*

Hmmm...
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

He's behind SFF in 2004, too, so you really can't say he's proof against it either.

If he didn't underperform against Kirby, I guess you could say that.

*looks at 2003 stats, sees Tidus and Shadow as near equals*

Coincidences don't always happen when you want them to, you know.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

lol me

Of course, who's to say Kirby gained all of that strength THIS year, or that he wasn't higher than 2004 showed? We can't say that either, can we?

Coincidences don't always happen when you want them to, you know.

And you can't prove it wasn't.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

Could any of you guys see Sonic doing worse against Bowser than Snake did?

Considering that it was the sprite round, hell no. I also think that Sonic would barely beat Snake in a poll.
---
SC2K5 Score: 101/112
Today's Pick: Crono

Conker through Yoshi was accurate from '03 to '04, though (and Conker's seemed to be fairly consistant throughout all the contests). Meanwhile, Ryo Hazuki through Yoshi was also accurate between '03 and '04, too. Plus, Ratchet through Luigi over '03 predicted Dante/Ratchet fairly accurately. I could say more, too.

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

People always talk about not using fodder to compare characters. Besides, I'm not saying I believe it. I'm just playing devil's advocate.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

Of course, who's to say Kirby gained all of that strength THIS year, or that he wasn't higher than 2004 showed? We can't say that either, can we?

Kirby already benefited from quite the increase based on a constant Squall, actually.

And even if Squall weren't to give you the general outline of the situation... Jill dropped (although Zero DID give us an idea why, that's still not overcompensating by any means), and KOS-MOS/Ryu was called within 0.5%.

If I could find any argument whatsoever for Samus getting SFFed, believe me, I'd be the first to jump on it.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

KOS-MOS/Ryu was called within 0.5%.

And strange how Samus 2004 vs. KOS-MOS 2004 gives you nearly the same result as you get in 2003. Ah, the beauty of coincidence, no?
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

If there's another game contest, would you nominate Big Rigs?
---
Return of SF1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CASE!
makeyourchance: Yes I do! It's Samsonite.

And Ryu tagged along for the ride, too! How amusing!
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

There's still Squall to think about though, in my opinion.

And Ryu tagged along for the ride, too! How amusing!

Oh, so KOS-MOS/Ryu being called despite both of them (and Sonic) seemingly going up ISN'T coincidence? Well, I guess it's not since it doesn't support your argument.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

Sonic didn't go up like these two did, though. It was by what, one freakin' point, and in the mid-30s to boot?
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

And as far as predicting my own bracket goes:

(1) Master Chief
(9) Sub-Zero
(12) Frog (...tough one, though)
(4) Gordon Freeman
(6) Magus
(3) Shadow
(7) Ganondorf
(2) Bowser

(1) Master Chief
(12) Frog
(3) Shadow
(2) Bowser

(1) Master Chief
(2) Bowser

WINNER: (2) Bowser

Other fourpack:
Squall > Dante
---
Return of SF1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CASE!
makeyourchance: Yes I do! It's Samsonite.

Whaddya mean he didn't go up like they did? Sonic/Ryu was called fairly accurately despite that.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

Ever since SC2K4 ended I thought it was quite likely that Sonic, Ryu, and KOS-MOS were overrated a bit. I didn't see much reason for all three of them to grow proportionally like that.

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

And the last two proved you right, hilariously enough.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

Oh, and I'll attempt a guess and say Haste2's feeling comes from Sonic moving on to make Dante look bad.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

If Sonic's overrated, it's either because he overperformed on Samus, Samus overperformed on Cloud, or Cloud overperformed on Link. In either of the latter two, it'd cause problems for about half of the bracket.
---
"A strong man doesn't need to read the future. He makes his own."
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are the same thing."

I doubt Sonic is overrated per se. Now after checking more closely I can see where one can get the idea Sonic looked better last year. I mean, Zero and Aeris... that wasn't pretty. But if he really were better, he shouldn't have let Ryu come this close. I mean, look at that. Ryu gets 42% on Samus, who then barely beats Sonic. He then gets that same score on Snake, who I think was around Sonic's regular position in 2003. WOOPS, he does much better against an allegedly new and improved Sonic. And then... he goes back down to 40% against Bowser, the same one who lost to who else but Snake.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

A bit late...um, so I'd assume today's match is yet another sign that Crono may actually be weaker than he's EVER been? First 61% against the Chief, and now 55% against Vincent? Ah, well, I'm just glad Crono didn't fall below 54%, or else I would've had to resort to rSFF to explain that. But man, why would Vercetti drop such an amazing amount? Maybe CJ is actually stronger than Vercetti!

Oh, and WHY did the WORST result possible have to occur with Bowser/Snake? Snake was supposed to a beast this year, based on his R2 and R3 matches, so he might as well verify it by beating Bowser by a good margin. Nope, he doesn't. In fact, he wins by a slim margin. If he ends up being that weak again, why couldn't he at least LOSE to Bowser? Heck, why couldn't we at least see a NAILBITER?

Now, I am praying that the worst possible result doesn't happen with TOMORROW'S match, Mega Man vs. Sonic. That is...Mega Man beating Sonic with about 51%. I'd either want Sonic to win, for the sake of an upset, OR I'd want Mega Man to beat Sonic handily so that Mega Man can be a favorite against Crono.

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

Hey, who knows maybe both Mega Man and Sonic are stronger than Crono and it doesn't matter how much either wins by.








Well, I can dream ya know.

I think it's easily possible that Sonic 2K4 = Sonic 2K3. He grew 1% according to the stats...whoopie. Besides that, Dante had a difficult-to-recognize picture against Sonic.

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

You could be right, Dranze, but I want to Mega Man to have a SURE shot at beating Crono. Or I'd like to see Sonic win. I'd love either of those to happen not only for an upset, but because my tastes say Sonic > Mega Man > Crono.

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

I want the winner of tomorrow to beat Crono, and beat him bad. However, I'm debating more and more about who I want to see win tomorrow; Mega Man is my favorite character, yet this is most likely Sonic's best chance he's ever going to get to get to the contest finals AND face Mario.

I'm torn, seriously.
---
Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

He grew 1%, yes... but that's how he looked to get there that I based my thoughts on. Other than a hiccup against Ryu, he was in great shape, making both Terry and Dante his NO NO I DON'T WANT TO GET MODDED PLZ. And, well, that 1% is based off ONE MATCH against Samus, something I'm rather wary of. It could be 0%... then again, it could be 2%. So I'm going to give Sonic the benefit of the doubt here.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

Alucard is gonna be underrated as hell next year.
---
Return of SF1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CASE!
makeyourchance: Yes I do! It's Samsonite.

Yeah, that's a difficult choice... on one hand, I like Sonic very much, but if he wins and then moves on to beat Crono, his drooling drones will make sure we never hear the end of it.

Either way, right now the only thing Crono looks set to beat is unadjusted Megaman, and Sonic would defeat him regardless. I'm tempted to go out on a limb and say that if what we're seeing today isn't the work of AC, Crono may do worse than tomorrow's loser.
---
Zelos: Half the world's girls are destined to become my servants of love!
Presea: The probability of that is... infinitely close to zero.

At least if Sora did underperform, he won't surprise us like he did with Ryu H.

Chaos/20XX Division Round 4 - Match 60 – (1)Sonic the Hedgehog vs. (1)Mega Man

Sonic - Has a fear of spikes.
Round 1 – vs. Jin (Sonic: 76.15% - Jin: 23.85%)
Round 2 – vs. Diablo (Sonic: 68.55% - Diablo: 31.45%)
Round 3 – vs. Tifa (Sonic: 56.40% - Tifa: 43.60%)

Not even Tifa could stop Sonic, or slow him down.

Mega Man - Also has a fear of spikes.
Round 1 – vs. Conker (Mega Man: 76.02% - Conker: 23.98%)
Round 2 – vs. Leon (Mega Man: 64.56% - Leon: 35.44%)
Round 3 – vs. Yoshi (Mega Man: 68.08% - Yoshi: 31.92%)

Mega Man gives himself a second chance by destroying Yoshi.

The final match of the Elite 8, and perhaps the toughest one to call on paper. We have the Blue Blur vs. the Blue Bomber. Let’s bluegin to analyze.

Alright, both have been around since 2002, and have been stunning us ever since then. In 2002, Sonic made it to the Sweet 16, were he lost against Samus by a mere 34 votes. Mega Man also lost in the Sweet 16 last year, and that was to Sephiroth. Mega Man came closer to beating Seph than anyone not named Link or Cloud has ever come, and got 49.49% on Seph. Mega Man ended up looking a bit stronger than Sonic that year.

2003 rolls around, and boy did it stink for these two. They were both victims of Square on roids, and those Square characters were Cloud and Sephiroth. Sonic was nearly doubled by Cloud in the Elite 8, after close matches with Zero and Aeris. Mega Man then went into the Final Four and did more than 10% worse on Sephiroth than he did the previous year. In the end, Mega Man came out looking much stronger than Sonic, who was under Magus that year.

So Sonic’s looking to be the weak link of the Noble Nine by 2004. Would that change by time the end of the Contest? Well, Mega Man was looking pretty good up until his match with Link, who pulled some crazy kind of SFF on him. Mega Man ended up with only 32% on Link, while Sonic lost to Samus with 42.5%. In the Un-Adjusted stats, Sonic ranked right above Mega Man, but Mega Man was adjusted up to his 2003 value.

So now we have this year. Neither Mega Man or Sonic is looking too hot going into this Contest. In fact, most figure that they are just going to be bait for Crono. Oh how wrong we were… Sonic comes out of Round 1 looking pretty weak, with only 76% on Jin. Mega Man then goes and gets 76% on Conker. I think it’s safe to say Conker > Jin, so advantage Mega Man.

Round 2 time. Sonic goes ahead and crushes Diablo, after Ganondorf had gotten 65% on him in the Spring. Mega Man then goes and “bombs” against Leon, who failed to get 60% on Gordon Freeman. Now, this either makes Mega Man look weak, or Gordon look strong. Some people just aren’t ready to see Gordon looking so strong, so Sonic gets the pick here.

In the Sweet 16, Sonic faced Tifa, who wasn’t looking to hot after her match with Luigi. Sonic had no troubles with her, and easily managed over 56% on her. Mega Man looked to be in deep doo-doo now, so he did what he had to do, and kicked Yoshi’s butt to no end. Yoshi was looking pretty good so far, and Mega Man killed all momentum the dino had by getting over 68% on the vote on him. SFF? Well, I would think so, seeing as how Leon > Yoshi is laughable. Advantage…they both did good I guess.

So, summary. Before Round 3, Sonic was looking to have this in the bag, but with Mega Man’s crushing of Yoshi, it has given the Mega supporters another boost of life. This is looking like a 50-50 match so far, with the slight advantage possibly going to Sonic. It’s really hard to give justification here as to why one character will win, so I’ll just end saying that it should be close, but I’m going with the Blue….Blur.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: Mega Man will win.

Moltar’s Prediction is: Sonic: 51% - Mega Man: 49%

Ulti’s Analysis

Oh God, are there any two characters more fitting for a match than these two clowns? Neither character has been entertaining in well over a decade, yet both of their companies continue to shell out games for each without realizing that the series are both so far past their prime that the two characters are being disgraced with every new game that is released. It's funny how Mega Man went from being practically a platformer icon to having well over 100 titles that average out to 250,000 copies each (which is a joke, for those who don't keep up with sales figures), yet still has fans that bother anxiously looking forward to rehash after rehash. Sonic's plight is a little more forgivable, given that it was Sega's marketing team, not Sonic Team, that contributed to his demise more than anything else. Sonic went from being Mario's biggest threat to working for Nintendo. Does it get any funnier than that? Sonic has fallen so far that he actually put out a game for the N-GAGE, and unfortunately, the people over in Europe are allowing Sonic Team to think that their games are still good. These two characters need to be laid to rest before any more damage can be done, and quickly.

Not to say that I don't like the two characters, because I do. But the companies in charge of them are idiots, and the games reflect this. This match *should* end in a scoreless tie, but alas, such hilarity will probably never grace FAQs. Thus, I will say that Mega Man wins on the backbone of who I have in my bracket and move on. Though the side show to watch here will be FourthDeus. I fear for Board 8 if Mega actually manages to win, and though I like the guy quite a bit, he'll be hilarious to watch if it happens.

HAPPY-HAPPY VILLAGE IS TURNING BLUE! HA HA, GET IT? BLUE SFF 4LIFE!!1

Prediction: Mega Man with 50.78%



Outback’s Analysis

Honestly, what is wrong with this picture? Sonic has his classic smirk, and the MM7 Mega Man picture blends in perfectly with Sonic's.

But that's really besides the point. This match, pre-contest, had been called the match to decide who gets decimated by Crono. However, with today's results, the question may now be who get's to BEAT Crono. But again, I digress.

Mega Man just came off of a doubling of Yoshi, who, by no means, is weak, and is likely a high midcarder, and I would certainly put Yoshi over Tidus this year, meaning that Mega Man has increased a little. Sonic comes of doubling Tifa, who after her first match was hailed as the anti-Sonic and anti-Mega Man, and then proceeded to, as expectations went, drop the ball against Luigi. The question is where does she stand? Is she so close to Cloud as her match against Vyse said? Or is she closer to the level of Luigi, a solid midcarder. If it's the latter, this match should be a match for the ages. If it's the former, well, Mega Man should put his head between his legs and kiss his ass goodbye. However, I really can't see Tifa beating Yoshi this year, so I'll have to say this is going to be the match of the contest, with my bias saying Mega Man will pull it out.

Mega Man with 50.20%

Inviso’s Analysis

This is it, the final match of round 4. This has the potential to be even more interesting than Samus vs. Mario, simply because there should be little to no SFF here. This, like most of the matches in this contest thus far, could go either way. Sonic started off performing very weakly against Jin, and to those who followed the XStats, this was a horrible performance. Then in round 2, he took on Diablo, who had made the final 4 in the spring villains contest. He got about 3% higher than Ganondorf in that match, and that’s the same Ganondorf that went on to break 40% against Sephiroth in the finals. Sonic was looking extremely strong after this match. And in round 3, he took on a Final Fantasy character. Tifa had been looking very stronger herself, beating Vyse with Cloud-like numbers, and then beating Luigi with a reasonable percentage, given the Nintendo increase, but Sonic just went blue blur on her ass and beat her by about 3% higher than he did on fellow FF girl, Aeris Gainsborough. Sonic, who had for the longer time been regarded as one of the weakest noble nine characters, was now looking to be a good choice for the finals.

Mega Man started off strong, performing just a little bit worse than Crono did against Conker. And Crono, before this contest, was one of the main choices to win the whole thing. But then, in round 2, with perhaps one of the WORST match pictures I have ever seen (Archie vs. a Zombie) Mega Man underperformed one hell of a lot against Leon Kennedy, a character that couldn’t break 60% against Gordon Freeman. It didn’t seem right, and in fact, it made Mega Man look like the weakest of the noble nine, letting a newbie do that well against him. But then in round three, he took on Yoshi, and he beat the MARIO character by more than he beat the RESIDENT EVIL character. That match just went to show that this contest has absolutely no predictability whatsoever. Mega Man, with this match, put the elite 8 into question, more than it already was. In fact, the only way I can honestly account for it is some kind of SFF. It’s not like Link/Mega Man SFF, because Mega Man and Mario as series actually have a lot in common. But still, even with SFF, Yoshi got owned.

In this match, I think that it will be very close, perhaps even Squall/Vincent close. But in the end, I think Sonic can pull it off, because he’s just had a boost his year, as evidenced by Knuckles’ strength, and his own power over the three characters he’s faced, two of which should be relatively strong. Mega Man has just seemed to be on a decline for a while, and with Zero’s extreme beating by Mario, I don’t think Mega Man can win this match.

My Bracket: Mega Man
My Vote: Sonic the Hedgehog
My Prediction: Sonic the Hedgehog with 50.19%

Tnote’s Analysis

The Blue Blur vs. The Blue Bomber. Sega's Mascot vs. Capcom's Mascot. A really fast hedgehog vs. a robot boy. No matter how you look at it, this should be a battle for the ages. Sonic performed very well against Tifa, only to have Mega Man turn around and double Yoshi, who previously had doubled Pac-Man, who was doubled by Luigi, who almost beat Tifa, who performed around Cloud's level on Vyse, who is the fodder line. Confused? Well yeah, me too. With the exception of Magus, and Tidus/Kirby, I have had a very good grasp on this tournament. Sure, I missed Kefka and Ocelot, but I knew both those matches could go either way. I really want to see Crono/Mario IV, but right up there is my wanting to see Mario/Sonic. SMW just hammered StH2 in the games contest, and while everyone screams 'games /= characters' we could certainly have that prove it. But... I do not think we will get a chance. Sonic has looked good, but Mega Man better. Leon's not fodder, and neither is Gordon Freeman. And with that, I am off to go accumulate canned goods and water.

Pick: Mega Man with 50.83%



Vlado’s Analysis

Ironically, the clearest match in the quarterfinals was also the closest. Now, we've come to the toughest one, and I don't think it'll be nearly as close as Snake vs. Bowser, though I still expect it to be somewhat close. So far, both opponents impressed. Sonic didn't do as well as expected against Jin, but then completely owned Diablo and even Tifa, who was expected to do at least a bit better. It proved that Sonic is much stronger now than he was in the past 2 years, and Jin is probably just stronger than one would initially expect. The match against Tifa ultimately proved Sonic's strength. Over 56% on Tifa was incredible, and I doubt many others could achieve it. Sonic has gone up and he'll prove it.

Mega Man, on the other hand, had the easiest division ever. His only possible comeptition were Revolver Ocelot, who couldn't even beat Pac-Man, and Yoshi, who simply sucked this year. Rock beat Conker, getting what was expected, but then didn't do all that good against Leon. Apparently, that was because of Leon's strength, not Rockman's weakness, since the Blue Bomber then went on to own Yoshi, doubling him in a match that shocked many. Was there SFF in it? Or was the picture advantage able to make such a difference? We can't really know... But the fact remains that Rockman owned his opponent and is now considered the favourite against Sonic.

But I believe that Sonic's win over Tifa proved much more than Rockman's over Yoshi... Tifa is certainly stronger than Yoshi, who might've become even weaker than Luigi this year. I don't think getting 70% on Laharl and Pac-Man says all that much. Probably Rock simply overperformed on Yoshi. I don't know. I just have the feeling that Sonic will win. He simply has more going for him, he's almost on Mario's level in the industry, he's a legend. Rockman is too, but he's still below Sonic. The Blue Blur will win.

Predicted percentage: Sonic the Hedgehog with 52.29%.

Soul’s Analysis

Super Speedy Round 3 Results!

Sonic sped by Tifa: 56.4% - 43.6%

Mega Man shot Yoshi: 68.08% - 31.92%

Ok guys, let's get to some off-topic comments for a moment or two. This will be my favorite match in the contest. I've tried to hype this match since the very start, and it looks to become an excellent 50/50 could-go-any-way type match. I've been saying all along that Sonic will win. Even before the contest began. Even before this whole boost out of nowhere from Nintendo and Sonic. Before the Knux > Magus upset. Before the MM bombing against Leon.

I have always been supporting Sonic, and I will continue to support Sonic throughout the match. I believe that he has a great shot at winning here. Since the end of the last contest, I knew that the adjusted stats looked weird. I definitely believed that Mega should not have been adjusted. After his first 2 rounds this year, it looked as if I was right. Then, he just totally demolished Yoshi. I finally understood what those stat-fanboys were talking about.

No, I don't believe that there was your typical SFF involved in the Link/MM and MM/Yoshi matches. I believe that MM and Sonic are associated with Nintendo, even though they are from different companies. I believe that those Nintendo fans have "adopted" Mega Man and Sonic. Why do I believe this? How else will you explain those 2 matches?

Now, since I believe that those two are adopted, there techinically could be some sort of strange SFF here. Of course, this is not as crazy as the Snake/Sora SFF, but I still believe this to be somewhat true. Mega Man and Sonic are the two characters that are closest to being Nintendo characters without actually being Nintendo characters. There could be SFF here, but I'm not going to say (or predict) that there would be.

During last contest, there was controversy about the stats. Should Mega Man be adjusted to being stronger then Sonic, or left to be weaker then Sonic. When the bracket was revealed to have these two meeting, we would soon find out. Of course, this was before thinking of any boosts from any characters. As of now, last year's stats look absolutely pathetic, and should not be used this year.

This year's stats seems to point in favor of Yoshi. Why? Just because Mega Man got around 68% on him. That is the only reason why people believe that Mega Man is a "lock" to the Semi-Finals. Considering that Mega Man is partially Nintendo, and would get some "SFF" (that term needs to be fixed, btw) against weaker Nintendo characters, his 68% doesn't look all too impressive, in my opinion. Well, of course it still does look good, but not good enough to me.

Sonic has had a great year so far. He "struggled" somehow against an unranked character called Jin Kazama. Of course, people's opinions were changed after he got 68.55% against Diablo. To compare: Ganondorf got 65.2% against Diablo in the Spring. That puts him over 3% higher then Ganondorf in the stats. I know it doesn't seem much, but being projected to get 39% on Base Link is very, very impressive. Of course, I didn't even factor in the link from diabloii.net. If I did, Sonic would have had over 69% (or very close to it) against Diablo, which puts him at 40% on BL. Take the Spring stats with a grain of salt though.

Mega Man couldn't even break 65% against someone who couldn't break 60% against Gordon Freeman. Yeah, yeah, you can say that Gordon got the biggest boost ever seen, but I don't believe it. Sure, he did get a boost, but not that high. Hell, no one even believed that until the Mega Man/Yoshi match. I wonder why...

In round 3, Sonic again lived up to (and exceeded) most of our expectations. He not only defeated Tifa (who was supposed to upset Sonic), but he beat her with more then 13 thousand more votes. Defeating a FF7 character is impressive by itself. But defeating a relatively strong FF7 character the way that Sonic did is damn right awe-inspiring. Yes, I know it was overshadowed, but it doesn't change the fact that it was a great victory for Sonic.

Then, there was the controversial MM/Yoshi match. Without trying to repeat myself here, I believe there was some sort of SFF for MM in this match, causing him to get much better then he was supposed to get. Of course, unless you believe there was no SFF at all in that match, and Yoshi would have a very tough match against Gordon Freeman...

So basically, Sonic looks to be the favorite right now, assuming there is SFF in Yoshi/MM. But, that's not enough proof for you. Oh no, you are dead certain that Mega Man can not lose to Sonic because of whatever reason you can think of. Well, let's go by franchise then.

The Sonic franchise and the Mega Man franchise are somewhat similar. Both have a lot of great games in them, and it's hard to choose which game would be the best. In Spring of 2004, we saw our first ever Games Contest. Sonic 2 was the only representative from the Sonic franchise. Mega Man had none. My point with this: Nothing, just Sonic's franchise was able to get a game in while MM's couldn't.

In 2003, Sonic's absolute weakest year, he let Zero get 47+% on him. Say what you want, but Sonic performed like crap. In 2004, Zero got 44% on Mega Man. You know what that means? Absolutely nothing.

In 2005, the year that counts, Zero lost horribly to Mario. But, he was shown to have weakened during his first 2 matches as well. Knuckles, on the otherhand, defeated Magus and put up excellent numbers against Squall.

Basically, Sonic's backup character looks to have risen, while MM's backup character looks to have fallen. Preach about how Knux =/= Sonic, or Zero =/= Mega Man all you want. I'm just showing a little fact.

So, basically, Knuckles and Sonic has performed exceptionally well through-out the contest. Mega Man and Zero look to be weakening. Of course, this is all based on last year's stats. Not a good idea, but for reference sake, there's no other choice. With Sonic looking to go up, while Mega Man looks to be going down, Sonic is going to win.

Last but not least, forget everything I just said. You see a poll between Mega Man and Sonic. Sonic is definitely more known and more popular. I believe more people will choose Sonic because he's more popular. That's what I've been thinking since the contest started, and I'm sticking by it until I've been proven wrong.

My prediction: Sonic wins with 53.00% of the vote. Blue Blur > Blue Bomber.

It's 4-3 in Sonic's favor (not counting charmander, who would tie this), and the only two that predict for more than 51% are in Sonic's favor. Hmmm.....
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.

Then again, it should be 4-3 Megaman, because Vlado actually had the balls to say Tifa looked awesome and Yoshi looked weak. Anything to make Tifa look good, I guess.
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What online fan couldn't get behind Trevor Murdoch? I mean, finally, a wrestler with our physique! -Sean Carless

Yoshi, who simply sucked this year.

dot dot ****ing dot
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Return of SF1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CASE!
makeyourchance: Yes I do! It's Samsonite.

Yeah; considering Yoshi beat Luigi worse than Tifa and that Mega Man decimated Yoshi, I'd like to hear him defend that well.

Of course, we know things have changed, but we still know Vlado's being biased on it.
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Hillary Clinton: We need to treat violent video games the way we treat tobacco or alcohol.
Lewis Black: Namely as valued contributors to our re-election fund.