GameFAQs Contests

tranny took an actual poll. Not 'add yourself to the wiki please'.

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http://thengamer.com/guru/

Yeah, FFX won that easily. Think FFVI and FFIX came after that.

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a metal slime appears

People like FFIX. Its my second fav but i have only played FFVII, IX, X, and XII. From what i have seen IX is hated
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"As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can. " - Julius Caesar

Match XLI: Pokemon RBY vs. LoZ: Majora’s Mask vs. Metal Gear Solid vs. Pokemon GS

Last Round:

Pokemon RBY – 50.68%
LoZ: Majora’s Mask – 28.86%
Perfect Dark – 11.71%
Banjo-Kazooie – 8.75%

Metal Gear Solid – 37.08%
Pokemon GS – 32.45%
Final Fantasy Tactics – 22.79%
Deus Ex – 7.67%

Analysis

I’m still wondering why SBAllen put two Pokemon games in the same half of the division. This is not like Mario/Zelda/Final Fantasy where there’s so many that it cannot be helped. Did he think GS had no chance at placing or did he do it to make an interesting match in round 2? CJayC tried the same in 2004 and we all know how well that contest went.

Being in a sea of Nintendo Metal Gear Solid should have no problems taking first. The only way it could lose is if RBY SFF GS as badly as Yoshi’s Island and Majora’s Mask does not affect RBY’s performance. However for both to happen would need nothing short of a miracle. Unlike what many think I believe Pokemon has notable overlap with Zelda, though even if it happens people will just chalk it up to GS LFF. Also GS will not be crushed as badly as Yoshi’s Island since GS actually has a fanbase that will support it over RBY.

Despite GS being in the same poll I believe the amount RBY won by over Majora’s Mask is enough for it to survive this round. What I’m really interested in is to see how much overlap the Pokemon fanbase has. I believe a rather large portion of GS voters would have voted RBY if the match suddenly became three-way, so while RBY will SFF GS it will still be severely weakened just for the fact that GS is present in this match.

Majora’s Mask was embarrassed last round, not only did it lose, but it lost badly. This round it is able to drop the dead weight Nintendo 64 titles while RBY has the disadvantage of having GS in the match. Indirectly I believe that the two Pokemon games are similar in strength, around 55/45 so if the Pokemon spilt is that narrow Majora’s Mask should be able to win. However it would be a shock if GS is able to hold up against RBY making the window of opportunity small for Majora’s Mask.

GS was very impressive last round, not only did it prove that Pokemon was a force in this contest it also was able to cut a lead of 6400 down to 5800, a comeback from that far is something we’ve never seen. Too bad GS is stuck in the same match as RBY. With the remakes being announced the games could have really done something. The question is how well can GS hold up to SFF. GS is really loved and basically took everything from RBY and made it better. While the impact of RBY is hard to forget the things introduced in GS are also memorable. The SFF won’t be as bad Yoshi’s Island, but don’t expect that same impressive performance from last round.

Besides the beginning the match should more or less be boring. I said the same thing yesterday, but a RBY upset is just too unlikely to happen, though if it did I’d put RBY as the favourite for taking second next round despite Ocarina of Time. You know despite a Nintendo de-boost Nintendo games have performed rather well this round.

charmander6000’s Bracket: Metal Gear Solid > Final Fantasy Tactics

charmander6000’s Prediction: Metal Gear Solid – 38.48%, Pokemon RBY – 28.63%, LoZ: Majora’s Mask – 20.53%, Pokemon GS – 12.36%

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Board 8 BOP: http://www.freewebs.com/charmander6000/BGE2%20BOP.xls
BGE2 - Today's Match: Chrono Trigger > Super Mario 64 Points: 129/184

Zen Analyzes the Match Pic!

http://www.gamefaqs.com/shared/bge09/bge09-41.jpg

Because it seems that nobody ever gives a ****, I will!

Pokemon RBY: Black and white?! There goes like a billion votes. NOBODY will vote for a black and white picture, even if it's got GARY ****ING OAK in it!

Majora's Mask: Even though it lacks Link, it's got Skull Kid in a sexy lounging pose. AAAAAA++++++

Metal Gear Solid: What 9000?!

Pokemon GSC: Three balls and an old dude.

ADVANTAGE: MAJORA'S MASK
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(|| ' ' ||) Not changing my sig until EBA2/Ouendan 3 is announced. (4/22/08)
. /|_|\ http://imgcake.com/img/40/all_eba.jpg

I think Prof. Elm is the youngest between the profs.
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Board 8 BOP: http://www.freewebs.com/charmander6000/BGE2%20BOP.xls
BGE2 - Today's Match: Chrono Trigger > Super Mario 64 Points: 129/184

the youngest old dude is still old
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(|| ' ' ||) Not changing my sig until EBA2/Ouendan 3 is announced. (4/22/08)
. /|_|\ http://imgcake.com/img/40/all_eba.jpg

Who has the sig bet with me for the next match again?
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ertyu is actually a language. For example, 'dum' is ertyunese for 'godly'. - Topaz Kitsune
Believe it or not, the Internet is serious business - Biolizard28

The black and white picture is great for Pokemon. Pic factor in this contest is not based on the actual quality of the pics, but how much they draw your attention. And few things are more eyecatching than a black and white picture in a sea of color.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

NO! Black and white is the equivalent of Satan in match pics!

Whoever made it obviously has no ideas how colors work!
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(|| ' ' ||) Not changing my sig until EBA2/Ouendan 3 is announced. (4/22/08)
. /|_|\ http://imgcake.com/img/40/all_eba.jpg

Not only is a black and white scheme eye-catching amongst color pics, but RBY also has the brightest pic (and it smokes LoZ:MM and MGS in that regard). The brightest color pic...goes to the other Pokemon game. Throw in that Pokemon's getting two pics that represent the series more than the games (I believe their pics each feature moments found in every Poke-game with pretty similar graphics...and both of their logos only say "Pokemon"), and you can expect a lot of attention from Poke-fans. How RBY and GS split aside, they have a decent shot at collectively impressing.


MGS's pic is still the best though.
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Prototype
Shorthand, do you speak it?!

I am not sold on Pokemon Red/Blue being a Top 10 game just yet. There are many parallels between Pokemon and Chrono Trigger's first round performances; both 4-way SFF-fests, and the second place finishers are both games we assumed would be strong due to franchise voting.

And also, Gold/Silver is not going to get annihilated by the way Yoshi's Island is right now. Gold/Silver is a legitimately strong game and there is a non-trivial amount of people who find it to be the superior entry in the series. I predict something between a 60-40 split to Gold/Silver getting doubled at the worst.

Either way, Metal Gear Solid should have a comfortable win.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

Argh, I just hope RBY doesn't pull a Mario 64 tomorrow. Why is it that I don't get excited about these games like Board 8 does and that those games usually beat games I like?!
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http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif

Because we have better taste. Duh.

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http://thengamer.com/guru/

I have more refined taste than you mere pedestrians! You couldn't possibly hope to understand!
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http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif

I takes a true connoisseur to enjoy imprisoning small animals in airtight balls and forcing them to fight for your own amusement!

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http://thengamer.com/guru/

Round 2 = Nostalgiafest.
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Link he come to town to win the Gamefaqs Contests.

Just out of curiosity, what games would you take over Chrono Trigger at this point?
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http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif

Pokemon RBYGSCDPPSnap
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Yoblazer: http://i42.tinypic.com/avk9ie.jpg
Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!

Pokemon Snap = Best Pokemon game along with Hey You, Pikachu!
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http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif

Snap's got nothing on Stadium!
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http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j69/War13104/CenaJFrog.gif
hey look i'm war and i'm stupid - WVI

From: LeonhartFour | #268
Just out of curiosity, what games would you take over Chrono Trigger at this point?

OoT
FF VII
SM 64
Pokemon RBY
ALttP

Probably just those, but I would not be shocked at all if SMB 3, Melee and X took it as well.,
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Gunner is, what is the word... passionate. but i think that MichaelWClark dude is far crazier than anything Gunner has posted. Posted by Mark Milton

I was about to say that I'm surprised you'd take 64 and not Mario 3, but then I read the user name.
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http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif

Just out of curiosity, what games would you take over Chrono Trigger at this point?

Mario 3/World/64, Zelda LttP/OoT, FF7/X, SSBM.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

From: LeonhartFour | #273
I was about to say that I'm surprised you'd take 64 and not Mario 3, but then I read the user name.

I said before we did this tournament Melee and SM 64 would take 3, and that World would give it a damn good run. So far I have seen nothing that would deter me from any of those, but I have seen plenty to make me more confident in them. (Though I did not see SM 64 being this strong, I just saw SMB 3 weaker, my god is SM 64 a wrecking ball)
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Gunner is, what is the word... passionate. but i think that MichaelWClark dude is far crazier than anything Gunner has posted. Posted by Mark Milton

And possibly Brawl as well.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

Maybe it's fanboyism talking, but I have a feeling MGS is gonna look like a monster during the match. If we're quick to accept MGS getting SFF'd by FF7, then there's a good chance it split with FFT. Coupled with the possible split and being the only non-Nintendo game in the poll, I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the mid-40s or more.
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Seriously owned by FastFalcon in the Guru Contest. Congrats!

FFVII, OOT, LTTP, Mario 3, Mario 64

Just those I think.
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Link he come to town to win the Gamefaqs Contests.

Also, I'm not sold on Mario 64, 3, or LTTP for that matter, beating CT in 1v1 yet (not too surprising, considering it's me). I want to see SM64 in action next round first.
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Link he come to town to win the Gamefaqs Contests.

Also, what is up with Chrono Trigger always breaking our "elite" organizations. First the Noble Nine, and now our Super Six/Seven/Whatever.
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http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif

CT's only going to look worse next round.....
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Prototype
Shorthand, do you speak it?!

Yeah it really makes me wonder what happened to it.

As for pokemon though its definitely uncertain how will GSC will stand up to RBY.

If RBY does like Mario 64 and sucks up almost all of GSC's votes then MGS might not get first place even with triple nintendo presence.

Either way it looks like Majora's Mask is gonna need a timewarp vote miracle if it hopes to advance to the next round.
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"If history is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh." -Magus

This division is unquestionably the strongest division in the bracket. Seriously, we have 3 Top 10 games, and even the fourth game in the poll is at least Top 20, possibly Top 15. Shame 2 of these have to go due to the stupid bracket format. I actually have learned to accept the 4-way format, but dividing the games based on age is completely absurd.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

I know it's LLinks and all, but I still like the poll they hosted that had almost 50% of the site saying R/B/Y was their favorite Pokemon and nearly doubling G/S. It's probably two years old now and there was only a thousand votes or so, but they're pretty Poke-freaky and KP's topic has R/B/Y nearly shutting out G/S for who they're going to vote for. Throw in R/B/Y being the first in the series, and it sounds easy enough. R/B/Y shouldn't be threatened by G/S.
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Prototype
Shorthand, do you speak it?!

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/detail.php?board=8&topic=49531649&message=543003538

Surprising amount of support for MM (some of it BRACKETS), but yeah, board vote is going to look hilarious.

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http://thengamer.com/guru/

From: nintendogirl1
Bold Prediction: RBY is over 50% for the first minute.

Awww yeah.

Looks at KP's results;

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow: 50%
Majora's Mask: 32.35%
Metal Gear Solid: 14.71%
Pokemon Gold/Silver: 2.94%

I repeat. Awww yeah.
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:D

Halfway through R2 seems like a good spot to bring back...

FACT or FICTION: Mega Man 2 will look better against SMB/LoZ in R3 than Metroid in R2 due to less SFF.
FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 2/4 > Super Mario Bros. 3 in R3.
FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 3/6 > Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past in R3.
FACT or FICTION: Chrono Trigger will be closer to Goldeneye than Mario 64 in R3.
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Prototype
Shorthand, do you speak it?!

my poll, which got about a hundred responses, went 10 > 6 > 7 > 9 >> everything else. after that was 4, Tactics, 8, 5, 12.
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xyzzy
"Actually, fire didn't make Sephiroth awesome. Sephiroth made fire awesome." -Karma Hunter

FACT or FICTION: Mega Man 2 will look better against SMB/LoZ in R3 than Metroid in R2 due to less SFF.

*looks at MM3*

Fiction.

FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 2/4 > Super Mario Bros. 3 in R3.

Fact.

FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 3/6 > Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past in R3.

Hmm...gonna say Fact for now.

FACT or FICTION: Chrono Trigger will be closer to Goldeneye than Mario 64 in R3.

Fact.

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http://thengamer.com/guru/

FACT or FICTION: Mega Man 2 will look better against SMB/LoZ in R3 than Metroid in R2 due to less SFF.

Fact. I think Mega Man 2 will look pretty bad next round, but not quite as bad as Metroid.


FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 2/4 > Super Mario Bros. 3 in R3.

Fiction, FF2 coming in third is a lock. I think it will end up closer to Sonic than any of the Mario games.


FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 3/6 > Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past in R3.

This is a tossup. Fiction for now, I can see Link's Awakening looking like Yoshi's Island in that match.


FACT or FICTION: Chrono Trigger will be closer to Goldeneye than Mario 64 in R3.

Fiction, I never bought into the idea that FF7 and CT SFF each other that much.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

FACT or FICTION: Mega Man 2 will look better against SMB/LoZ in R3 than Metroid in R2 due to less SFF. FACT
FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 2/4 > Super Mario Bros. 3 in R3. FICTION
FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 3/6 > Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past in R3. FICTION for the same reason Metric gave.
FACT or FICTION: Chrono Trigger will be closer to Goldeneye than Mario 64 in R3. FICTION but it will be third.
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Current Score: 136
Today's pick: Super Mario 64 > Chrono Trigger

Oh yeah, I should explain the Mega Man 2 thing.

Firstly, I always though Mega Man 2 was the strongest numbered Mega Man, for the same reason Sonic 1 is stronger than later Sonics. It is the "first in the series" factor, which applies to Mega Man 2 since no one gives a damn about Mega Man 1. I think many people believe that the sequels to Sonic 1 and Mega Man 2 did little to add to the overall formula of the series, and after a while people just stopped caring.

Secondly, Mario 1/Zelda 1 are not as strong as Mario World, and will not SFF Mega Man as hard. I personally think that while SMB3 and SMW are superior to any Mega Man game, Mega Mans 2 and 3 are at least way better than Mario 1. And I know I am not the only one who feels this way.
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http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147

FACT or FICTION: Mega Man 2 will look better against SMB/LoZ in R3 than Metroid in R2 due to less SFF.

FICTION. Everything on the NES overlaps so much that MM2 will still get blasted into oblivion.

FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 2/4 > Super Mario Bros. 3 in R3.

FICTION. SMB3 and SMW are universally popular games, they have more than the Nintendo fanbase supporting them, and so LFF will not be severe enough for FF4 to challenge SMB3.

FACT or FICTION: Final Fantasy 3/6 > Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past in R3.

FICTION. This could go either way, but I'm counting on LTTP to show us the power of SFF here.

FACT or FICTION: Chrono Trigger will be closer to Goldeneye than Mario 64 in R3.

FICTION. Goldeneye is probably going to get demolished.
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Link he come to town to win the Gamefaqs Contests.

SMB would easily crush Mega Man any number. Zelda too.
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ertyu is actually a language. For example, 'dum' is ertyunese for 'godly'. - Topaz Kitsune
Believe it or not, the Internet is serious business - Biolizard28

From: Meeks54 | #275
I said before we did this tournament Melee and SM 64 would take 3, and that World would give it a damn good run. So far I have seen nothing that would deter me from any of those, but I have seen plenty to make me more confident in them. (Though I did not see SM 64 being this strong, I just saw SMB 3 weaker, my god is SM 64 a wrecking ball)

Someday you'll admit defeat.
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*is Dranze*
BGE2 - Today: CT > SM64 - Points: 136 Vote: SM64

Division 5: Round 2 - Match 41 – Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow vs. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask vs. Metal Gear Solid vs. Pokemon Gold/Silver

Moltar’s Analysis

Pokemon R/B/Y
Round 1 - 50.68% vs. Majora’s Mask, Perfect Dark and Banjo-Kazooie

what the f…

Majora’s Mask
Round 1 - 28.86% vs. Pokemon R/B/Y, Perfect Dark and Banjo-Kazooie

Best Zelda letting me down big time.

Metal Gear Solid
Round 1 - 37.08% vs. Pokemon G/S, Final Fantasy Tactics and Deus Ex

Hard to see how good/bad this performance was…

Pokemon G/S
Round 1 - 32.45% vs. Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy Tactics and Deus Ex

…because who knows how strong Pokemon G/S really is?

my pokemonz let me show you them. I have MGS > Zelda: MM in my bracket. I expected RBY to be in this match, but also not be as strong as the other two games. I didn’t expect GS to be here, but FFT instead. I’ve been high on MGS, and I figured it would easily be the strongest game here, with MM being the next strongest.

Yeah, then one of the biggest shocks of Round 1 happened from Pokemon. RBY goes and puts up 50% on Majora’s Mask, Perfect Dark and Banjo, and then 24 hours later, GS gets 47% on MGS. Now that those performances have had time to settle in, and now that we’ve seen some other matches, this looks to be a bit easier to call.

The Rundown - Starring The “Dwayne Johnson” Rock

Pokemon RBY
+ Most likely the strongest game here and potentially a Top 10 game
+ 50% in Round 1, including 64% on Majora’s Mask
- 50% on an all Nintendo pack with 3 N64 games, including an untested Majora’s Mask
- Another Pokemon game here

Majora’s Mask
+ Now the sole N64 game in the pack
+ ZELDA
- Weakest game here
- We’ve seen that Zelda isn’t unbeatable and have faltered

Metal Gear Solid
+ Sole non-Nintendo game
+ Very strong, could be as high as Top 15 game.
- Let GS get 47% on it last round

Pokemon GS
+ 47% on MGS
+ Shows it could be as high as Top 15/20.
- Was the sole Nintendo game last time
- Has to deal with the stronger Pokemon game

I think the most important thing here is that MGS is not just a strong game, but that it’s also it stands out in a sea of Nintendo games. It probably loses to RBY 1v1, but it shouldn’t be much weaker than it indirectly and RBY has to deal with an anchor called GS.

The split between RBY and GS is the big question here. This isn’t like the SM64/SMW2 split, where SM64 is already leagues stronger than SMW2. This is more like the FF1/FF4 split, with the two games being close in strength already (not as close as FF1/FF4 but close enough). However, one big difference here is that FF1 doesn’t have a real big fanbase on its own, and against another FF game with a fanbase, it got killed. GS does have a fanbase, which should prevent it from suffering a FF1-style beatdown. Still, how big is the split between the two games, and will Pokemon fans abandon GS to vote for RBY?

Who knows now. The fact is that RBY would have to kill GS in order to end up above MGS, and I don’t see the difference between the two games plus SFF being that severe. RBY should be safe for at least second though. Majora’s Mask has an outside shot, but it’s not looking good. It would have to reverse that 64-36 result by keeping everything from last round AND RBY/GS would have to split evenly AND also resist SFF from Pokemon. Not happening.

Moltar’s Bracket Says: MGS > Zelda: MM

Moltar’s Prediction is: MGS: 36% - Pokemon RBY: 30% - Zelda: MM: 19% - Pokemon GS: 15%



Heroic Mario’s Analysis

So we're finally back to Pokemon. I'm already tired of talking about what Pokemon is and isn't going to do, but we'll be down to only one after this match, so it shouldn't be too bad. Gotta get past this!

After Mario 64's big win over Chrono Trigger yesterday, I think it's safe to say that RBY isn't going to have much to worry about here as far as advancing is concerned. There was some rumbling beforehand about the possibility of Majora's Mask managing to pull out a win here because of the ZELDA fanbase not being pushed below a certain percentage -- and it was a decent argument -- but round 2 has all but eliminated any chance of that. I could have seen it happening before, but not now.

That means the bigger thing to watch in this match is MGS vs. RBY. Some believe Pokemon's got a shot to take first outright, despite two other Nintendo games occupying a spot here, one of which is another Pokemon game, but I'm not buying into it. The only way I could see it happening is if RBY actually is a top 10 game like it's being hyped, GS gets brutalized by SFF, and MGS ends up being a 'bomb' relative to its expectations. Putting it like that, it doesn't sound all that impossible -- but there's still Zelda to worry about.

Majora's Mask should do significantly better on RBY this round than it did last. Not because it'll be stronger this time, but rather, with there being less percentage to go around MM should be able to tap into that Zelda fanbase enough to keep it from getting pushed under 20%. Its performance will come almost entirely at the expense of RBY, who will probably look worse than it really is. It'd make sense, though -- three Nintendo games vying for votes from the same fanbase, something's going to happen here. Plus, from what I understand, GS is the 'hardcore' game of choice between the two Pokemons. That should be enough to avoid getting completely destroyed.

Then again, who knows. I'm not in touch with Pokemon at all, and I can't say I know how this is going to go since it's outdone my expectations every time this contest (except for D/P). We'll see what happens here, hopefully MGS wrecks this pack like it should!

Metal Gear Solid -- 40%
Pokemon RBY -- 26%
Majora's Mask -- 20%
Pokemon GS -- 16%

Bracket: Metal Gear Solid > Final Fantasy Tactics
Favorites: Metal Gear Solid > Majora's Mask



Lopen’s Analysis

Alright. Gonna be brief cause I don't got much time. My bracket has RBY > MGS here cause I think Pokemanz RBY is a really strong game. And uhhh... well, R1 certainly implied that. And after seeing today's match I'm pretty sure Pokemanz RBY can withstand the LFF from GS even though I didn't expect it to be here. GS should be destroyed, here. Even some people who like GS more (I'm one of these people) will probably vote RBY over it out of respect. A split just as bad as Yoshi's Island vs SM64 could very well happen here, especially with the lopsided pictures the two games have. I don't think it'll be quite that bad, but it should be lopsided enough for RBY to get the job done.

Pokemanz RBY is a beast. Top 10 game you bet. Seeing as GS almost beat MGS anyway, RBY shouldn't have too many problems taking first here.

Lopen's prediction:
Pokemanz RBY - 35.03%
Metal Gear!?! - 33.10%
Majora's Mask - 18.03%
Pokemanz GS - 13.84%



Transience’s Analysis

Well, Mario has dominated the first half of this round, just like he did in round 1. Now it's Pokemon's turn to see if it can keep up the wild performances from round 1.

Unlike round 1, this match has every reason to undervalue Pokemon. The two strong Pokemon games are in the same match. The match picture looks the exact same. There's going to be five Pokemon titles in the poll. I expect both of them to underperform a la how FF1 and FF4 did. Metal Gear Solid should benefit from this hugely.

But given how Gold/Silver did against MGS in round 1, I have to believe that the superior Red/Blue/Yellow is actually stronger than it. I'd expect RBY to beat MGS if there wasn't another Pokemon title, but as it is, MGS has to be the easy favourite. I think RBY vs. GS will be about a 70/30 split in RBY's favour. If RBY makes it close despite GS in the poll, it'll be damn impressive. If it wins, I like it to move on next round despite OOT.

The last game in this poll is Majora's Mask, and it scares me a little bit. If we see a massive split between the Pokemon games, we could see Majora's Mask benefit. I wouldn't expect this to happen if it was just some game, but I trust the Zelda faithful to back their game. It's really unlikely though and RBY beat it the hell down in round 1, so I don't see too much of a reason for it to reverse its fate. But I'm always skeptical of fanbase splits and the weird things that happen when they come up.

Anyway, I have no real point here because I don't have much of an idea what happens here. Pokemon got so shafted in this bracket placement.

five Pokemon games
Solid Snake used fanbase split!
super effective!

transience's prediction:

Metal Gear Solid - 39%
Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - 31%
Zelda: Majora's Mask - 17%
Pokemon Gold/Silver - 13%



Leonhart’s Analysis

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow: Are you ready for the Pokemon hype train to start up again? I know I’m not! Normally, this would be a good opportunity to see how the game stacks up against a classic game like Metal Gear Solid, but these are not ideal circumstances for R/B/Y. You see, it’s got to contend with another Pokemon game here in Gold/Silver, in addition to bringing Majora’s Mask along for the ride. We’ve already seen Super Mario World take advantage of a split between two games in the same series, and while R/B/Y should beat down G/S worse than FFIV beat down FFI, Super Mario World won by a large enough margin to make me think R/B/Y can’t make that up, especially with a third Nintendo game. FFIV and Mario World aren’t that far apart, and chances are that MGS and R/B/Y aren’t either. It should probably still advance here because I don’t think Majora’s Mask is quite independent enough to benefit, and it got whipped by so much last round that I don’t really think it deserves any consideration.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask: Hey, I’m picking against my bracket yet again! This is becoming a recurring trend! I have MGS > MM here, and you can pretty much throw that one in the trash bin now. It should do better relative to R/B/Y than it did last round because it won’t be affected by Gold/Silver’s presence quite as much, but I think it will be affected to the point that I don’t consider it a serious contender to place. Hey, that’d be great if it did because we could watch Ocarina of Time pulverize this thing (It got 76% on Mario 64, so how bad do you think it hammers Majora’s Mask?) and it’d make FFVIII’s chances of getting into round 4 (assuming it survives tomorrow, that is)! Go, Majora’s Mask, go!

Metal Gear Solid: Yeah, Metal Gear Solid didn’t look that great last round, losing ASV outright to G/S and barely scoring 53% in a direct matchup, but it lucked out here. It’s the lone PSX gem in a field of Nintendo games. Basically, if you don’t want to vote for Nintendo, Metal Gear Solid’s your only option. We already saw Super Mario World take advantage of that (If you didn’t want to vote for Final Fantasy, then all you had was Super Mario World because who votes for Mega Man 3?), so expect MGS to do the same here. The game’s guaranteed to advance one way or the other because SFF’d G/S and LFF’d MM aren’t doing it, but if R/B/Y somehow still manages to beat it, you can go ahead and forget about it advancing next round. Watching MGS drop like a lead balloon with the ASV ought to be fun though!

Pokemon Gold/Silver: Yeah, you can go ahead and chalk G/S up for last place here. The big question is how well it resists the SFF hammer that R/B/Y will bring. FFIV and FFI are probably nearly identical in strength, and FFIV doubled it. I think R/B/Y is a clear notch above G/S, and it’s certainly more favored, so expect it to do much worse than that here. Single digits are very possible here, I think.

Leonhart’s Vote: Metal Gear?!

Leonhart’s Prediction:

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow – 29.58%
Majora’s Mask – 20.20%
Metal Gear Solid – 39.14%
Pokemon Gold/Silver – 11.08%



Ed Bellis’s Analysis

This match is a cluster****. We’ve got RBY trying to act like a top 5 game in Round One, Majora’s Mask contending with triple N64 SFF, MGS coming off of the biggest high its series will likely ever have, and Pokemon GS just… being generally strong.

So what can we assume here? We can assume that GS will not place, as RBY demonstrated that it is significantly stronger and given how similar the games are, we will likely see a hideous degree of overlap, to GS’s detriment.

The battle thus goes between RBY, MM, and MGS. (woo acronyms~). RBY probably has first locked up with how powerful it seemed in R1… but it wouldn’t surprise me to see it falter a bit here, to Majora’s Mask of all things. Remember, there were three other N64 games in that poll, and Pokemon stood out a great deal. Without them there, Majora’s Mask might boost a tad. It won’t be enough to beat RBY, since the latter will be leeching all its votes from GS, but it should be sufficient to get second place.

Metal Gear Solid does have the distinction of being the only non-Nintendo game in the poll, but that doesn’t seem to matter terribly much in four-ways (see: Alucard/Liquid/Ness/Zidane, among other examples). I think it’s got third locked up here.

Prediction: Wild SURVEILLANCE CAMERA appeared
Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow with 41.94%
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask with 25.88%
Metal Gear Solid with 22.16%
Pokemon Gold/Silver with 10.02%



Guest’s Analysis - Karma Hunter

Okay, I'm currently sitting on the beach paying $13.95 a day for internet, so I'll try to be brief.

Basically, in the past round and a half, we've got about twenty different candidates (some might even argue locks) that have emerged for the coveted Top Ten games on this site. The Super Six (Seven, until FFVI decided to disqualify itself) are just about set in stone, so that leaves all of four spots open for the illustrious position. With that, even RBY's most significant detractors have seen fit to grant it a spot among those four until proven otherwise.

Tonight, I feel we will see the harbinger of that proof. I come here not to praise Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, but to bury it.

It's generally accepted by all but the biggest Pokefreaks that MGS is the favorite for this match - RBY is saddled with an entity that many would argue is one of the only that can split its fanbase unfavorably, and that very entity just got a pretty notable remake just announced. There's no way Pokemon Gold/Silver is going to beat RBY, but any votes that it saps is only going to hurt Pokemon country that much more. Add in that it's the only non-Nintendo entity in the match, and you'd have to have PokeFEAR or be drinking the Pokekool-aid to be putting money on RBY tonight.

Of course, naysayers (rightly) argue that leaves out too much. RBY didn't just win a match it was supposed to lose, it crushed it with over 50% of the vote (and along those lines, no matter what happens nothing would shock me more than Majora's Mask actually advancing). Pokemon GS may have lost to MGS, but it did so with a hefty 47% or so of the vote, and the general line of thought is that RBY is well above its little brother in terms of vote-drawing power. Even Diamond/Pearl put up a good percentage on (an otherwise disappointing) Super Mario Galaxy. Pokemon's stock is higher than ever, and its this kind of stock that wins games matches when all the metrics are working against them. MGS has been looking good - but not great - all contest.

But that doesn't tell the whole story, I think. We just saw Super Mario World increase by 7% between rounds despite two stronger entities (FFIV >>> Battletoads... and FF1, for that matter; MM3 >>> PoP) being introduced. SFF only explains this phenomenon by so much, in my estimation - the other half of the puzzle involves that elusive idea known as STF - Sore Thumb Factor. It worked against Metal Gear Solid last round, with a bright and happy Nintendo picture amid two mature PSX titles and a mature PC game. This time, we're sure to have an overload of cutesyness and feel-good atmosphere, with the lone exception of a brooding stealth operative who's about to snap all their necks. I've pegged MGS for a Top Ten game, and I'm thinking it gives a performance to validate that thinking tonight.

Bottom line: I say MGS wins (surprise, surprise, check someone else's writeup if you're gunning for the upset). But by how much?

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow 30%
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 17%
Metal Gear Solid 40%
Pokemon Gold/Silver 13%

Enough to make people really start anticipating Round 3.


Crew Consensus: MGS > RBY is the majority pick, with RBY > MGS and RBY > Majora’s Mask also represented.