GameFAQs Contests
Best Game Ever 2 Contest Analysis Crew (Part Two)
No splitting at all? CT > LTTP because FFVII and FFVI will not affect it one iota more than they affect LTTP oh yes. --- Link he come to town to win the Gamefaqs Contests. |
But
when you're saying that LFF isn't going to be significant and OoT can
win even with LTTP there, what am I supposed to think, huh? --- http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif |
That they're splitting a little, but nothing as significant as what we originally thought it would be? I don't see what's so hard about this. --- http://thengamer.com/guru/ |
But
if OoT is even a little off, then I don't really see how it wins.
Honestly, anything that hinders OoT at all will likely cost it the
match. --- http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif |
the main argument against OOT is that it's never looked weaker than FF7. the two Zelda game thing is just extra. --- xyzzy http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7033/trannyanalysis.png |
Yeah, even if it's less significant, OoT is playing from behind, here. Personally I don't think we're even going to see that match though. Times are changing, children. All this "LFF is not a factor" might not even be LFF not working as much as "we don't have a damn idea of what the strengths of any of these games are after 5 years and a change of format" --- So I lost a bet to creativename (yeah...hardly shocking). Like usual, I should've known better! FACT: Halo 3 was 1000% responsible for Master Chief's boost. |
err, never looked stronger than FF7. --- yzzyx |
You've got to chalk that up as disappointing, don't you? People seem to have gotten a skewed idea of what an impressive blowout is because SMB1 and SMB3 were put up against turbofodder. FFVII did well yesterday -- it wasn't super impressive, but it wasn't disappointing either. Calling it either is just pushing for your desired result! --- http://i44.tinypic.com/hwh4yo.gif |
Final Fantasy VII...55.05% 70086 Mario Kart 64........23.57% 30009 Star Fox 64...........14.51% 18469 Suikoden..................6.87% 8747 TOTAL VOTES.................127311 Matches Completely Correct - 8 Matches Partially Correct - 6 Matches Completely Wrong - 0 What Happened - FF7 easily dominates this group, and MK64 takes second. Nothing surprising here. Why it Happened - FF7 did what it needed here. MK64 > SF64 was a bit uncertain at first, but as the contest progressed, it only seemed more clear that MK64 would win easily. What Will Happen - GE/SMRPG/FF7?MK64, free pass for Goldeneye? Crew Prediction Challenge - 6 people here get points. HM - 9 Guest - 8 Tran - 8 Moltar - 7 Lopen - 6 Leon - 5 Ed - 5 Crew Accuracy Challenge - Moltar gets the point for FF7 and Suikoden, Tran gets the point for MK64, and Moltar and HM get points for SF64 Moltar - 14 Tran - 10 Lopen - 9 HM - 9 Leon - 8 Ed - 6 Guest (Luster, Zylo (3), HaRR, Kleenex) - 6 --- Moltar Status: you can't hide forever Match 15 - Bracket: SM64 > SotN - Vote: SM64 (42/56) |
Few things: 1. When I mention Ocarina/FF7 I'm talking more in terms of the 1v1 Bonus Match that SB's going to give us the day after the main bracket ends. I'll readily admit that OoT's still a pretty big underdog if LttP advances to the Final along with it. HOWEVER, 2. I still say that FFX is going to hurt 7 quite a bit if it ends up being there... probably not as much as LttP, but it might not be far behind. Think about it, is FFX really going to collapse in a situation where it's not only the single PS2 option but also the only option released in the past 11 years? We already know it holds up well against very strong competition thanks to that Game of the Decade poll- FF7 is a beast of a whole different magnitude, yes, but I still don't think it will be flattened. Even more importantly though, 3. I'm apparently the only one who hasn't already announced LttP as a lock for making R6, and I stand by that! I still think that everything we've seen so far points toward FF1 vs FF4 being a hotly contested 50/50 affair, and that furthermore the almost complete absence of expected SFF beatdowns means that we shouldn't entirely count out MM3 for 2nd place there. And all it would take is that one match going the right way to make LttP's road to the final a near impossibility (since there is no way in the world I can see it besting a beloved game like Mario 3, not with Zelda 1 tagging along for the ride). --- The Guru ROCKS, son! http://thengamer.com/guru/ (thengamer.com/xstats & board8.wikia.com aren't awful either) |
I don't even have LTTP in the finals, but I'm aware that's a huge upset pick! --- http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif |
You know what this topic is missing? The Ulti Curse from 2007. --- Just say the word and it's bear time! http://backloggery.com/main.php?user=big_bob |
Division 4: Round 1 - Match 16 – Chrono Trigger vs. Earthbound vs. Lufia II vs. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island Moltar’s Analysis Chrono Trigger 2004 Results: Won in Round 1 against Secret of Mana Won in Round 2 against Super Mario RPG Won in Round 3 against Super Mario World Won in Round 4 against Link to the Past Won in Round 5 against Super Mario Bros 3 Lost in Round 6 against Final Fantasy VII One of the strongest games on the site. Earthbound 2004 Results: Lost in Round 1 against Doom Oh Earthbound, try not to disappoint this year. Lufia II 2004 Results: N/A next SMW2 2004 Results: N/A The guru-selected game! Chrono Trigger obviously takes first here, Lufia II obviously gets killed here. What’s not obvious is the game that takes second. However, there is a very, very likely winner in the match between Earthbound and SMW2, and that’s the game with Mario in the title. We’re all familiar with EB’s “strength”. It’s true that it does have a sizable cult fanbase that will vote it over anything. However…it’s got a pretty bad fourpack for that fanbase. On one hand, it’s got Chrono Trigger, another RPG, except one that’s actually very loved on GameFAQs. On the other hand, it’s got Yoshi’s Island, a Mario game that’s bound to be decent and something for the Nintendo voters to flock to. Sorry EB, but you’re done here. Moltar’s Bracket Says: CT > SMW2 Moltar’s Prediction is: CT: 50% - SMW2: 30% - Eearthbound: 16% - Lufia II: 4% Heroic Mario’s Analysis Boring match alert. This match is Chrono Trigger and a bunch of games no one cares about. I'm not sure why there's even any sort of debate here either, but when it comes to Earthbound people can get all kinds of silly! The only thing to watch for today is how Chrono Trigger does. After FFVI's less than stellar performance against LA and MMX, I think the assumption is that CT's probably taken a big hit as well. And judging by how its characters have done since 2004, it's probably a safe bet. But then again, there was a CTDS port recently -- even if it didn't sell big numbers -- and this is still a game people will always love. So with that in mind, on top of weak competition, there's a good chance it could come away looking like the Trigger of old. At the very least, it'll trash these games. As far as the non-fight for second goes, it's a Mario game up against EarthBound -- look at how this contest has gone so far, is there really an argument to side with a cult RPG? Don't think so. Chrono Trigger -- 53% Yoshi's Island -- 24% Earthbound -- 18% Lufia II -- 5% Bracket: Chrono Trigger > Yoshi's Island Favorites: Chrono Trigger Lopen’s Analysis Big RPG/Little RPG/Little RPG/Mario game. The strong defeat the weak. Money makes money, I am an Analysis Gawd. Basically nuff said. Some people say Earthbound has a chance here because of a devoted fanbase or something. It's not like SMW2 was a flop, though. And it's freaking Mario-- I might consider taking Super Mario Land for second place here with weak SFFed RPGs here being its competition. How weak do you want it to be? Come on Lufia 2 kick that bulbous headed kid's ass. Lopen's prediction: Chrono Trigger – 47.46% Super Mario World 2 – 27.02% Lufia 2, upset special baby – 13.02% Bulbous Head Special, not for upsets – 12.50% Transience’s Analysis I'm busy as hell tonight, so apologies for this brief writeup: Mario has looked great in each match this year. It's great at blowing at fodder thanks to the franchise name. This match is 3 RPGs vs. a Mario game. How can the Mario name not do well? |
Well,
when the game is Yoshi's Island, undoubtedly a low-tier Mario game. We
had this argument before with Link's Awakening and LA came out easily
victorious; I have a hard time giving Earthbound the same respect. It's
got a really loyal fanbase but it isn't all THAT big, it's got another
bigger SNES game competing for its attention in Yoshi's Island, and
then of course Chrono Trigger, maybe its worst opponent. Plus, Lucas
got destroyed last year. I guess this wasn't that short after all! transience's prediction: Chrono Trigger with 46% Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 33% Earthbound - 17% Lufia II - 4% Leon’s Analysis Chrono Trigger: Looks like Chrono Trigger can’t get enough of laying the smack down on Mario games. After beating three Mario games in the first Games Contest, it gets Yoshi’s Island right off the bat, and it’s got Mario 64 waiting in the wings! Chrono Trigger will beat the entire Mario series eventually, you’ll see! Anyway, Yoshi’s Island will be the weakest Mario game it’s faced so far, and so it should excel in this fourpack against two other cult SNES RPGs. Crono failed to break 50% in his two first round matches in this format. Will CT do it? Earthbound: The more Ulti does these “Play Earthbound” 500 posts, the less I want to play it! I tried to play it once, but man, the battle system is so dated that it’s just torture to play for me. Maybe I’ll try it again another time. Yet we see again that the small Earthbound contingent has convinced itself that this game has a shot at the upset! Let me ask you this straight up: Would you take Doom to beat Yoshi’s Island? Because I wouldn’t. Sure, this game isn’t going to be as strong as most of the main series, but I can’t see it being borderline fodder. Plus, Earthbound’s got two other SNES RPGs to deal with here, which can’t help. Better luck next time, Earthbound fans! Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals: Okay, this game is going to get last place by a mile, so why bother analyzing it? Is this game worth playing? For some reason, I always get it confused with Lunar, so I keep thinking this is the one with Ghaleon in it, but it’s not! For those who have played it, would you recommend it? Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island: The Guru game of choice, Yoshi’s Island is put into a position where it should advance. It’s got no shot at getting anywhere close to Chrono Trigger, but when your biggest competition is Earthbound, a mainline Mario game shouldn’t have any trouble advancing. It’s not going to be the most popular in the series or anywhere close, really, but it’s got enough strength for second. Just outta curiosity, Super Mario World 2 vs. Mega Man 2/Sonic 2: Who you got? Leonhart’s Vote: Chrono Trigger, easily. Leonhart’s Prediction: Chrono Trigger – 51.55% Earthbound – 17.09% Lufia II – 10.24% Yoshi’s Island – 21.12% Ed Bellis’s Analysis With FF7 having proven itself a few matches ago, 2004’s runner-up (in name only, really) is ready to enter the arena !! EXCITEMENT AHOY So here we’ve got three SNES RPGs, and Yoshi’s Island. Chrono Trigger has already proven itself to be among the strongest games on the site, and what little strength EarthBound and ‘lol’fia II would have will be siphoned away… at least it would, if this contest made any logical sense. Still, Yoshi’s Island is a Mario game, and it should take second place with ease. The real battle-within-a-battle here is whether or not Lufia II can break 5 percent. I say ‘no.’ Prediction: WAAAAAH WAAAAAH WAAAAAH WAAAAAH Chrono Trigger with 50.78% Earthbound with 17.17% Lufia II with 3..17% Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island with 28.88% |
Guest’s Analysis - KamikazePotato KamikazePotato’s Super Special Guest Analysis: Where Objective Logic Goes To Curl Up And Die The last match of the first half of Round 1 is upon us! I’m currently writing this Guest Analysis at the tailend of Punch-Out/DK (damn you ape), so I may not have extra knowledge gleaned from watching how Nintendo, RPGs, hardcore fanbases ect. are doing in this contest. This doesn’t really change anything. If you don’t know who I’m picking to advance regardless of the circumstances, you don’t know me well enough. Chrono Trigger. Earthbound. Lufia II. These three games all have one thing in common: they’re all SNES RPGs. Normally this kind of LFF would seal the deal for Super Mario World 2, which is probably a decent game in its own right, facing Earthbound, a game that seems to get weaker every year. And for all intents and purposes, it pretty mu-IS NOT ENOUGH AT ALL. First of all, let me take this moment to throw this poll at your face. http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1181 Super Mario World 2 is not a popular Mario game. Yes, it was SFFd by World, but Super Mario Bros 2 had even more of a split to deal with, and it still finished higher. SMW2 will be riding on the Mario name alone, and that can only take it so far. Now then…Earthbound. Let’s make something clear: Earthbound =/= Ness. Many Earthbound fans don’t really care for Ness, and the game is guaranteed to be a lot stronger than he is. While Ness’ falling each year doesn’t speak anything GOOD about Earthbound, it isn’t a death sentence either. Now, the format. This format is what Earthbound thrives in. It has the rabid fanbase, and it has enough of them to sneak by here. Chrono Trigger is going to destroy this four-pack, which means less % to go around. Does SMW2 have a dedicated fanbase? *looks up* Don’t think so. Earthbound, on the other hand? http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3197 It’s got this. KP’s Bracket: probably in flames by now KP’s Vote: Earthbound KP’s Prediction: Chrono Trigger: 47% Earthbound: 22% Super Mario World 2: 21% Lufia 2: 10% Crew Consensus: Everyone agrees on CT > SMW2 except KP…oh KP. |
I
considered re-sending it in to have EB beating CT before I realized no
one was going to go with the normal upset but me anyway! --- http://thengamer.com/guru/ |
SMW2 will be riding on the Mario name alone, and that can only take it so far. Oh god, this seemed to make so much sense at the start of the contest stupid franchise voting --- http://thengamer.com/guru/ |
Don’t think so. Earthbound, on the other hand? http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=3197 It’s got this. I never understood how that poll is supposed to indicate Earthbound's strength. It seems to me that the reason so many people want Earthbound to be released for the Virtual Console is because very few people actually played it. --- http://thengamer.com/guru/bracket.php?id=147 |
Darn it, I was hoping we could make it through that entire analysis without a link to that VC poll! --- http://www.court-records.net/animation/phoenix-superobjection.gif |
Psh, mine was better. --- In-de-structable. Nothing's gonna stop me now. http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w333/usagiaruku/1224857053726.jpg |
Writeup will be a little later because Rock Band went long tonight, so here are the picks ahead of time: Chrono Trigger - 48.91% Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 31.20% Earthbound - 14.56% Lufia II - 5.32% --- The Guru ROCKS, son! http://thengamer.com/guru/ (thengamer.com/xstats & board8.wikia.com aren't awful either) |
Ngamer's Rebellious Writeup Three cheers for Mario 64! "Vastly overrated" my left eye- it goes out and tops all of our predictions without batting an eye, and that's even with Kirby holding up better than expected. Alright alright, so no one is THAT surprised about it being able to lay the smack down on lower tier titles like these three, but even so, this is the kind of very impressive performance that has me really wishing we'd have been able to see Mario 64 v Chrono Trigger in a fair matchup this season. What a shame that Yoshi's Island is going to be there to goof things up next time, and Goldeneye in the round after that. Although actually, if CT has lost a step (like FF6 apparently has), and then with FF7 punching it in the gut all day... but nah, I get ahead of myself. Regardless, as least this bracket it going to bless us with GE vs Mario 64 as good as straight up, so we do have SB to thank for that. Speaking of CT, here comes test #1 in the post-CTDS era, and it's a test I think it will... pass! Which is maybe a tiny bit surprising, because I mean logically wouldn't this be about the worst possible situation for the game? Up against two fellow beloved, cultish SNES RPGs, at least one of which has an incredibly devoted fanbase that never fails to get itself represented (and has even pulled off a couple cool 1v1 upsets!). And with seemingly everything Mario being smoking hot right now, it almost makes you want to pull the trigger here. But, three things: - no Mario in that match pic! well actually he's there, but if there's one thing people can agree on it's that crying baby Mario was super annoying- can't imagine that version wins over any fans - no Mario in that title! well, I guess I'm not sure about that, but SB has it listed as just SWM2: Yoshi's Island in the bracket, so maybe there won't be room to spell it all the way out, and if not that has to spell trouble - no sore thumb factor in that poll! I mean sure, YI stands out a little bit for not being an RPG, but it still shares the system with all these other options and probably has massive playership overlap with at least CT, so I can't see it STFing its way to victory Long story short I was all set to call for Yoshi giving Crono a run for his money until I saw baby Mario in a bubble, Crono with his sword out looking his DBZingest best, and Ness and friends looking totally cool for EB. (Lufia looks good as well, but its trying to copy EB's style too much which will surely only aggravate what was already going to be a bad SFF beating!) So in the end I've got to side with a more conservative: Chrono Trigger - 48.91% Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 31.20% Earthbound - 14.56% Lufia II - 5.32% But feel free to keep the good things coming for the Mario series, YI! --- The Guru ROCKS, son! http://thengamer.com/guru/ (thengamer.com/xstats & board8.wikia.com aren't awful either) |
Oh
my! Heck of an impressive start for CT, but come on, that was to be
suspected. What's going to happen in 3-4 hours when it's Europe
choosing between Mario and three SNES RPGs that were either never
released there or sold about 20 copies, now that's the real question! --- The Guru ROCKS, son! http://thengamer.com/guru/ (thengamer.com/xstats & board8.wikia.com aren't awful either) |
Lufia 2, whyyyy :( As for the question Leon posed... "is it worth playing?" Absolutely it's worth it. Best game in this poll! --- So I lost a bet to creativename (yeah...hardly shocking). Like usual, I should've known better! FACT: Halo 3 was 1000% responsible for Master Chief's boost. |
Didn't you say earlier that you hated EB? Yeah, not very inclined to play Lufia II. --- http://thengamer.com/guru/ |
Huh? Earthbound is awesome. Lufia 2 > Earthbound > CT > SMW2: Yoshi's Island. I just like making fun of Ness's head. --- So I lost a bet to creativename (yeah...hardly shocking). Like usual, I should've known better! FACT: Halo 3 was 1000% responsible for Master Chief's boost. |
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night....22.91% 27330 Kirby Super Star...............................11.06% 13194 Resident Evil......................................20.6% 24577 Super Mario 64.................................45.44% 54215 TOTAL VOTES.............................................119316 Matches Completely Correct - 9 Matches Partially Correct - 6 Matches Completely Wrong - 0 What Happened - SM64 silences the doubters with a very good performance against a decent four-pack. SotN shows that it has definitely fallen from 5 years ago, but still has what it takes to beat out RE for second. Why it Happened - Nothing really surprising here. After RE2's performance, RE1 did as expected. SotN was bound to be weaker after all this time, though we figured it would do a little better. KSS actually looks pretty decent here, GameFAQs just loves the Kirby! What Will Happen - SM64 even more of a lock in R2. Crew Prediction Challenge - 5 people here get points. I would have used NGamer's write-up as the Guest but it was sent to me and posted here after the match started. HM - 10 Tran - 9 Moltar - 8 Guest - 8 Lopen - 6 Leon - 6 Ed - 6 Crew Accuracy Challenge - Tran gets the point for SM64, Moltar and HM get points for SotN, HM and Tran get points for RE, and HM gets the point for KSS. Moltar - 15 Tran - 12 HM - 12 Lopen - 9 Leon - 8 Ed - 6 Guest (Luster, Zylo (3), HaRR, Kleenex) - 6 --- Moltar Status: you can't hide forever Match 16 - Bracket: CT > SMW2 - Vote: Earthbound (46/60) |
This has turned out to be a very easy division, much like Division 32/64 in the last games contest. |
I'm really curious about how everyone goes tonight. easy division no more --- xyzzy http://i42.tinypic.com/2vbwhn4.jpg |
Soul's Analysis Here’s the big match. Finally a match that’s in the air and it has good reason to. First, let’s get rid of the scrubbery here. Banjo Kazooie is a great game. I recently played it on the XBLA, and it was fun as hell. Sadly, GFAQs doesn’t care about non-Mario platformers, so expect BK to finish last. Perfect Dark is the best console FPS game on the N64, but sadly it’s not as popular as Goldeneye. Expect it to finish ahead of BK, but nothing else. The big match is between Zelda and Pokemon. Everyone is afraid of Majora’s Mask because it’s Zelda, but it has never really shown to be really popular on GameFAQs. Then again, it’s Zelda. An unpopular Zelda beats more than 50% of the field. It’s also the game right after OoT, so it definitely has a good fanbase. And it’s Zelda. Can’t mention this enough because franchise votes are killing a lot of debatable matches in this contest. Pokemon R/B/Y is the reason why Pokemon is the biggest and fastest selling video game franchise in the world. It’s definitely the star Pokemon game in this contest, and should be the strongest handheld game in the contest. Pikachu’s performance over the past two years, and Mewtwo’s performance last year (arguably) prove that Pokemon is stronger in four-ways as opposed to one on one matches. R/B/Y should be stronger than individual characters because of it having such a huge ensemble cast. The question now is who finishes first? In my bracket, I chose Pokemon. In my head, I’m siding with Zelda. In my heart, it doesn’t matter because all four games are fantastic, but I liked Pokemon more than the others. That’s pretty much it. Go Pokemon Go! Pokemon – 39.57% Zelda – 35.39% Perfect Dark – 15.63% Banjo Kazooie – 9.41% --- ertyu is actually a language. For example, 'dum' is ertyunese for 'godly'. - Topaz Kitsune Believe it or not, the Internet is serious business - Biolizard28 |
Division 5: Round 1 - Match 17 – Banjo-Kazooie vs. Perfect Dark vs. Pokemon R/B/Y vs. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Moltar’s Analysis Banjo-Kazooie 2004 Results: N/A Bird and Bear on a crazy adventure Perfect Dark 2004 Results: Lost in Round 1 against Symphony of the Night Between this and Goldeneye, N64 was the bomb for FPS’s. Pokemon RBY 2004 Results: N/A Bulbasaur > Charmander > Squirtle Majora’s Mask 2004 Results: N/A Best Zelda game right here. So here we have 2 snubs from the 2004 contest, a game lost early in 2004, and Banjo. Well, Banjo can “get outta here” as it’s getting killed here. The two much larger N64 games here will crush it. Perfect Dark doesn’t look good to advance either. Back in 2004, it failed to beat SotN, and like SotN, it will be weaker now too (perfect dark zero who cares about this). Plus I wouldn’t put it over MM or RBY anyway. So MM and RBY advance, but which takes first? RBY has a great shot with Pokemon hate on GameFAQs pretty low. Most people seem to love the older stuff like RBY and hate the newer iterations of Pokemon. Pikachu and Mewtwo did well last contest, and Pokemon has looked nearly SFF-proof in four-ways thus far. Plus it’s the only Game Boy game in a sea of N64 stuff, so it’s going to stand out a bit. However with the way this contest is going, there seems to be three things bound to help you pick the right winner. 1) Don’t bet against Mario. 2) Don’t bet against Final Fantasy. 3) Don’t bet against ZELDA. After seeing Link’s Awakening of all games put up good numbers, betting against Majora’s Mask, which will be stronger, doesn’t seem wise. Pokemon’s best chance here is for its nostalgia to get it’s votes, and that MM doesn’t end up being strong thanks to being overshadowed by OoT or disliked or whatever. While RBY should do alright, tackling ZELDA may be too much for it. Moltar’s Bracket Says: MM > RBY Moltar’s Prediction is: MM: 39% - Pokemon RBY: 32% - Perfect Dark: 20% - BK: 9% Heroic Mario’s Analysis Kicking off the best division in the contest with some Zelda/Pokemon action. As much hype/debate as this match has gotten, I don't think the actual match is going to be very exciting. I've never been a believer in Pokemon having powerhouse strength, nowhere near enough to stand up to a notable Zelda title. Here's part of my doubt on Pokemon -- five years ago Xenogears crushed GSC with no problem. Sure, Pokemon has gotten stronger over the past few years, in no small part to the Nintendo shift (which has tapered off a lot in recent times), but to go from losing there to suddenly being a powerhouse franchise? Not buying it. If you want something a little more recent, I point to the fact that Pokemon couldn't beat Metroid in the Series contest. Not the best 'evidence,' for sure, but just one more thing against Pokemon -- no, Metroid isn't a powerhouse in anything, save for Samus! Another part of this is the fact that we're dealing with a poll full of Nintendo games. You could call out N64 SFF hurting Majora, but I'd call out Zelda being so far above Pokemon on the Nintendo heirarchy -- something its fans hold strictly to in most cases -- that it doesn't make much difference. We're also dealing with a loved Zelda game here. I think this tends to get lost in all the debate, but Majora's Mask isn't the FFXII of Zelda. It has plenty of fans -- lots of them -- that consider it the best game in the series outright. I'm not sure where I'd stick in the rankings, but it'd probably be above The Wind Waker, for whatever that's worth. |
If
I sound confident here, it's probably because I'm not sold on Pokemon
enough to even give it the benefit of the doubt. If it can surprise me
here, I'll have a new respect for it, but when the most its done is
have Pikachu beat a non-bandwagoned L-Block, I'm not gonna jump at a
chance to take it in a big match. Plus, I don't like the series at all ! bomb pokemon bomb Majora's Mask -- 45% Pokemon RBY -- 29% Perfect Dark -- 17% Banjo-Kazooie -- 9% Bracket: Majora's Mask > Pokemon Favorites: Majora's Mask > Perfect Dark Lopen’s Analysis I've never really been sold on Majora's Mask. Perfect Dark, meanwhile, is one of the bigger games on the N64. Originially I had Pokemon > Perfect Dark here out of the belief that Perfect Dark had “sore thumb factor” on its side and out of respect for PD/disrespect for Majora's Mask. Sore thumb factor failing so utterly for Doom, when DKC was in the presence of a much stronger SFFing presence, has led me to reconsider this pick. That and the fact that ZeldaFAQs hasn't really gone wrong yet. I do think Perfect Dark has all the tools it could ask for here, but I just don't think it'll be enough. I had PD barely scraping by here in the first place, so with contest developments, I have to lose all faith in this pick. However, the pick I won't lose faith in is raw and unadulterated Pokemanz beatdown. This is pretty much the weapon of the Pokemon franchise. A more pure time, before the marketing got out of hand. The defining game of the Gameboy system. People will not anti-vote it, people will not forget it. ZeldaFAQs is a force, but the yellow rat smote the mighty L-Block last year... no doubt that Pokemon is on the upswing around here. Top tier Pokemon vs fourth tier Zelda? Give me the Pokemon. Lopen's prediction: Pokemanz RBY – 35.36% HAIL ZELDA ZELDA IS LOVE – 30.04% Perfect Dark – 25.50% Jumblededogongs? How about you collect some VOTES first you bastard – 9.10% Transience’s Analysis Chrono Trigger did awesome today. It looks like it's going to finish with virtually the same percentage that LTTP did. The obvious followup question: Donkey Kong Country/Doom/Streets of Rage 2 vs. Yoshi's Island/Earthbound/Lufia 2 -- which pack is stronger? I'm inclined to say it's about a draw, maybe a slight edge to LTTP, but I'd expect LTTP to be better at running up big numbers due to a higher playrate and the Zelda namesake, so I'd say these two are looking every bit as even as they were in 2004. Too bad there's some Final Fantasy in the way, one of the true disappointments of this bracket. Anyway, moving on. This match is one of my most anticipated of the contest - we've debated Majora's Mask for what feels like centuries, and Pokemon has been an enormous wildcard ever since Pokemon started doing big things in 2006. I don't have a clue as to what's going to happen, so I'm just going to ramble until I run out of stuff to talk about! Let's start with the easier entrant, Zelda. Majora's Mask is going to do well for itself. I wouldn't put MM below Link's Awakening and that already put up a really nice percentage on FF6, all while beating a top-tier Mega Man game. (hmm, a top-tier game from a lesser series vs. a low-tier Zelda game. sound familiar?) Being a well-known Zelda game - and Majora's Mask is - pretty much guarantees you *some* strength. We've debated MM vs. Wind Waker for years, and Wind Waker is statistically equal to FF10. Would you take Pokemon over FF10? I know I wouldn't. (Pikachu > Tidus be damned) That's the good about Majora's Mask - now for the bad. MM has done poorly in nearly every poll it's been in -- and it's got a good excuse. Its name is Ocarina of Time. Still, the numbers are pretty bad: http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1225 |
It
did pretty poor on The List and in that one Virtual Console poll. These
don't really mean much (if anything) but I've tried to find a poll
result that's kind to Majora's Mask and there's nothing. It was
released at the end of 2000, the day before the PS2. If we had a "best
of 2000" poll, FF9 would have brutalized it, and Perfect Dark may have
too. Oh, right, Perfect Dark is actually in this poll. And it's not that weak - 47% on SOTN in 2004 (back when SOTN was worth something), #40 or something on The List. (higher than Majora's Mask!) There's also Banjo Kazooie in this poll, yet another n64 game. We've got three n64 games and Pokemon. Who's in the best position to thrive? Unfortunately, Pokemon is a HUGE wildcard. It could be *anywhere* - below Xenogears, up there with Mario RPG, who knows. I'd peg it around the Mario RPG level, maybe a little bit higher. It's a huge favourite for people and should thrive in a multiway poll. Mewtwo and Pikachu have done awesome in recent years while later Pokemon have flopped - RBY just looks much stronger than the other Pokemon games. Is it enough to hold up to Zelda? I really have no idea. One thing we can say about Majora's Mask: it can't completely flop. It's going to do well. It's almost definitely stronger than Link's Awakening, which could put it anywhere from 45% on FF6 to stronger than it. But I think Pokemon RBY is also stronger than Link's Awakening. I believe it's the strongest handheld game on the site. Is that enough to beat Majora's Mask? I'm skeptical. But I'm gonna take the upset anyway, if only because my brethren here are going to go ZELDA yet again. And I can't blame them! transience's predix: Banjo-Kazooie - 8% Perfect Dark - 19% Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - 37% Zelda: Majora's Mask - 36% Leon’s Analysis Banjo-Kazooie: Here’s a rule to remember on GameFAQs: If you’re a 3-D platformer that isn’t Mario (and heck, even Mario 64 got obliterated by OoT), GameFAQs doesn’t like you. Ask Crash, ask Jak, ask Ratchet, ask Sly Cooper, ask Spyro, ask Abe, and you can even ask Banjo himself! Seriously, you can’t find a single example of a character who debuted as a 3-D platformer doing well (Well, I guess you can count 2003 Shadow on a technicality, but that’s it). That’s not even to mention the fact that it’s an N64 game going up against an N64 Zelda and Perfect Dark, which isn’t too shabby in its own right. Banjo-Kazooie’s gonna get rocked, folks. Perfect Dark: Perfect Dark did pretty well for itself in the first Games Contest. 47% on SOTN ain’t bad, but in this scenario, it’s not going to be enough unless Zelda SFF hammers the mess out of R/B/Y. Heck, if this were 2004, I’d probably be taking Perfect Dark for second place here, but times have changed! This site actually likes Pokemon now! More than it used to anyway. PD is destined for third place here, except, as I said before, in the unlikely event that LoZ flexes its SFF muscles and destroys R/B/Y. Not betting on it though. |
Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow:
I’ll be honest. I think this is the most overrated game coming into
this contest. I couldn’t believe people were seriously entertaining
R/B/Y over Majora’s Mask here. Sure, MM is a second or third tier
Zelda, but it’s still Zelda. We’ve already seen franchise voting play a
big role in the contest, and while that plays less of a factor the more
recent these games get, it’s still there. Yes, I recognize that Pokemon
has decent strength nowadays, but I think that card is being
overplayed. Whoop-de-doo, it doubled Star Ocean. So what? Yeah, it did
a good job of resisting SFF against Metroid, which then went on to get
a whopping 15% against Zelda. Samus has always been more popular than
Metroid itself, so I think that performance is overrated. People point
to Pikachu’s Cinderella runs in the last two Character Battles, but do
you honestly think Pikachu’s power is solely from Pokemon? I’d wager he
gets a lot of strength from SSB as well. Why? Because Mewtwo, for all
intents and purposes, should be stronger than Pikachu among the Pokemon
fanbase, but I haven’t seen it. And while Mewtwo has some pretty good
showings, you can point to a pathetic showing for every good one. Yeah,
Mewtwo was in SSBM, but he sucked in it. I doubt it’s helped him as
much as it helped Pikachu, who could be considered one of Smash’s “main
characters.” And while I say all that, I’m taking R/B/Y to get second
here, but I just don’t see the arguments for it getting first place
here. I could be wrong, but I’m not seeing it. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask: This is one game I’m not sure about. Yes, it has the Zelda named attached to it (which is worth a lot), but Majora’s Mask is like the Final Fantasy VIII of the series. It had the unfortunate position of trying to follow the biggest game in the series and also tried to do a lot of things differently than the series normally does. As a result, a lot of people hated it, though it does have a vocal contingent that loves it. The only real poll data on MM we have is the N64 is that N64 Virtual Console poll where it was beaten cleanly by GoldenEye, but it was easily second ahead of everything else. I’ve pointed out why you can’t correlate those VC polls directly into contest strength before, so I won’t bother explaining it again. I suppose I’m mainly banking on the strength of the Zelda name to propel Majora’s Mask to victory. Heck, I figure it can’t be too far from Wind Waker, and there’s no way I’d ever take R/B/Y to beat that game based on its 2004 performance. Until proven otherwise, the power of the Zelda name behind a major title in the series is too much for most games to handle, even a debated title like Majora’s Mask. Leonhart’s Vote: The only game of these I’ve played for more than 15 minutes, Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow! Leonhart’s Prediction: Banjo-Kazooie – 12.00% Perfect Dark – 19.75% Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow – 27.11% The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – 41.14% Ed Bellis’s Analysis With the past few matches, we’ve had a guaranteed first-place victor. Here, however, it’s all up in the air. (Well, not all of it, but at least the part over which of two particular games comes in first.) Najo-Kazooie. I made this typo and thought it would be pretty funny so I kept it in! HILARIOUS. B-K is dead in the water here, and it might break 10 percent if it’s lucky. Yes, the franchise has seen a resurgence thanks to the new game for the 360 (assuming that didn’t actually turn people away from the series); no, the other games are that much stronger. Perfect Dark. PD gets fed to the wolves here, having put up decent numbers against Symphony of the Night back in 2004. It’s a good bet, however, that, much like SotN, it hasn’t aged particularly well and would not do as well today. Against, say, half the games in the early divisions it would probably place, but that’s neither here nor there. |
Pokemon: Red/Blue/Yellow.
Pokemon has a lot of things going against it here: its status as a
handheld game, leftover “Pokehate,” and going up against the Zelda
brand. The first two are easily debunked: Pokemon is probably the most
popular of the handheld games, and it’s not 2004 anymore; Pokemon
actually became trendy over the past few years as the kids who
played it when they were youngsters grew up. RBY is probably the most
popular Pokegame out there, and it’s up against what is sure to be one
of the weakest Zeldas. Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Majora’s Mask has basically one thing going against it here: its status as the black sheep of the main Zelda titles. However, if this contest has taught me anything, it’s this: voters are sheep. Majora’s Mask might not have the full brunt of the Zelda name behind it, but it’ll have plenty of it. The question is: will Pokemon be able to stand up under fire? Before the contest started, I would have said “yes”; now, seeing the importance of franchise voting (AUGH SHEEP BAAAAAHHH), I’m inclined to say “no, but it’ll be close.” Prediction: BAAAAAHHH Banjo-Kazooie with 7.28% Perfect Dark with 17.17% Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow with 36.90% Zelda: Majora’s Mask with 38.65% Crew Consensus: The Crew slightly favors Zelda > Pokemon over Pokemon > Zelda |
Yesssss, crew has no consensus. --- ^5 RBY pickers. |
I've got Pokemon > Zelda, it's all good. --- I've been waiting for this moment all my life - it's my destiny. http://64.81.113.250/a-kon-12/000177.jpg |
you picked Earthbound !! and you, Secret of Mana! dammit I don't even like Pokemon --- xyzzy http://i42.tinypic.com/2vbwhn4.jpg |
Hey now, I went with Zelda! even though my bracket has pokemon but who cares about that any more --- This was KING BELLIS LOL AND I HAVE A CYOA YOU SHOULD READ http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=45420715 |
whoops, I'm so used to seeing you with Lopen that I misread! --- xyzzy http://i42.tinypic.com/2vbwhn4.jpg |
Hey, at least SoM impressed! --- No matter what, no matter how, I know I'll make it through somehow. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b146/KleenexTissue501/Saturn.gif |
Aw yeah Chrono Trigger is finishing what it started in 2004 book it I gotta say that I don't think Xenogears in 2004 was a weak game at all, so that doesn't hurt my confidence in Pokemon. Xenogears and Secret of Mana were both games that could have earned some respect if they hadn't faced their worst possible opponents. --- I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience |
Running out of time, here's my pred ahead of the bell: Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - 35.90% Zelda: Majora's Mask - 35.64% Perfect Dark - 20.44% Banjo-Kazooie - 8.02% --- The Guru ROCKS, son! http://thengamer.com/guru/ (thengamer.com/xstats & board8.wikia.com aren't awful either) |
Ngamer going against his baby? this should be good. --- yzzyx |
