Board 8 > Best Game of 1996 **FINAL RESULTS**

(+) Yeah! (+)

The '96 championship will go down as one of the best in tournament history, though it didn't start off that way.

RPG and 64 started off neck and neck for the first 14 votes. It was then that Mario RPG began to take off, getting as much as a 23-14 lead over the N64 juggernaut.

Mario 64, however, wasn't laying down for anyone. The next 15 votes would favor the 3D platformer, as 64 would outscore RPG 12-3 to tie it up at 26! Unfortunately for Mario 64, the final two votes would both be for Mario RPG (including UF8's vote at EXACTLY the 24 hour mark, the 0:00 buzzer shot of the match).

In an unlikely upset, your 1996 Game of the Year is Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars winning 28-26 over Super Mario 64!

Official Bracket
https://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?1&tid=473674

My final thoughts on my next post

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Wow, that sucks
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Great result

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Final Thoughts

Once the nominations were tallied up and every game was ranked from highest to lowest, there was zero doubt on what the championship was going to be. Mario 64 and Mario RPG were both groundbreaking titles, and their closest competition included the following...

- Side scrollers from Donkey Kong and Kirby released in Super Nintendo's final big year
- A survival horror game that would have aged even more poorly if a remake didn't happen 6 years later.

The N64 was groundbreaking and the basic launch titles were here, like Mario, Pilotwings, and Star Wars. The PS1 and Saturn were still young also, with Playstation getting Twisted Metal 2 in the Elite Eight at least plus Crash Bandicoot in round 3, and the Saturn getting Guardian Heroes to round 3 with an easy 4 pack.

The amount of fodder in this tournament was unheard of. Resident Evil's division alone had 5 obscure PC titles alone, all of whom got wrecked. The one shining low seed was Metal Slug only getting one nomination, only to stun 4 games in a row for a final four appearance. Good on you MS!

A good tournament nonetheless. The two best games appear in the finals, and the overall 1 seed goes down once again.

Ultimate Loser: SMRPG > SM64 > DKC3 > Kirby > Guardian > Boarders > Tomb Raider

With the exception of '13, Tomb Raider has a history wasting space and seeing its last eligible entry get a 3 seed and burn out quick was somewhat delightful.

See you guys next month for 95

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Excellent winner. My #3 all time beating my #1 of all time was a fun fight to watch.

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Having looked a bit at 1995 and 1994, I really think 1996 is kind of a weak year - there were a few really good late SNES titles but they were few and far between, and most of the early 3D stuff on PS1/N64/etc was kinda eh. It was a bit of an awkward transition year.

SMRPG is my favorite 1996 game, so I like how this contest turned out! Really enjoyed the variety of games in this, I've played a wider variety of stuff from the mid 90's and earlier so I'm more interested in these years.

Mario 64 not winning is fine with me, and Mario RPG is a good game.

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SMRPG vs DKC3 was my finals and I think I ended up not voting because I couldn't pick.

But I'd probably pick SMRPG.

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Very happy with the winner. Mario RPG is one of those games that means a lot to me.

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that's a pretty good result, not what i would pick but solid overall

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Yay for UF8, king of procrastinators!

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Mario 64 is the latest overall #1 seed to fail at capturing the championship. History of Overall 1 seeds, starting from 96 to 2019... (bolded entries = champions)

Mario 64
Final Fantasy VII
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy VIII
Pokemon GSC
Final Fantasy X
Metroid Prime
Wind Waker
Metal Gear Solid 3
Resident Evil 4
Guitar Hero 2
Super Mario Galaxy
Fallout 3
Uncharted 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Uncharted 3
Borderlands 2
A Link Between Worlds
Smash Bros for 3DS
Witcher 3
Uncharted 4
Nier Automata
Smash Ultimate
Resident Evil 2

Out of these, only Smash 3DS, Witcher 3, and Wind Waker didn't make the final four.

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Also I finally got 100 jumps a couple of years ago. I was so fucking happy.

Was one of my greatest gaming goals finally checked off the list.

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By the way, for future reference, are games eligible based on NA release dates or what?

Time Crisis appears to actually be a 1995 game according to wikipedia

Awesome! Pleasantly surprised.


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Paratroopa1 posted...

Time Crisis appears to actually be a 1995 game according to wikipedia

This got brought up during the nomination topic, cause I tried saying the same thing to the first guy nominating Time Crisis. He sent me a link to an Arcade museum site verifying that TC was released in 1996.

https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10114

I'm gonna try to be flexible on releases going backwards. Yes, NA releases will still be most prominent, but if a game never got released in NA (Terranigma for example), then exceptions will be made.

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wow great final. I was really expecting SM64 to win from the beginning.

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I mean I voted for 64 because it didn't deserve to lose that badly, but SMRPG deserves the title too. Not a revolutionary game in the sense that 64 is, but damn it's just good.

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Wall of champions, starting with 1996...

Super Mario RPG
Symphony of the Night
Pokemon RBY
Spyro 2
Pokemon GSC
Super Smash Bros Melee
Metroid Prime
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Metal Gear Solid 3
Resident Evil 4
Okami
Super Mario Galaxy
Persona 4
Uncharted 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Portal 2
Xenoblade Chronicles
A Link Between Worlds
Super Smash Bros for Wii U
Rocket League
Dark Souls III
Breath of the Wild
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Disco Elysium

...followed by the Wall of Runner Ups, starting with 96

Mario 64
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Kingdom Hearts
Star Wars KOTOR
Half-Life 2
Devil May Cry 3
Kingdom Hearts II
Bioshock
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Arkham Asylum
Mass Effect 2
Uncharted 3
Borderlands 2
The Last of Us
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Bloodborne
Pokemon Sun/Moon
Super Mario Odyssey
God of War
AI: The Somnium Files

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Another surprising fact after 1996 closes.

Super Mario 64 was the first Nintendo 64 game to make a finals appearance. 97 was PS1 vs PS1, 98 was GB vs PS1, 99 was PS1 vs PS1, 2000 was GBC vs PS1, 2001 was PS2 vs Gamecube

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Easily the best RPG Mario's been a part of, and that says a lot considering I loved the first two Paper Marios and liked 2 of the first 3 Mario and Luigi titles.

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I'm really surprised RE doesn't get more respect. It was just as groundbreaking for its genre as SM64 was for platformers. But for some reason it's considered as having aged poorly and Mario just gets a pass.

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With that I think Square finally didn't choke in the finals!

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Snake5555555555 posted...

I'm really surprised RE doesn't get more respect. It was just as groundbreaking for its genre as SM64 was for platformers. But for some reason it's considered as having aged poorly and Mario just gets a pass.

Well Super Mario 64 not aging poorly might have something to do with it.
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Looking through the results, the only really sad part is how poorly Civ 2 did. Wouldn't consider that obscure, especially since B8 seems to have a good chunk of Civ fans.
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ZeroSignal620 posted...

The one shining low seed was Metal Slug only getting one nomination, only to stun 4 games in a row for a final four appearance. Good on you MS!

Really, I was the only one to nominate it?
Glad I did!

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Snake5555555555 posted...

But for some reason it's considered as having aged poorly and Mario just gets a pass.

Well I mean the RE control scheme isn't exactly used anywhere else in the gaming landscape. I agree that it's still a great game if you're willing to learn how to play it though.

Mario 64 has some of the same issues really, but it's more intuitive to play for a modern gamer.

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WarThaNemesis2 posted...

With that I think Square finally didn't choke in the finals!

...holy shit you're right.

Square finally gets one!

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KCF0107 posted...

Well Super Mario 64 not aging poorly might have something to do with it.

I don't think it has aged poorly either. I guess being more of a survival horror fan myself I can more appreciate the roots of the genre and how even the most pinnacle games of the genre like REmake and SH2 aren't too fundamentally removed from the template RE1 originally laid out for them.

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Mac Arrowny posted...

Looking through the results, the only really sad part is how poorly Civ 2 did. Wouldn't consider that obscure, especially since B8 seems to have a good chunk of Civ fans.

Civ is normally one and done here too, regardless of seeding.

II - 3 seed, round 1 loss to Metal Slug
III - 8 seed, round 2 loss to Melee
IV - 7 seed, round 1 loss to Magna Carta
V - 3 seed, round 2 loss to Heavy Rain
VI - 6 seed, round 2 loss to Kirby: Planet Robobot


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...on second thought I might start 1995 this weekend.

Fucking quarantine

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Other series runs with games featured in 96...

Resident Evil
Resident Evil - 1 seed, Elite Eight loss to Metal Slug
Resident Evil 2 (98) - 2 seed, Elite Eight loss to Final Fantasy Tactics
Resident Evil 3 - 9 seed, round 2 loss to Final Fantasy VIII
Code Veronica - 7 seed, round 2 loss to Perfect Dark
REmake - 2 seed, round 3 loss to Jet Set Radio Future
Resident Evil 4 - 1 seed, 2005 champion
Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 - 16 seed, round 1 loss to Final Fantasy IV Advance
Umbrella Chronicles - 9 seed, round 1 loss to Hotel Dusk
Resident Evil 5 - 1 seed, Final Four loss to Arkham Asylum
Darkside Chronicles - 9 seed, round 1 loss to Dissidia
Resident Evil 6 - 8 seed, round 2 loss to Borderlands 2
Resident Evil VII - 2 seed, Elite Eight loss to Nier Automata
Resident Evil 2 (19) - 1 seed, Final Four loss to AI: The Somnium Files

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ZeroSignal620 posted...

...on second thought I might start 1995 this weekend.

Fucking quarantine

dododo

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