Board 8 > first thing that comes to mind 2: "weakest Noble Niner"

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Mega Man. Feels like most of his 2010's strength came more out of pity from the way Capcom neglected the franchise and hype from being in Smash Bros.

But now that Smash Wii U is over 5 years old and nobody seems to care about Mega Man in general now that we actually have a new Mega Man game with 11 ( which was mediocre and forgettable) He went from beating Mewtwo and Pikachu at the same time to losing to Pikachu 1 on 1 and the fact that 10 and 11 didn't make the game of the decade bracket despite lacking the sff cannibalism other decades have is pretty telling since those are the only two games that decade. That's pretty bad when you see all that indie fodder that made it in over it.

I'm not even sure how Mega Man would boost in contest strength, a standard 2D platformer won't excite people anymore and it's unlikely we'll get a big impactful game from the franchise with how retro focused Capcom is with him. At least Sephiroth has FFVIIr, Sonic might get another Generations quality game if Sonic Team can actually get their act together and Crono benefits from low votals.

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SSJSephirothGokuX123 posted...

He went from beating Mewtwo and Pikachu at the same time to losing to Pikachu 1 on 1 and the fact that 10 and 11 didn't make the game of the decade bracket despite lacking the sff cannibalism other decades have is pretty telling since those are the only two games that decade.

He got less than 50% so he would have probanly dropped that against any of them 1v1 then. It's much tougher facing them 1v1 than when they share the vote. Mega Man might have lost to Pikachu, but it was only due to the registered user bonus and he beat Pikachu in the rematch.

Mega Man hasn't been relevant since way before the contests began. Our best game ever contest 5 years ago only saw Mega Man X make it in. Metroid also had no games in the bracket, it doesn't matter to a legacy character like him that he hasn't been as recently relevant. He probably boost from low votals too.

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A video game character that is blue, runs fast, and collects rings.

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Sonic

Sonic

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ctesjbuvf posted...

He got less than 50% so he would have probanly dropped that against any of them 1v1 then. It's much tougher facing them 1v1 than when they share the vote. Mega Man might have lost to Pikachu, but it was only due to the registered user bonus and he beat Pikachu in the rematch.

That's still a big drop for him since he beat Mewtwo and Pikachu during a year where Pokemon were at an all time high (the same year Cloud lost to Squirtle) Most Pokemon characters dropped in strength in 2018 and while Pikachu was a beast in 2018 that's still a really bad sign when Mega Man just got a new game after a 8 year drought yet he still lost to Pikachu. Now that Mega Man 11 is over a year old and not fondly remembered Pikachu would probably beat Mega Man with relative ease.

ctesjbuvf posted...

Mega Man hasn't been relevant since way before the contests began.

Not true, the PS1 Mega Man games were still relatively recent in the first few contests, and the Anniversary Collection was a pretty big deal back in the PS2/Gamecube days. But he was also dropping in strength when the X series went dormant and Battle Network became the main marketed Mega Man games. And he got even weaker when Star Force and ZX were the only Mega Man games being released. Remember when Sora got 45% on him and Mega Man lost to the Weighted Companion Cube? Then he started regaining his formal strength when Mega Man 9 came out and he was even managing to look better in future contests due to the Capcom controversies and his Smash inclusion. At least until 2018 when Mega Man 11 came and went.

ctesjbuvf posted...

Our best game ever contest 5 years ago only saw Mega Man X make it in.

That's because there's dozens of Mega Man games cannibalizing each other for nominations in a Best Game Ever contest. There was only two Mega Man games released in the 2010's. 10 and 11 and neither made the field. 10 I understand since it didn't have the impact 9 did but 11 was supposedly a big deal being the Mega Man game that brings the series out of the grave and wasn't a 8-bit rehash, but Mega Man actually ended up looking weaker after it's release.

ctesjbuvf posted...

Metroid also had no games in the bracket,

Did you even look at the Metroid games released during the 2010's? Other M, Federation Force and Samus Returns, only Samus Returns would have any nomination support but it was a tail end 3DS game.

ctesjbuvf posted...

it doesn't matter to a legacy character like him that he hasn't been as recently relevant. He probably boost from low votals too.

It does for him, people are fickle about the franchise, people loved him in the 90's, has disdain or no interest for the series during the mid-2000's. Then MM9, Smash and the Capcom drought made people love him again. But now we finally have a new game in the franchise and it was underwhelming, and if Capcom just makes 12 and later games more mediocre rehashes he's going to start seeing that mid 2000's downfall again.


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There was nothing impressive about beating Pikachu and Mewtwo in a poll together. Maybe if he had beat them combined, but he didn't. It was in a bonus fourth place match on top of that.

It was impressive that he beat Charizard with Zero in the poll. Also he lost to WCC cube because of having Zero in the poll.

I seriously doubt Mega Man 11 made any difference to his strength.

And losing to Pikachu initially wasn't that bad a thing. Pikachu would have beaten more of them given the chance. The point here isn't to say he's good as he has been, but he pretty clearly wasn't the worst of the NN in 18.

And yes, I know why Metroid had no games in the bracket, but it's the same damn reasons for Mega Man. The point was that it didn't seem to be hurting Samus any and it's the same thing here.

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Sonic

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Sonic.

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ctesjbuvf posted...

There was nothing impressive about beating Pikachu and Mewtwo in a poll together. Maybe if he had beat them combined, but he didn't. It was in a bonus fourth place match on top of that.

No it was impressive simply due to how crazy strong Pokemon were that year, even if it was a bonus match. He only a did a little worse than Snake did against Pikachu and Squirtle, it's probably more that Mewtwo disappointed last contest which is why it doesn't seem as impressive now but remember Mewtwo also scored higher than Pikachu that match.

ctesjbuvf posted...

It was impressive that he beat Charizard with Zero in the poll. Also he lost to WCC cube because of having Zero in the poll.

He also beat Charizard most likely due to Mega Man 9 being released and there being more activity in the Mega Man fandom due to Capcom's neglect which propelled rallies for him (IE that Get me off the Moon Mega Man Legends 3 cancelation facebook fanpage) Since the WCC match was prior to those he ended up losing relatively easily in comparison.

ctesjbuvf posted...

I seriously doubt Mega Man 11 made any difference to his strength.

You must be really out of touch with the Mega Man fanbase or how the mainstream views Mega Man. A lot of the passion for Mega Man franchise in the 2010's was due to the absence and neglect by Capcom, but now that Capcom is making games again they don't have that same drive to support the franchise like they used to. While Mega Man 11 wasn't a bad game, it felt really hollow and didn't really leave the franchise in a exciting direction. It was a mostly bland game that felt middle of the road like 5 or 6, and that soured people's desire for new Mega Man games. Even the Mega Man communities and forums have really slowed down in activity because MM11 was just such a "nothing" kind of game. People finally got that carrot they were chasing but it didn't leave them hungry for more. If anything it proved that despite the 8 year gap people are burnt out of classic style Mega Man games.

ctesjbuvf posted...

And losing to Pikachu initially wasn't that bad a thing. Pikachu would have beaten more of them given the chance. The point here isn't to say he's good as he has been, but he pretty clearly wasn't the worst of the NN in 18.

He was the first character to break the noble 9 in a 24 hour match, and that was despite getting a new game in 8 year and that is what concerns me the most. If Pikachu beat Sonic, Sephiroth and Crono that wouldn't have been so surprising. Outside of Sonic Mania most of the Sonic's games have been awful recently, Crono only has 1 game and Sephiroth and edgy dark characters in general don't have the same appeal as they did back when we were teenagers. But those characters still have potential, Sonic still has Mania to keep him afloat for a while longer and hopefully a new good game by Headcanon in the future, and Sephiroth has FFVIIr (assuming it doesn't get some kind of Kingdom Hearts 3 like stigma) Crono is the still the main character of one of the site's strongest games and he still beat Mega Man last battle. That's what makes Mega Man look the weakest to me though is that he can't really rebound his strength anymore, getting into Smash is based mostly on first impressions, so even if Mega Man becomes a mainstay like Sonic time will chip away at his boost and he'll weaken, and if future Mega Man games are just Mega Man 11 with 8 new robot masters he will decay even further. Maybe he wasn't the weakest in 2018 but next character battle we'll likely see him disappoint again like he did in the mid 2000's.

ctesjbuvf posted...

And yes, I know why Metroid had no games in the bracket, but it's the same damn reasons for Mega Man. The point was that it didn't seem to be hurting Samus any and it's the same thing here.

Uh... no. The fanbase actively hates Other M and Federation Force. Even diehard fans wouldn't have nominate those games. Samus Returns also came out way too late in the 3DS's lifetime to make much of an impact to get nominated. Sure Mega Man 10 and 11 aren't the most popular games but they aren't despised or forgotten like those games are. It's just you'd figure Mega Man fans would try to get something in out of loyalty, yet they didn't.

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sonic
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