Board 8 > Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1366

(+) Yeah! (+)

Leonhart4 posted...

I mean, we knew Metroid Prime was coming out back then, right? Pre-release hype for something like that probably helped.

Yeah, but Prime wasn't exactly a sure thing either, with the switch to a 1st Person perspective and an untested developer at the helm. I don't think it was the kind of anticipated release that would have helped.

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I don't think people thought that way back then. They must have mostly been teenagers and stuff

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Team Rocket Elite posted...

It's also not clear if Super Metroid was all that strong back then. It would also be many, many years before Super Metroid would put up a good looking showing in a contest match.

It was also many, many years before Super Metroid was allowed to take on games not from the SNES or Genesis. It might have been able to beat every game in Division 128 in '04 aside from Melee and FFX, and even those wouldn't be sure bets. Super Metroid probably beats both of those games now anyway.

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It barely defeated Super Mario Kart back in 2009 and while I respect SMK/MK64 in terms of contest strength they aren't touching Majora's Mask like Super Metroid did in 2015.

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2009 was the year where 16-bit and earlier era games kind of sucked in general. I don't deny that Super Metroid wasn't that strong in 2009, but that honestly might have been Metroid's contest nadir as a franchise. In less than two years Metroid Prime went from losing to a GTA game to giving Fallout 3 fits and has never looked back since. I would totally take Metroid Prime over any Bethesda game in a contest now.

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I wonder if Super Metroid got some sort of legacy boost as well, especially with the rise in popularity of the Metroidvania (SOTN/Alucard boosting would explain this as well). It might also explain why Hollow Knight and Ori did decently in game of the decade

but theres no real way to tell with the data we have

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LiquidOshawott posted...

I wonder if Super Metroid got some sort of legacy boost as well, especially with the rise in popularity of the Metroidvania (SOTN/Alucard boosting would explain this as well). It might also explain why Hollow Knight and Ori did decently in game of the decade

but theres no real way to tell with the data we have

It more than likely did, but we also never had good data on Super Metroid until 2015, so who knows where it would have ranked in 04 or 09 in an SFF-free environment?

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WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Yeah, part of what made Samus/Sonic such a shocker was that all Samus really had was Smash and Super Metroid.

I'm sorry... Wouldn't Super Metroid beat every Sonic game in 2002? Metroid Fusion came out around that time, and it did fairly decently in GotD1, for what it's worth.

LinkMarioSamus posted...

2009 was the year where 16-bit and earlier era games kind of sucked in general. I don't deny that Super Metroid wasn't that strong in 2009, but that honestly might have been Metroid's contest nadir as a franchise. In less than two years Metroid Prime went from losing to a GTA game to giving Fallout 3 fits and has never looked back since. I would totally take Metroid Prime over any Bethesda game in a contest now.

I'd say Metroid Prime's most impressive showing is either against 2010 Half-Life 2, or against 2015 Skyrim.

I was going to assure it was Skyrim, but in reality 2015's Skyrim was really weak and disappointing.

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You're using the logic of someone who's already seen contests! It was friggin' Sonic (who was still relevant at the time and hadn't descended into the depths of the Sonic Cycle yet) against Samus, who hadn't had a game in 8 years.

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When did the Sonic Cycle start? It feels like it has been around forever even though I know it had to start somewhere. Like Sonic 2006 is only a little over 4 years after the 2k2 Contest.
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I feel like Sonic Heroes was the first "what the heck is this crap" game, even if it does have a solid number of people who like it.

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Heroes started the cycle, but the double wammy of 2006 and Secret Rings really solidified it.

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Big Bob posted...

Heroes started the cycle, but the double wammy of 2006 and Secret Rings really solidified it.

Its actually a tripple whammy with Shadow the Hedgehog!

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Big Bob posted...

Heroes started the cycle, but the double wammy of 2006 and Secret Rings really solidified it.

This is true. Sonic hasn't really been the same since then (aside from the brief boost the Brawl announcement gave him), which is ironic since SC2K6 is easily his best showing!

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I stand by Heroes being largely okay, but back then Sonic had standards to it got more hate than it should have.

It was definitely miles ahead of 2006 and Shadow, at least!

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Yeah, compared to the crap that came out afterwards until Colors, Heroes was fine, but a lot of people disliked the team-up format.

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That makes it funny that Heroes is considered part of the fall! It's just a quirky game. Most of the problems with Shadow and 2006 were way more prevalent in Adventure and Adventure 2 than in Heroes.

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In fairness it was a step back in a lot of ways, so it is technically part of the fall, but it's still perfectly fine.

It's just tripping down the last step of staircase as opposed to later falls off cliffs the series would go through.

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People had complaints about Heroes and the quality of the game was questioned shortly after release in a way that wasnt really the case for the first 2 Sonic Adventures. Its mediocre reception seemed to be confirmation of Sonics gradual fall from relevance but the way I remember it is that most people werent going what the hell Sonic franchise until Shadow tbe Hedgehog was announced.

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Mario 64 playrate poll

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Darn it, I have to get around to finish it already...

Anyway, is Kazuya getting past the nomination phase in CBXI?

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Advokaiser posted...

Anyway, is Kazuya getting past the nomination phase in CBXI?

LOL

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DOOM 64 makes the best 64 game poll now

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holy shit International Superstar Soccer 64 got on the poll twice
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Mac Arrowny posted...

holy shit International Superstar Soccer 64 got on the poll twice

It did beat Pilotwings 64 in 2016!

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Will Ace Attorney remain in second place throughout the poll, or is it just front-loaded trends?

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It doesn't seem to be front-loaded trends to me. It did perform slightly better at the start of the poll based on the poll graphs here, but it still appears to be holding up very well even after the early vote wore off.
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The Sonic cycle started with Adventure, and anyone who disagrees is a furry

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Adventure laid the foundation for the Sonic Cycle by massively expanding the cast, but it was the games that followed it that took it too far.

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I won't dispute Sonic Adventure not being all that good, but it reviewed well at the time ( https://web.archive.org/web/20171204041051/http://www.gamerankings.com/dreamcast/198694-sonic-adventure ) so it's hard to say it qualifies for the cycle.

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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

The Sonic cycle started with Adventure, and anyone who disagrees is a furry

What about Sonic 3D Blast?

*anti-furry shield activated*

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The original Sonic games were a product of the Genesis's more "arcadey" approach to console gaming, and eventually consumers wanted something more "immersive." I think that Sega's problem is that instead of leaning into that arcade style consistently, or blowing up the gameplay of a Sonic game completely, they've tried to split the difference between that sensibility and a more modern one, to frequently unsatisfying ends.

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UltimaterializerX posted...

What exactly is the Sonic cycle?

https://i0.wp.com/seganerds.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/18624862_10213094769751861_1790771246_n.jpg
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I think the Zelda Cycle and a lot of the "____ cycle" things in general are supposed to be plays off the Sonic Cycle. I think the Sonic Cycle was the first one but I'm not 100% on that.
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https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/940-north-division-round-1-mario-vs-servbot

On this day 19 years ago

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I was 6 by then, staying at granny's house and looking for cheats for Jet Moto 2.

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I was in summer school right before my Senior year in HS. Good times.

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UltimaterializerX posted...

God damn were old. Cant believe itll be 20 next year. I remember every second of that contest like it just happened.

We really need to have a contest in 2022 that starts on July 1st to celebrate 20 years of contests, and it should also be a Character Battle as that was our first ever contest.
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Was the very first match already an example of the joke vote?

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Or the first example of anti-voting!

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unfortunately I wasn't around for the first contest, that must have been fun since everything was an unknown!


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Which results could change?
-Spyro couldn't flip the 2002 result against Morrigan in 2013 but he got much closer and 2018 seemed to indicate a major strength boost for him thanks in part to the Spyro trilogy remaster being imminent. Marvel vs. Capcom franchise is pretty cold now too. I think the kiddies would finally wake up.
-Popular or not, Terry Bogard is in Smash now and that probably gives him some kind of floor. Aya proved she was still worth something in 2018 but I don't think she was that impressive either. I'd favor Terry.
-As ridiculously terrible as Gordon looked in 2018, he still isn't losing to Tina Armstrong again.
-Scorpion's basically always been a solid (if sorta unimpressive) midcarder so he should hold off Kazuya, since gamefaqs never cared about the latter before Smash.
-Kirby > Jill
-Post-RE2make Claire maybe makes Tidus look bad but I don't think Tidus can be bad enough to drop that one.
-lol Mr. Driller vs. Serious Sam
-Kirby > Bomberman
-Pac-Man vs Scorpion could actually be dangerous for the latter. Pac-Man was in that weird 2018 half-division that kept having close matches that made almost everyone not named Riku and Sans look good. Something weird could have happened there but I think post-Smash Pac-Man is at least a threat to weaker midcarders.
-Mega Man would have beaten Sephiroth in 2018 but thanks to the FFVII remake Sephiroth might still win that one?
-If 2018 Cloud could narrowly beat Mario before the FFVII remake started coming out, he can probably do better now? Certainly not a lock though.
-Snake > Crono, maybe Crono embarrasses him a bit though.
-Samus > Sephiroth/Mega Man

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Yeah, I might take Pac-Man over Scorpion now unless 2018 was a total fluke due to Smash Ultimate. I do think Smash in general will be down compared to that year.

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Old contests talk makes me realize just how many (used to be) popular video game series are "dead" but we barely hear anything about them
Like, where the fuck are Serious Sam fans? don't they want a new mainline game? or even more obscure, where are the Mr Driller fans? how was he even nominiated to begin with?
All we keep hearing about for years are-
Mother 3
Half Life 3
Golden Sun 4
"New F-Zero"
And it makes me forget how many other video game series are in need of revival

Edit -
Oops looks like there was Serious Sam 4 last years after being dormant for 9 years
Totally flew under my radar

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