Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1377

So Metaphor beats FF7R2 in GotY finals? (Assuming FF7R2 is in the polls)

LOL Sub-Zero had 16 of the first 20 votes when I voted

He's still got it.

Scorpion > Sub-Zero

(personally, unfortunately not in a contest setting)

Results are basically identical from the poll two years ago

Guess MK1 didn't impact anything!

Bump

Bump

Hey it's another POTD fail

RIP PotD

RIP PotD

It just keeps happening

Fandom layoffs hitting hard

TeamRocketElite posted...

RIP PotD

Second time in less than a week.

Less than 9% asking when the next contest is

R.I.P. contests

Voted for the option asking about bracket battles. At least its not dead last :/

I was getting excited seeing the "only during bracket battles...when's the next one?" but then noticed same exact poll option in previous years...it's just copy paste poll..

abdou posted...

I was getting excited seeing the "only during bracket battles...when's the next one?" but then noticed same exact poll option in previous years...it's just copy paste poll..

Yeah, whoever put up that poll is probably wondering, "what's a bracket battle?"

At least today's poll went up way earlier than the other missed polls (which was usually around 12:00 PM EST). This poll went up at around 1:46 AM EST going off the poll charts.

I'm playing Shining Force II for the first time, and I just realized both times Shining Force was in the contest, it went up against a Sonic game.

I doubt it would win a match (maybe against like... Monkey Island or something), but man is that bad luck for that series.

Big_Bob posted...

I'm playing Shining Force II for the first time, and I just realized both times Shining Force was in the contest, it went up against a Sonic game.

I doubt it would win a match (maybe against like... Monkey Island or something), but man is that bad luck for that series.

Are the games good? I’ve never played.

I voted no to not ruin the surprise because that's my honest answer, as much as I should be supportive of any answer that mentions contests in it.

Where’s George Romero when you need him?

abdou posted...

I was getting excited seeing the "only during bracket battles...when's the next one?" but then noticed same exact poll option in previous years...it's just copy paste poll..

Leonhart4 posted...

Yeah, whoever put up that poll is probably wondering, "what's a bracket battle?"

For what it's worth, look at the dates on the previous ones...

February 2013
September 2015
February 2018
February 2020

New contests were announced shortly after each of those polls were made (within a few months). The one from April 2017 didn't have that comment tacked onto that option because BYIG was already announced by that point. And that covers that five most recent contests. It's certainly not a guarantee, but maybe a small spark of hope.

Hype mode...for real?

For s***s and giggles I made a Best Series Ever II bracket. Decided to go with 128 but DAMN that resulted in a lot of fodder and seedings beyond 6 or 7 and especially beyond 9 or 10 are largely arbitrary. After making my list as thoroughly as possible I had 129 series, and the one I yanked was Star Ocean, which was in the first bracket, resulting in 31 of 32 series returning.

(1) The Legend of Zelda
(16) Zero Escape
(8) Like a Dragon/Yakuza
(9) Mother
(5) Xenoblade Chronicles
(12) Tomb Raider
(4) Devil May Cry
(13) Alan Wake
(6) Tekken
(11) Astro Bot
(3) Final Fantasy Tactics
(14) Ace Combat
(7) Donkey Kong Country
(10) Overwatch
(2) Sonic
(15) Ys

(1) Fallout
(16) Watch Dogs
(8) Red Dead Redemption
(9) Portal
(5) Kingdom Hearts
(12) Banjo-Kazooie
(4) Mega Man X
(13) Deus Ex
(6) Marvel's Spider-Man
(11) Call of Duty
(3) Batman: Arkham
(14) Professor Layton
(7) Animal Crossing
(10) Life is Strange
(2) Monster Hunter
(15) Horizon

(1) Persona
(16) Splatoon
(8) Minecraft
(9) Mortal Kombat
(5) NieR
(12) Danganronpa
(4) Grand Theft Auto
(13) Pikmin
(6) Kirby
(11) Starcraft
(3) Castlevania
(14) The Walking Dead
(7) Rock Band
(10) Silent Hill
(2) Metroid
(15) Luigi's Mansion

(1) Mass Effect
(16) Shining
(8) Civilization
(9) SoulCalibur
(5) Halo
(12) Rayman
(4) Dragon Quest
(13) Sly Cooper
(6) Chrono
(11) Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
(3) Street Fighter
(14) Guilty Gear
(7) Warcraft
(10) Dance Dance Revolution
(2) God of War
(15) Harvest Moon

(1) Final Fantasy
(16) Shantae
(8) The Last of Us
(9) Star Fox
(5) The Witcher
(12) Bloodstained
(4) Paper Mario
(13) Shadow Hearts
(6) Diablo
(11) Atelier
(3) Fire Emblem
(14) Fate /
(7) Doom
(10) Suikoden
(2) Mega Man
(15) Ape Escape

(1) Super Smash Bros.
(16) Monkey Island
(8) Contra
(9) Jak
(5) Tales
(12) Bayonetta
(4) Star Wars
(13) Disgaea
(6) Marvel vs. Capcom
(11) Mega Man Battle Network
(3) Souls
(14) Fatal Fury/King of Fighters
(7) The Legend of Heroes
(10) Guitar Hero
(2) Mario Kart
(15) Touhou

(1) Super Mario
(16) Shenmue
(8) Mana
(9) Far Cry
(5) Dragon Age
(12) Ninja Gaiden
(4) BioShock
(13) Madden NFL
(6) Baldur's Gate
(11) Crash Bandicoot
(3) Borderlands
(14) Mario Party
(7) Ratchet & Clank
(10) Spyro the Dragon
(2) Metal Gear
(15) Command & Conquer

(1) Pokémon
(16) Ridge Racer
(8) Xenosaga
(9) Uncharted
(5) The Elder Scrolls
(12) Metal Slug
(4) Assassin's Creed
(13) Prince of Persia
(6) Half-Life
(11) WarioWare
(3) Hades
(14) Ori
(7) Ace Attorney
(10) Golden Sun
(2) Resident Evil
(15) Lufia

Ooo, I'm a big fan of the idea of Best Series Ever II, and this bracket looks quite cool to me!

Would you be interested in seeing my predictions + some comments?

MetalmindStats posted...

Ooo, I'm a big fan of the idea of Best Series Ever II, and this bracket looks quite cool to me!

Would you be interested in seeing my predictions + some comments?

Please!

Should have yanked Lufia instead of Star Ocean imo. Its effectively a series with just one game people really like, not much in the way of identity, and it and its developer are long dead so nothing current going for it.

might look more into the bracket later

Star Ocean deserves to be there over a lot

Underleveled posted...

Please!

Okay, thank you! In that case, then:

(1) The Legend of Zelda - Zero Escape seems underseeded here to me, but not really in terms of strength. Would surprisingly be the only match in this bracket Zelda could feasibly break 90% in, IMO.
(9) Mother - Feels like exactly the sort of first round fight I'd expect in a 64-entrant Best Series Ever II. These two have devoted, decently large fanbases that tend to get their entrants solid seeds, and I feel Mother in particular is wasted with this draw.
(5) Xenoblade Chronicles
(4) Devil May Cry
(6) Tekken
(3) Final Fantasy Tactics
(7) Donkey Kong Country
(2) Sonic

(1) Fallout
(9) Portal - A very fun rematch, at least on paper.
(5) Kingdom Hearts - Rough draw for B-K, reduced to exposing KH when it could win a bout in many other spots.
(4) Mega Man X
(6) Marvel's Spider-Man
(3) Batman: Arkham
(7) Animal Crossing
(2) Monster Hunter - I can't really tell how much this site still cares about Horizon, but it being a big, well-regarded Sony IP makes me feel like its seed is low here.

(1) Persona
(9) Mortal Kombat - Minecraft wouldn't even be the strongest MK game.
(5) NieR
(4) Grand Theft Auto
(6) Kirby
(3) Castlevania
(10) Silent Hill - Rock Band's really irrelevant these days, right? And SH has gained enough esteem that it doesn't need a bottom-10 contender to win a match anymore - I'd expect a tripling or so here.
(2) Metroid

(1) Mass Effect - Yay Shining! Maybe if I'm lucky it could even expose Mass Effect a bit en route to the big match with one of SF's progenitors.
(9) SoulCalibur - Talked myself out of the underdog favorite pick - SC doesn't need to be relevant anymore, it just needs voters to recall the first(?) big guest fighter.
(5) Halo - Fun upset potential for sure, but I'm not feeling it, for whatever reason.
(4) Dragon Quest
(6) Chrono - PMD is another nice-to-see-here for me, if perhaps a surprising one.
(3) Street Fighter
(7) Warcraft - Should swap DDR and Harvest Moon's seeds, I feel. Could maybe even give some long shot upset potential?
(2) God of War

(1) Final Fantasy
(9) Star Fox
(5) The Witcher
(4) Paper Mario
(6) Diablo
(3) Fire Emblem - A very silly sort of match, but not unfairly so IMO.
(7) Doom - Would be sweating this pick all the way through, though.
(2) Mega Man

(1) Super Smash Bros.
(8) Contra - uhh, I guess? not a pair I ever expected to have to pick between.
(5) Tales - See Halo comment, though in both cases, the higher seed does very likely have the strongest individual game.
(4) Star Wars
(6) Marvel vs. Capcom
(3) Souls
(7) The Legend of Heroes - One of the few it could win :D
(2) Mario Kart

(1) Super Mario
(8) Mana
(12) Ninja Gaiden - This time I won't just pick the 5-seed because it has the stronger games and feels more right somehow.
(4) BioShock
(6) Baldur's Gate - I don't know to what extent BG3's surprising strength would transfer to its series, at a disadvantage in pedigree here. Whether or not this would be close, though, brutal draw for an underseeded Crash.
(14) Mario Party - Bracket votes for something overseeded versus nostalgia I-played-this-and-liked-it votes... tough, but I really like this pick, for whatever reason.
(10) Spyro the Dragon - Very clever draw - I feel Spyro would be the easy pick here with swapped seeds, though I'm still going with it.
(2) Metal Gear

(1) Pokémon - I'd personally have Forza or Gran Turismo here instead, as both stronger and more likely to get in.
(9) Uncharted - I fully expect Uncharted would embarrass itself by failing to break 60% here, but not fond of the seeding nonetheless - this franchise keeps being a nomination magnet long after its end, while Xenosaga has not quite been that.
(5) The Elder Scrolls
(4) Assassin's Creed
(6) Half-Life - Very fun match! Feels a lot like this bracket's ACIV/CiV, where the lower seed has reasons to win but is the clear underdog - and for me in particular, where I love the lower seed but also have a reason to root for the higher seed.
(3) Hades - Nice to see a bracket deep enough that a pretty much unambiguous indie gets to win a match guaranteed (even if it's Ori), even in a contest ill-suited for them.
(7) Ace Attorney - A close-looking match that I have very little to say about. There's a few more of these in this bracket.
(2) Resident Evil
~
(1) The Legend of Zelda
(5) Xenoblade Chronicles
(3) Final Fantasy Tactics
(2) Sonic - Should've swapped DKC with Tekken for one more fun match and far less wasted potential, I feel.

(1) Fallout - Copout pick on the basis that it's safe, could easily be rallied for, and should have most of the bracket votes, though I'd love to see a Portal upset.
(4) Mega Man X - Anything else would legitimately be an upset here to me, especially given KH might not have most of the bracket votes thanks to its surprisingly low seed.
(6) Marvel's Spider-Man - Fresher, in a better place recently, and with labeling closer to its source material.
(2) Monster Hunter - Very good pairing, but only one fanbase was willing to rally in 2020, and it wasn't the one with the brand new, mega-popular game.

(1) Persona
(5) NieR - GTA 'should' win but has a well-earned reputation of minority antipathy making it fall flat when it counts to overcome first.
(3) Castlevania - I thought this match would be very fun and potentially very close on first glance. On second, I'd even pretty comfortably take Alucard over Kirby, so this should be easy. On third, I feel Kirby's a fun wildcard that could do some damage in a better position.
(2) Metroid - A prime candidate for SFF of a sort that's not clear enough for anyone to actually adjust their post-contest x-stats for.

(1) Mass Effect
(4) Dragon Quest - In a relative rout potentially laden with foreshadowing.
(6) Chrono - Somehow the bigger wildcard by far also feels safer. I think these two are probably too strong for this bout to be fully fair in this round, especially relative to their division - but this draw does likely stake 12 more points on the outcome of their match.
(2) God of War

(1) Final Fantasy
(5) The Witcher - I guess? Feel like I haven't heard anything about the TTYD remake since it came out.
(3) Fire Emblem - Could have fallen very flat very early elsewhere, though I suppose it still can here.
(2) Mega Man

(1) Super Smash Bros.
(4) Star Wars
(3) Souls
(2) Mario Kart

(1) Super Mario
(4) BioShock
(6) Baldur's Gate
(2) Metal Gear

(1) Pokémon
(5) The Elder Scrolls
(6) Half-Life - I'd probably hesitantly pick the other way if Hades 2 lives up to its predecessor's reception and popularity.
(2) Resident Evil
~~

Will post predictions/thoughts for the third round on + other thoughts a little later - shoutout to this site post-Fandom for not giving a remotely correct character limit indication.

Yeah Ridge Racer over Gran Turismo seems like a misstep.

Shining making it in is not impossible but given how both franchises have gone since the Genesis days I think Phantasy Star is somewhat more likely.

Ape Escape doesn’t make it in imo. People like it but I don’t think it’s ever been regarded as, like, a great series contender and it’s completely irrelevant at this point.

Metal Slug is cool but it’s not getting in. Gamefaqs doesn’t care about that kind of arcade action game - notice there aren’t any shmups or old school beat-em-ups in the bracket? We generally only care about games like this when they’re on NES/Genesis/SNES and it’s not.

Shin Megami Tensei missing the bracket seems very unlikely.

F- Zero is missing but that might be reasonable? F-Zero GX has fans for sure but dunno whether it’s enough for them to nominate the franchise as a whole.

Okay, okay...

(1) The Legend of Zelda
(2) Sonic

(4) Mega Man X
(6) Marvel's Spider-Man - Has a much higher ceiling, and MH probably can't rally away a 55-45 loss. Very competitive eightpack to me, though.

(1) Persona
(2) Metroid - Inevitable match, just unfortunate it has to happen one round too soon. Think I'd take CV to be a top 10 series here, but Metroid is a step or two above in about every possible comparison.

(4) Dragon Quest - With confidence, even with a majority of the board likely having picked Mass Effect, probably even in their Oracles and the like.
(6) Chrono

(1) Final Fantasy
(2) Mega Man

(1) Super Smash Bros.
(3) Souls - I legitimately believe in this and also would not like to see Smash/Mario Kart.

(1) Super Mario
(2) Metal Gear

(1) Pokémon
(2) Resident Evil
~~~
(1) The Legend of Zelda

(4) Mega Man X - Two rounds probably aren't quite enough to get the winner of gets-to-face-MMX honors in borne of a big enough bandwagon to make things interesting... unless most voters really would see Marvel's Spider-Man as synonymous with the whole IP, in which case its wins would probably be easy anyways.

(2) Metroid

(6) Chrono

(1) Final Fantasy

(1) Super Smash Bros.

(1) Super Mario

(1) Pokémon
~~~~
(1) The Legend of Zelda
(2) Metroid
(1) Final Fantasy - Picking with my head over my gut here, on the basis that this site isn't really playing Smash anymore, and the Melee ralliers probably don't care anymore, so the more pedigreed entrant should take it.
(1) Super Mario - Could actually be sneakily not-close sans rallies, even with the unparalleled level of devotion Pokémon inspires, and I'm of half a mind that a Pokémon/Metroid rematch would be better.
~~~~~
(1) The Legend of Zelda
(1) Super Mario - I really should have *something* that feels worth saying about what would be the last compelling regular match of this contest, regardless of this match's winner. I just don't, though.
~~~~~~
(1) The Legend of Zelda

Overall, I continue to be very glad to see a Best Series Ever II mock bracket - admittedly partly since it was my pet pick for contest I most wanted to happen next back when it seemed like we could still have them, only behind the much more broadly popular GotD 90s. What mainly holds this bracket from being something I'd expect to think of as a great contest if it happened is that it has a whopping 128 entrants. That seems to lead to lots and lots of fodder, somewhat akin to GotD 2, and a muddle of anticlimactic matches from the bottom (first round) up with it - don't think I'd take any of those divisional finals to be within 60-40, for example. Another problem on that front would be one of the most dominant winners in contest history, likely 60-40ing Mario and FF and at least coming close to doubling everything else. Alas, I think that the first edition was too long ago to justify retiring Zelda regardless.

Even so, I think I'd have a great time with this contest, at least! And the kaleidoscopic selection of eclectic fodder would provide its own fun to behold - not to mention all the more established entrants of which we don't have fully reliable strength measures, and which get to square off in matches like Castlevania/Metroid. Also, second place is fiercely competitive, certainly a nice consolation prize of a sort that's not inevitable. While I'm at it, some snubs (more interesting to me than series you included that maybe wouldn't make it, even though I'm saying a bit about that too):

• Star Ocean as already mentioned, of course. I *do* actually think one entrant (two, maybe?) from the first edition would likely fail to return even to a field this large - Madden NFL, perhaps? I also think Axem's reasoning for Lufia not being up there is very sound. But here's another tack I can think of: Shadow Hearts has three admittedly well-regarded games, the last of which released before the first Series contest. Star Ocean outnumbers it significantly, doesn't suffer much in terms of reception/fanbase AFAIK, and has a relatively recent and very well-received remake of its most popular game.
• I figured you weren't going for a testing ground of the extent to which voters will identify IP-adaptation franchises with their fandom of the general IP - until I saw Star Wars, that is. Dragon Ball is first (among many) of mind on that front, while Digimon is notable for muddying the distinction somewhat, as I see it. Alternatively, if that's not your intent, Star Wars should probably be KotOR specifically.
• Tetris could easily win a match, say in Minecraft's place, and I feel it's no more basically-just-one-game than Minecraft. Shin Megami Tensei could similarly be interesting, in order to see to what extent fans of only Persona would support it based on its ties.
• I wouldn't necessarily expect more Nintendo franchises than you have, the nomination LFF likely doing damage at some point, but F-Zero, Wario Land (more likely than WarioWare IMO), and Yoshi all nonetheless come readily to mind.
• More casualbait fodder of some stripe or another - think Cayde-6 and Dying Light, for example. In this case, Destiny, Dragon's Dogma, Helldivers, and The Sims are a few names that come to mind.

Thank you for posting this bracket! It's been really fun to think and write about :D

Thank you for the feedback and pointing out snubs! I agree that F-Zero, while I legit forgot it, probably doesn’t make it. Too many higher priority Nintendo series and has an F-Zero game ever made a bracket? I know Captain Falcon is a decent low midcarder but we all know where he gets most of that support from.

A few other series that came to my mind after the fact that could sneak in are Rune Factory, Might & Magic, and Umineko.

F-Zero GX showed up once and got 70/30'd by Dragon Age Origins.

As of the current poll results, 85% of voters have been here for 15+ years.

FFIX poll today:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/9736-

The poll was phrased as an ownership poll, but the options do allow for figuring out the playrate of the game. Currently at a 66.87% playrate, which is slightly less than FFVIII. The lowest FFVIII playrate ever recorded was 68.68%.

There was an FFIX poll 4 years ago with the same options, but finished with a 68.85% playrate.

I wouldn't mind another series contest really, but I'd also take anything at this point.

It's the 20th anniversary of the game that ended GFNW

The Orange Box being such a popular option is impressive. That was a really successful compilation.

And now for the game that changed the hierarchy in 2015

Bump

Burnout 3, Midnight Club 3 & Need For Speed Underground 2 > F-Zero GX

Wait, they're remastering Legacy of Kain?

Kain and Raziel for CBXI

Bump

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3691-cb8-vote-in-day-1-which-character-would-you-most-like-to-see

Oops, meant to start doing these when they popped up, so I'm a few days behind!

Axel, Lightning, Missingno, and The Boss made it in from this batch.

Missingno probably still wins this today, and The Boss probably is in the top four. I'd guess Scorpion would get in, too, and maybe Toad.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3692-cb8-vote-in-day-2-which-character-would-you-most-like-to-see

Big Daddy, Frog, Liquid Snake, Midna, and Rikku all got in. Pac-Man probably gets in instead of Midna now, but that's it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3693-cb8-vote-in-day-3-which-character-would-you-most-like-to-see

Jecht, Protoman, Ridley, Spy, and Sub-Zero got in from this group. Bayonetta would knock out Spy now, and maybe Lara Croft could edge out Protoman, but the top 3 would still make it.

Bunch of Nintendos fed to Missing Missingno day 1 and then Ridley gets to be alone and make it through there.

Three Pokemon in the same poll, even!

(Good preventative measure imhotbqh)

Arguably funky Tifa match aside, Big Daddy went from beating Ness to losing to Lloyd Irving in three years. I don’t see him making it through a rerun of that poll.

So... does Luigi get a boost?