GameFAQsContests.com

The first 2009 match centered on Donkey Kong versus Punch-Out for the second advancing spot. Donkey Kong survived an early scare and a reputation for choking to pull away, while Tetris dominated the field.

SFF: The writeup says Tetris imposed old-school overlap on Space Invaders and likely hurt Donkey Kong as well, though Donkey Kong was still strong enough to beat Punch-Out.

The Oregon Trail briefly looked capable of becoming the contest's next joke bandwagon, but collapsed after a few hours and left Pac-Man safely in second. Mega Man 2 won easily yet looked much weaker than its pre-contest hype suggested.

Mario dominated so completely that Duck Hunt could not mount a comeback against Ninja Gaiden for the second advancing spot. The writeup treats the result as a textbook example of extreme overlap overwhelming an otherwise stronger game.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Mario's suppression of Duck Hunt 'Same Cartridge SFF,' since the two games famously shared an NES cartridge.

Zelda dominated as expected, and Metroid still advanced despite taking a severe fanbase hit. Contra's failure to capitalize became the larger surprise and began a recurring pattern of disappointing shooter performances.

SFF: The writeup says Zelda heavily SFFed Metroid, while also entertaining the possibility that Contra suffered some Nintendo-related overlap of its own.

Sonic defeated Street Fighter II far more easily than the consensus expected, while Castlevania III briefly made the bottom of the poll interesting. The writeup reads the result as another sign that fighting games simply lacked GameFAQs strength.

Super Mario Bros. 3 delivered one of the most overwhelming four-way performances ever, leaving the weak supporting field to fight over scraps. Secret of Monkey Island eventually emerged from that battle for the other advancing spot.

Super Mario World and Final Fantasy advanced without real drama, while Battletoads became notable mainly for a highly visible 4chan push. Prince of Persia produced one of the contest's weakest performances.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes a pre-planned 4chan rally for Battletoads. It says the push inflated Battletoads' total but never came close to threatening the advancing games.

Final Fantasy IV and Mega Man 3 advanced in exactly the order expected, with little suspense. The result strengthened Final Fantasy IV's standing and largely ended the idea that the original Final Fantasy was clearly stronger.

Super Metroid and Super Mario Kart produced a remarkably close, trend-defying fight for first while both were already safe to advance. Sonic 3's poor showing was the bigger strategic surprise, and the writeup reports but does not endorse cheating accusations.

A Link to the Past dominated while Donkey Kong Country repeatedly flirted with choking away second place. Doom nevertheless failed to capitalize, turning what looked like a favorable upset setup into another shooter disappointment.

SFF: The writeup says A Link to the Past clearly SFFed Donkey Kong Country, though Doom was too weak to take advantage of the favorable situation.

Link's Awakening decisively beat Mega Man X for the second advancing spot and immediately established itself as a legitimate Zelda threat rather than a minor handheld entry. Final Fantasy VI advanced but looked weaker than its 2004 reputation.

Sonic 2 and Mortal Kombat II advanced in the expected order, leaving little actual drama. Secret of Mana looked respectable, but Sonic's modest winning performance reinforced the view that the Sonic games were weaker than expected.

GoldenEye and Super Mario RPG advanced from a debated fourpack, while Resident Evil 2 remained respectable but never broke through. Donkey Kong Country 2's long-running hype ended in a disappointing SFF-affected debut.

SFF: The writeup says Super Mario RPG SFFed Donkey Kong Country 2, helping reduce a heavily hyped game to a weak opening-round showing.

Final Fantasy VII dominated a pair of respectable Nintendo 64 games and looked every bit as strong as its old reputation suggested. Mario Kart 64 comfortably took the other advancing spot over Star Fox 64.

SFF: The writeup says Mario Kart 64 predictably SFFed Star Fox 64, leaving the second advancing position effectively settled from the opening moments.

Super Mario 64 dominated the poll, while Symphony of the Night comfortably beat Resident Evil for the other advancing spot. Kirby Super Star collapsed badly in Mario's presence.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Super Mario 64 SFFed Kirby Super Star heavily, using Kirby's collapse to argue that Kirby's character strength does not come primarily from his games.

Chrono Trigger annihilated the field and looked fully restored to elite strength, while Yoshi's Island easily held off an EarthBound upset push that never materialized. The match was effectively decided immediately.

Pokémon RBY overwhelmed Majora's Mask in a matchup many expected to be close, immediately elevating Pokémon into the contest's top tier. The two other N64 games were largely squeezed out of relevance.

LFF: The writeup attributes Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark's weak showings partly to heavy N64 and Nintendo overlap in a field led by Majora's Mask and Pokémon.

Metal Gear Solid won, but Pokémon Gold and Silver looked strong enough to pressure it early and comfortably beat Final Fantasy Tactics. Tactics' decline from its 2004 form became the main casualty.

Final Fantasy VIII crushed StarCraft far more decisively than many expected and established itself as a serious contender. The writeup rejects the idea that StarCraft's old rally magic would automatically translate to another deep run.

Ocarina of Time dominated an otherwise straightforward poll, while Final Fantasy IX beat Half-Life for the second advancing position. Half-Life's failure became another example of shooters disappointing in the bracket.

Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2 advanced in a perfectly ordered match that the writeup considers almost devoid of story. Silent Hill 2 and Morrowind never threatened the top pair.

Kingdom Hearts took first comfortably, but Vice City overturned the expected Nintendo advantage and beat Metroid Prime for second. The writeup treats Paper Mario's presence as the key reason Prime could not capitalize.

LFF: The writeup says Paper Mario leeched enough Nintendo support from Metroid Prime to cost Prime the second advancing spot against Vice City.

All four games remained competitive, with Diablo II unexpectedly taking first while Halo needed its familiar afternoon strength to catch Knights of the Old Republic for second. KOTOR's near-advancement became one of the round's most impressive losses.

Melee and Wind Waker advanced exactly as expected, but Wind Waker held up well enough to raise concerns about Melee's future ceiling. Fire Emblem collapsed under an especially hostile overlap situation.

SFF: The writeup says Fire Emblem was SFFed from two directions by Wind Waker and by Melee, the game that had helped introduce the series to many voters.

Oblivion won a chaotic four-way race, while Tales of Symphonia recovered from a late deficit to steal second from God of War. San Andreas, the consensus favorite, fell to last, making the match one of the contest's defining upsets.

Metal Gear Solid 3 won comfortably, while World of Warcraft beat Halo 2 for the other advancing spot without needing the massive rally many had predicted. Halo nearly fell to last and continued the contest's shooter slump.

Resident Evil 4 built an overnight lead and then endured a long Kingdom Hearts II day-vote challenge without ever fully losing control. The narrow win advanced RE4 but also badly weakened its case as a potential finalist.

Twilight Princess dominated the field, while Half-Life 2 built enough of an early cushion to keep Final Fantasy XII from seriously threatening second. The result briefly elevated Twilight Princess into finals discussion.

Brawl crushed the field while GTA IV took an easy second, leaving Street Fighter IV in an embarrassing fight with Persona 4 just to avoid last place. The writeup treats Street Fighter IV as one of the contest's biggest disappointments.

Call of Duty 4 decisively beat Super Mario Galaxy in a result that immediately damaged Galaxy's pre-contest reputation. Even allowing for Pokémon overlap, the writeup sees Galaxy's performance as a major warning before facing Brawl.

LFF: The writeup treats Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's overlapping Nintendo support as a major factor in Super Mario Galaxy's unexpectedly weak performance.

Metal Gear Solid 4 won as expected, while Portal comfortably beat BioShock for the second advancing spot after an early lead that never became seriously threatened. The match stayed quieter than its uncertain pre-match setup suggested.

Fallout 3 and Halo 3 advanced in a nearly perfect staircase, making the final first-round match one of the contest's least eventful. The shared Xbox and genre-heavy field produced very little movement.

LFF: The writeup attributes some of Mass Effect's weak showing to overlap with fellow Western RPG Fallout 3 in an unusually homogeneous field.