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Tetris beat Mega Man 2 comfortably and was never seriously threatened after the opening moments. Mega Man 2 nevertheless held up better than its first-round showing suggested, while the writeup declines to pin the result on SFF.

Mario defeated Zelda much more easily than many expected, while Metroid and Ninja Gaiden were reduced to afterthoughts. The result appeared to settle the old NES hierarchy before later rounds complicated it again.

SFF: The writeup says Mario and Zelda crushed Metroid and Ninja Gaiden through heavy Nintendo overlap, leaving the real contest entirely between the two NES giants.

Mario 3 dominated the field, while Sonic recovered from an overnight Street Fighter II lead and used its strong day vote to secure second. The match reinforced both Mario-Sonic overlap and Street Fighter's limited strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Super Mario Bros. 3 SFFed Sonic, though Street Fighter II still could not take advantage enough to advance.

Super Mario World transformed its shaky first-round image into a dominant second-round performance. Final Fantasy IV clearly beat the original Final Fantasy, while Mega Man 3 continued the series' disappointing contest.

LFF: The writeup describes substantial overlap between the two Final Fantasy entries in the field, with the split weakening the original Final Fantasy while Final Fantasy IV still secured second.

A Link to the Past dominated, while Super Metroid and Super Mario Kart repeated almost the same close race and voting trends as their first-round meeting. Metroid again survived, but the rematch lacked the tension its margin suggested.

SFF: The writeup says A Link to the Past was clearly SFFing all three fellow SNES and Nintendo-era games in the poll.

Final Fantasy VI won a perfectly ordered match, but Link's Awakening staying even with it in the opening minutes badly damaged FF6's elite reputation. The writeup treats those few minutes as more important than the eventual easy finish.

Final Fantasy VII again dominated strong opposition, while GoldenEye clearly beat Super Mario RPG and Mario Kart 64 for second. The writeup mainly uses the result to continue the FF7-versus-Ocarina strength comparison.

Chrono Trigger built an overnight lead on Mario 64, only to collapse badly once Mario's morning vote arrived. Mario 64 turned the match into a convincing win and shattered expectations for Chrono Trigger's deeper run.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Yoshi's Island was SFFed into a very weak last-place showing, with Mario 64 providing the clearest source of the overlap.

Metal Gear Solid won, but Pokémon RBY remained impressive despite sharing the poll with Gold and Silver and Majora's Mask. The result made MGS look vulnerable for the next round while rehabilitating Majora's Mask somewhat.

LFF: The writeup says Pokémon Gold and Silver leeched heavily from Pokémon RBY and cost the older generation first place against Metal Gear Solid.

StarCraft briefly revived memories of 2004 by taking an early second-place lead, but Final Fantasy VIII erased it quickly once the overnight vote arrived. Ocarina of Time dominated throughout.

LFF: The writeup says Final Fantasy IX leeched support from Final Fantasy VIII early, briefly allowing StarCraft to threaten the second advancing position.

Final Fantasy X won a crowded all-PS2 field, while Kingdom Hearts comfortably beat Metal Gear Solid 2 for second. Kingdom Hearts' strong showing and FFX's modest margin made the winner look less secure than the placement suggested.

Melee won easily, while Diablo II repeated its first-round success and comfortably advanced again. Halo collapsed to last behind a SFF-affected Wind Waker, producing another major embarrassment for the series.

SFF: The writeup says Melee SFFed Wind Waker, though Wind Waker still held up better than expected and even finished ahead of Halo.

Metal Gear Solid 3 won comfortably, while Oblivion survived a long duel with World of Warcraft for second. The writeup notes multiple rally attempts but concludes that none meaningfully changed the result.

Twilight Princess won, but Resident Evil 4 and Kingdom Hearts II again produced a close fight for the other advancing spot. RE4 survived a late collapse, while Twilight Princess itself looked less dominant than a finalist was expected to look.

LFF: The writeup says Twilight Princess absorbed enough of Kingdom Hearts II's usual day-vote support to help Resident Evil 4 survive another close rematch.

Brawl annihilated Galaxy and sent Call of Duty 4 through in second, turning Galaxy's disappointing first round into a full collapse. The writeup elevates Brawl into serious finals contention after the result.

SFF: The writeup calls Brawl's suppression of Super Mario Galaxy one of the most meaningful SFF beatings in contest history.

Metal Gear Solid 4 and Fallout 3 advanced in an orderly match with little suspense, while Portal briefly made the lower positions interesting. The writeup treats it mainly as a quiet setup for later rounds.