GameFAQsContests.com

Super Mario Bros. 3 opened the game contest with the expected rout. The writeup focuses more on the unexpectedly weak turnout and the sponsored poll above the contest than on the one-sided match itself.

Metroid turned a mildly hyped matchup into a comfortable win and strengthened early talk that the series might contend with Zelda. The writeup attributes Pac-Man's weakness mainly to the site's younger audience, with his match picture also working against him.

Pic: The writeup says Pac-Man's match picture was not doing him any favors, explicitly presenting the image as another disadvantage for him against Metroid.

Contra comfortably beat an overseeded Phantasy Star in a matchup that had attracted substantial pre-match debate. The writeup treats the result as evidence that the nomination system inflated weaker-system seeds and that franchise recognition did little for Phantasy Star itself.

Final Fantasy crushed Pitfall in a match that was never competitive. The writeup mainly uses the result to strengthen the case that the original Final Fantasy could become a serious obstacle for Super Mario Bros. 3 later in the division.

Donkey Kong built what looked like a safe lead before Duck Hunt spent most of the day mounting a relentless comeback. The writeup says Donkey Kong escaped largely because time and bracket support ran out on Duck Hunt, making the match an early contest classic.

The Legend of Zelda annihilated the obscure Adventure and set multiple futility marks in the process. The performance immediately intensified talk that Zelda games might dominate the contest.

Pong easily beat River City Ransom after late board hype had tried to turn the cult favorite into a serious upset pick. The writeup treats the result as a lesson in the limits of vocal cult support against universal name recognition.

Tetris beat Galaga as expected, but the writeup considered its performance unimpressive for much of the poll. That softness briefly encouraged speculation that Pong might have a real chance in the next round.

Chrono Trigger handled Secret of Mana but lost substantial momentum during the daytime, creating concern about how it would fare against stronger opponents. The writeup identifies that recurring voting pattern as a defining feature of Chrono Trigger's contest run.

Super Mario RPG recovered from an early Street Fighter II push and won a genuine toss-up. The lasting story in the writeup is the unusually persistent board outrage afterward, which turned the loss into a long-running community joke.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 dispatched Shining Force in a predetermined mismatch. Its strong showing nevertheless encouraged Sonic supporters to argue that a classic Mario-Sonic showdown in the next round could be competitive.

Super Mario World crushed The Simpsons and reassured anyone who thought Mario's contest standing had weakened. The writeup sees the performance as a stronger warning for Sonic than many contemporary observers recognized.

A Link to the Past obliterated Gunstar Heroes and added another emphatic result to Zelda's opening run. The writeup says the performance made the series look nearly unbeatable while also highlighting how strangely low the game's seed had been.

Super Metroid won comfortably but failed to match the standard A Link to the Past had just set against weak opposition. The writeup treats that gap as an early sign that Super Metroid's hoped-for challenge to Zelda was already doomed.

Doom beat the higher-seeded EarthBound after a heavily debated matchup that the writeup says was less competitive than the hype suggested. It presents the result as a bracket buster driven by mainstream recognition overcoming a dedicated cult fanbase.

Final Fantasy VI comfortably defeated Mortal Kombat and began to look stronger than many observers had expected. The writeup treats the result as the first hint that the game belonged in the division's top tier rather than behind the presumed favorites.

Final Fantasy VII demolished Suikoden II in a routine opening match and looked every bit like a championship favorite. The writeup views the surrounding division largely as a waiting room for the expected showdown with Ocarina of Time.

Xenogears beat Pokémon Gold and Silver after the original poll had to be restarted because of a voting bug. The writeup considers anti-Pokémon sentiment an important part of the loss while also crediting Xenogears' Square RPG appeal.

Final Fantasy Tactics comfortably beat Dance Dance Revolution, though its opponent showed more support than many expected. The writeup says that resistance initially made Tactics look vulnerable before later matches revised the interpretation.

Metal Gear Solid comfortably dispatched Resident Evil and reinforced its status as one of the strongest non-Nintendo, non-Square properties on the site. The result set up what looked on paper like a very even meeting with Final Fantasy Tactics.

Symphony of the Night beat Perfect Dark after a matchup surrounded by elaborate pre-match strength theories. A long poll freeze interrupted the action, and Perfect Dark's late resistance left the writeup convinced that Castlevania had little chance against GoldenEye next.

GoldenEye easily beat Panzer Dragoon Saga and validated the view that it was much stronger than Perfect Dark in this contest setting. The writeup treats the match mainly as confirmation that Symphony of the Night faced an overwhelming next-round obstacle.

Super Mario 64 destroyed the obscure NiGHTS as expected. The writeup's main point is that Mario 64 was badly underseeded and deserved a much better fate than an immediate collision with Ocarina of Time.

Ocarina of Time crushed Fallout 2 and extended Zelda's dominant start. The writeup nevertheless argues that comparison with Final Fantasy VII's opener already favored the Square game in their anticipated divisional showdown.

StarCraft overturned Halo in one of the contest's defining first-round battles after both fanbases drew outside support into the poll. The writeup treats the result as proof that Halo was badly overseeded, StarCraft badly underseeded, and the StarCraft fanbase capable of changing the entire division.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes mass Battle.net spamming, Xbox Live and Bungie involvement, and outside forces being brought in from across the internet to vote for both sides, with StarCraft ultimately benefiting most.

Kingdom Hearts barely recovered from SoulCalibur after entering the contest with much greater expectations. The match also coincided with a major site-layout change, and the writeup treats the narrow escape as evidence that Kingdom Hearts was the contest's biggest disappointment.

The Wind Waker comfortably beat Skies of Arcadia and posted the clearest opening result in an otherwise chaotic division. The writeup still considered the performance modest by Zelda standards, but enough to make Wind Waker the provisional divisional favorite.

Metroid Prime beat Half-Life after the PC game kept the opening portion more competitive than Gordon Freeman's contest reputation suggested. The writeup treats the result as another chapter in the GFNW joke while giving Half-Life credit for showing real strength.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance beat Fire Emblem in a match the writeup remembers mainly for very weak interest and turnout. The victory did little to inspire confidence, with the result framed as proof that Tactics Advance would fold against the first serious threat.

Final Fantasy X comfortably beat Shenmue but failed to look as strong as expected for a divisional favorite. The writeup says the result shifted the perceived edge toward The Wind Waker while leaving the division unsettled.

Vice City beat Knights of the Old Republic during an extended poll disrupted by site changes and downtime. The writeup says the win created serious second-round hype, while the unusual poll conditions made its true strength difficult to judge.

Super Smash Bros. Melee beat Metal Gear Solid 2 but looked much shakier than its seed suggested. The writeup credits Metal Gear Solid 2 with being underestimated and remembers the match for inspiring the joking phrase "Ulti-Style Blowout."