GameFAQsContests.com

Zelda opened the Best Series Ever contest with a routine blowout that immediately became notable for its enormous vote total. The writeup says the performance set a new individual-vote record and started early talk that Zelda might challenge Final Fantasy for the title.

Mega Man X handled Suikoden exactly as expected in a lopsided but unremarkable opener. The writeup mostly focuses on X finally appearing prominently in a contest picture and on the poor bracket reward of facing Zelda next.

Pokémon erased years of contest pessimism by crushing Star Ocean after even its own supporters had grown nervous about the matchup. The writeup treats the win as overdue vindication for a franchise with a history of disappointing contest results.

Metroid demolished Kirby and immediately killed the brief Pokémon-over-Metroid bandwagon. The writeup is unsure whether fanbase overlap mattered, ultimately leaning more toward Kirby's games simply being weaker than Kirby's character popularity suggests.

Metal Gear crushed Soul Calibur and made its old Spring 2004 statistical standing look badly inflated. The writeup treats the result as the first warning that several highly rated series from that earlier bracket had been overrated.

Fire Emblem won a matchup the writeup considered less uncertain than the near-even brackets suggested. The result is framed as a modest vindication for the growing Nintendo series and another reminder that Silent Hill remained highly niche on GameFAQs.

Castlevania upset Halo and, more surprisingly, neutralized the daytime voting strength that had defined Halo and Master Chief in earlier contests. The writeup treats the result as both a satisfying upset and another exposure of Halo's unreliable contest reputation.

Kingdom Hearts crushed Harvest Moon, yet the writeup says people still treated the performance as disappointing because Castlevania had just upset Halo. It rejects that panic and argues that Kingdom Hearts remained difficult to judge after its sequel.

Super Mario Bros. annihilated Madden in the contest's signature joke-fodder matchup. The writeup highlights another individual-vote record and says the performance strengthened early belief that Mario could challenge Final Fantasy.

Warcraft upset GTA in a close match dominated by outside-site campaigning, especially from the World of Warcraft community. The aftermath also confirmed vote stuffing, mostly for GTA, but the writeup stresses that Warcraft still won fairly without those fraudulent votes deciding the result.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says both sides rallied heavily, with World of Warcraft forum traffic giving Warcraft the decisive outside push. It also quotes CJayC confirming egregious vote stuffing, overwhelmingly for GTA, while stating that the fraudulent votes were insufficient to change Warcraft's legitimate win.

Sonic crushed Devil May Cry in a straightforward match that mattered mainly as a measuring stick for the coming Super Smash Bros. clash. The strong showing added momentum to arguments that Sonic could win that much more important second-round match.

Super Smash Bros. easily dispatched Dragon Quest while the writeup spends as much time on fan complaints as on the stable blowout itself. The result kept the coming Sonic matchup uncertain rather than answering whether Smash was truly strong enough.

Final Fantasy answered Zelda and Mario's huge opening performances with a massive blowout of Diablo. The writeup still stops short of calling the contest over, arguing that Diablo's limited series depth made the result less definitive than it first appeared.

Mega Man decisively beat Mario Kart after Board 8 had spent far more time debating the matchup than the writeup thought necessary. The result is presented as a case of the board overthinking how voters would interpret the broad Mega Man series name.

Street Fighter easily beat The Elder Scrolls despite loud pre-match confidence from some Elder Scrolls fans. The writeup remembers the poll largely for the ugly fan arguments it produced and for setting up a more meaningful Street Fighter-Resident Evil matchup.

Resident Evil obliterated Shadow Hearts in another first-round mismatch and nearly reached the contest's biggest vote and percentage landmarks. The writeup treats Shadow Hearts as contest joke fodder and warns against reading too much strength into such a lopsided pairing.