Now this is a tough one. SMW is probably the best overall Mario game. It basically perfected that particular brand of side-scrolling platforming. None of the 2D sequels or spinoffs are as good as this. But Final Fantasy X is an excellent, visually impressive and narratively surprising leap forward f...

Breath of the Wild is great, easily my favourite 3D Zelda, but even that level of enjoyment doesn't measure up to the masterpiece that is Final Fantasy VI. A strong and popular contender for the best Final Fantasy game (although it's not my personal fave), and a real contender for the title of best ...

Fusion does something no previous Metroid had attempted (except maybe the underrated Metroid 2 on GB) by giving you a more linear gameplay experience that allowed them to script better tense moments and encounters. It's a great game, but it has its own problems. For one, not everyone is a fan of tha...

Seeing Suikoden, SotN, and MGS kicking around in these brackets really goes to show how strong Konami was in their heyday. Big force for Sony. This might be a controversial vote, but I'm going to give it to Suikoden. SotN is a great game, but it's not perfect. On a personal enjoyment level, I prefer...

Pretty funny match-up. Last week, we had the DS version of Chrono Trigger up against Aria's sequel. Now this week we have the original version of the best RPG of all time up against Aria itself. You'd think this would make it a tougher match, considering how much stronger Aria is than Dawn. But Chro...

Man, the top 32 really is a wild ride. Just game after game that created or perfected whole genres. DOOM may not have been the first FPS, but it's the definitive one. Sonic 2 is a sequel to a janky running jumping mascot man game. Good one, but not top 16 quality, especially not when it's up against...

Too bad the Game Boy Color version of Dragon Warrior III just eliminated one of the all-round best RPGs of all time (Witcher 3) last week, only for its better original version to show up here.

Voting against it so it can face off against itself in the lower bracket.

Ah, yet another perfect genre exemplar going up against a series fan baby. Super Meat Boy gave us the fast, responsive, and incredibly satisfying precision platforming that made it OK to die. The fact that you can hone your muscle memory (and brain memory) to perform intricate sequences of almost mu...

Castlevania III is a solid game that introduced branching paths and multiple characters, neither of which seem particularly essential for the Classicvania side. All told, I have always considered this to be the weaker, not as tight follow-up to the perfect original. It's hard to improve on perfectio...

I fully expect SM64 to win here, but I'm voting for Guac because, as people have insisted, it's just more fun to play. Great smooth and responsive combat in a Guacavania with a fun art style and story, can't be beat—even by its own sequel!