2019 MAIN EVENT Round Four

[SkyPikachu]

It's good to see series pitted against themselves rather than being split across all polls meaning those who have only played/nominated a few Nintendo games won't be able to just push every Mario, Zelda and Pokémon forward to the end. Some of the more deserving games from other platforms will have a better chance now.

Who actually falls under that category here?

[Ouenben]

It's good to see series pitted against themselves rather than being split across all polls meaning those who have only played/nominated a few Nintendo games won't be able to just push every Mario, Zelda and Pokémon forward to the end. Some of the more deserving games from other platforms will have a better chance now.

Who actually falls under that category here?

It's certainly been a trend in previous BGE whereby the later polls would often boil down to "which Nintendo game do you like best"

I for one look forward to polls which different video game series from different platforms and different genres.

[Kong Wen]

The intention is less about punishing Nintendo fans and more about correcting an unconscious contextual community/forum bias. Partly because of the nature of the forum, having evolved from a Virtual Console community, and partly because of other demographic factors, Nintendo games tend to get an easier run here. We've definitely seen many polls come down to "I haven't played any of the other [hit, popular] games on this list, so I'm voting for [obscure Nintendo title]."

Let's keep this thread focused on discussing these polls and our votes, and we can chat further about the Project format in another thread.

[SkyPikachu]

The intention is less about punishing Nintendo fans and more about correcting an unconscious contextual community/forum bias. Partly because of the nature of the forum, having evolved from a Virtual Console community, and partly because of other demographic factors, Nintendo games tend to get an easier run here. We've definitely seen many polls come down to "I haven't played any of the other [hit, popular] games on this list, so I'm voting for [obscure Nintendo title]."

Let's keep this thread focused on discussing these polls and our votes, and we can chat further about the Project format in another thread.

I was probably a little harsh as well. I get the idea of making things different.

I'll probably end up voting anyway.

Are there still more pokemon games left to arrive in later rounds I can only think of one other main line that deserves a nomination. Don't care about names just curious of numbers as earlier you made it sound like there were quite a lot to come.

Poll 4 is tough. I think the big issue is majoras and og TLOZ stealing votes and probably both getting through no matter what.

Emerald is my fav pokemon
Hg/ss my fav pokemon port
Albw is just a masterpiece 2d zelda (best game in poll 4)
PH was my first zelda and a great game loved the controls

Also okami is a great game too.

Could easily nominate 5-6 games.

Emerald and a link between worlds are 100% picks for me. Not sure if Phantom Hourglass or HG/SS should get a pick too.

[Kong Wen]

Are there still more pokemon games left to arrive in later rounds I can only think of one other main line that deserves a nomination. Don't care about names just curious of numbers as earlier you made it sound like there were quite a lot to come.

Spore says I'm not allowed to answer that question. I can confirm that any Pokémon games that win this round will appear in later rounds.

[Ouenben]

Does someone have a list of the games in these polls so I can talk about which ones I voted for ? When I go back to the page I can't see them anymore

[SkyPikachu]

Are there still more pokemon games left to arrive in later rounds I can only think of one other main line that deserves a nomination. Don't care about names just curious of numbers as earlier you made it sound like there were quite a lot to come.

Spore says I'm not allowed to answer that question. I can confirm that any Pokémon games that win this round will appear in later rounds.

Spores not the boss and you already know and get to vote so the whole concept of keeping it hidden is mega flawed. Its not affecting my voting just generally curious. I thought the main point was discussion anyway.

[Kong Wen]

Are there still more pokemon games left to arrive in later rounds I can only think of one other main line that deserves a nomination. Don't care about names just curious of numbers as earlier you made it sound like there were quite a lot to come.

Spore says I'm not allowed to answer that question. I can confirm that any Pokémon games that win this round will appear in later rounds.

Spores not the boss and you already know and get to vote so the whole concept of keeping it hidden is mega flawed. Its not affecting my voting just generally curious. I thought the main point was discussion anyway.

Spore is indeed the boss, and I have enough integrity to vote for the games I want to win each poll without allowing future rounds to affect my decisions. No one else here has that level of personal and moral fortitude.

Does someone have a list of the games in these polls so I can talk about which ones I voted for ? When I go back to the page I can't see them anymore

This is one of the things that annoys me about using Google Forms surfaced on the main site. I'd have to do twice the work to put everything here as well. We are getting some additional vote traffic from it, at least. I'll grab the list in a second.

Poll 1 of 7 - The Grumpy Bracket
Beat Saber (2018, PC/PS4)
Bust-a-Move 4 / Puzzle Bobble 4 (1998, Arcade/PC)
Castlevania (1986, NES)
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993, TGCD)
Chaos League (2004, PC)
F-Zero X (1998, N64)
Maniac Mansion (1987, PC)
Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64)
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996, PC)
Robotron: 2084 (1982, Arcade)
The Witness (2016, Multiplatform)

Poll 2 of 7 - The Happy Bracket
F-Zero AX (2003, Arcade)
Fable: The Lost Chapters (2005, PC)
Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1989, Genesis)
Metal Gear Solid (1998, PS1)
Persona 3 [FES] (2007, PS2)
Red Dead Redemption (2010, Multiplatform)
Rock Band 3 (2010, Multiplatform)
StarCraft (1998, PC)
Tales of Symphonia (2003, GCN)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015, Multiplatform)

Poll 3 of 7 - The Sleepy Bracket
Animal Crossing (2001, GCN)
F-Zero GX (2003, GCN)
Medieval II: Total War (2006, PC)
Pikmin 2 (2004, GCN)
SSX Tricky (2001, PS2)
Stardew Valley (2016, Multiplatform)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NS)
TimeSplitters 2 (2002, PS2)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (2001, Multiplatform)

Poll 4 of 7 - The Bashful Bracket
Okami (2008, Multiplatform)
Pokémon [Blue/Red] Version (1996, GB)
Pokémon [FireRed/LeafGreen] Version (2004, GBA)
Pokémon [HeartGold/SoulSilver] Version (2009, DS)
Pokémon [Ruby/Sapphire] Version (2002, GBA)
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987, Arcade)
The Legend of Zelda (1986, NES)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link between Worlds (2013, 3DS)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000, N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, DS)

Poll 5 of 7 - The Sneezy Bracket
Dead Space (2008, Multiplatform)
Fallout 2 (1998, PC)
Final Fantasy VIII (1999, PS1)
Halo 3 (2007, X360)
Halo: Combat Evolved (2001, PC/XB)
Ico (2001, PS2)
Ninja Gaiden / Shadow Warriors (1988, NES)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005, GBA/DS)
Reverie (2017, Multiplatform)
Superhot VR (2017, Multiplatform)
Worms (1995, Multiplatform)

Poll 6 of 7 - The Dopey Bracket
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009, Multiplatform)
Crackdown (2007, X360)
Dynasty Tactics 2 (2003, PS2)
Ms. Pac-Man (1982, Arcade)
No More Heroes (2007, Wii)
Shadow of the Colossus (2005, PS2)
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (1994, Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991, Genesis)
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991, Arcade)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004, PC)
Warriors Orochi (2007, PS2)

Poll 7 of 7 - The Trained Medical Professional Bracket
ActRaiser (1990, SNES)
Bubble Bobble (1986, Arcade)
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015, PS4/Vita)
FTL: Faster than Light (2012, PC)
Half-Life (1998, PC)
Mega Man 2 (1988, NES)
Mega Man Battle Network (2001, GBA)
Monster Rancher (1997, PS1)
Quake (1996, PC)
Super Monkey Ball (2001, GCN)
X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000, PS1)

[SkyPikachu]

Fair enough.
Is Pokemon Emerald considered a different game from Ruby/Sapphire?
Did I nominate megaman battle network or does someone else have exquisited taste?

[Ouenben]

Poll 1 of 7 - The Grumpy Bracket
Beat Saber (2018, PC/PS4)
Bust-a-Move 4 / Puzzle Bobble 4 (1998, Arcade/PC)
Castlevania (1986, NES)
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993, TGCD)
Chaos League (2004, PC)
F-Zero X (1998, N64)
Maniac Mansion (1987, PC)
Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64)
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996, PC)
Robotron: 2084 (1982, Arcade)
The Witness (2016, Multiplatform)

Beat Saber is the most excited I've been to play a game in years. It single handedly made me nearly buy a VR a bunch of times. (Ended up winning one through work in the end ) the gameplay is guitar hero with light sabers but in VR. You're fully immersed, so much so it's actually quite terrifying when a giant coloured wall flies at you and you have to side step or duck to avoid it. It all felt like a very very fresh take on the music rhythm genre which had grown rather stale over the years.
Only wish it had more songs, the library on PS4 is sadly lacking not only in numbers but genre too. The planned dlc should fix this issue somewhat though

Mario kart 64 - my favourite in the series. Spent hundreds of hours playing battle mode with my cousins, brother and uncle. First to 50 wins on Big Donut and us finishing on 48-50-49 wins. The Vs races and grand Prix were also very fun and countless hours spent playing with pals. Battle mode never got old to me, and no Mario kart has managed to capture the same feeling of survival and skill with a hint of luck that 64 had. Many of the later games outright ruined battle mode by adding PCs, making you respawn after losing balloons or using a race track as a battle course.

Poll 2 of 7 - The Happy Bracket
F-Zero AX (2003, Arcade)
Fable: The Lost Chapters (2005, PC)
Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1989, Genesis)
Metal Gear Solid (1998, PS1)
Persona 3 [FES] (2007, PS2)
Red Dead Redemption (2010, Multiplatform)
Rock Band 3 (2010, Multiplatform)
StarCraft (1998, PC)
Tales of Symphonia (2003, GCN)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015, Multiplatform)

RDR is my favourite Rockstar Game. The setting, the graphics, the voice acting and the feeling of riding your mare through the wild west and then shooting a bird out of the sky was great. I enjoyed the travelling so much I almost never fast travelled. It really drew me in from the get go and never outstayed it's welcome. Also the Undead nightmare DLC was excellent, really enjoyed finding the horses of the apocalypse and taking out zombies in the wild west.

Witcher 3 - wow, wow, wow. What a masterpiece. Best game I've played this side of 2000. Absolutely breathtaking visuals, incredible gameplay, a fantastically engaging story and an utterly unbelievable map - one so big that Rockstar games maps feel like Mario Kart battle courses by comparison, but without the emptiness, blandness or copy and paste-feel of other big maps (looking at you Just cause ). Every nook and cranny feels purposefully and delicately designed, like it's based on real world places. The sailing and horse riding through the land is mesmorising, the dialogue and options in the game allow you to craft a genuine story for yourself and gives the game great replayability (along with a great New game plus). Each of the main games cities /areas having their own dialect/accent was also a brilliant touch.
I also played through the entire game with my best friend at my side. Taking it in turns for quests and usually taking over for combat, so many laughs and memories from the 150 hours we spent playing Geralt.
Also it has two absolutely fantastic DLC expansions which were very well priced and added dozens of extra hours of content.


Poll 3 of 7 - The Sleepy Bracket
Animal Crossing (2001, GCN)
F-Zero GX (2003, GCN)
Medieval II: Total War (2006, PC)
Pikmin 2 (2004, GCN)
SSX Tricky (2001, PS2)
Stardew Valley (2016, Multiplatform)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NS)
TimeSplitters 2 (2002, PS2)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (2001, Multiplatform)

Wasn't sure about voting for Stardew. On the one hand it's a fantastic game, brimming with charm and very well put together. Particularly a fan of the visual style and music.
On the other hand it's a blatant copy of Harvest Moon, the farming, animals, villager relationships, mines etc. But it arguably does it all better than HM especially if you look at recent entries which have lost some of their charm as they look for gimmicks and new gameplay ideas to make them feel fresh while at the same time moving away from what made the HM games great in the first place.

Smash Bros ultimate is the bigger better game but I have a soft spot for Melee because for me that's where it all started. I had played the N64 version but never really cared for it. Melee took the core gameplay and gave it the kick it needed to take off. More characters, a story-ish mode, much faster paced gameplay which was far different to any other 1 on 1 fighting game of the time. It was as much a party game as it was a competitive fighting game. There was a plethora of stuff to do and unlock too for single player. All the stages, characters, modes, trophies kept me coming back time and time again.

Poll 4 of 7 - The Bashful Bracket
Okami (2008, Multiplatform)
Pokémon [Blue/Red] Version (1996, GB)
Pokémon [FireRed/LeafGreen] Version (2004, GBA)
Pokémon [HeartGold/SoulSilver] Version (2009, DS)
Pokémon [Ruby/Sapphire] Version (2002, GBA)
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987, Arcade)
The Legend of Zelda (1986, NES)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link between Worlds (2013, 3DS)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000, N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, DS)

Pokémon red and blue, not the best Pokémon as Heart and gold improved on it significantly. But it was the original, and one of the most original RPGs of the 90s and it was portable some very innovative mechanics and ideas. It was the only Pokémon game I'd beaten until 2017 when I beat Pokémon X and Heart Gold.
I spent countless hours at home and travelling with parents playing this game, searching every corner for hidden items and new Pokémon to catch. Sadly as the game was banned at school and few of my friends had it I never actually got into the trading scene and thus never actually caught all 150 Pokémon.
Beating Gary/Champ was one of the most memorable moments too - we were both down to our evolved starters and after numerous attacks and heals, we both ran out of PP for our moves and resulted in struggle after struggle slowly whittling our health away. Unfortunately Gary's Blastoise was a slither ahead of my Charizard health wise,, and after Charizard took another mighty struggle it was Blastoise's turn and one more hit would spell certain doom for my beaten up and exhausted Charizard. But low and behold luck would shine through this dark battle and he missed ! Nine-year-old me couldn't believe what I just saw on the green and black screen. Without hesitation I attacked back, a final struggle from Charizard's trembling body and Blastoise's tiny remaining health depleted to zero. It was over. I beat the game for the first time and by a ball-hair at that.

Rainbow islands - fantastic game one of my favourite arcade games. I'd chose bubble bobble 1 over this brilliant sequel but I still played it day after day and still revisit it from time to time. Catchy tunes, cute graphics and addictive gameplay made it a household favourite.

Majora's mask - the best Zelda and the best N64 game. Dark yet full of warm characters, brimming with NPCs who had their own agendas and events which made Termina still one of the most "living worlds" I've experienced to this day all coupled with the fantastic gameplay of Ocarina of time. They also banged this game out in like a year which is super impressive.

Poll 5 of 7 - The Sneezy Bracket
Dead Space (2008, Multiplatform)
Fallout 2 (1998, PC)
Final Fantasy VIII (1999, PS1)
Halo 3 (2007, X360)
Halo: Combat Evolved (2001, PC/XB)
Ico (2001, PS2)
Ninja Gaiden / Shadow Warriors (1988, NES)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005, GBA/DS)
Reverie (2017, Multiplatform)
Superhot VR (2017, Multiplatform)
Worms (1995, Multiplatform)

Halo 3 was my first Halo game, my first HD /Xbox 360 game and my first proper online experience that I got sunk into. (Officially I did play Quake 3 PC online but I was young and got rinsed in just about every single game so never got properly into it ) I was amazed by how good it looked on our new TV, how big the levels were and how much fun the campaign was especially playing through with my cousin and riding the Warthog through the last level while the epic theme played was something I'll not forget anytime soon. The online was just fantastic too the ranking system worked very well, I never felt out of my league or like I was playing people far below my skill level. I believe this title was probably my most played Xbox 360 title overall. Everything about it was so polished, the game/level creator was far more powerful and user friendly than anything I'd ever experienced before too. Me and a few pals would often go online and play some matches of rocket race, grifball and other favourite custom modes before sinking hours into team death match.

Superhot VR - another game that left me speechless when I first played it. I felt like Neo in the matrix. Stopping time and watching bullets slowly drift mere inches from my face, stopping them with a tiny flick of my hand then actually reaching over behind my shoulder in real life to shoot an enemy running up to kill me, and then turning around to see that he was in fact dead. Couldn't believe how immersive this was, despite having a very bright white/unrealistic graphics style. I've taken the red pill and I don't want to go back.

I considered worms but I have very little experience with the first one which I found a little too basic for my liking. I muchly preferred worms Armageddon on N64 with the holy hand grenade, ninja rope and more. It just felt more polished and like there was many more strategies to consider. Me and my cousin would always boot up a few games whenever I was at my aunt's house or vice versa.

Poll 6 of 7 - The Dopey Bracket
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009, Multiplatform)
Crackdown (2007, X360)
Dynasty Tactics 2 (2003, PS2)
Ms. Pac-Man (1982, Arcade)
No More Heroes (2007, Wii)
Shadow of the Colossus (2005, PS2)
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (1994, Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991, Genesis)
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991, Arcade)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004, PC)
Warriors Orochi (2007, PS2)

Modern warfare 2 had almost everything I wanted from a good FPS - cutting edge visuals, a cinematic war-driven chaotic story, an engaging and rewarding online multiplayer and challenging yet fun 1-2player missions in the spec ops mode. One of the few games I've unlocked all achievements for and would happily do it again. It took CoD4's online and injected it with steroids. More kill streaks, more weapons, more maps and more fun .Either Halo 3 or this game has my record for most played online game which will be in the hundreds of hours. It did bring a few problems with it like unbalanced weapons, noob tube, knife runners, Nuke boosters (who I delighted in finding and ruining their fun ) but patches helped with a lot of this and there were strategies to deal with many of them. I'd definitely vote for CoD4 over MW2 given choice however, as CoD got in there first, and took me totally by surprise when I went in blind having never played a CoD before and knowing very little about kt. Also it had the less messy, more polished campaign. Plus online had less issues with balancing and some better maps.

Poll 7 of 7 - The Trained Medical Professional Bracket
ActRaiser (1990, SNES)
Bubble Bobble (1986, Arcade)
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015, PS4/Vita)
FTL: Faster than Light (2012, PC)
Half-Life (1998, PC)
Mega Man 2 (1988, NES)
Mega Man Battle Network (2001, GBA)
Monster Rancher (1997, PS1)
Quake (1996, PC)
Super Monkey Ball (2001, GCN)
X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000, PS1)


Bubble bobble - many cherished memories of playing this with my family, especially my mother (rest her soul) who was never particularly into games. I actually mostly played the Master system version which was by far the best console adaptation of the game for a while, far superior to the NES version not just in how it looked and played but also with its secret levels, special items needed to unlock levels 100-200 and other extras. In recent years I've switched to preferring the Arcade version overall as it does run and play a lot better than the SMS version, has less glitches and bugs and also is a bit more reliable when trying to beat high scores. The gameplay always appealed to me being a fan of platformers, high scores and shooting things. I absolutely loved how much the "randomly spawning" items in a level could affect your strategy and how well you do. The absolute relief I'd feel when a level clearing item would appear on a particularly difficult level was like a sweet sweet high.
A few years ago I went to a fairly big games convention and made sure to get the high score on the bubble bobble arcade cabinet and checked on it over the weekend to ensure I stayed at the top.

Quake - again many fond memories playing with family. It was my first proper FPS and I used the arrow keys to move and look originally until I was able to get to grips with the mouse instead. Me and my parents all had our computers hooked up in a LAN and would play deathmatches once or twice a week, it was my first proper experience of mods too as my parents downloaded the Painkeep mod for it which added some cool new levels and weapons. As time passed I'd quickly become better than my parents and best them in matches and their interest in the game would fade too. Eventually they stopped playing it and I moved on to playing through the single player more and trying harder difficulties and trying to find all secrets for 100% runs. Later my cousin would get into the game and we'd play many many deathmatches and no matter how many times I beat him he'd never lose interest.

Super monkey Ball - one of my absolute favourite GameCube games. Like a modern day Marble Madness with monkeys. Perfected beginner and got very good at Advanced levels, still need practice for Expert and have never managed to unlock the Master Levels. Can be a very difficult game but never really frustrated me as it always felt fair, any deaths were my own fault and the GameCube controllers analogue stick was perfect for this title, the octagonal direction cut out really helped moved the Aiai through the levels. It also sported some of the most fun mini games and party games I'd played on the GameCube. Monkey fight and Golf were a lot fun, used to laugh at how ridiculous monkey Fight could be with multiple power ups. The undisputed king of the mini games however was Monkey Target - arguably worth playing this game for this alone, when you have yourself and 1-3 friends playing it's an absolute pleasure. The music is very relaxing which compliments the low-stress flying your monkey does over the ocean, until you start losing altitude fast or try to land on a super small space for maximum points, then the palms are sweaty, especially if you're short or just 90 points to beat your rival and win the round !