This Old Neon Forum

Welcome to the first round of #BGE2020 pools!

Each game is randomly seeded into pools using the set generator at Random.org. There's no seeding, no ranking, and no preference or prioritization.

The results of the pools will determine how each game stacks up in the elimination rounds, coming later this year.

HOW TO VOTE

Voting is ranked, but it's not super intuitive, so listen up.

• You have 6 total votes to distribute.
• You can only select up to 3 options.
• You can only give each option up to 3 votes.
• NOTE: The number you pick is not the RANK of your choice (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd), but the number of VOTES you're giving it.
• The more votes (bigger numbers) a game gets, the better for that game.

EXAMPLES

• You could pick three games and order them by giving them 3, 2, and 1 votes.
• If you like three games equally, you could give them 2, 2, and 2 votes.
• If you only like two games, you could give them 3 and 3 votes (or 3 and 2, etc.).

This gives you a lot of granularity for how you assign your votes and thereby a lot of influence over which games can do well. Use your power wisely!

If you have questions, ask before voting!

This was a tough one. Brawl is my formative years Smash game. It had the really cool single player mode and was the first game to really make a spectacle out of the new characters that would join. Valkyria Chronicles 4 was excellent, and Punch out is a classic.

Shout out to Zelda II and M&L Dream Team though.

Yeah this bracket is full of interesting choices!

I had to give Zelda II the top honour, as one of the best games in the series, with some great music, and great controls!

Punch Out is another really tight NES classic.

I considered giving the final nod to SSBB for really expanding Smash and giving us great Yogurt Cup memories, but I couldn't pass over FF 1 & 2 for being one of the first times we had the chance to play FF2 in the west (after FF Origins on PS1).

Punch Out will always be one of my favourite games ever. I also gave three marks to Conker, though. Really pushed the N64's capabilities, and was just a great game to boot. As for Brawl... the most overhyped game ever, as I see it. Couldn't bring myself to give it anything. What it did well, it did amazingly well, but compared to every other entry of the series (with the possible exception of the original), it lacked.

evildevil97 wrote: ↑03 Mar 2020 10:28 As for Brawl... the most overhyped game ever, as I see it. Couldn't bring myself to give it anything. What it did well, it did amazingly well, but compared to every other entry of the series (with the possible exception of the original), it lacked.

I am by no means a Smash stan or aficionado, but I would argue this.

In terms of gameplay, it may well have been lacklustre, especially compared to Melee (for hardcore Smashers at least—new/young players and casuals wouldn't have noticed). But one of the things the Smash series is retroactively appreciated for is its compendious inclusion and appreciation of Nintendo lore and history. Melee did this to a degree, but Brawl took it to the next level. Ultimate is merely the ultimate realization of the path Brawl really started cutting, and without Brawl, there would be no Ultimate (as it exists: everything, everyone). More stages, more music (Brawl doesn't just contain a jukebox: it is one), more stickers, trophies, deep cuts, etc.

This is important because it's not just bonus side-trash that's peripheral to the core fighting experience. It's a feature or role of the series that people appreciate. Anyway, like I said, I'm not a big Smash fan anyway, so I didn't vote for it, but as a videogameappreciator, I would identify cultural value in this game even in comparison/contrast with some other Smash games.

Kong Wen wrote: ↑03 Mar 2020 14:41 I am by no means a Smash stan or aficionado, but I would argue this.

As I said, what it did well, it did amazingly well. But from a pure gameplay perspective, it began falling apart, it least in comparison to the rest of the series. All the fan service, the introduction of third parties, and the types of modes it introduced are nothing to scoff at. They did it well. I'm a pretty casual gamer, so things like balance don't bother me too much, but things like tripping do. Maybe I'm a bit biased, though, since I remember staying up to check the "Smash Bros. Dojo" every weekday, which was awesome for hype. But no video game could possibly reach the level it had.

evildevil97 wrote: ↑03 Mar 2020 20:53

Kong Wen wrote: ↑03 Mar 2020 14:41 I am by no means a Smash stan or aficionado, but I would argue this.

As I said, what it did well, it did amazingly well. But from a pure gameplay perspective, it began falling apart, it least in comparison to the rest of the series. All the fan service, the introduction of third parties, and the types of modes it introduced are nothing to scoff at. They did it well. I'm a pretty casual gamer, so things like balance don't bother me too much, but things like tripping do. Maybe I'm a bit biased, though, since I remember staying up to check the "Smash Bros. Dojo" every weekday, which was awesome for hype. But no video game could possibly reach the level it had.

Fair, for sure! Anyway, none of what I gushed about was enough to get it a vote from me in this tough bracket.