Best Game Not Available on Any Digital Service (Round Two)

[This Old Neon]

Round Two of the “Best Game Not Available on Any Digital Service” side-event includes the winners of the previous round and higher-seeded games that got a bye from the nomination round. There are 3 polls of 9-10 games each. If a game you nominated doesn’t appear in this round, it probably received enough nominations to get a bye into the next round.

• You can vote for UP TO THREE (3) games per poll, or skip a poll entirely.
• The top 3 games from each poll will advance to the category finals.
• You can’t change your votes once they’ve been submitted, so click carefully. Voting closes on Saturday at midnight ADT.

VOTE HERE

Poll 1 of 3:
Batman: The Video Game (1989, NES)
Bomberman (NES)
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (1990, Genesis)
Diddy Kong Racing (1997, N64)
Goldeneye 007 (1997, N64)
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble (2000, GBC)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004, PS2)
Shadowrun (1994, Genesis)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001, GCN)

Poll 2 of 3:
Contra: Hard Corps (1994, Genesis)
Destiny of an Emperor (1989, NES)
Dynasty Tactics (2002, PS2)
E.V.O.: Search for Eden (1992, SNES)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (2002, GCN)
Gauntlet (1987, NES)
Golvellius: Valley of Doom (1988, SMS)
No One Lives Forever (2000, PC)
Skies of Arcadia (2000, DC)
Super Monkey Ball (2001, GCN)

Poll 3 of 3:
Contra 4 (2007, DS)
Felix the Cat (1992, NES)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005, GCN)
Mother 3 (2006, GBA)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998, Saturn)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004, GCN)
Rocket Knight Adventures (1993, GEN)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN)
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (2001, GBA)
The Guardian Legend (1988, NES)

[Han Solo]

Not to be rude, but could someone explain what makes the NES Bomberman standout among its numerous sequels that would make it worth playing?

[Ouenben]

Not to be rude, but could someone explain what makes the NES Bomberman standout among its numerous sequels that would make it worth playing?

Probably that it's the only one not available digitally in some way. Super bomberman is definitely better but can be downloaded

[Kong Wen]

This is a great category because the polls have all been tough from the get-go!

Poll 1 of 3:
Batman: The Video Game (1989, NES)
Bomberman (NES)
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (1990, Genesis)
Diddy Kong Racing (1997, N64)
Goldeneye 007 (1997, N64)
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble (2000, GBC)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004, PS2)
Shadowrun (1994, Genesis)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001, GCN)

Buck Rogers is a Gold Box game.

Shadowrun is a weird—not even sure how to describe this—super-difficult top-down action RPG? One of the most faithful adaptations of Shadowrun to another medium.

Batman would probably be my third place here but I don't know if it's up to snuff enough for me to actually cast the vote. Shadow Hearts would be another contender. Everything else is either not interesting enough or has already been done better (better Bombermen, better racers, better shooters).

Poll 2 of 3:
Contra: Hard Corps (1994, Genesis)
Destiny of an Emperor (1989, NES)
Dynasty Tactics (2002, PS2)
E.V.O.: Search for Eden (1992, SNES)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (2002, GCN)
Gauntlet (1987, NES)
Golvellius: Valley of Doom (1988, SMS)
No One Lives Forever (2000, PC)
Skies of Arcadia (2000, DC)
Super Monkey Ball (2001, GCN)

Destiny of an Emperor is one of the best RPGs of all time, so it's an easy one. EVO is a totally unique trip of a game from Enix. Those are the absolute shoo-ins from this bracket.

I can't really vote for Gauntlet because at least it's well-represented in remakes and homages.

Golvellius is one of those games that shows how awesome the Master System was. It's a weird Zelda/platformer/almost-shmup hybrid with bright, cartoony graphics. Dynasty Tactics is also an interesting tactical spin off the Dynasty Warriors series, not to be confused with Dynasty Warriors: Empires, which are much more like the main series with slash'em-all-up gameplay. Tactics is very much a tactical game, but it doesn't fit the usual tactical RPG molds.

Poll 3 of 3:
Contra 4 (2007, DS)
Felix the Cat (1992, NES)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005, GCN)
Mother 3 (2006, GBA)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998, Saturn)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004, GCN)
Rocket Knight Adventures (1993, GEN)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN)
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (2001, GBA)
The Guardian Legend (1988, NES)

Path of Radiance is a brilliant tactical RPG, great game overall. Gotta vote for Tactics Ogre too.

Last choice is going to be a tough one between Panzer Dragoon Saga and Guardian Legend. Especially given the nature and theme of this category (digital preservation), it would have been fantastic for Panzer Dragoon Saga to somehow be eligible for any digital platform, but sadly it doesn't exist. The Guardian Legend is one of those games that would be ripe for the Virtual Console.

[This Old Neon]

The winners of the semi-finals are:

Poll 1:
Batman: The Video Game (1989, NES)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004, PS2)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001, GCN)

Poll 2:
Contra: Hard Corps (1994, Genesis)
E.V.O.: Search for Eden (1992, SNES)
Skies of Arcadia (2000, DC)
Super Monkey Ball (2001, GCN)

Poll 3:
Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998, Saturn)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004, GCN)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN)

Start mentally preparing yourselves for the finals. This is them.

[Sharecrow]

I’m tickled that Shadowhearts advanced