The 1999 NES Game Tournament


I knew I shouldn't have visited Seanbaby's NES Page




To see an enumeration of the 136 games that received nominations, in order of performance, click here.

And as eight become four, all the competition's surprise teams have been eliminated. Sure, they'll compete amongst one another for the coveted honor of "5th Place" (I believe the ribbon for that is goldenrod), but the four surviving games, I suspect, may be counted among "the fittest." Granted, there are three and four seeds among them, but they ought not to be considered immense surprises (NG hasn't really been challenged to this point, and Castlevania is of such popularity that it could throw any match to a split decision.)

I see several intriguing matches on both sides of the quarterfinals -- meaning, in turn, that I need all the judges to vote. Nobody's going to sweep at this stage in the game, so a poll of nine people won't decide anything if only five of them vote.

As for me, I'll be out of town between Sunday and Tuesday, so the present voting period will encompass a longer period than its predecessors. Fitting for the occasion, although it'll dwarf the three-day championship. Maybe I should make that longer as well, since I won't have any reserve judges. Flying without a net is fine by me, so long as there are some pillows down there, or something...

These generalities can be considered old news at this point, but they're still here, new as of the second round:

(NOTE: "Sweep" refers to a match in which all appointed judges voted for the same game, thus matches won by a margin of, for example, two to zero are not considered sweeps. Rather, they are classified as "incomplete matches.")

  • The only participant Mega Man game that lost in the first round was a sixteen seed, and even it received a vote.
  • Of the sixteen games remaining, eleven represent major series for the system (twelve if you count Contra.)
  • Seeds not Represented in the Second Round: 16, 14, 13, 8
  • Seeds not Represented in the Round of 16: 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8
  • Biggest Upset: Even though the seeding makes it seem closer, I consider (A6) Ice Hockey over (A3) Ninja Gaiden II a bigger shock than the DW/FF matter.
  • Number of Swept Matches: 13 (about 27.1%)
  • Number of Complete Matches: 38 (about 79.2%)
  • Number of Games that Have Not Been Voted Against: (This acknowledges incomplete matches.) 4 -- (A6) Ice Hockey; (C1) Mega Man 3; (C3) Zelda II; (D3) Castlevania
  • Number of Reasons I'm Doing This: 2 (I can't plunge "right into" anything; and I enjoy regarding trivial things seriously and serious things flippantly.)
  • Lowest Seed to Sweep Its Match: (A15) Dragon Warrior defeated (A10) Tetris 3-0 in the second round. Is it just me, or is everything out of the ordinary happening in that group and that group alone?


    And now, having put all hesitation aside, I present...
  • THE MAIN EVENT
    (Forgive the boxing allusion. I'm just very excited.)



    Be sure to read the Tournament Regulations for explanations of why the brackets only go up to the Round of 16, and such. Also, should you be interested, please read Loogaroo's dissections of the matches of the moment.

    To the left of each title is its seed in the given region. To the right is its score (this will be relevant once scores have been recorded.) In each match, the winning game will have its enclosure highlighted. All of these things have been stolen from Tim Connolly, who apparently got the idea from somebody else (I'm the first to apply it to video games, though.)

    I have opted not to use the NCAA Tournament's "regions" as titles for the groupings in this tournament. Not that "Group A" is any kind of a creative coup, bear in mind. It's just that I don't see how these games can be divided according to geographical location -- that, and I'm desperate to vary this competition from its game show-based counterparts.


    -GROUP A-

    (1) The Legend of Zelda - 2(1) The Legend of Zelda - 2(1) The Legend of Zelda - 4
    (16) Mega Man 5 - 1
    (8) Blades of Steel - 1(9) Rygar - 1
    (9) Rygar - 2
    (4) River City Ransom - 3(4) River City Ransom - 1(5) Super Mario Bros. 2 - 1
    (13) Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II - 0
    (5) Super Mario Bros. 2 - 3(5) Super Mario Bros. 2 - 2
    (12) Kickle Cubicle - 0
    (6) Ice Hockey - 3(6) Ice Hockey - 2(6) Ice Hockey - 3
    (11) Paperboy - 0
    (3) Ninja Gaiden II - 3(3) Ninja Gaiden II - 0
    (14) Deja Vu - 0
    (7) Gargoyle's Quest II - 1(10) Tetris - 0(15) Dragon Warrior - 2
    (10) Tetris - 2
    (2) Final Fantasy - 1(15) Dragon Warrior - 3
    (15) Dragon Warrior - 2


    -GROUP B-

    (1) Mega Man 2 - 3(1) Mega Man 2 - 2(1) Mega Man 2 - 4
    (16) Maniac Mansion - 0
    (8) Double Dragon II - 0(9) Battle of Olympus - 1
    (9) Battle of Olympus - 2
    (4) Life Force - 3(4) Life Force - 2(4) Life Force - 0
    (13) Gradius - 0
    (5) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - 3(5) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - 1
    (12) Lendl & Evert's Top Player's Tennis - 0
    (6) Double Dribble - 1(11) Dragon Warrior III - 1(3) Metroid - 2
    (11) Dragon Warrior III - 2
    (3) Metroid - 3(3) Metroid - 2
    (14) Skate or Die! - 0
    (7) Super Mario Bros. - 3(7) Super Mario Bros. - 2(7) Super Mario Bros. - 3
    (10) Blaster Master - 0
    (2) Castlevania III - 2(2) Castlevania III - 1
    (15) Kickmaster - 1


    -GROUP C-

    (1) Mega Man 3 - 3(1) Mega Man 3 - 2(1) Mega Man 3 - 4
    (16) Mendel Palace - 0
    (8) Rockin' Kats - 1(9) Wrestlemania Challenge - 0
    (9) Wrestlemania Challenge - 2
    (4) Tecmo Super Bowl - 2(4) Tecmo Super Bowl - 2(4) Tecmo Super Bowl - 1
    (13) Destiny of an Emperor - 1
    (5) Bubble Bobble - 2(5) Bubble Bobble - 0
    (12) Jackal - 1
    (6) Mega Man 6 - 2(6) Mega Man 6 - 0(3) Zelda II - 4
    (11) Pro Wrestling - 1
    (3) Zelda II - 3(3) Zelda II - 2
    (14) Snake, Rattle, 'N Roll - 0
    (7) Baseball Simulator 1.000 - 2(7) Baseball Simulator 1.000 - 0(2) Contra - 1
    (10) Metal Gear - 1
    (2) Contra - 2(2) Contra - 2
    (15) Rescue: The Embassy Mission - 1


    -GROUP D-

    (1) Bionic Commando - 2(1) Bionic Commando - 3(1) Bionic Commando - 1
    (16) Nintendo World Cup - 1
    (8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - 1(9) Kid Icarus - 0
    (9) Kid Icarus - 2
    (4) Ninja Gaiden - 2(4) Ninja Gaiden - 2(4) Ninja Gaiden - 4
    (13) Battletoads - 1
    (5) Super C - 1(12) Shadowgate - 0
    (12) Shadowgate - 2
    (6) Kirby's Adventure - 2(6) Kirby's Adventure - 0(3) Castlevania - 3
    (11) Tecmo Bowl - 1
    (3) Castlevania - 2(3) Castlevania - 2
    (14) Kabuki Quantum Fighter - 0
    (7) Castlevania II - 2(7) Castlevania II - 1(2) Super Mario Bros. 3 - 2
    (10) Crystalis - 0
    (2) Super Mario Bros. 3 - 2(2) Super Mario Bros. 3 - 2
    (15) Pac-Man - 1


    -CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP-

    (B7) Super Mario Bros. - 2(B1) Mega Man 2 - 4(B1) Mega Man 2 - 4
    (B7) Super Mario Bros. - 1
    (A6) Ice Hockey - 5(D4) Ninja Gaiden - 4(D4) Ninja Gaiden - 5
    (A6) Ice Hockey - 3
    (C3) Zelda II - 4(C3) Zelda II - 2(A1) The Legend of Zelda - 5
    (A1) The Legend of Zelda - 4
    (C1) Mega Man 3 - 3(C1) Mega Man 3 - 3(D3) Castlevania - 4
    (D3) Castlevania - 4


    7th Place Match5th Place Match3rd Place Match
    (B7) Super Mario Bros. - 1(A6) Ice Hockey - 3(B1) Mega Man 2 - 6
    (C1) Mega Man 3 - 3(C3) Zelda II - 4(D3) Castlevania - 3


    CHAMPIONSHIP
    (D4) Ninja Gaiden - 8(D4) Ninja Gaiden
    (A1) The Legend of Zelda - 7



    And that, folks, is all she wrote.



    Tournament Options:
    Intro | Nomination Round | Results of Nomination Round | Tournament Regulations | Analyses


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