Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, and hide yo husband because here comes video game website GameFAQs with another one of their popularity contests!
Since 2002, GameFAQs has run one or two of these things a year - winner-take-all popularity polls between brackets full of video game characters or games themselves. This year's event is the Rivalry Rumble - 64 teams of two characters, and each team is a "rivalry". Friendly and unfriendly rivalries alike are included.
The contest starts November 2, but until then people can go through the bracket and predict who they think will win each match. Best predictors win prizes, so if you've got a GameFAQs account, give it a whirl.
Here's some of the notable rivalries that will be competing!
Mario and Bowser: When it comes to hero/villain rivalries, this has always been a top one for me. In a lot of Mario games it's a pretty simple good guy/bad guy thing, but there's a notable exception: the Mario RPGs, especially the Paper Mario series (my favorite game series of all time, by the way). In Paper Mario and its sequels, Bowser is given a great deal of characterization, becoming a truly likable and well-rounded character in comparison to the one-dimensional endboss he was in the NES days. This is one rivalry I wouldn't mind seeing go all the way.
Kirby and Meta Knight: I think Kirby and King Dedede might have been the better choice for a straight-up "rivalry" (especially considering Brawl in the Family, heh), but this is still a strong pairing. Also, looking at previous GameFAQs character contests, Meta Knight is more popular than Dedede, helping to boost the tag-team's strength. Their bracket placement is interesting - they could go out in round 1 to the Resident Evil tag-team of Jill Valentine and Nemesis, or they could make it all the way to Mario and Bowser. I'm predicting they'll pass one round but not two.
Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Robotnik: One of the ultimate rivalries in video gaming, at least back in the 90s when Sonic was beloved. Some people on GameFAQs were wishing that Sonic had paired up with Knuckles or Mario instead. I think this is a good rivalry, though, and unless Kirby does something amazing he's on a crash course to face Mario in the Sweet 16.
Sub-Zero and Scorpion: Niiiice! Here's a rivalry that treats both characters as roughly equals. Both sides have fans and both can be seen as the "good guy" depending on how you look at it. I've always loved the Mortal Kombat ninjas. I've predicted for them to win twice, although they could possibly go even farther if they really apply some REAL ULTIMATE POWER.
Pokemon Trainer Red and Pokemon Trainer Blue: If there was any justice, this pairing would win the contest, or at least make the finals. When you think "video game rivalry", you probably think Pokemon Red and Blue. "Gary" is in your face the whole game, battling you a total of eight times with a team that goes from nothing to a squad of six juggernauts, just like you. And at the end of the game, you defeat Lance and you think it's all over, but no - BLUE GOT THERE FIRST. The "Champion after Elite Four" thing is so obvious nowadays that newer Pokemon games don't even pretend it's a surprise, but back in the day this probably caught some folks off guard. Any way you slice it, this was an awesome rivalry, and I hope it does well.
Link and Ganondorf: The smart money on winning the whole shebang is on these guys. If you're not familiar with GameFAQs contests, here's a quick tip: Link is revered like a god. He has won more contests than every other character combined. Last year they held a bonus poll on Christmas Eve - Link vs. Santa. Link won. He beat Santa on Christmas Eve. Gah. And Ganondorf, while nowhere near as popular, has done well for himself in the past. I have pegged these two to win, even though it's a pretty dull rivalry and I never saw what was so great about the Zelda series.
Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth: I take back the Red/Blue thing, this is the best rivalry in gaming. The Ace Attorney series is one of my favorites, and the superb writing and character development makes these two some of the most lovable and fascinating characters around even if you don't ship them with each other as some are wont to do. They even snagged a 1-seed! However, I doubt they'll win their division, let alone the contest. I selected for them to win a single match, but I hope they can win more.
Ramza and Delita: I've never played Final Fantasy Tactics and I don't know who Delita is but I'm backing this pairing anyway because ALEEEEEEX. I hope the idiot hair is visible in the match picture :3
BJ Blazkowicz and Adolf Hitler: Thank you, Wolfenstein 3D. This contest is the first GameFAQs contest to allow "historical characters" in addition to the usual "must have originated in a video game" characters. This gave us three entrants we wouldn't have otherwise: Zeus (paired with Kratos from God of War), Dracula (paired with Alucard from Castlevania), and... Adolf Hitler, who was brought in pretty much just for the sheer novelty of having Adolf Hitler on GameFAQs' front page with an option to vote for him. Will people vote for Hitler? His opponents are Sora and Riku of Kingdom Hearts fame, so I'm doubting it...
I may pick out a few more rivalries to talk about another time.
Eh, while the Nintendo rivalries are classic, I'm way more likely to vote Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth then the rest of those you mentioned. Their relationship is a good deal more complicated than 'good guy vs bad guy' and evolves over the games into a very friendly rivalry. As much as they oppose each other, they equally rely on each other. They'll probably get about halfway through the competition before being steamrolled by Nintendo or SquareEnix characters.
ReplyDeleteThough I haven't played FFT very far, I've heard that Ramza and Delita is also an interesting and more complicated rivalry so I'd also be inclined to vote that way. I don't think they'll get too far though - FFT has its fans but nothing like the fanbase of FF7 or Kingdom Hearts.
I gotta vote for the Kombatants. Because they are the only ambiguous rivalry of the bunch, and that's cool.
ReplyDeleteOh jeeze.
ReplyDeleteRamza and Delita are just urgh. Delita is a Magnificant Bastard that pretty much manipulated Ramza into doing his dirtywork and taking out the real bad guy of the game (Ultima what) while he pretty much took out the politicians and became king. FFT has a VERY complimicated story that is pretty much summed up as baddies pulling gambits on each other.
Kirby and Meta Knight doesn't strike me as the perfect rivalry, but it'll do. I think I might root for Kirby Gang and the Phoenix Wright gang; I love them to pieces. If Kirby manages to get a miracle, I'll freaking vote for him 'til the end.
The problem with these is that the GameFAQS community is akin to a hovel of orcs, and as such tend to vote for whatever anime-esque character is popular at the moment. Usually this means Link and Sephiroth end up against each other at some point, and one of those wins the whole thing. The loser's supporters end up whining a lot, or putting their support in for whatever characters the winner faces next in an attempt at revenge.
ReplyDeleteThis looks more interesting. Granted, I think Link's gonna take the whole thing, but at least there's an interesting array of characters this time, which means we have a chance for a decent victory as opposed to the time Tertis L-block won (which was hilarious, I'll admit). I'm putting my e-money on Scorpion, Link, Miles Edgeworth and Robotnik being powerhouses here due to their fanbases.