(3)Super Metroid vs (6)Super Mario Galaxy 2015

Ulti's Analysis
It was pretty easy to see this coming once Super Metroid damn near broke 80% on Call of Duty 4, but even still, seeing this actually happen was a surreal experience. I'm pulling up this list again because it's extremely important to realize just how badly Samus used to collapse the second Mario or Link showed up to face off against her in a poll.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/1633-division-8-round-2-super-mario-bros-3-vs-metroid http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/2122-tournament-quarterfinal-mario-vs-samus-aran http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/2562-battle-royale-day-1 http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/3304-contest-semifinal-link-mario-samus-crono http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/3482-division-3-round-2-s-metroid-s-mario-kart-zelda-lttp-dk http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/3496-division-3-final-zelda-lttp-s-metroid-ff3-zelda-la http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/3467-division-6-round-1-gtavc-k-hearts-metroid-prime-paper-mario (all it took was a game named "Mario" in the poll, any game, to cause Metroid Prime to get third place!) http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/4567-final-rounds-quarterfinal-pokemon-trainer-red-vs-blue-samus

Every contest veteran knows that list by heart, or at least knows of what would happen to Samus against Mario or Link. 77% of gurus picked Galaxy for a reason. We aren't dumb when it comes to knowing our old contest matches. There are other matches where Samus looked respectable in losses, but they were still losses, like the 2003 loss to Link 1v1. Those of us that have sat here for 10+ years watching Mario and Link just beat Samus at will never thought we would see a day where this ever went the other way.

Seeing Super Metroid go out there and just beat the absolute piss out of Mario Galaxy for a 60-40 beatdown... it filled us Metroid fans with determination. We finally got to see Metroid get one over on Mario, which was deemed an impossible ask before this match. People may look back on this and say we should have seen it coming, but no. There was no way to see this coming pre-contest, given the history. This blowout was a really big deal when it happened, and it will continue to be a big deal for years after the fact. This will go down as the match where Mario's magic finally and utterly disappeared. There were hints before this, but Mario always had an excuse. The Vivi loss was a rally. The RBYG > Mario 3 loss, even though Mario 3 probably lost anyway, was "still just a rally" according to a lot of Mario fans.

But this match? No excuse whatsoever. Mario went out there and got his ass beat from pillar to post. Galaxy is no joke, either. It made round 3 of Game of the Decade, and had it gotten a better draw and not run into Twilight Princess it easily could have gone a lot farther. Galaxy is viewed by many as the defining Mario game, in a similar arena to how Mario 1 saved gaming and Mario 64 invented 3D. Galaxy is viewed as the game that gave us motion controls. You guys know my opinion on motion controls, but a lot of people like them and it's become a mainstream thing now. We have Galaxy to thank for that. And none of it mattered, because Super Metroid shut it all down.

On a personal level, I absolutely loved this. Fuck motion controls, and fuck Mario Galaxy for helping infect gaming with them. On an objective level, this was a clear and obvious example of old games embarrassing new games in a fair bracket. The 90s was absolutely on the warpath this contest, and when people look back on this contest years from now to show examples of just how hard gamers on this site prefer the 90s, this might be the first match cited. It deserves to be, too. It really cannot be stressed enough just how insane it was to watch Samus lay a 60-40 beatdown on a strong Mario game and end the "Mario clutch" for good. Not only did the 90s thing matter, but gamers were clearly taking the "Best Game Ever" title into account when voting. I'm sorry, but Galaxy doesn't deserve to be anywhere near such a title.

ITS' FREAKING MARIO™ died this contest, and Super Metroid killed it. and I for one could not be happier, given the game that was sacrificed at the altar to make it happen. Even better than that was how Super Metroid's contest wasn't necessarily over yet. A few years ago, people would view a Super Metroid vs Majora's Mask match as an easy SFF beatdown in Zelda's favor. But this was 2015, and the whole game changed with this one match.

Maybe one day we'll see a Mario vs Samus rematch with Samus getting the ultimate revenge of all.