Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Round | Tournament Quarter Final |
|---|---|
| Match # | 60 |
| Match Date | Friday, November 10th, 2006 |
| Vote difference | 1,940 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Sonic - 48.76% 23 for - 73 against |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Sonic - 13.31% (5,676 brackets) |
Crono was the favorite here, and deservedly so. There was no indication Crono would lose this match, even after Mega Man's collapse for reasons that would ultimately apply to Crono as well. Crono performed as such early on in the match, using his beastly night vote to take a 2000 vote lead on Sonic within hours. It wasn't until here that Sonic acted like he even belonged in the match; Sonic stalled the hell out of Crono during Crono's best time, and the biggest lead Crono was able to see was 2200.
Even though Europe stalled Crono well before Crono's best time was up, Crono like would have still lost even had he been spotted 4000 votes. The guy has been so god-awful during the day vote that someone was bound to make him eat it eventually. When Sonic began going on his roll, Crono was absolutely defenseless. For whatever reason, the people that are on GameFAQs between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. are the only ones who give a crap about Chrono Trigger.
Sonic began a very slow push during the waning hours of the night vote, but caught some steam once the morning vote showed up. Crono stalled Sonic a lot during the push, but the overall result was Sonic tearing into that 2200 votes like dogs on bacon. Then came the after-school vote overwhelmingly favoring Sonic, and before anyone knew it Sonic would complete the largest vote swing in the history of these contests. Winning by 1940 is rather misleading, because it feels like Sonic just blew the poor guy away for 18 hours straight.
In back to back matches, we saw both Mega Man and Crono get their due for having not done anything since the 1990s. I can see how Mega Man lasted so long, but Crono not having a match like this earlier (and hanging with Mario of all characters three years running) is just beyond me. Chrono Trigger sold like ass, and even if CT is the #1 emulated game, how many people really emulate? Enough to make that big of a difference? And on top of all that, Crono is a character that thrives on low vote totals --- 2002-2003 be damned, there's been a huge shift in who votes on these things since then, and Crono just can't keep up. The guy needs either a proper sequel, a proper remake or a release on the Wii's Virtual Console (or all three) or he's done in the same way Mega Man is. Square might not be as inept as Capcom is, but they're close. They've been unbelievably hit and miss since Final Fantasy 7, and it's been mostly miss.
FF8, FF9, FFX, FFX-2, FFTA, FFCC, KH:COM, FF4A --- all of these games either have really mixed reviews or are bad outright. KH and KH2 are excellent, but outside of that Square hasn't done much. Even in their good games (FF5A, FF12), they screw something up. It's disheartening, but it's what those idiots deserve for firing Sakaguchi over one mistake. **** Japan and their idiot business policies.
And **** Sega while I'm at it. I can't complain about Sonic winning this, as I love 2D Sonic and think he's a better character than Crono (most characters are, but that's beside the point). Not only do they constantly crap on their target audience (check out their pending lawsuit of YTMND; Sega really does think it's more important than it really is), but they constantly churn out awful games and think they're doing something good because of a few psychos in Europe. Enough is enough already; the Saturn and the Sega CD and the Dreamcast and Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Heroes and Sonic 360 and currently being Nintendo's lapdog have apparently taught those idiots nothing. Stop ruining my beloved Sonic and Tails and Knuckles, dammit. But hey, Sega being Nintendo's tool is what they deserve at the moment, but I'm totally off subject here. ****in' go Snake and Sonic! I have nothing against Mega Man and Crono (love more MM games than most, and CT owns), but the better characters certainly won. It made for an interesting setup between Snake and Sonic. On paper, anyway.
Ed Bellis' Analysis[]
Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Crono was one of the most dangerous matches to ever occur, though few even realized its true potential until it was finally unleashed upon the world. On one side of the poll, you have a character with some inspiration by the later episodes of Dragonball Z. On the other side of the poll, you have a character that could easily be from Dragonball Z...
Sonic defeated Crono by a margin of 1,940 votes (50.77% to 49.23%). What is notable about this high-profile match is that fewer than ONE IN SEVEN brackets (13.31%) selected Sonic the Hedgehog to win.
There are those who look at this match as the turning point in Crono's career. Since his game was created over 10 years ago, the silent protagonist may find it very difficult to hold a fanbase worthy of the upper tiers of the Noble Nine.
On the other hand, the match could also be looked upon as the true power of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic has only lost to four characters: Cloud Strife, Samus Aran, Mega Man, and Solid Snake. A case could easily be made for SFF in the case of Mega Man (old school).
This was also the first time that Leonhart's off-the-wall Sonic the Hedgehog related bracket upset paid off. He's not letting anyone forget it.
Match Trends[]
