Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | Division 128 |
|---|---|
| Match # | 32 |
| Match Date | Wednesday, May 5th, 2004 |
| Vote difference | 10,065 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Melee - 64.68% 67 for - 1 against |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Melee - 60.69% (24,846 brackets) |
With Vice City's impressive win against KOTOR, it was all up to SSBM to prove that it was worthy of being a 2 seed in this division. The problem here is that SSBM didn't prove itself to be a favorite in this matchup. Metal Gear Solid 2 managed to put up a crazy fight early on in this poll, and though SSBM wound up winning by 10000 votes, the damage may have already been done. SSBM's struggle in this match paired with Vice City's good performance set up an interesting second round matchup between the two games, and the hype for it started before this poll was even over.
Another interesting thing to note is how little faith the bracketmakers had in SSBM throughout this entire contest. 2 seeds simply don't have merely 60% of people pick them to win in the first round, yet that's what SSBM was facing after this matchup. If you go by the past, SSBM was in some trouble in this contest, and this poll turned Division 128 into a giant clusterfuck. Most of the games left had great chances of winning the division, and though we knew this after the first round, few of us knew just how crazy of a race it was going to be.
But I can't go through this match and speak nothing of the strength of Metal Gear Solid 2. I've always believed it to be the best game in the series. The entire game from start to finish, Raiden or not, is pure genius. Kojima was going for a genius tough on the ending to this game, and I feel that he pulled it off perfectly. Others don't agree with me, but hey, opinions are opinions. I also find it funny that Metal Gear Solid 2 wound up being stronger than Metal Gear Solid once the final extrapolated (and non-SFF) standings were released, despite all of the people who swear up and down that Metal Gear Solid 2 completely sucks.
There was also a developing pattern from SSBM that can be taken from this match. It likes to start off slow, win the day vote, and then end slowly. Not all that good when you have a 7 million copy title awaiting you in the second round. This was a very 'meh' win for SSBM. Not breathtaking, not large enough of a win against a strong title that it made the game not look as bad as some might think.
One last thing. Time and time again, people kept posting how they felt that SSBM had no chance to win this division because of SSBM's weak showing in this match, and time and time again, I kept preaching that Metal Gear Solid 2 was being vastly underestimated and that the game was far stronger than its seeding may show. These posts were of course deemed simple denial and shot down immediately.
Funny how these things work out, no?
Interesting side note: This is the match where I made some crack about how Melee was utterly destroying Metal Gear Solid 2. Thus, a fad was born. 57-43 is now considered an Ulti-Style Blowout.
Match Trends[]
