Round 1 - Bracket C - Match 1

1. Resident Evil 4

Vs.

8. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Another Gamecube showdown. Solid. Pretty different games, but if if I had to speak out about which game gives me violent tendencies, it's Mario Kart. Who cares if I emulate the violence in Resident Evil 4? I JUST GOT DRILLED BY A F***ING BLUE SHELL!!!

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Many game franchises have tried to switch gameplay drastically in order to reach a bigger market and to take their series into a more mainstream and popular approach. Some have been mentioned earlier; so let us rejoice at the choice Capcom made when they took the static camera angles from the corners of rooms or alleys or stairways or elevators or OH GOD WHAT IS THAT!?!?!? GET OFF OF ME GET OFF OF MEEEEE!!!! to the third person camera behind Leon's shoulder.

Do not get me wrong. The cameras in Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3 all worked with the mood and setting in which they all took place. RE4 wanted to get a little more intense by letting you see exactly what is in front of you and nothing of what is behind. Think for a second: whould you be more scared by a chainsaw weilding madman wearing a potato sack on his head from a top down view or from the third-person camera where you can see the hijo de perra running right at'cha ready to take off your head? Yup.

I show the Gamecube cover because that is the first one that I played and the original (and classic). I love originals. But... I also love the Wii Edition. Controls made the game soooo much more fun. Headshots like woah. And The Mercenaries minigame!? EXCELLENT! Replay value up the wall. Upgradable weapons, larger inventory space, super bad guys (like Krauser [and Wesker, but he wasn't in the main story]).

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So I took Mario Kart: Double Dash!! over Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart 64 or Mario Kart Wii because, simply, I am unbeatable in DD. That and the computer F***ing cheats in Mario Kart Wii. And DD you can pick two characters instead of one. And pick your own style of kart. That was really awesome. Nintendo really knows how to do multiplayer games. Local multiplayer games. Quit whining about the Wii's lackluster online play for SSBB, it is way more fun when you can kick someone's ass while they sit right next to you.

MKWii is also silly for not letting you play Grand Prix with two players. In DD, I could grab a friend (or actually just my sister) and she would help take out the competition so we could both have loads of fun racing while I finish at the top, take in the golds, and unlock all the characters and karts. Who wants to just play by themself to do all that? Yeah. (MKWii, you do have a sweet online mode though; very quick matches and a little more fair than the computer).

Mario Kart games are most definitely the best racing games ever. I could care less for a NASCAR race or an Indy race or an illegal street race. I want to be able to f*** up my opponents as much as possible. Plus, they have our favorite Nintendo characaters, like Koopa Trooper!!!! (that was for Ben). Yeah, you know what I mean.

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It is always tiring once I get to this point of the post. I know the outcome before the match most of the time, and this is one of those cacses. Resident Evil 4 is a top seeded game for a multitude of very good reasons. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was included to the list basically on principle.

Winner: Resident Evil 4

Round 1 - Bracket B - Match 4

2. NHL '94

Vs.

7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game

Ok, so it has been over a month since the last match up. Now I am back at school and I can fit this into a schedule of updates. With this contest, we face two notably older games. Up first is the best hockey game ever made. Following that is the greatest arcade game ever made (yep, even better than Revolution X), even though I will write about the NES version.

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NHL '94 just may be the sole reason I love hockey so much. My team? The New York Rangers. When I think of players still active today, I go back to the "golden age" of the teams that they used to be on. Jagr still in Pittsburgh. Fedorov a Red Wing. Salenne on the Jets. The Quebic Nordiques are still a team!!!

This is the game to rule all sports sims. No hockey game shall ever surpass it. Hockey videgames are easily the most entertaining to play of any sports games. Here is what is wrong with other major sports: basketball is too high-scoring, football is too strategic and streaky, baseball is paced too slow and is completely random, and soccer is too open and low-scoring. Hockey is quick paced, every goal counts, team work is a must, and it has one-timers.

With favorite in consideration, NHL '94 specifically has no bad teams, unless you count the Ottawa Senators. Terrible. The rosters are golden. The controls are tight. The games may play the same, but you cannot get sick of it. Score a hat trick and the fans throw their lids onto the ice. So what if there is no fighting in this game? When has an NHL sim had a decent fight to it? Include a fight that handles like Soul Calibur and then we'll talk.

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When I think of the best local mulitplayer video games, after Contra I immediately go to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game. Not necessarily a hack 'n slash, since you cannot really do either with a bo, psis or nunchakus (the swords you can). The first level is a great challenge in itself and so are the bosses. The NES version has more levels and content than the actual arcade version, so that is a plus. Also, you do not need to pump quarter after quarter when you die.

In short, these guys are the world's most fearsome fighting team. They're heroes in a half-shell, and they're green! I will stop the cartoon's theme song now before I get too carried away. But what better cartoon to base a video game on? They set up great characters, great villains, a simple plot (Oh no! April has been kidnapped!), and an easy premise of moving forward and killing everything that moves. Playing as Michelangelo, I can enjoy all of these.

The is probably my favorite arcade based game. Most likely because arcades are not really in existence these days and I do not play a whole bunch of arcade games. It also helps that I absolutely loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Whenever I think of which turtle I would be, ( I immediately rule out Michelangelo because I am not a party dude, and Raphael because I am weak and not hot-headed) I could be Leonardo for the leadership skills, but I would be more of a Donatello for my love of technology. That and I'm a bitch.

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So now that I have given you two reasons why I keep my NES and SNES, which of these games deserves more love from me? It is definitely NHL '94. Forget the 15 year old rosters, this game is a timeless gem. It appears on so many lists for the greatest sports games of all time, and graces the top of a bunch of these lists. Lots of love to TMNT, but it gets beat out in this match.

Winner: NHL '94