We're kicking off the Negative World March Madness: Third Party Edition, where our favorite non-Nintendo games go head to head and only one may prevail. The matchups are as follows:

(1) Chrono Trigger vs. (16) BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
(8) Tales of Symphonia vs. (9) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
(4) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney vs. (13) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
(5) Resident Evil (REmake) vs. (12) Final Fantasy IV

(2) Mega Man 2 vs. (15) Resident Evil: Revelations
(7) VVVVVV vs. (10) Street Fight II: Turbo
(3) Radiant Historia vs. (14) Super Castlevania 4
(6) Shovel Knight vs. (11) Contra III: The Alien Wars

Vote for the game that you think should win the matchup. Please vote on every matchup. Not having played a game does not disqualify you from voting. If a game has appeared on multiple platforms, use your discretion in choosing which version to consider. Please cast your votes in the following format, bolding the game that you choose to advance:

(1) Game 1 vs. (8) Game 8
(4) Game 4 vs. (5) Game 5

Polls are open until Thursday, March 19th, 2015 at 11:59 PM EST. Enjoy!

Tournament Link

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kriswright said:

Another SNES RPG that I'll never have time to play. Sorry, but I'm going to be voting against a lot of those. I'm sure they are amazing and all. Could someone produce a version I could play in like 10 hours rather than 40?

I know you were talking about Radiant Historia, but if you're looking for a good SNES RPG that won't take too long - seriously, give Chrono Trigger another shot. The first time around, the game only takes between 15 to 20 hours. And if you do the New Game+, each subsequent play through takes a significantly shorter amount of time.

And shut up, I know 15-20 are bigger numbers than 10, but at least it's less than 40. (at least most of the time. I think? I dunno, I don't do math or accounting. Or cooking. So don't ask.)

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/19/15, 18:09

Edited:

03/19/15, 18:13

@kriswright Radiant Historia isn't long! Well. It's not like one of those uber long RPGs. It hearkens back to the days when RPGs were allowed to be under 50 hours long.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/19/15, 19:02

1. (1) Chrono Trigger vs. (16) BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
2. (8) Tales of Symphonia vs. (9) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
3. (4) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney vs. (13) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
4. (5) Resident Evil (REmake) vs. (12) Final Fantasy IV

5. (2) Mega Man 2 vs. (15) Resident Evil: Revelations
6. (7) VVVVVV vs. (10) Street Fight II: Turbo
7. (3) Radiant Historia vs. (14) Super Castlevania 4
8. (6) Shovel Knight vs. (11) Contra III: The Alien Wars

1. I haven't played Runner2 yet though I did buy it in a sale, but there's little that would beat out Chrono Trigger anyway.
2. Never played that Castlevania game but I liked Tales.
3. Never played either, but there's enough Layton here already.
4. I haven't actually played Resident Evil, but did watch my brother play which was probably more entertaining anyway. Final Fantasy IV (as II on SNES) was one of our first SNES games though so I've had more fun with that one. I still need to try out one of the newer versions that I've gotten for GBA and DS.

5. Never played Revelaitons but MM 2 is a classic.
6. Never played VVVVVV and have no interest in it, but I hate fighting games so it's still the better choice.
7. Never played that Castlevania, but I have played a few hours of Radiant Historia. I forget what distracted me from it but it seemed solid and I should have continued it. I'll have to start over when I go back to it.
8. Not really a Contra fan but it's decent, never played Shovel Knight and have no interest.

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 03/19/15, 20:34

Edited:

03/19/15, 20:35

@Mop it up

If MM2 is a classic, then why no interest in Shovel Knight? Unless you're just voting on reputation, in which case why VVVVVV over SF2?

Posted by

Jargon

on: 03/19/15, 23:55

@Jargon Mega Man 2 is a classic in spite of its 8-bit, primitive hardware, it wasn't a stylistic choice. Plus, you know, nostalgia 'n stuff.

With VVVVVV vs SF II, I chose the one that seemed like it would be less miserable to play.

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 03/20/15, 00:32

@GameDadGrant 15-20 hours I can do, if the game is good. Maybe I'll play ChronoTrigger sometime before the baby graduates from high school.

Posted by

kriswright

on: 03/20/15, 01:30

Mop it up said:

With VVVVVV vs SF II, I chose the one that seemed like it would be less miserable to play.

Yeesh, and you chose VVVVVV?!? You haven't played it yet, have you? The difficulty in that game is BRUTALLY hard. Almost painfully so. At least Capcom's fighter is manageable...!

@kriswright

NOW WE'RE TALKING!

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/20/15, 02:24

Only an hour left to vote! Two less people have voted so far so if you haven't yet, come in!

Posted by

Jargon

on: 03/20/15, 04:54

Edited:

03/20/15, 04:55

@GameDadGrant VVVVVV isn't really that tough at all?! Except that one optional disk where you have to go up and come back down avoiding spikes the whole way. The rest was like average indie game hardness.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/20/15, 05:53

(1) Chrono Trigger vs. (16) BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
(8) Tales of Symphonia vs. (9) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
(4) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney vs. (13) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
(5) Resident Evil (REmake) vs. (12) Final Fantasy IV

(2) Mega Man 2 vs. (15) Resident Evil: Revelations
(7) VVVVVV vs. (10) Street Fight II: Turbo
(3) Radiant Historia vs. (14) Super Castlevania 4
(6) Shovel Knight vs. (11) Contra III: The Alien Wars

I hope I made it in time!

Posted by

ploot

on: 03/20/15, 06:12

@ploot

Sure, why not. I probably won't actually tabulate the votes for a little bit so I'll allow some run off.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 03/20/15, 06:15

Edited:

03/20/15, 06:25

@Jargon
PHEW!
This was the first time I had a chance to open the thread on my actual computer. All other posting was from my phone, and these are hard to do on an iPhone.

Also, I learned that I need to play Radiant Historia. I'm going to check out ebay.

Posted by

ploot

on: 03/20/15, 06:20

@Zero

It's not bad compared to a lot of other 2D platformers or indie games. The only part I got stuck on that wasn't optional was when you had to guide that guy who copies your moves. Most deaths come from the player's own impatience or poor judgement, but you're able to quickly try again after you die, so it isn't rough.

Posted by

Hero_Of_Hyrule

on: 03/20/15, 06:45

@Zero

I barely made it into the adventure before I was dying left and right. Not fun.

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/20/15, 23:35

@GameDadGrant

But there are checkpoints-a-plenty™ throughout the game, so the dying didn't bother me. But I can see why it might turn some people off.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 03/20/15, 23:44

@kriswright Wow that is one smart baby.

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 03/21/15, 00:23

@Mop it up

Her first word was Cesium.

Been teaching her the periodic table.

Posted by

kriswright

on: 03/21/15, 01:18