The Final: (13)The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past v (14)Mario Kart 64

[Lee]

A grand total of 2765 votes have so far been cast in this tournament. I've enjoyed it whether it was Sonic 2 almost beating Pokemon Gold and Silver accross to Treasure Island Dizzy actually making the tournament or even Metal Gear Solid 3 beating Final Fantasy VII.

We're here though, two very different games face off in this final where rules are slightly different to the rest of the tournament.

1) There will be no poll, votes will only be accepted with a non spam post. In order to have your vote counted it MUST have Vote: *Game title* in bold. You can only vote once and must follow that pattern. Just putting the game name in bold won't do.

2) If a post is classed as spam your vote will not be counted as will troll posts.

3) If you get banned or imprisoned your vote will not count.

4) Flaming will also result in your vote being unaccounted for.

5) The deadline is Wednesday 20th July at 10pm British Summer Time which is 5pm EST.

6) In the event of a draw the organisers of the tournament will pick the winner.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

This one for me is actually difficult, but it only became difficult earlier on today. Having not really ever played ALTTP, I wasn't ever sure about it. However, after watching Lee play it earlier on, I definitely started developing a soft spot for it and it's definitely a game I will now go out of my way to play. I've watched videos on it and the like, so it's now something I'm rather familiar with, compared to previous.
However, I absolutely love Mario Kart 64. I've played that game endless amounts of times and I always have loved every Mario Game, whereas I've never really associated myself with the Zelda Series.

Lee, you did attempt to make this a very difficult decision for me, that's for sure, but out of what I believe I think is the better game, when it comes to entertainment value, gameplay etc, then it's going to have to be Vote: Mario Kart 64.

(Hate me if you wanna, but I will now go out of my way to play ALTTP.)

 

[klunderbunker]

I have to go with Zelda here.

Link to the Past is a pretty epic game all in all. You have a huge story, about 13 or so dungeons that are all big and take time to navigate, a ton of weapons and abilities to gather, some solid mini games and side quests such as gathering heart pieces, and a huge map screen to explore in both versions of the world.

I recently played through this game and there was stuff I had never found or seen before. I've played this game on and off for almost 20 years and it still holds up incredibly well today. Zelda is the workhorse of Nintendo, having all of the games be huge adventures that are somehow even better than the last one. Link to the Past started this tradition and is still an amazingly fun and challenging game today.

Mario Kart 64 is a very fun game, but the appeal becomes limited after awhile. At the end of the day, it's a racing game. There are hundreds if not thousands of racing games that have been made and while Mario Kart 64 is one of the best, it's one of many. Link to the Past has many imitators and similar games, but none are nearly as polished, well put together or stylish as it is.

Finally, we need to look at the ages. Link to the Past was originally released in 1991 (in Japan). Think about that for a minute. The game is gorgeous, challenging, well thought out, intricate, huge and has a ton of replay value. This was back in 1991, when a lot of us were very young or not even born yet. Mario Kart 64 came out in 1996 (again in Japan). It was on the N64, a far more powerful engine and with more space on the console to make a good game. In short, given what they had to work with, Link to the Past is an absolute masterpiece. Mario Kart is great, but not a masterpiece.

Vote: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

How funny is it that this is one of the easier choices I've had to make throughout this tournament. Like, I remember going onto MSN and screaming at Lee for pulling out all the stops in the first couple of rounds in the tournament. I didn't even vote on some of them because I was so stumped. But now we're in the final round, and let me be honest for a second here. I didn't even have to think about this one. I mean, the only reason I'm writing this much is because I have to, because it's really self explanatory.

First, I'll compare these games to their respective franchises, and I won't even take long doing it. ALTTP is a game that, to this day, still competes with the best of the rest of the Zelda franchise, while, in my honest opinion, every single Mario Kart game that succeeded Mario Kart 64 was better. Even the DS remake was better than the original 64. The franchise was one that kept getting better and better, expanding on an extremely simple premise. Go-kart racing. You can't really fuck that up.

But what I'm really here to do is compare two games that have almost nothing to do with each other. They're not the same style of game, not the same genre, not the same kind of graphics, not even in the same generation of consoles.

Mario Kart 64 was absolutely a game you could just pick up and play. It was easy, it was fun, and it was a must-own for everyone who owned a Nintendo 64. The multiplayer was fantastic as well. Almost as great a party game as any of the Mario Party games. But there wasn't really any depth to it. What you saw as soon as you picked up the controller, is what you get.

Don't get me wrong, what you saw was a huge explosion of colors, intense racing, and general awesomeness, and that's honestly what the game was supposed to be, but because of that, there was nothing to really immerse yourself in.

The immersion is why I'll have a much better time with ANY Zelda game over ANY Mario game.

I think Mario Kart was more of a short-term experience game, while I can still play ALTTP and enjoy it to this day. I just can't say the same for Mario Kart. I've done everything there is to be done in that game the first time I played it, and there's no story to go back and enjoy.

ALTTP was a massive game that started a movement throughout its entire franchise, with fans arguing to this day about the storyline and the heaps upon heaps of unanswered questions, that only adds to the replay value of every single Zelda game.

My final thought is this: I can go back and play ALTTP right now and have an amazing experience with the game, while I know I can play any Mario Kart game succeeding 64, knowing I will have a better experience with it. I'm surprised MK64 even made it this far, tbqh

Vote: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

 

[.]

I have to vote for a Link to the Past here. Earlier this year at Lee's recommendation, I got an emulator and played a ROM of LttP. This game is very good. I thought it was going to be stupid but it has a lot of action and you don't know what will happen in like other games. The real masterpiece that Ocarina(Which I never got into) was built from is A Link to the Past. The games design, gameplay, art design, quest design, dungeon layout, themes, items, pacing, and story all were set out here that Ocarina and the later Zelda titles would follow. When I finished this game, I felt as if I had finished a great quest, an epic journey. There have been few games that brought this level and feeling of satisfaction. But this game is not a masterpiece because I enjoyed it as a child(Because I didn't), Zelda: A Link to the Past is one of the best crafted and designed action/adventure video games of all time with or without nostalgia.

From finding all the unique items to helping a boy stuck between the worlds to rescuing all the maidens to finding out who is behind everything, the game has tons of adventure to spare. This is simply one of the must-haves for the GBA & something every gamer should play despite whether or not it has good graphics.

Vote: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

 

[JGlass]

My vote goes to Mario Kart. Why? Because of a variety of things. I like the familiarity of Mario and friends, I like the huge variety of levels you have to choose from, each of which has it's own unique feel, I like the racing game with the twist of funny powerups that you can use to both improve your driving or (more likely) sabotage your opponent's, I like the graphics which seemed ahead of their time when the game came out, and I love the fact that it is without a doubt the most successful party game I have ever laid my hands on.

It's not that I don't like Zelda, I just like Mario Kart 64 better.

Vote: Mario Kart 64

 

[¡Roján!]

I, personally, have a much stronger liking to the Mario franchise compared to the Zelda franchise. So, my vote goes to: Mario Kart 64

When I was growing up, one of the things that made me so happy about finishing school for the holidays was that I got to play on Mario. Me and my sister would spend hours on end playing on the 64 trying to get better scores than the last time.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Zelda franchise, it's great. I, also, have fond memories of it but, as JGlass mentioned before, it is the familiarity of the Mario franchise that stole the vote. The music, the characters and the ability to just pick-up and play that all the Mario games have make them so unforgettable and probably my second favourite franchise of all time.

 

[Sinister Shadows]

Vote: Zelda: A Link to the Past

This choice wasn't even close to me, I still play this game to this day, I've beaten it at least 20 times, I've owned it in every incarnation it's had, hell I even bought a handheld just because it was remade for it. I remember spending hours exploring the dungeons to find every secret they had, even as something as a small rupee bonus.

For it's time, the game looks great, it has aged graphicaly much better than all other super nes games in my opinion. The controls for this game was as basic as possible, making for easy to learn how to control Link within a few minutes.

Mario Kart was fun, for a little bit. It was worth a play through to me, but it was never worth even purchasing to me, and even with friends, it had limited appeal to my circle of friends/family. You was much more likely to hear us discussing hidden things we found in the latest Zelda game.

 

[Gelgarin]

Mario is the better worker, it's just that simple.

Link spends forever transitioning between spots. Sure, his offence might be more impressive in an overly showy indy fashion, but there's no pacing or psychology behind any of the build up. How many times have we seen Link start building his offence against an opponent, only to transition into his Kakariko Village routine. We get it Link, you like chasing cuckoos, but that's not what we're paying to watch.

Even when Link is on offence he shows a complete lack of psychology. Why does is sink in water without flippers? When he falls down a hole why does he magically appear back outside it again? When Mario falls off the track he has Lakitu come and pick him up. That is fucking elementary gaming psychology, something that Link has absolutely no grasp of.

Mario is a better draw. He's drawn more money than Link, he's drawn it for longer and he's drawn it more often. Last I checked the purpose of a video game was to make money, and Mario has done that better than Link.

Mario is more versatile; you name a style and Mario can work it. Racing, battle, multiplayer Mario can work them all. Link is a one trick pony, he can swing a sword that that's it. Historically whenever he's tried his hand at something different like side scrolling or crossbow training it's been a fucking disaster. Face it, Link is like Ric Flair, he's just worked the same match from 1986 over and over again for twenty years.
Same goes for location; Mario can perform in countless environments, big or small. He can work just as good a match on a beach as he can on a frozen tundra. Compare that to Link, who's been working in only one environment his entire career. Link may well be the least versatile veteran in gaming history.

So Mario is the better known worker, the more successful worker, the more versatile worker, can work at a faster pace with better use of logic and appeals to a wider demographic. Mario is simply superior.

Vote: Mario Cart 64

 

[Lee]

Mario is the better worker, it's just that simple.

Aww here it goes.

Link spends forever transitioning between spots. Sure, his offence might be more impressive in an overly showy indy fashion, but there's no pacing or psychology behind any of the build up. How many times have we seen Link start building his offence against an opponent, only to transition into his Kakariko Village routine. We get it Link, you like chasing cuckoos, but that's not what we're paying to watch.

Even when Link is on offence he shows a complete lack of psychology. Why does is sink in water without flippers? When he falls down a hole why does he magically appear back outside it again? When Mario falls off the track he has Lakitu come and pick him up. That is fucking elementary gaming psychology, something that Link has absolutely no grasp of.

So take away the attempt at humour your argument is:
You can get side tracked in LTTP
Link sinks without flippers
The outside hole thing.

So a lack of physics? Like when in Mario Kart you're in space and yet somehow can stay attatched to a track which is a rainbow. That's a rainbow in space where there is no rain. Elementary my dear Gelgarin.

Mario is a better draw.He's drawn more money than Link, he's drawn it for longer and he's drawn it more often.

The match is MK64 v LTTP NOT Mario v Link.

Mario is more versatile; you name a style and Mario can work it. Racing, battle, multiplayer Mario can work them all. Link is a one trick pony, he can swing a sword that that's it. Historically whenever he's tried his hand at something different like side scrolling or crossbow training it's been a fucking disaster.

As I said before the match is MK64 v LTTP NOT Mario v Link.

Same goes for location; Mario can perform in countless environments, big or small. He can work just as good a match on a beach as he can on a frozen tundra. Compare that to Link, who's been working in only one environment his entire career. Link may well be the least versatile veteran in gaming history.

Again missing the point of the match here but LTTP has a huge varied landscape, heck you even become a bunny for goodness sake!

So Mario is the better known worker, the more successful worker, the more versatile worker, can work at a faster pace with better use of logic and appeals to a wider demographic. Mario is simply superior.

Not in these two games, Mario can drive a kart and that's it. Link can swim, run, fly on a bird, become a rabbit...you get my point.

Vote: Mario Cart 64

KART with a K.

The ability to just pick-up and play

Whilst I agree with the first part of your post the second part is about the franchise so I'll humour you. Earlier on I did an LP for LTTP I did it for about an hour and did two dungeons. You're in the castle within five minutes and are thrown into the story from the bat using a very familiar button scheme. What's easier to pick up, that or MK64? Whilst MK64 the game takes nothing to get into it does take a long time to get used to the monstrosity of the pad, you have to remember that. Most people don't.

I like the huge variety of levels you have to choose from, each of which has it's own unique feel

This I love about MK64 whether it's Luigi's raceway to Yoshi's Circuit. LTTP has variety too but MK64 has a bigger range.

I like the racing game with the twist of funny powerups that you can use to both improve your driving or (more likely) sabotage your opponent's

This is what makes MK64 so great, there's no better feeling than a lightning bolt on Wario Stadium.

I like the graphics which seemed ahead of their time when the game came out

But very dated by todays standards, as KB noted before LTTP hasn't dated visually in 20 years. MK64 had within five years of release.

I've said it many times throughout the years but this game is pretty much perfect in my eyes, there are certain things where you just have to suspend your belief to make it more fun. MK64 has Super Mario Kart before it needing not much improvement, LTTP had Zelda II needing a complete overhaul.

At the end of the day it comes down to story, and LTTP has that which MK doesn't. LTTP is more fun to play by yourself, MK64 is good for a few beers and some good mates. LTTP had most of the elements found in OOT which in turn destroyed MK64 on the N64 in every area possible. A 16 bit OOT without Navi? Bliss.

I love MK64, it's a truly great game and one of the best MK games in the series, contrary to what other people have said but to me LTTP is the best game ever.

Vote: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

 

[Vega]

Vote: Mario Kart 64

I've played both games as a child, and I simply had more fun with Mario Kart 64. I have fond memories of the hours I spent with friends in the game store and later, when I finally got my N64, at home. The battle modus entertained me / us for years and the courses were all unique and had character. Basically the only racing game I had fun with, and Zelda was just another good RPG to me. I liked it, but there's not a lot which I still remember to this day. It felt a little bit repetitive to me.

 

[Serious Jones]

I don’t hate you, Mario Kart. I don’t even dislike you. I do like you. I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most games in the store.

I hate this idea that you’re the best. Because you’re not. Majora's Mask is the best. Majora's Mask the best in the world. There’s one thing that Mario Kart is better at than it is and that’s kissing casual gamers' asses.

You’re as good as kissing casual gamers' asses as Tetris was. I don’t know if you’re as good as Sonic though. He’s a pretty good ass kisser. Always was and still is.

Whoops! I'm breaking the fourth wall! (waves to the camera)

Majora's Mask is the best game in the world.

It's grabbed so many of Lee’s brass rings that it's finally dawned on me that they're just that, they’re completely imaginary. The only thing that’s real is Majora's Mask and the fact that day in and day out, for over 10 years, it has proven to everybody in the world that it is the best in dialogue, in gameplay, even in storylines! Nothing can touch it!

This isn’t sour grapes. But the fact that Mario Kart is in the main event of this tournament and Majora's Mask isn't makes me sick!

It should be leaving the winner of this tournament on July 20th. And hell, who knows, maybe it would've defended it in wrestlingclique. Maybe…it would've gone back to WWE Universe Forums!

(looks at the camera and waves)

Hey, Corey Clayton, how you doing?

The reason Majora's Mask lost is you people. Because after I’m gone, you’re still going to pour votes into this tournament. Majora's Mask was just a spoke on the wheel. The wheel is going to keep turning and I understand that. Lee is going to get votes despite himself. He's got 2,765 votes when he should have 27,650. You know why he doesn't? Because he surrounds himself with glad-handed, non-sensical yes men, like The Doctor, who’re going to tell him everything he wants to hear, and I’d like to think that maybe this forum will better after Lee is retired. But the fact is, it’s going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.

Let me tell you a personal story about Lee, alright? We do this whole Be Nice To Sully campai

This post has been edited by a moderator.

Spoiler

Real answer: Mario Kart is really just a fun racing game for casual gamers whereas A Link To The Past is a fully-fleshed out video game. There's an assumption that the winner of the tournament is one of the best video games and Mario Kart is just not. It's fun and iconic and was a big part of a lot of our childhoods, but it's no masterpiece. It's been replicated and improved upon numerous times, it's very hit-miss in terms of level design, and hasn't aged nearly as well as LTTP, among other reasons. Vote: The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

 

[Fizzy]

Mario Kart is getting my vote despite my love for ALTTP. I'm not going to make a long scrutinizing post dissecting each game and what I like and dislike about each game, nor am I going to give an incredibly detailed response as to why I voted for Mario Kart. The reason it gets my vote is because I have so much fun when I play it. Whether it's with multiple people or just myself, I always work up a laugh when I play. ALTTP is a fantastic game and one of the best in the series, but very few games give me the sheer enjoyment that Mario Kart does. That is why Mario Kart gets my vote.

 

[The Doctor]

First, hats off to Serious Jones for that brilliant piece of work.

Now, what can I say about either game that hasn't been said? Mario Kart 64 was a fun game. I know I played it a lot as a child. I played it alone, I played it with friends, I played it before school at the youth center I went to every week. I played it at a friend's house and accidentally erased my brother's completed save data. However, just because I played it a lot doesn't mean it's worthy of being the best game of all time.

There are plenty of multiplayer games I would choose over Mario Kart 64 if given the choice. Gunstar Heroes, for example. Streets of Rage 2. Duke Nukem 3D. Super Smash Bros. Melee. These are just off the top of my head. Mario Kart 64 was fun for the time, but recent games in the series have surpassed it - I would take Mario Kart DS's more interesting courses, secret karts and characters, better graphics, and online play any day over Mario Kart 64.

Mario Kart 64's sprite+polygon mix style did not age particularly well. Look at the game now, instead of through nostalgia goggles - The characters and props on the stage and very blurry, and the terrain is rarely particularly interesting, with flat textures and uninteresting backgrounds. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule (Royal Raceway, for example, has the pretty cool easter egg of letting you go up to Peach's Castle) but many of the levels like Mario Circuit and Luigi Raceway are simply uninteresting filler tracks.

Link to The Past, on the other hand, has a populated world map, graphics that look great even today with their cartoony style, is rich in detail and longevity with its massive world map, NPCs, towns, and of course the dungeons of the Light and Dark Worlds. It has places to explore, where Mario Kart has very few characters for a racer and no unlockables to speak of save for Mirror Mode - thrilling.

One argument I've seen made again and again is that Mario Kart 64 is a pick-up-and-play game. If you've played LTTP longer than ten seconds, you'd know that it too is the same thing. As soon as you start a new game you are out exploring a castle with your sword, slicing up guards and exploring dungeons. It is pure action from the word go, so don't give me any crap about it being slow paced or having no action.

Look, LTTP has better graphics, a bigger amount of stuff to find, and has a story and a world to explore to boot. It's also action-packed and damn fun. The only thing it doesn't have is multiplayer, and is that really something that would make you vote against it? Don't get me wrong, Mario Kart 64 was a fun game, but it's been surpassed so much by later games in the series and just doesn't hold up well.

Vote: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past.

 

[The Underking]

These are two great games. Honestly though I've never gotten into Link and I stopped playing LTTP in Two Days. Mario Kart 64 was the first video game I ever played seriously and what did I do just yesterday. I played it with my freinds and the game is still as awesome as it has ever been. Vote: Mario Kart

 

[Mac Attack]

Vote:Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart is now leading 8-7
​

A Link to the Past is not the best Zelda game. it is not even in my top 5 Zelda games. It lacks in visual represenation of the events that are occuring and overall takes away the experience. A Link to The Past has been utterly forgotten by a good portion of the world. You don't hear people bring back its fame or lack of fame. A Link to The Past doesn't have that nostalgic effect and that is its downfall.

Nobody can tell me without lying that that A Link to the Past has overall better qualities then the modern games today. Hell for that matter most of the games in this tournament only got votes for due to nostalgia. This isn't a true video game tournament this is another nostalgia tournament so get through everyone's head while voting.

Mario Kart has become a game that throughout the years has simply been adapted and made to look better, where you could not FIND A Link to the Past anymore. I'm nearly positive that I could find Mario Kart 64. Mario Kart overall has left a better impression on the gaming universe and for that reason deserves to go over as the better game.

Don't get suckered into voting for A Link to the Past due to nostalgia but instead look to Mario Kart has the overall better game. Realize that it topples a Link to the Past in playability, accessability, graphics, you name it.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

It lacks in visual represenation of the events that are occuring and overall takes away the experience.

It's a... Super Nintendo game.

A Link to The Past has been utterly forgotten by a good portion of the world.

Then you just don't interact with other gamers, because that's the most incorrect thing I've heard in this tournament so far, and I've had to read Dagger's stuff. ALTTP is one of the most memorable games of the franchise, having something like three remakes, and even more ports onto various systems. It's the game that got a majority of Zelda fans into Zelda.

You don't hear people bring back its fame or lack of fame. A Link to The Past doesn't have that nostalgic effect and that is its downfall.

It doesn't have a nostalgic effect? According to who?

Nobody can tell me without lying that that A Link to the Past has overall better qualities then the modern games today.

I would rather play LTTP than most modern games out today. Fuck, I could barely play that shitty game inFamous, yet I can sit here and play ALTTP multiple times without getting tired of it, and I'm damn sure not the only one who thinks that.

Hell for that matter most of the games in this tournament only got votes for due to nostalgia. This isn't a true video game tournament this is another nostalgia tournament so get through everyone's head while voting.

You just said LTTP doesn't have a "nostalgic" effect, but now you're saying everyone's voting with nostalgia. Are you proofreading your posts?

Mario Kart has become a game that throughout the years has simply been adapted and made to look better

But we're not talking about its sequels or updates. We're talking about Mario Kart 64.

where you could not FIND A Link to the Past anymore.

I can find LTTP just as easily as I can find MK64.

But for the sake of the argument... considering LTTP is on a console that's almost four generations old, I'm not surprised at the fact that you can't find LTTP anymore.

Don't get suckered into voting for A Link to the Past due to nostalgia but instead look to Mario Kart has the overall better game. Realize that it topples a Link to the Past in playability, accessability, graphics, you name it.

If you find LTTP unplayable or inaccessible, then you are the problem, not the game. Also, lol @ you for comparing the graphics. Seriously. You can't be anymore stupid.

 

[Derf]

I'm voting for Mario Kart 64.

Right off the bat, I don't believe EITHER of these games should be considered the Greatest Video Game Ever. But between the two, it's easily Mario Kart 64.

I got shit on for voting against LTTP recently because I posted that I didn't play it. I DID play it, and I didn't get into it. As is the case with most people, if you don't enjoy a game you won't keep playing it.

Also, while I may not have played much of LTTP, who HASN'T played Mario Kart 64? Anyone that has ever spent any amount of time playing video games has played MK64. It's simple, yet extremely fun. Anyone can master it, even the most inexperienced gamer. It's a game I've enjoyed playing with friends over the years. It's a game I enjoyed playing the very first time I played it. And it's a game I will likely be playing again in the future.

 

[Mac Attack]

I'm voting for Mario Kart 64.

Right off the bat, I don't believe EITHER of these games should be considered the Greatest Video Game Ever. But between the two, it's easily Mario Kart 64.

I got shit on for voting against LTTP recently because I posted that I didn't play it. I DID play it, and I didn't get into it. As is the case with most people, if you don't enjoy a game you won't keep playing it.

I say amen to you.

These games aren't the best games ever made that is absolutely ludicrous to say. I don't care if people say they won their match-ups this entire tournament is based on so many biases that it doesn't make any sense as to why we even have it.

Of course people are going to vote for the game they enjoyed playing the best and there isn't a problem with that but in a fair this shouldn't be what gets your vote. It should something based on the aspects of the game not this Nostalgia people feel towards the game. Fuck even Lee said in a previous post don't vote based on nostalgia and the majority of you are shitting on anyone who repeats this. You'll blast anyone who isn't someone for repeating this.

If you truly compare the games Mario Kart is better in the individual aspects of the game. Nostalgia effects is to each their own but as a game itself it is so much better.

Red Rep Me I don't care I speak the truth and won't comform to this idea that this tournament should be based on Nostalgia.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Lee has already explained one of the prime reasons for which I will be voting for ALTTP in the finals. ALTTP basically overcame one of the shoddiest games that have ever been made in the form of The Adventure of The Link and made Zelda into this chartbusting franchise that we know today. Mario Kart had SMK before it and it was a pretty good game and so I believe that ALTTP is much more important to its own series than MK64.

The second point I want to mention is this. Mario Kart might be the game that everyone has played but it is also the game that no one ever plays. It isn't a game that you really immerse yourself into. You bring it out on special occasions to have a blast with your friends. But would you play it like ALTTP which has the capability of sucking you into it in such a way that you cannot put the controller down till you have finished your quest. MK64 might have sold more but I doubt if it has been played more than ALTTP.

To follow up on what Derf said, niether game may scream "Best Video Game of All time". But unlike him, I'd vote for a game that is deeper, more challenging and a more satisfying experience overall than a game with just a few remarkable features that I can master in an hour or two and enjoy only on few and far between occasions.

My Vote- LOZ: A Link To The Past.

 

[The Doctor]

These games aren't the best games ever made that is absolutely ludicrous to say. I don't care if people say they won their match-ups this entire tournament is based on so many biases that it doesn't make any sense as to why we even have it.

Of course people are going to vote for the game they enjoyed playing the best and there isn't a problem with that but in a fair this shouldn't be what gets your vote. It should something based on the aspects of the game not this Nostalgia people feel towards the game. Fuck even Lee said in a previous post don't vote based on nostalgia and the majority of you are shitting on anyone who repeats this. You'll blast anyone who isn't someone for repeating this.

If you truly compare the games Mario Kart is better in the individual aspects of the game. Nostalgia effects is to each their own but as a game itself it is so much better.

Red Rep Me I don't care I speak the truth and won't comform to this idea that this tournament should be based on Nostalgia.

Are you a 12 year old? Because you type like one.

Look, you can't say that this tournament shouldn't be based on nostalgia in a matchup between a Super Nintendo game and a Nintendo 64 game. Both systems are several generations old and are good games. If you think people are voting LTTP because of nostalgia, and the people who are voting MK64 are not, you're mental.

Play Mario Kart 64 again some time, people. I did, so I could accurately vote, and what I found was a game with poor AI, bland course design with the exception of some very memorable ones, a terrible drifting system, and an item-giving algorithm that's deeply flawed. I was in second place and they gave me a lightning bolt! The game's fun and all, but it's been surpassed so much by Mario Kart DS, or Mario Kart Double Dash. I'll take Double Dash's interesting Luigi Raceway any day over Mario Kart 64's flat, looping track, or MKDS' Yoshi Falls over pretty much any of the filler Mario Kart 64 courses.

A Link To The Past has not aged nearly as poorly as Mario Kart 64. The graphics, level design, and gameplay are as fresh as they ever were. It's deeper, more complex yet easy to pick up, and is just better all around.

Let me get one thing straight - I played Mario Kart 64 a ton when I was a kid. I first played and beat LTTP three years ago. So don't you dare accuse me of voting for nostalgia. I'm voting for the better game.

 

[Lee]

A Link to the Past is not the best Zelda game. it is not even in my top 5 Zelda games. It lacks in visual represenation of the events that are occuring and overall takes away the experience.

It really doesn't, it's visually superior to MK64 and I'll stand by that. Play both right now, which one looks like crap. Exactly.

A Link to The Past has been utterly forgotten by a good portion of the world. You don't hear people bring back its fame or lack of fame. A Link to The Past doesn't have that nostalgic effect and that is its downfall.

Funny that:

. It should something based on the aspects of the game not this Nostalgia people feel towards the game.

A bit hypocritical?

Nobody can tell me without lying that that A Link to the Past has overall better qualities then the modern games today. Hell for that matter most of the games in this tournament only got votes for due to nostalgia. This isn't a true video game tournament this is another nostalgia tournament so get through everyone's head while voting.

You're quite bitter about this nostalgia thing. ALTTP does have betetr qualities than a lot of modern games today and definitely more so than MK64 which is what we're voting: LTTP v MK64.

Mario Kart has become a game that throughout the years has simply been adapted and made to look better, where you could not FIND A Link to the Past anymore.

If you're saying what I think you're saying in that MK64 has been adapted and changed to be better such as MKDD, MKDS, MKGBA and MKWii but then you claim LTTP you won't find, despite the fact that OOT is essentially the same game with upgraded graphics and a few extra elements.

Mario Kart overall has left a better impression on the gaming universe and for that reason deserves to go over as the better game.

Really? MK64 average review: 84-87% LTTP average review: 92-95%

Don't get suckered into voting for A Link to the Past due to nostalgia but instead look to Mario Kart has the overall better game.

But you said earlier it had no nostalgia. If people wanted nostalgia SMB3 would have won the full tournament.

Realize that it topples a Link to the Past in playability, accessability, graphics, you name it.

Playability is very subjective here.
Accessibility is a lie, most people hate the N64 pad and with LTTP you're in the game within two minutes fighting soldiers.
Graphics: If you look at MK64 it looks horrible, blurred textures and has not aged well at all. It looked good at the time, but looks like shit now.
You name it: Story? A key element in video games.

As I've said before MK64 is a great game, tons of fun but some of the things being said about LTTP are just a pile of lies.

There's people like FIzzy who have played the game this week and made a decision based on that, he enjoys MK64 more right now. Then you have people like Doc who came the other way. I'd gladly play both right now. Don't accuse peopel of nostalgia when it involves an N64 game, that's just silly.

 

[Sean Valjean]

A Link to the Past is not the best Zelda game. it is not even in my top 5 Zelda games. It lacks in visual represenation of the events that are occuring and overall takes away the experience.

What are you even trying to say here? The visuals are so bad that you can't tell what's happening in the story? Never mind that there's dialogue via text boxes, it's pretty easy to tell that you're traveling between a light and dark world and that Ganon's a boar monster. Jesus, you act as if it's a Commodore 64 game.

A Link to The Past has been utterly forgotten by a good portion of the world. You don't hear people bring back its fame or lack of fame. A Link to The Past doesn't have that nostalgic effect and that is its downfall

.

Which is why the game has been constantly praised, referenced, copied, parodied, etc. That must also be the reason it's usually towards the top of many "Best Of" lists form both fans and critics alike. Pretty good for such an "obscure" and "forgotten" game.

It's also funny how you you claim it has no nostalgic effect when it game out an entire generation before MK 64. I'd love to hear your reasoning on that one.

Nobody can tell me without lying that that A Link to the Past has overall better qualities then the modern games today. Hell for that matter most of the games in this tournament only got votes for due to nostalgia. This isn't a true video game tournament this is another nostalgia tournament so get through everyone's head while voting.

Storytelling? Yes, it does that a hell of a lot better than many of the games today in both style and substance. Level design? Just as brilliant then as it is now. Gameplay? Easy enough for anyone to pick up and play, from combat to item management. As far as the voting goes, voters can vote on any criteria they wish so if they want to go purely on nostalgia, they may do so.

Mario Kart has become a game that throughout the years has simply been adapted and made to look better...,

And so has Zelda. And Metroid. And Metal Gear. And most games in a long-running series, so your point?

...where you could not FIND A Link to the Past anymore. I'm nearly positive that I could find Mario Kart 64.

I found ALTTP in the same place I located MK64: The Wii's Virtual Console. Well that wasn't too difficult. Not to mention that ALTTP was re-released on the GBA. So if my math is right, ALTTP is available one more place than MK64 is, which would make it the easier game to find. Well I'll be damned.

Mario Kart overall has left a better impression on the gaming universe and for that reason deserves to go over as the better game.

Considering that Super Mario Kart started the series and invented kart racer in general, I'd say that game left a bigger mark than MK64 ever did.

Don't get suckered into voting for A Link to the Past due to nostalgia but instead look to Mario Kart has the overall better game. Realize that it topples a Link to the Past in playability, accessability, graphics, you name it.

Because Mario Kart 64 is such a modern game

I'm not hating on Mario Kart. It was a great game, and I have many fond memories of it. But it is not the better than A Link to the Past.

Playability: Both are easy to play, but the Mario Kart 64 can be pretty imbalanced from annoying catch-up AI to some questionable track design.

Accessibility: They're about even really.

Graphics: The clean, crisp visuals of ALTTP or Mario Kart's rough, jaggy 3D models and muddled textures that only a nostalgic mother can love? Yeah, I'll take Zelda. If you really think otherwise you're either blind or believe 3D automatically means better because most games from the N64/PS era have aged horribly. Many SNES games, haven't aged a day.

Vote: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

 

[Gabriiel07]

Wow, it's hard to believe, for me, that Mario Kart 64 made it to the finals and it's even doing pretty good. Now, let's see, which game is better.

I played both games when I was a kid, and I enjoyed them. But to be honest, I prefer LTTP over Mario Kart, because of the gameplay. And lets be honest, Mario Kart is only fun, in my opinion, in multiplayer, the single player just didn't do it for me.
I had lots of fun with Mario Kart with my friends, but when my friends return home, Mario Kart wasn't the same. So when my friends were gone, I played Legend of Zelda, a game with a great story, gameplay and legacy.

My vote goes to A Link to the Past

 

[Ty Burna]

This is easy, LTTP is still one of my favorite games of all time, while MK64 was basically something to kill an hour with friends before we got bored and did something else. Since I've never been much into multiplayer games (aside from the Smash Bros. series), LTTP means far more to me as a gamer then MK64 ever will.

Furthering on the initial statement, I still see people who have never played LTTP and those that have purchasing it for the Wii. For instance my father who's nowhere near a gamer bough it just so he could play it all over again. I think that speaks volumes when a game can suck in someone that otherwise never plays video games at all. The other side of the coin is my wife's younger cousin is a gamer, however he wasn't around for the NES and SNES generations. You can look at his catalog of games and it's mostly FPS and your typical action games for his 360. Yet while we were visiting, he started up the Wii and low and behold he was playing LTTP. Hell I go back and play LTTP on a regular basis, and I've completed the game more times than I can remember. The appeal is there for every generation, even bringing non gamers into the fray. That has pretty much been unheard of in that time, while nowadays it's your casual games like Farmville and Bejeweled that are credited for bringing in nongamers (whether you want to count them as true "gamers" or not is irrelevant, the fact they are playing a simple video game is what counts).

MarioKart 64 meanwhile is a solid party game. It's a fun racer with some interesting battle modes included. However, party games have never held a certain longevity that single player games can. I'll try to refrain from going off on a tangent in that regard, but let's compare a game that is usually played for an hour and then set aside until the next time you have enough people to play it again, with a game that you can easily spend a few hours straight playing. If a game can keep me captivated for multiple hours, that's a sign of an excellent game. MK64 could never do that for me. Only one racing game ever held my interest that long and that was Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition. Not so much for the racing, but for deep car designing they included in the game.

Note: What I refer to as a party game is not necessarily limited to Mario Party type games, I refer to party games as any game that requires multiplayer with people on the same console, ala it's not worth playing unless you have 3 friends at your house. Obviously games like Halo or Gears of War do not fit this description.

Breaking everything down into categories now:

Storyline: MK64 has none, LTTP has one of the more well known stories in video game history.

Gameplay: Kart racing compared to the outstanding action centered gameplay later Zelda games based themselves on. Multiple puzzles, deep dungeon navigation and level design, not to mention a game that gives you an epic feeling of accomplishment once you complete it.

Graphics: MK64 was not the prettiest N64 game, not by a long shot. LTTP was one of the more visually pleasing games for the SNES. Considering the hardware difference between the two, I still think LTTP is the better looking.

Re Playability: This is where MK64 could be better, simply due to the nature of the game. There is no real end game for MK64, while LTTP does not provide a New Game+ mode. However that being said you often hear many people say they have played LTTP over and over again, me being one of them. MK64 should get the not on this regard, again simply due to the nature of the games in question.

Impact: It's been said before, but if LTTP had tanked, there would be no Zelda games. And for the Zelda haters, that would have been great for them (seriously, why do you have to "hate" a certain video game series? If you don't like the game, then let it be as that. I don't like the Halo series anymore, so I don't play any of the games). Whether you like the Zelda games or not, you have to agree that it has become one of the most iconic video game series ever, right on par with Mario, Final Fantasy, etc. LTTP transformed the Zelda series into a video game juggernaut and one of the most important franchises in the video game world to this day. MK64, well it has helped spawn multiple new MarioKart video games that expanded on the original, but did it continue a legacy of a beloved character like LTTP did? Without the success of LTTP there would be no Link, no Zelda, and we would have been devoid of games such as Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, the list goes on. An entire series of excellent games hinged on LTTP in retrospect, I don't remember the pressure ever being on MK64 in such a fashion.

Vote: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past