Germany, as a nation, beats at the heart of Europe; politically, economically, industrially and Mega Drive Championshipperially. For the first time in 2012, the nations aspiring champions assembled at the HomeCon retrogaming convention in Hanau-Großauheim, for the centrepiece event: the Sixth Mega Drive Championship. A total of twenty-one contenders, a new German record, picked up their controllers and did battle across six-genres of game. Twenty would be losers, but one would be triumphant and top the table to be crowned the Mega Drive Champion.

The most important observation is that the returning former-champion and European elite, Tobia Berg, was sporting a beard for this event. Sadly, photographs of the event were not forthcoming, so we have spared every expense in commissioning this artists rendition.

Tobias Berg and Richard Neumann are largely regarded as the greatest two Mega Drive athletes German has to offer. Both have entered three European tournaments and won four of the five previous domestic tournaments (two each) and amassed an impressive eighty-nine points between them at previous competitions. Head-to-head the pair had won the same number of games, although Tobias had given a better performance in the group games. The stats, however, favour Tobias: he has attended just two prior tournaments and won both of them, of his twenty-two two-player competitive games he has lost a mere three, in fact Richard has only been dominant when Tobias has been absent. Yet, German stastics show Richard to be the superior player and rank Tobias as third. How would these two legends of German Mega Drive Championshippery compete head-to-head? The battle begins again.

GAME I: VIRTUA RACING

Micro Machines has been the traditional racing game used at even numbered German tournaments, however, it was replaced this time with Virtua Racing; an early attempt at 3D in video games, with cars that handle like skips and giant polygons dominating the screen, it is ugly, sounds awful and always surprises just how much fun a two-player game can produce. Eric Voirin gave an epic performance where he slayed Tobias Berg in Round 2, Richard Neumann in Round 3, before he himself was beaten by Claudia Mayer in the final. Claudia took the early advantage, her five-points giving her an early pole-position at the head of the leaderboard.

GAME II: MEGA BOMBERMAN

A favourite among German Mega Drivers, having appeared in all previous tournaments, and apparently the best 16-bit title to play while drunk. Peppering the screen with bombs to destroy your enemy, picking up power-ups, this title is explosion focused and one of the most popular titles upon the console. Claudia Mayer was defeated in Round 1, while Eric Voirin didn't even make it past the preliminary round, where he was defeated by Tobis Berg. Mega Bomberman was a story of Tobias and Richard Neumann and the duo were able to face-off for the first time in the final. Tobias scored the decisive victory and levelled the points scored overall to 7.5.

GAME III: COLUMNS III

Columns III is another title which has become synonymous with German Mega Drive Championshippery, however, it was not a crowd pleaser and its future in further tournaments has become uncertain. Non-the-less, the competitors continued their duels, battle weary, blood stained warriors wielding their controllers like battleaxes, forced virtually every game to its maximum three-rounds. The final saw the titans Tobias and Richard, having battled their way through three gruelling encounters in the earlier rounds, pick up their controllers to fight one final round and it was Tobias who proved the stronger and gained an additional 1.5 points over his rival. Julia Klenert, Champion at the Fourth Tournament, had been stealthfully accumulating points, however, any Championship bid she might have had was dented by a Qualifying Round elimination at the hands of Thorn.

GAME IV: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2

Sonic 2 is the game which typifies the Mega Drive and holds many special memories of youthful sprints through the Emerald Hill, Casino Night, Mystic Cave and Special Stages. It has appeared in the two previous even numbered German tournaments and returned for a third outing. Due to a number of competitors drifting away, a Qualifying Round was not required. Julia Klenert found her form once more and dumped titled hopeful Tobias Berg out of the competition in the Second Round. The real winner was Richard Neumann who won the game and reversed his one and half-point deficit to Tobias to a one and half-point advantage. Meanwhile, Eric Voirin reached the final which increased his tally to eleven-points, keeping him hot on the tail of the leading pair.

GAME V: FIFA '95

FIFA released five titles upon the Mega Drive and it is often a hotly debated topic among enthusiasts over which of '95 or '96 was the better game. Such tedious debates are beneath our articles and Germany selected FIFA '95 as this tournaments sports game, having used NBA Jam and Super Kick-Off previously. The legends of Richard Neumann and Tobias Berg locked horns in Round 1 and it was Tobias who emerged the winner, it was just three short games to winning the game, beating Eric Voirin in the final to take the lead in the tournament. Eric's reaching the final kept him snapping on the heals of the tournament elite.

GAME VI: ETERNAL CHAMPIONS

And finally the final round of the tournament had arrived. Member numbers had thinned, but the fourteen remaining competitors continued to fight on. Eric Voirin's elimination in the first round at the hands of Claudia ended his change of claiming the tournament title while Richard cruised into the final and defeated Kat in order to successfully defend his Mega Drive Championship crown. Tobias, defeated in round two, by Kat, was powerless to prevent his nemesis becoming Mega Drive Champion for the third time in his career.

THE OUTRUN CHALLENGE

For the first time away from the main event German Mega Drive competitors had the opportunity to participate in a single player challenge contest. For the duration of the tournament members were free to pick up a controller and attempt to set the high score on OutRun. Richard Neumann set the early pace with a colossal 10,779,550 and for the next five hours many stepped up and all failed to beat this early score. Then, with half-an-hour remaining, when it seemed likely that Richard would claim both the Mega Drive Championship and the Challenge titles, Eric Voirin breezed through the game and scored a massive 14,234,800! A score that remained unbeaten and secured Eric the Challenge title.

After an exhausting seven hours, the Sixth Tournament was over, although numerous people stayed around well into the small hours of the morning. The Sixth Tournament saw a number of records being set including Richard Neumann being the first person to win three tournaments and defend a Mega Drive Championship, the youngest ever participant in a German Mega Drive Tournament - just ten years of age, and Tobias Berg's beard. There was a rollercoaster ride as the two titans stomped across six games of glorious 16-bit battle in the name of the title, a valiant display from Eric Voirin and numerous other personal achievements. There will be a six-month gap between the Sixth and Seventh Mega Drive Championships, but that interim will just breeze by and soon that deafening sound of buttons bashed in battle will once again be heard in Germany.

FINAL STANDINGS