TWENTY-FIRST MEGA DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW

8th February 2010

SNOW!

A couple of days before Christmas the skies across England opened and, far from the usual rain that often descends, thick globules of snow fell and for over three weeks the country was wrapped in a blanket of snow and ice. Many sports were badly effected by this usual prolonged period of winter weather; football, horse racing, rugby all suffered from the sub-zero (not a Mortal Kombat reference) conditions.

Many members mused whether or not the Twenty-First Mega Drive Championships would survive the snow. Road were trecherous, trains were cancelled, schools were closing (teachers, unlike other professionals, somehow unable to get to work), emergancy services stretched, aeroplanes grounded. Some might say the reason the 21st Mega Drive Championship was able to brave the weather was down to brilliant planning from the generous Tournament Administration, however, in reality, an indoor contest was unlikely to suffer a great deal from snow and ice. So, huddled in the warmth of Bramcote Memorial Hall, Nottingham, the members emerged prepared to engage in pure 16-bit battle.

OUT WITH THE OLD...

Regertablly, the Twenty-First Mega Drive Championship saw the absence of four established members. The announcement from Professor King that he would be unable to attend was a big blow to the Second Division, where he was expected to challenge for the title, after being relegated from Division One at the Ninteenth Tournament. Baron Von Hooton, who is one of the longest serving members in tournament history, having joined way back in the Third Mega Drive Championship, pulled out. He had finished in the Division Two promotion places at the Twentieth Tournament, so had Liam Forrest Esquire who fell victim of the weather and the subseqently trecherous roads. The biggest blow to the line-up of the Twenty-First Mega Drive Championship was the withdrawal of the would-be-defending Mega Drive Champion, Commander Graham, who, having battled in Division One since the Seventeenth Championship, won his first title the last time round.

JIMBO "THE" PLUMB

Vs EARL HOLBROOK

Promoted at the Seventeenth Mega Drive Championship, Earl Holbrook's fourth successive tournament in the top league shows his calibare and although initially he survived by nothing more than button bashing, his experience has grown and he now poessess a fair amount of ability on a number of games. In spite of an impressive thrid place finish at the 20th Championship, fending off relegation twice ranks Earl Holbrook as one of the weakest Division One members. Of his first four games, The Plumb found himself against Earl Holbrook twice. And it was against Earl Holbrook that The Plumb scored his first Division One point. Their first encounter on Streets of Rage 3 ended in defeat, but it was on Micro Machines: Military that the pair scrapped out a draw - the swing-o-meter hung on 4-4 as the pair completed the three laps. Although Earl Holbrook ended up one place above the relegation zone, by the time he started slipping down the table, The Plumb was virtually doomed to relegation. Division One status never really threatened, Earl Holbrook will continue to battle against the elite for another tournament at least.

FINISHED: 5th, 9pts

Vs LIEUTENANT GARETH

Finishing in the relegation zone at the Twentieth Mega Drive Championship, Lieutenant Gareth was spared relegation owing to the same technicalities that promoted The Plumb. A regular in Division One since the Fifteenth Championship (except for one swift tournament in Division Two where he was quick to return back to the top league). During the first half of the competition things were looking as bleak for Lieutenant Gareth as they were for The Plumb. Both men were tied at the foot of the table, with one-point apiece, when they went head-to-head on Micro Machines: Military. This tightly contested relegation scrap was held at the back of the Hall, without spectators, and although both men were desperate for the two-points in the end they had to share them. It would be argumentative to state Lieutenant Gareth was perhaps the better player in terms of performance when the final score was a 4-4 draw! Ironically, the fixtures paired both The Plumb and Lieutenant Gareth in their following fixture: a clash on the old tournament classic, Golden Axe 2. Now with two-points apiece, this game marked a turn in fortune for Lieutenant Gareth and was the begining of The Plumb being cast adrift from the rest of the Division One table. 2-0 was the margin of the victory for Lieutenant Gareth and, after scoring just two points from a potential tweleve, went on to add an amazing additional fourteen-points from his final nine games. This surge up the table pulled him well away from any hint that he could have been a realistic prospect for relegation.

FINISHED: 4th, 16pts

Vs CAPTAIN MALTBY

FINISHED: 3rd, 17pts

Vs FIREMAN SAM

Although this was Fireman Sam's second Mega Drive Championship in Division One, he has already flaunted his more than impressive abilities with a 16-bit controller. A second place finish last time around followed by a trip to Lisbon to represent Team England on the International stage, this man embodies Mega Drive wholesomeness. The Plumb and Fireman Sam had first crossed swords at the Nineteenth Mega Drive Championship. Both were freshed faced tournament newbies (I really hate the word newbie) and in game sixteen Fireman Sam comfortably beat The Plumb 2-0 on Alien Storm. Now in Division One, it was Fireman Sam who the fixtures had selected The Plumb would debut against. One Streets of Rage 3 the pair fought out a tight game, only for The Plumb to taste 2-1 defeat! They would not meet again until game twenty-four when The Plumb was defeated on Sonic Two, before losing again to Fireman Sam on Mega Bomberman. Fireman Sam would finish in second spot again, although his bid for the title bit was not over until the final game.

FINISHED: 2nd, 21pts

Vs DOC SHAKIB

As far as tournament members go they don't come any bigger than Doc Shakib. He has battled in all twenty-one Mega Drive Championships and amassed three league titles and won the Knockout and Challenge once. Doc Shakib has two weaknesses among the Division One array of games; Ball Jacks and Columns. Sadly, for The Plumb, he was drawn against Doc Shakib on World Cup Italia '90, Virtua Racing and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, three very strong games for the Doc. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 forfeitted, Virtua Racing was never going to be anything other than a win for Doc Shakib, it was on World Cup Italia '90 that The Plumb came closest to threatening Doc Shakib. The passion produced by this game was so immense that when The Plumb scored a goal he slammed his foot down, threw his arms up and the vibrations prompty crashed the game of Pete Sampras Tennis being played adjacent. This was the fourth time Doc Shakib won the Mega Drive Championships. Although he was pushed by Fireman Sam until the final game, when the pair sparred on Golden Axe 2 and Doc Shakib won, the new Champion felt he won the league at a canter and threw down a gauntlet to his rivals to up their game for the next tournament.

FINISHED: 1st, 25pts

DIVISION TWO

So what of the league in which The Plumb will return at the next Mega Drive Championship? With the four big name absentees expected to return there will indeed be some intense competition for the next batch of promotion places. This tournament saw four newcomers added to the lineup, amazingly one of these members was a female; these semi-mythological creatures haven't been seen in a Mega Drive Championship since Dame Yada battled at the Seventeenth Tournament. Her name was Meena Newsum and for much of the competition she seemed to be destined for promotion and would have been the first woman to take part in Division One, however, her challenge faded in the second half of the tournament and she finished just one-point outside the promotion places with thirteen-points. It was Emperor Tebbs who overtook her to take the second promotion place. While his performance during the first quarter of the tournament was dismal and left him tied in last place with Viscount Elliott, he turned his form around in the remaining three-quarters and jetisoned up the table to earn a place in the higher league. Don Derek was the deserved winner of Division One, he was long underthreat from David Wyverrn and Meena Newsum, but showed his quality in the final quarter to secure his Division Two title. Reverend Doyle returned to the Mega Drive Championship, having previously battled at the Eighteenth Tournament, while always one step behind the promotion race, finished in a very respectable fourth place. Level on points, with an inferior goal difference, David Wyverrn ended up in fifth. Samurai Taguchi was relegated from Division One at the last tournament and in spite of battling at the top level underperformed and limped into sixth place. The bottom spot went to Viscount Elliott who, after finishing last at the previous contest, repeated his achievement this time around. He can take some solace in the fact that the person who finishes last place often gets greater recognisition than any other tournament member: Captain Maltby was a favourite among early website viewers, while the Irishmen who beat Team England at the 2007 Anglo-Irish Mega Drive Tournament were eager to meet Old Spice Lock!

DIVISION ONE - FINAL STANDINGS

THE TOURNAMENT KNOCKOUT

The Plumb went into the Knockout as the previous winner, beating Commander Graham in an epic duel on Eternal Champions at the Twentieth Championship. He was drawn on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 against Lieutenant Gareth who, perhaps not reading the script right, felled The Plumb 2-0. Byes for Doc Shakib, Fireman Sam and Earl Holbrook and a victory for Captain Maltby, against Viscount Elliott, meant The Plumb was the only Division One member felled in the First Round. All remaining Division Two members (and Fireman Sam) were despatched in the Second Round. The Semi-Finals were contested between Lieutenant Gareth, who beat Captain Maltby on Earl Holbrook, while Doc Shakib's dismal Columns displays continued when he was defeated by Earl Holbrook. Prior to the Final being played, Sonic 3 looked like a feeble game to end the Mega Drive Championship on, however, both Lieutenant Gareth and Earl Holbrook (meeting in the final for the first time) fought out an excellent game that started off with Earl Holbrook wining the Azure Lake course. Lieutenant Gareth rallied to take Balloon Park and Chrome Gadet before Earl Holbrook pulled the score level with victory in the Desert Palace, setting up a showdown in the Endless Mine. The pair raced side-by-side, until some dawdling from Earl Holbrook and some smooth play gave Lieutenant Gareth the advantage. By lap four Earl Holbrook had caught up and the pair remained deadlocked until the final straight where Lieutenant Gareth edged ahead and took the level, the match and the Knockout! This was the second time Lieutenant Gareth has won the Tournament Knockout, something no other current member has achieved, and ranks him alongside tournament legends Lord Dilks and Mr Smith - the only other players to have won the Knockout more than once.

THE CHALLENGE

At the midway point of the contest we left the league simmering and switched our attention to the Challenge. Super Hang On was the game chosen for the Twenty-First Mega Drive Championship with the blurb being who could rack up the most points on the Africa course. The Plumb was the third member to be randomly drawn to face the metaphorically thrown Super Hang On gauntlet. His previous Challenge form had been tosh; with the second worst score at the Nineteenth and elimination in the first round at the Twentieth. Doc Shakib's 2,515,560 was the current score to beat and The Plumb showed his superior virtual motorbike handling skills by racking up an extra 1,054,440 points and placing himself in a providional first place. His score remained the benchmark until David Wyverrn took to the console, cool and calm he eclipsed The Plumb to achieve a total of 4,609,040. This total was not passed and while Captain Maltby and Lieutenant Gareth both pulled out scores in the low 3,000,000's late in the contest, these neither challenged David Wyverrn's impressive tally nor usurped The Plumb from second place.