Tournament Memories Thread

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Mr Smith
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Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Mr Smith » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:43 pm

The Mega Drive Championships have been in existence for over 16-years. Our history has seen competitions in five countries, we have held International competitions and we are still going strong!

2017 is also a year that marks the 10-year anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Mega Drive Championship. I was wondering what memories people had of tournament gone past and thought a nostalgia thread would be awesome...

Lord Dilks
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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Lord Dilks » Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:27 pm

I will get the ball rolling with this! I have far to many to list, but I am going to list some of them anyway:

1) Winning the 4th Tournament with the Battle of Mike and Hannah.
I had already been crowned Mega Drive Champion by the time the 4th Tournament came around, but had lost my title at the 3rd, so I was keen to get it back. I found myself in need of one win from my remaining two fixtures, one of which was against Mr Smith on Sonic 2, in effect leaving me needing one win from one fixture. That fixture was against Doc Shakib on Golden Axe 2, the famous battle of Mike and Hannah (or Ax Battler and Tyris Flare for none tournament folk). This could go either way but I needed it to go mine. 15 minutes of pure tension and passion culminated in a combination of chess and swordsmanship, as health bar after health bar was diminished, and we both found ourselves with one bar left, and each being able to afford one more hit. Luckily for me, I secured that hit, and I was crowned Mega Drive Champion for the 2nd time, leaving my clash with Mr Smith on Sonic a mere irrelevance.

2) Literally being pushed to the 5th Tournament.
In the summer of 2001, in the build up to the 5th Mega Drive Championship, I suffered horrific injuries and associated illness. These were no Mega Drive related injuries. Soon after leaving hospital, I was house bound and dosed up on a plethora of medication. I decided I would have to miss the 5th Tournament due to being unable to move, but Mr Smith and Captain Maltby had other ideas. Turning up at my house about half an hour before the event, armed with a commandeered wheelchair, they pushed me to the 5th Tournament, which given the hills in our area was no mean feat. I was proud of my fellow competitors for making this effort, however they need not have bothered - crippling pain and high levels of medication rendered the screen a mere blur, and I finished in a pathetic 3rd place, my lowest ever Tournament finish.

3) See if you can get 50.
In spite of the events leading up to the 5th Tournament I have outlined above, I was still able to record the biggest ever victory of any Mega Drive Championships (and bear in mind we have had some uneven match-ups on NBA Jam) when I beat Captain Maltby 44-0 on World Cup Italia '90. Yes, Captain Maltby stopped putting up a fight about 5 minutes in to this 10 minute match, but even against half hearted opposition, or indeed no opposition, it is difficult to score 44 goals on that turgid game. I don't remember a single one of those goals, I only remember the incessant calls from Baron von Hooton to "see if you can get 50."

4) Sometimes the snow comes down in June.
I don't remember exactly which tournament this was, but it was June, it was a reasonably warm day, and we were all deep in Mega Drive action. Then, when glancing out of the window, we noticed it was snowing. This led Baron von Hooton to give us his rendition of Vanessa William's 1992 classic 'Save the best for last.'

5) 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, Game B.MAY, 0-15, 0-30, 0-40, Game B.MAY...
Sir Jackaman had been tipped to be a big name in Mega Drive circles after winning Division 2 and securing the first ever Knockout title. When, by the 10th Tournament in 2002, he had reached Division 1, his weaknesses were mercilessly exposed, as he was battered 10-0 on Golden Axe by Mr Smith, and 6-0 on Pete Sampras Tennis by myself, in which he did not score one single tennis point throughout.

6) Remove your Buddha from the shelf.
I don't know what Tournament this was, and why there were a series of multi-coloured Buddhas on the shelf, but there were, and Baron von Hooton was ordered to remove his from the shelf (in spite of the fact they all belonged to Mr Smith.) I have no recollection as to what this unusual piece of Tournament ritual was all about, but I remember it happening, and that has stuck with me. I would like to see this brought back.

7) Security breach.
Again, I do not remember what Tournament this was, but I remember the future Lieutenant Gareth arriving at The Theatre of Dreams informing us there was a potential security breach. I was immediately made Head of Tournament security, and my first act was to deputise Mr Smith. Our second act was to go running up the road armed with a variety of weapons, in search of our quarry. An odd Tournament memory, but a vivid one all the same.

8) The 2nd Division.
Although I did not attend any of the 2nd Division fixtures at the 9th Tournament, I did attend the numerous friendly game sessions we had that intermingled the cream of Division 1 with the newcomers of Division 2, and I enjoyed those events greatly. This was the first attempt we made to significantly increase and improve the Tournaments, and although it did not work out in the long run, it was an enjoyable part of the Mega Drive history and I look back on it fondly.

9) The 13th Tournament
This was billed as the final Tournament, and we decided we would ensure it would go out in style, as opposed to the crawling death that the 12th Tournament had come to embody. The event was shifted from it's traditional room in The Theatre of Dreams (although I think the aforementioned 12th Tournament was also hosted in this way), allowing for spectator seating to be used for the first time and an overall far superior atmosphere. The event was played out at night, under the lights, and with the return of Captain Maltby, the events came to a pure conclusion. For about 5 minutes. After that, Mr Smith and myself decided they couldn't end there, and set about finding a new path for the Tournaments. I have very fond memories of this event, not least because I won it.

10) Bramcote Memorial Hall.
When the Tournaments were shifted to Bramcote Memorial Hall in 2005, they could have gone either way. The capacious hall could have highlighted the emptiness of the event, or on the other hand it could lend it a sense of seriousness. Luckily it was the latter, and one of my fondest and proudest Tournament memories is leaving the Memorial Hall with Mr Smith that night, knowing we had achieved what less than a year ago seemed utterly impossible.

11) The 53 shot rally.
The 14th Tournament also saw me condemn Doc Shakib to a shock relegation. This came about after a game on Pete Sampras Tennis that (aside from Doc's relegation) was memorable only for a 53 shot rally, which I am pleased to say I eventually won. I was not going 100% in this game, and Doc Shakib fought tougher than I thought he would. This meant the game ended up dragging, due in no small part to that rally, and becoming the longest Tournament game in history.

12) The Anglo-Irish Tournament.
The first time I really began to believe we could take the Mega Drive Championships worldwide was when we were approached by a collection of Irishmen in County Kerry who wished to challenge us on the Mega Drive. Naturally, we swiftly turned this into the Anglo-Irish Tournament and, in September 2007, battle commenced. It was my first time representing my country at anything, and I was proud to do battle in England's name, even though we got battered. I had a tough game on World Cup Italia '90, a game I was used to steamrollering people on, when I found myself about 5 goals down at half time. There was much baying from the Irish, and little in the way of encouragement from my dejected English teammates, when in stepped Earl Holbrook, still relatively new to the Mega Drive Championships, and a mere spectator at the Anglo-Irish. He sat behind me, quietly offering words of encouragement throughout the 2nd half, words which inspired me to overturn the deficit and batter my competitor into submission, taking all the points. I will never forget that, or stop being grateful to Earl Holbrook for stepping in, proving Shakespeare's belief that when the world gets so bad, wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.

13) The 1st European Mega Drive Championship.
This represented the culmination of my efforts and Mr Smith's efforts and we were very proud to have Nottingham host the first European Mega Drive Championship. My enduring memory of it is that it also represented my final ever action as a Mega Drive athlete. I bowed out of competitive play with a game of Pete Sampras Tennis, in which I more than thoroughly taught Portuguese legend Alberto Campos what day it was, with a series of well executed shots for which he had no answer. My final action on the Mega Drive was to finish him off with an ace, straight down the centre.

14) The 23rd Tournament cake.
The 23rd Tournament marked 10 years of Mega Drive Championshippery and we in turn marked with a pure cake. There was also pizza. That's about it.

15) The 27th Tournament/The 2017 Mega Drive Championship
As with the 14th Tournament, the 27th Tournament stood on a knife edge of unpredictability. The venue had changed and a new format (with new members) was in place. Again, in the same vein as the 14th, Mr Smith and myself were able to leave the National Videogame Arcade in July 2016 knowing we had achieved something that had looked a million miles away a few years earlier, when the curtain pretty much fell down on the 25th Tournament, in which we said farewell and thank you to Bramote Memorial Hall.

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Jayextee
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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Jayextee » Tue Mar 21, 2017 3:55 pm

I just got here (his Dilkship asked me to), but have memories. ;)

So. Where to start? I mean, I felt utterly audacious (in a good way) being the newcomer who barged in (more like shuffled, extremely anxiously) and won the thing. My teenage self would've been so proud, I'd hold little time attack contests on Sonic and whatnot back in the day between games of Streetfighter II -- no surprise then, that they were my strongest games.

So, the standout memories of my first and only tournament (of hopefully many):

Sonic 2
More so the run-up to the tournament. I didn't know what to expect, and when I found that the challenge for Sonic 2 was "time attack Mystic Cave act 1", my response was something like "BASTARDS, I don't even know that level too well - better grind HARD". I did, and it showed. Nailing the invincible-leap-off-spikes-over-drawbridge jump was the cherry on the icing on the cake. A bit showy? Sure. But that's why I love speedrunning Sonic in general.

Super Streetfighter II
Overhearing behind me "What? He can actually do combos with Guile?" as I perform a mediocre set of hits with the OG combo king of SF. I put a lot of time into Guile back in 1993 to make a change from the endless Ryu/Ken spam of my friends, and the muscle memory's still there apparently.

World Cup Italia '90
Hoooooo boy did I not want to play this thing. It's broken to the point of embarrassment; but that turns out to be exactly why the first-to-three-goals format worked, especially against Sebastian who knew the same "run past the goalie for a guaranteed score" exploit; when both players are somewhat equally-knowledgeable about such things, a level playfield can make even a game this broken kinda fun; which is probably my biggest take from the day. Did not expect to enjoy this game as much as I did.

I look forward to accruing more memories from these; should the tournament remain within travel distance for me (I've since moved from Nottinghamshire to Sheffield). Hopefully, I'll be less of an anxious wreck for the next one; I've a title to defend! <3

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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Mr Smith » Mon Mar 27, 2017 5:06 pm

Jay, if you think we were bastards last year, we have been tirelessly trying to up our bastard ante for 2017! :D

The World Cup Italia '90 round was very impressive and the final game between The Plumb and Sebastian has to be one of the best Mega Drive Championshippery moments of recent years.

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Earl Holbrook
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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Earl Holbrook » Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:37 pm

Who dosent love watching people play Balljacks.

Every 20 secs or so, one of the two players will comment.

"This is so shit"

"I fuckin hate this game"

"Piece of shit game"

"why are we playing this?"

"This makes Alien Storm look good."

Lord Dilks
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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Lord Dilks » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:12 am

Earl Holbrook wrote:Who dosent love watching people play Balljacks.

Every 20 secs or so, one of the two players will comment.

"This is so shit"

"I fuckin hate this game"

"Piece of shit game"

"why are we playing this?"

"This makes Alien Storm look good."


In the same way that the universe has long asked if their is a God, is Scottish football a contradiction in terms and if swimming is such a good cardiovascular exercise then why are whales so fat, so it asks why The Mega Drive Championships insist on using Ball Jacks.

As Fox Mulder's office poster frequently reminds us - the truth is out there. Somewhere.

Mr Smith
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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Mr Smith » Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:15 pm

I just thought I would pass some comments on Lord Dilks's earlier post...

Lord Dilks wrote:I will get the ball rolling with this! I have far to many to list, but I am going to list some of them anyway:

1) Winning the 4th Tournament with the Battle of Mike and Hannah.
I had already been crowned Mega Drive Champion by the time the 4th Tournament came around, but had lost my title at the 3rd, so I was keen to get it back. I found myself in need of one win from my remaining two fixtures, one of which was against Mr Smith on Sonic 2, in effect leaving me needing one win from one fixture. That fixture was against Doc Shakib on Golden Axe 2, the famous battle of Mike and Hannah (or Ax Battler and Tyris Flare for none tournament folk). This could go either way but I needed it to go mine. 15 minutes of pure tension and passion culminated in a combination of chess and swordsmanship, as health bar after health bar was diminished, and we both found ourselves with one bar left, and each being able to afford one more hit. Luckily for me, I secured that hit, and I was crowned Mega Drive Champion for the 2nd time, leaving my clash with Mr Smith on Sonic a mere irrelevance.
That was truly a tense and epic game. Watching the two of your dance around each other in the most incredible Golden Axe 2 game ever! Too much was at stake for a full on offensive duel, so it was so pure watching you both trying to lure the other into an error and then counterattack. 15-minutes of tension and it came down to the final blow. Easily the most memorable tournament battle to date, just a pity the Theater of Dreams was not as grand setting as later venues.

4) Sometimes the snow comes down in June.
I don't remember exactly which tournament this was, but it was June, it was a reasonably warm day, and we were all deep in Mega Drive action. Then, when glancing out of the window, we noticed it was snowing. This led Baron von Hooton to give us his rendition of Vanessa William's 1992 classic 'Save the best for last.'
Fifth Tournament :)

5) 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, Game B.MAY, 0-15, 0-30, 0-40, Game B.MAY...
Sir Jackaman had been tipped to be a big name in Mega Drive circles after winning Division 2 and securing the first ever Knockout title. When, by the 10th Tournament in 2002, he had reached Division 1, his weaknesses were mercilessly exposed, as he was battered 10-0 on Golden Axe by Mr Smith, and 6-0 on Pete Sampras Tennis by myself, in which he did not score one single tennis point throughout.
Ah, the fallen star of Sir Jackaman, so much potential and so much disappointment. It didn't help that he tried to hype himself up for the competition. I am very proud of my 10-0 highscore on Golden Axe 2, which has never been equalled. I would also like to throw out the Sir Jackaman Vs General Pink, World Cup Italia '90 clash in the 10th Tournament Knockout... the game itself was surprisingly good, however, there was all the additional defying the tournament rules and traditions: very late start, pausing the game for a phone conversation, etc. Truly an epic game.

6) Remove your Buddha from the shelf.
I don't know what Tournament this was, and why there were a series of multi-coloured Buddhas on the shelf, but there were, and Baron von Hooton was ordered to remove his from the shelf (in spite of the fact they all belonged to Mr Smith.) I have no recollection as to what this unusual piece of Tournament ritual was all about, but I remember it happening, and that has stuck with me. I would like to see this brought back.
It was the 5th Tournament and it was Captain Maltby who removed his Buddha from the shelf, upon his retirement. The figures were avatars that represented each player. When we expanded with division two we had more players than Buddhas and so this was briefly replaced with Pokemon figures.


7) Security breach.
Again, I do not remember what Tournament this was, but I remember the future Lieutenant Gareth arriving at The Theatre of Dreams informing us there was a potential security breach. I was immediately made Head of Tournament security, and my first act was to deputise Mr Smith. Our second act was to go running up the road armed with a variety of weapons, in search of our quarry. An odd Tournament memory, but a vivid one all the same.
Seventh Tournament, our quarry were a couple of rugby players who ran away very quickly. I thought you self-appointed yourself as the Head of Tournament security (a title and position that, for reasons unknown, you feel compelled to remind me of before every tournament) following the security breach... a breach which did not involve any actual tournament member or in anyway threaten the Mega Drive Championships.

9) The 13th Tournament
This was billed as the final Tournament, and we decided we would ensure it would go out in style, as opposed to the crawling death that the 12th Tournament had come to embody. The event was shifted from it's traditional room in The Theatre of Dreams (although I think the aforementioned 12th Tournament was also hosted in this way), allowing for spectator seating to be used for the first time and an overall far superior atmosphere. The event was played out at night, under the lights, and with the return of Captain Maltby, the events came to a pure conclusion. For about 5 minutes. After that, Mr Smith and myself decided they couldn't end there, and set about finding a new path for the Tournaments. I have very fond memories of this event, not least because I won it.
Both the 11th and 12th tournament were hosted in the same room as the 13th. The difference for the 13th was it was held across the width and not the length of the room, making it closer. The special "spectator seating" assisted the atmosphere enormously and, it is fair to say, it was a short and fun event that left us all wanting more.


11) The 53 shot rally.
The 14th Tournament also saw me condemn Doc Shakib to a shock relegation. This came about after a game on Pete Sampras Tennis that (aside from Doc's relegation) was memorable only for a 53 shot rally, which I am pleased to say I eventually won. I was not going 100% in this game, and Doc Shakib fought tougher than I thought he would. This meant the game ended up dragging, due in no small part to that rally, and becoming the longest Tournament game in history.
With the exception of the 53 shot rally, that game was so boring to watch! I feel Wayne Gretsky was longer and equally worth a mention on this thread. The semi-final of the 17th Tournament Knockout where Professor King and Earl Holbrook took on each other in a 20-minute bore fest. The tournament atmosphere being what it is, the spectators were promptly taking the piss and Mexican waves, legal threats towards demanding compensation from Wayne Gretsky and half a dozen people clamping and stamping to the beat of We Will Rock You. The game was quickly sent into the dustbin of tournament history. Earl Holbrook won the tie and went on to lose on WWF Wrestlemania, proclaiming halfway through the final "I don't know what I am doing; I'm just pressing buttons". A classic end to the 17th Tournament.

Lord Dilks
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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Lord Dilks » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:35 am

Mr Smith wrote:7) Security breach.
Again, I do not remember what Tournament this was, but I remember the future Lieutenant Gareth arriving at The Theatre of Dreams informing us there was a potential security breach. I was immediately made Head of Tournament security, and my first act was to deputise Mr Smith. Our second act was to go running up the road armed with a variety of weapons, in search of our quarry. An odd Tournament memory, but a vivid one all the same.
Seventh Tournament, our quarry were a couple of rugby players who ran away very quickly. I thought you self-appointed yourself as the Head of Tournament security (a title and position that, for reasons unknown, you feel compelled to remind me of before every tournament) following the security breach... a breach which did not involve any actual tournament member or in anyway threaten the Mega Drive Championships.
No indeed, I believe it was thee who appointed me head of tournament security. I do feel compelled to remind everyone of this before events, because, although it is largely a ceremonial title, I do still have to carry out security details on the day of a tournament itself. These include checking the perimeter of the venue for suspect packages and unauthorised personnel and running detailed checks on Doc Shakib's protein shakes to ensure tournament anti-doping procedures are being followed. I do seem to remember that the breach in question bore no threat to the Tournaments at that time, but it was only through the quick actions of myself that this did not come to pass later down the line.

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Re: Tournament Memories Thread

Postby Lord Dilks » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:59 am

Speaking of memories, today (06-04-17) marks the 13 year anniversary of the pre-12th Tournament Publicity Shot/football match, held at Bramcote's very own Olympic Stadium/One Magnificent Stadium.

Alas, Professor Mizutani, pictured in this photo, retired from the competitions before the 12th Tournament. I wonder if he will be back one day...
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