HISTORY OF THE PORTUGUESE MEGA DRIVE TOURNAMENTS

In 1997 Alberto Campos made a decision. Instead of updating his video game platform from a Mega Drive to a Playstation/N64, he opted to try and expand his Mega Drive game collection in an attempt to own all European PAL Mega Drive games. Starting with just 30 games in 1997, using Internet auction sites and a general apathy for the Mega Drive during the consoles decline to bolster his collection, by 2004 he reached his halfway target. In order to celebrate this achievement he chose to organise a contest on the Mega Drive.

The First Mega Drive Tournament took place in March 2005. In what was only intended as a one off event, twenty players gathered together in order to participate. At first it seemed like the idea of a tournament had been a mistake, with Stage One of the competition dragging on very late, there was a sense of tedium in the air. By the end of Stage Two, however, there was a little bit of magic in the air, as the tournament neared its conclusion members frantically scrambled to work out which members had qualified for the Third (final) Stage. The contest was won by José Chança, the man who had prepared the most for the tournament. Despite the slow start the First Mega Drive Tournament proved so much of a success that it was decided this would not be a stand-alone competition and thus was born a series of contests on the Mega Drive.

The First Tournament also saw the emergence of Fátima Campos, a name which would later drive fear into the heart of her opponents, she would go on to reach Stage Three of the tournaments on four occasions. The Second Tournament would see the arrival of Jorge Esteves, who would go one to establish himself as of the most dominant players in the competitions. The Second Mega Drive Tournament was held six-months after the original with only minor changes from the first competition - the main one being the removal of the slower games in order to save time. Jorge Esteves won the contest following an epic slog against his brother, Flávio, on Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition.

The Third Tournament was arguably the worst of all the Mega Drive Tournaments. The number of participants increased to twenty-two, however, to substantiate this increase it was decided to scrap the elimination leagues in Stage One and use the Swiss Method to determine qualification for the Second Stage. The games used in the tournament were also altered so that the only genre used was 2D fighting. Although there was a substantial decrease in the overall time of the competition the changes were not successful and the tournaments reverted back to a more familiar style for the Fourth. Once again Jorge Esteves won the tournament. Although the defending champion was expected to ease to victory he was made to work for his title this time round. Defeating David Magueijo in a Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition final.

The Fourth Tournament saw the introduction of 4-player games used in the Second Stage of the Tournament. The enjoyment of such games proved an instant success and helped wash away the mistakes of the Third. Regrettably Jorge Esteves was not present to defend his title for a third successive tournament and instead the title of Tournament Winner passed to Filipe Semião, who put his past tournament experience to good use, and beat Orlando Silva in the final - Orlando now recognised as one of the best players never to have won a tournament. The Fourth Contest also heralded the return of the First Champion, José Chança. This return, however, turned out to be an unmitigated disaster as José finished in joint last place of his Stage One group.

Despite having the same dynamics at the Fourth, the Fifth Mega Drive Tournament saw something of a change of the guard, with may new faces replacing the older ones. Jorge Esteves returned and managed to make his way to the final where, for the first time, he was defeated by Alberto Campos - the tournament's creator winning his competition after a 5-2 victory on World Cup Italia '90.

The Sixth Tournament was the best, most competitive and generally had a higher standard of game play than the rest of the previous competitions. Each member was allowed to select half of the games they played and thus a much more strategic element was added to the competition. Jorge Esteves was eliminated from the tournament prematurely - knocked out in Stage Two. While and ecstatic David Magueijo became the fifth winner from six tournaments with victory in a World Cup Italia '90 penalty shoot-out securing him the title.