(TV Anchor): You are watching the Television of Bizarre… and accompanied by the Lamp from Bizarre, and here's the Pineapple of Bizarre.
Dogoos and Baby Bugs are watching it on the huge monitor in Heart Dimension.
"Oooooooooooooooooooh…" They cheered in awe and amazement.
(TV Anchor): This is Bizarre TV – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all bizarre stuff, all the time!
Dr. Reddio
A woman with white hair, done in a ponytail, wearing a lab coat and with a controller in her hand, was playing an old Super Nintendo fighting game.
"Hah! I win again! And that was a close one." She said, as she prepared, "OH! Hello. As you can see, I'm playing some old Super NES games. The fighting games are fun, as it's the subject of our lesson for today."
She went to the whiteboard and wrote "Dr. Reddio". "My name is Dr. Reddio, one-third of Victory, the most successful video game company in all of Gamindustri. And what you see here is me, winning a close match, from an old classic – Fatal Fury 2. Sadly, I don't have a Neo Geo or a Nintendo Switch, yet. The latter of which is on the SNES Online App. But that's not why I am here!"
She stepped to the television and stated, "It's not about the games on your console, it's about the judgment. The great debate. Fighting games has always been a hypothesis and hypotenuse of the term "One-sided" or "Evenly Matched"." She wrote the terms down. "There are fighting games, everywhere, and they always decide Best 2-out-of-3, or 4-out-of-7 – Best of 7. But did you know that in all fighting games, the deciding round does not matter, as long as it's debatable from the health bars? I say, let's find out."
Reedio then have a couple USBs on hand and said, "I do not have any DVDs, but I have recorded the debate from every fighting game I have seen. For example, if you were to fight in a game, for example, Clay Fighter, you should know that the best thing to battle is through the VS Mode. Now, look closely at this battle, Bonker vs. The Blob. And ask yourself this… What would you decide, through video games, anything at all. Anything at all. But note, it must be done on autopilot, or CPU vs CPU. No offense to myself, for I am a Goddess, not a CPU. We don't use that term anymore.
Anyways, The Blob, they will be Player 1. And Bonker, he'll be Player 2. And using an ALL CPU match, which this game does not have, you will have a massive battle… but in a one-sided affair."
Reedio plays the video.
"Ladies and gentlemen, here are the combatants for this extravaganza! The Blob! versus… Bonker!"
The fighting game ensued, as Bonker won both rounds.
"Bonker! Wins the battle!"
The clay clown points at a dead Blob and jeers "I told ya I win! HA-HA!"
Reedio said, "Now, you see that this is a one-sided battle. I'm stating the obvious… Bonker defeats The Blob. What does this prove? Nothing. … … … But suppose it does mean something? For example, if you were to decide which pizza topping you want for your delivery, OR which sports team will win the Big Game this week, OR where you'd want to go for vacation, and you're not sure completely, your best bet is to do this… other than flipping a coin, which is a safer method. But for gamers everywhere, it's a matter of what to decide, through fighting games. On this video, however, there are matches that even end with the full three rounds."
She played a video, this time it was Helga vs. Ickybod Clay. And Helga won the first round, only for Ickybod to win the next two, thus winning the match.
"And yes, this is decided within 2-out-of-3 falls. Now if that happens, it's proven to be a close one, as this was evenly matched. But the thing to remember is… There can be ONLY ONE winner. And yes, this match you saw was perfectly explaining the method of an evened-out battle, ending in a full 3 rounds. But suppose you put it in five or seven rounds, like in basketball or ice hockey. Nowadays, in current sports events, namely the NHL, a Best-of-Seven is the perfect decider, as it leaves the player asking for more. And it always ends with four wins."
She then put on Street Fighter II Turbo for the Super Nintendo. "This game here… This only does two out of three falls. But in this game, you shall see why. Using this game, and modifying it to add a special round that adds seven rounds…" She showed Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, and tinkered with the Options. "You can see that it leaves the player chomping at the bits for more. But it doesn't always have to be ALL CPU… as you will demonstrate. Here's an example of the great debate, using the fighting game, Third Strike, and using Ryu & Alex, we shall decide who wins the Best-of-7 Series."
The battle played, as Alex won in six rounds. Reedio played another – Dudley vs. Ibuki. Only Dudley was handed a 5-round beatdown to the ninja. And lastly, Akuma vs. Yun. And Akuma won all four rounds.
Reedio said, as she marked down the rounds, "Yes, as you can see, in a Best-of-7 rundown, you can learn that the winner of four rounds is always the one. Four wins, means you win the battle. Which proves my hypothesis of "One-Sided" or "Evenly Matched" battles. But… suppose it doesn't have to be a winner of the match? What if you decide on a match, by using the first two rounds of the match, and conduct who was the winner, truly… despite the deciding final round, before it even began?"
She turned to the television and played another Clay Fighter match – Tiny vs. Taffy. Reedio said, as she played each round, while talking, "Now, the thing to remember is this… rounds matter. But if evenly matched, at one apiece, you're sure that this is close. Or is it?"
She finished the first two rounds, and then compared the scores. She explained, "And there… The first two rounds are complete. Tiny wins Round 1, while Taffy wins Round 2. In most fighting games, each round ends with a score. There were times where there was a scoring system, but in most VS Modes, and most fighting games in general, scoring does not matter. In the first round, Tiny won with about 2,400 points on his Vital, while Taffy has 1,600 on their Vital. Why? If you put a match for 2-out-of-3, and only compare the first two rounds, if it ends in a tie, then you have to judge with which fighter has an advantage. The lifebars you see here are the main aspect. Tiny's, for example, has a bigger bar than Taffy's, meaning he's got a clear chance of winning against the Taffy Man. But lifebars don't matter, as long as you compare their abilities and skills, through thorough investigation! And you can see here, Tiny wins by a slight margin. But what if you compare who wins, via vitality, and without scores? This game, for example, will fix this situation."
Reedio plays Street Fighter II again, only this time, the scores are absent. "Now, even if you play a 1 Player match, and you lose one round, the CPU does not get the score. Since this has NO CPU vs CPU, let's compare a battle with Honda and Dhalsim. And I'll be the player."
She played as Dhalsim, and won the first round. But she lost the second round, as she nodded. She brought two stills of the battle, showing Dhalsim floating in the air, meditating, while Edmond Honda was in the second still, raising his arms high. She then said, as she pointed at the lifebars, "Now, as you can see, this battle was close. The flashing KO appears whenever a fighter has less than 40% damage, and the music goes a bit faster, much as the infamous Super Mayro World Green Berry trick in the final level of the Special World. My health bar is low, and I got only 700 points in Vital. But how much did the CPU make? Remember, the fighter is CPU, meaning that this is a 1P Game, and your opponent doesn't score. You do. Looking at the life bars, or as we call it, the Health Bars, we can confirm that I have the most. But suppose he does? Let's look through the hypothesis, and compare the lifebars."
She clipped and compared Round 1 and Round 2's health bars, side by side. Reedio lost by a sliver.
"Just as you expected. Not everything is evenly and accurate, but it does make a proud statement, concerning how you decide on what to do, especially with your method of fighting games. As you can see here, my health bar is lower by about 3%, towards the computer's fighter. Health Bars are the key, if you debate a two-rounder, if and when the match reaches a third round, at one apiece. Recent games usually jump straight to the final round, but these two games here, among a few others, have a four round system. Why? Well, let me explain. This is another hypothesis of the fighting game, and to compare, we're gonna talk about the DRAWs, or ties, meaning that there is no winner."
She showed a fight between Ken vs. Vega in Street Fighter Alpha 3, all CPU. In the first round, Ken won, but in the second round, both fighters were KO'ed.
"Double KO!" Ken and Vega fell to the ground.
Reedio stopped the video and said, "There. If you were to decide on a two-rounder, remember this… Not everything is on the level. This match shows a possible outcome. Ken Masters won Round 1. But…" She drew on the whiteboard, and drew a circle and X. Then below, she wrote two dashes under the circle and X. "In the second round, no winner. What does it mean? Simply, if you make it a two-rounder, Ken is in fact the winner. In Round 3, it goes two ways – Vega wins, a 4th and deciding round will end it. But if Ken wins, then it's over. But suppose there is a third way."
She drew two more dashes and said, "What if Round 3 also ended in a Draw? Well, the other player that didn't score a Win in the round gets an automatic win. Or, if you want to truly be evenly-matched, draw on three rounds, all the way to the 4th round, possibly ending in a stalemate. But still… an automatic round win? That's unfair. But then again, it gives them a chance. However, if you were to decide on a four round match, with one win, and your opponent with none, and in the next two rounds, you see here, a Double KO… or chances are that you have the same health as your opponent, and declare a tie."
She showed a scene of Balrog and Guile posing differently, after the round ends with the timer at 0, and the health bars are the same. No announcement, as there was NO winner.
Reedio explained, "Compare the health bars… and as my friend, Jagaa, says… Do the math! Look!" She compared Balrog and Guile's health, and they were slightly even. "Uh-huh… See that? Round 3 ends in a time limit draw. The timer is key, whenever it's 30 seconds, 60 seconds, or a full 99, or one minute and 39 seconds. But timers are usually fast, and they sometimes don't follow real-time situation. Now, suppose that if the opponent wins Round 4, he wins. Balrog won Round 1. The next two rounds were a draw, Round 2 being a Double KO result, for example, and Round 3 ending with a Time Limit Draw. Guile wins the deciding battle automatically, as he wins the Final Round.
But ask yourself this… TWO Draws, and a win each, with the Final Round the decider, is it fair to have a clear winner with just two draws, ending in four rounds, and making a comeback win, after losing one round, and drawing in any of the two rounds in a 3-round battle? Is it fair to make a miracle win, after not KO'ing your opponent, at all, despite TWO ties? The answer is this… ABSOLUTELY NOT!" She marked an X and a Circle under the second pair of dashes. "Because as you can see here, in a 4-round system, given the statement that in the event of a tie, with one win apiece and a Double KO tie, the winner will be automatically decided in the 4th and final round. But should that end in a tie, it's officially a DRAW; but by default, through the scores of each round, it's not. If you eliminate the two DRAWs, and win the final round, and end it at one apiece, it still counts as a draw. TWO Draws don't make a match clear. And depending on how it goes, through this scenario, in a 3-round match, one and the other wins, and then a tie, and the fourth depends on three possible ways: decider or stalemate. It's just two, but the decider has two ways. Maybe more, but this is a one-on-one deficit here, so that's three ways – Decider and Stalemate."
She wrote Decider and said, "The Decider represents the 50-50 chance of a battle. That's two ways to go. One side is the winner and the other loses, or one side loses to the other team… It's TWO ways to go." She wrote Stalemate and continued, "But the stalemate… represents the third possible way – a draw. Ice Hockey used to do it, Soccer often does that, Pro American Football rarely has ties, and Baseball and Basketball does not. Chess also leads to a stalemate, which is usually when it ends in ONE possible way, with two Kings on the same board, and without any conclusion… or with no moves left to use. In fighting games, stalemates are often rare. But it's never just about the health bars, it's also about the rounds."
She points at the diagram of the round results, ending in a draw, and stated, "If you compare a three-round match with a proper system of four rounds, and have only two rounds decided, one each, then it's a draw. But… if three rounds ended in a stalemate, the match is officially a DRAW, but one round was already decided, throughout the match, thanks to the battle. Therefore, in retrospect, the one round win and the three round draws already confirms the winner, by default. If it ends in a DRAW, after all the rounds ending in a DRAW (whether 3, 5, or 7), and the final round is decided, then and only then, you have a clear winner. But that rarely even happens. It's never about the rules of the game, it's about how you are scored, and how you win the round."
She showed a fight in Third Strike, and she stated, "But there are games that have a way to cancel out a round. In Street Fighter 3, you may notice that if you get a Double KO and a Time Limit Draw, then…" The players BOTH get a D in their bars, stating that it's a DRAW. "This, for example, if you play a Best-of-7 Match, and you get a Double KO, the 7th round is canceled! This game goes to a Full Seven Rounds, no 8th Round. Because if you get a DRAW, no matter what the outcome is, then the round cancels out, leading to the next round. For 2-out-of-3, however, should you win a round, and end the second round in a Double KO, you win. But… If the match reaches the Final Round, and ends in a stalemate, it's a draw. Though, Third Strike, on the other hand, you will note that there's a Judgment system, in which the judges compare who won the battle, by a margin. Using Hugo vs. Sean, we played a Best-of-5 match. Both fighters have two wins apiece, and in the final round, we have a tie. And judgment goes… to the health bars."
She compared the health bars and said, "If we're to decide their health bars, other than the skills and tactics, you will notice that Sean has lesser damage than Hugo. Sadly, as a result, Sean lost this battle. But suppose he won, despite the smaller health deficit? It matters because of the skills made, and not the health as debated. Sean wins with the less health, when, indubitably, Hugo won." She showed a Perfect Green Health bar, as she compared another match – Necro vs. Oro. Oro has full health in Round 3, while Necro has almost half depleted in Rounds 1 & 4. "But the Health Bars matter, rather than the skills. This is scientifically proven. If you have a perfect victory, you have the best skills. Sadly, one Perfect Round doesn't make victory. TWO Perfect Rounds make victory… and a mad set of skills on the joystick."
She concluded, as she put the controller down, "My friends, this is a very distinct scientific and fun idea, if you ever want to decide, and suggest a two rounder. But always remember this: It's about the judgment. The great debate. Fighting games has always been a hypothesis and hypotenuse of the term "One-sided" or "Evenly Matched". But the term shows that it's not always about winning or losing. It depends on how things go, whether you go to battle, or whether to play the game. What matters is that, it's how you play the game. These old fighting games, put simply, prove my theory. TWO Draws don't make a victory, unless the final round ends on a clear unanimous winner. If you get a Double KO in the first two rounds, and up to the final 4th round, and win the next two rounds, I mean, you win the match. But if you lose the final round, it still counts, in stats, a tie… but compare the health bars on your screen, and prove who has the better endurance and skill. Winning and losing doesn't matter, as long as you look closely at the health bars and results, and confirm if you won the match. And I'm very glad that the recent fighting games resolved that, and say "If you must have a clear cut winner, do it right. Never end in a stalemate. Always decide a unanimous winner, regardless of how the result goes."
And, unfortunately, in my match with Dhalsim and Edmond Honda, I lost. But that's just the first two rounds, entering into a third round. And needless to say… I lost that round, too.
And that… was Game Over."
GAME OVER
Scene shows Neptune (Big) crushed by a Big Dogoo, as her arm was sticking out. Two Dogoos approached it, as the somber music plays.
Thanks for reading!