Welcome to the monthly SNES contest, in its second year now.  We will be playing two games every month up until November, with the points leader being crowned champion in December.  There is no tournament as of yet but you never know what the future holds.  Prizes will also once again go out to the top 3 players at the end of the season. 

Also, thanks to the NES crew for the ideas and support for this companion contest.  I'm still learning, and improving this thread every day

General Contest Rules
Posting Scores

• Pictures are required.  This is a revision of my previous thoughts because that is the sentiment from people participating.
• In order to submit a score for the contest, take a picture of your score with your user name written or typed on a piece of paper, which must be present in the picture. Your user name mustbe in the picture or the score will be invalid. The entire TV screen, or computer monitor if you are playing on an emulator, MUST be in the picture for the score to be valid.  No partial screenshots will be considered or accepted.  No screenshots by hitting "print screen" on a computer will be allowed.  You must take a picture of your computer monitor.  There may be instances where this will be acceptable, but it will be at the discretion of myself.
• When posting a new score, please begin your post by typing out your score.  Larger font (18pt) is preferred.
• If you are posting an updated score, please edit your initial post with the new photo and score. You can still create a separate new post as a bump to notify you edited your score if desired.
• Please do not begin a competition run on the new title before the 1st of the month, 12AM NA time.  Please do not post a score for said title on or after the 1st, 12AM NA time, of the following month.  Feel free to do practice runs of any of the titles whenever you want.

Emulators/PowerPak

• Emulators ARE allowed to be used in the monthly contests. However, anything that may give a player an advantage with an emulator over playing on the system is NOT allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, save states, Game Genie codes, altered ROMS, and turbo controls.  It is preferred if everyone plays on a console.
• A PowerPak IS allowed to be used in the competition with the same regulations as with emulators. You may not use save states, Game Genies codes, altered ROMs or anything else that would give you an advantage over playing with the regular cartridge.

Points and Leaderboards

• Each month players who submitted scores will earn points as follows. 
• 11 points to 1st place, 10 to 2nd, etc.  Update: 9th place and lower will receive 3 points.  This works well for the NES contest, I'm adopting it.  There will also be opportunities for skilled players to earn bonus points each month
• There will be separate leaderboards for each of the two games every month, and separate points awarded.  You can compete in one or the other, or both.  Your choice.
• Update: At the end of the year everyone will have their lowest scoring month dropped.  Effectively, you get a free pass to be terrible or take a break for a month, with no consequences.
• The overall champion will be the combined points leader after 11 months

Prizes

• Will be awarded to the top 3 finishers.
• In addition, the overall champion will get to select one game for next year's slate
• If anyone wants to donate to the pool; even crap like copies of Jurassic Park, they are appreciated.

Andy_Bogomil's selection - Donkey Kong Country
NA Poll selection - Bust-a-Move

 

January - TMNT IV: Turtles in Time + Super Mario Kart

Progress + Fastest Times

Mod

1

Complete (ND-1278)

+1

link463

4'32"35

+1

pegboy

2

Complete (ND-1036)

+1

Jandrem

4'49"95

+1

Stryphos

3

Complete (ND-991)

+1

GhostOfSparta

4'59"08

+1

quest4nes

4

Complete

42 foot tapewoRm

5'01"32

MrPeaPod

5

Level 9

quest4nes

5'18"07

Webhead123

6

Level 7

Shino

5'29"65

GhostOfSparta

7

Level 6 (Boss)

bimmy_lee

5'35"36

ALTQQ

8

Level 6

Webhead123

5'44"18

bimmy_lee

9

Level 5 (???)

Gloves

5'50"63

Gloves

10

Level 5 (538)

Bla5to

5'52"25

Jandrem

11

Level 5 (477)

Hangoin

5'59"50

Bla5to

12

Level 4 (232)

mbd39

6'15"07

Splain

13

Level 4 (137)

MrPeaPod

6'18"31

link463

14

Level 3 (Boss)(302)

Stryphos

7'09"65

Loxx O)))

15

Level 3 (Boss)(229)

johnnytecmo

16

Level 3 (Boss)(199)

ALTQQ

17

Level 3 (Boss)(183)

Loxx O)))

 

February - Gradius III + Bust-A-Move
High Score + High Score
Mod
1	1,249,000			+2	Gloves			54 - 11,677,870				MrPeaPod
2	932,100			+1	link463			46 - 6,980,910				quest4nes
3	817,000			+1	MrPeaPod			45 - 41,261,630				Gloves
4	348,600				Stryphos			32 - 3,733,200				link463
5	323,300				GhostOfSparta			27 - 5,889,200				playerdrm
6	315,600				Kyleh2486			27 - 4,712,440				Webhead123
7	301,800				KrakenSoup			27 - 4,675,960				Kyleh2486
8	124,700				quest4nes			26 - 2,962,860				ALTQQ
9	110,400				Webhead123			25 - 1,788,430				bimmy_lee
10	54,800				Jandrem			24 - 4,184,370				KrakenSoup
11	41,500				bimmy_lee			17 - 3,052,900				GhostofSparta
12	15,400				ALTQQ			16 - 4,792,050				Stryphos

 

March - Donkey Kong Country + Kirby's Dream Course

Progress + Progress

Mod

1

101% - 0:54

+1

quest4nes

Complete - 134

MrPeaPod

2

101% - 1:09

MrPeaPod

Complete - 259

quest4nes

3

101% - 1:11

CZroe

Course 1 - 14

bimmy_lee

4

101% - 1:43

link463

Course 1 - 32

Webhead123

5

101% - 1:58

Webhead123

Course 1 - 34

Stryphos

6

101% - 2:05

ALTQQ

7

100% - 1:41

KrakenSoup

8

66% - 2:00

Shino

9

63% - 3:07

bimmy_lee

10

43% - 2:37

mbd39

11

40% - 0:21

Gloves

12

23% - 0:40

Stryphos

 

April - Killer Instinct + Total Carnage
High Score + High Score
Mod								309,871			+1	Brock Landers
1	10 wins				MrPeaPod			287,345			+1	MrPeaPod
2	6 wins				link463			93,171				bimmy_lee
3	5 wins				quest4nes			57,649				Shino
4	4 wins - 80,150				Stryphos			55,733				link463
5	4 wins - 35,000				Webhead123			49,970				mbd39
6	4 wins - 6,000				user			48,608				quest4nes
7	2 wins				bimmy_lee			16,398				Webhead123
8								5,600				Stryphos
9
10

 

May - Super Star Wars & Ms. Pac-Man
Progress and High Score
Mod
1	Complete - 22,650			+1	Webhead123			61,700				quest4nes
2	Complete - 146,250			+1	quest4nes			51,540				Gloves
3	Level 10 - 150,750				MrPeaPod			48,500				MrPeaPod
4	Level 4 - 34,500				bimmy_lee			41,000				Shino
5	Level 4 - 35,800				Yoshi			35,590				ninjistar
6	Level 2 - 25,900				Stryphos			32,620				Stryphos
7								30,630				Yoshi
8								29,910				zaam
9								28,570				bimmy_lee
10								24,820				Webhead123

 

June - Tetris & Dr. Mario + Batman Returns
High Score and Progress
Mod	281,417				Brock Landers
1	494,710				Splain			Complete (3 lives)			+1	bimmy_lee
2	449,410				Bert			Scene 4 - 224,000				Gloves
3	434,104				Stryphos			Scene 4 - 232,000				Stryphos
4	357,037				ninjistar			Scene 3 - 168,600				MrPeaPod
5	290,331				bimmy_lee			Scene 3 - 185,900				Yoshi
6	254,889				MrPeaPod			S2 (Streets) - 134,100				Webhead123
7	229,312				Yoshi			S2 (Tunnel) - 58,200				quest4nes
8	223,132				Mega Tank			Scene 1 - 45,400				ninjistar
9	222,796				quest4nes			Scene 1 - 58,500				Splain
10	211,000				Chuppa3
11	121,003				mbd39
12	52,005				Webhead123

 

July - Super Buster Bros. + Ken Griffey Jr Presents MLB
High Score + Score differential
Mod	375,490				Brock Landers
1	1,175,230			+2	MrPeaPod			+6				MrPeaPod
2	1,160,569			+2	arnpoly			+2				Yoshi
3	307,520				bimmy_lee			-4				bimmy_lee
4	296,580				Bert			-6				quest4nes
5	134,330				mbd39			-71				Webhead123
6	131,520				quest4nes			-86				Splain
7	115,460				Splain
8	77,490				Webhead123
9	53,780				Yoshi

 

August - F-Zero + The Lion King

Times + Progress

Mod

1

10'19"96

+1

Red

Complete 0-8

+1

MrPeaPod

2

10'36"34

+1

MrPeaPod

Complete 0-8

+1

Red

3

10'43"63

+1

Webhead123

Complete 2-0

+1

Webhead123

4

11'22"63

ninjistar

Level 8

bimmy_lee

5

11'24"89

bimmy_lee

Level 5

quest4nes

6

11'36"04

quest4nes

Level 2

ninjistar

7

8

 

September - Earthworm Jim + Super Pinball

Progress + High score

Mod

1

Webhead123

+1

Completed - 0-3

MrPeaPod

+1

486,544,600

2

bimmy_lee

Stage 7 - 0-0

bimmy_lee

182,766,100

4

MrPeaPod

Stage 3 - 0-3

Webhead123

172,918,270

4

quest4nes

Stage 3 - 3-0

quest4nes

34,963,650

5

ninjistar

Stage 1 - 0-3

ninjistar

27,491,480

6

7

8

 

October - Zombies Ate My Neighbors + Street Fighter II Turbo
Progress + High score
Mod								Bea				998,800
1	bimmy_lee				Level 48			MrPeaPod			+1	815,700
2	Webhead123				Level 42			Abelardo				753,300
3	MrPeaPod				Level 12			Webhead123				638,400
4	quest4nes				Level 5			ninjistar				553,200
5								quest4nes				192,600
6								bimmy_lee				130,600
7
8

 

November - Wild Guns + Tiny Toons Adventures
High score + High score
Mod	4,214,750
1	3,641,150			+1	MrPeaPod			10,780				quest4nes
2	637,140				bimmy_lee			10,410				bimmy_lee
4	508,050				Webhead123			3,880				Webhead123
5	492,910				Meteor_of_War			-				ninjistar
6	133,410				mbd39
7	64,120				quest4nes
8
9

Leaderboard
1	MrPeaPod				209
2	quest4nes				174
3	bimmy_lee				163
4	Webhead123				161
5	Stryphos				76
6	ninjistar				62
7	link463				60
8	Gloves				51
9	Yoshi				39
10	mbd39				31
11	Splain				28
12	Shino				27
13	GhostofSparta				26
14	Red				24
15	ALTQQ				21
16	Bert				18
17	Jandrem				17
18	KrakenSoup				13
19	pegboy				12
20	Kyleh2486				11
21	Bert				10
	Abelardo				10
23	CZroe				9
	Meteor_of_War				9
25	skinny grinny				8
26	playerdrm				7
27	Bla5to				6
	Loxx O)))				6
	user				6
30	zaam				4
	Mega Tank				4
32	Hangoin				3
	johnnytecmo				3
	Chuppa3				3

Links
January Thread
2016 Leaderboard and Rules
2016 Post-Mortem
2017 Community Game Selection Poll
NES and SNES Contest Archives
 

FAQ

Q: Will there be awards?
A: Hopefully some day.  At this moment the administrators feel there are plenty of contest awards as it is

Q: Can we play game x?
A: I've already set the schedule for the next couple years, but will do a poll at each season's end for the community to select a game themselves.  The overall winner will also get to select one game, with some stipulations (ie no Koei games, no Super Scope games, etc.)

Q: Why is the scoring set this way?
A: I've tried to balance rewarding the top players while also not making it impossible for newer/lower players to catch up.  We'll see how things go this year.

Q: Can I play in both games this month?
A: Yes

Q: Do I need to play in both games this month?
A: No

Q: Can I use emulators?
A: Yes, read the rules skinny

Yippee!!!

lol read shmead   

Aw man, I love both of the January games.... I might just have to throw in a couple participation scores xD

Yay ... might be the only time im on top all year!! I suck at gradius and a novice at bustamove

Hey guys! I'm used to playing in the NES contests, so I have a question. Using the save state on the cart is okay for ones that have it? Example: Donkey Kong Country save points. I did read the rules, but want to make sure as that varies from the NES contests (because the games played there tend to not have save states built-in). Thanks!

Yes you can save. The dkc comp is about completion percentage first. Time second

For street fighter 2 turbo, what about the speed settings? I'd say we should all play "turbo" not normal, but I honestly wouldn't care if people picked their own speed settings. It's not really an advantage, and some might be at a disadvantage playing at a wrong speed and not want to compete.

I haven't tested it yet, but the main reason it is on the docket is for a turbo competition. The speed will be dictated in the rules

Anything under 4 stars of speed on SF2 Turbo Hyperfighting is just too slow, but there is no advantage to play at a slower speed.
There would only be a difference if someone played Champion Edition mode rather than Turbo, as there are balancing changes between both, but that would be easily spotted due to palette colours difference.

The settings will be the same for everyone.

 

Personally (more anecdotally and not aimed at the competion rules decisions), I've always much prefered Street Fighter II at "standard" or "classic" speed. Most of the upper turbo speeds just give the AI a larger window for cheap counters (which it is already heavy-handed with at upper difficulties), since the AI's reaction speed increases in direct proportion to game speed while the player's reaction speed stays the same. "Turbo" SF2 just always felt like a sloppy button-mash to me compared to the more thoughtful, rock-paper-scissors play of the classic game. Classic SF2 is probably my favorite fighting game of all time.

​But Super SF2 Turbo is the #1 choice in the SF tournament world, so what do I know. Apparently nothing.

Leaderboard updated.

OK I got street fighter and zombies at my neighbors I'll play this later this week and see how this goes!

Leaderboard updated.
Webhead123 is ahead of Bimmy as he has 2 wins against 1 of Bimmy.

I should have 2 wins on the year, Batman Returns and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

Huh. The Batman Returns one didn't come up on my search when I was counting wins.
I will count the number of 2nd and 3rd places after I have coffee to determine the tie break.
 

OK, Bimmy is back to 3rd.
He has 3 second places against Webhead123's 1.
Bimmy also has 3 3rd places while Webhead123 has 4.

Final leaderboard posted.
Congratulations to MrPeaPod for winning the 2017 SNES Monthly Contest.  
And also congratulations for quest4nes and bimmy_lee for ending 2nd and 3rd place on the contest.  

Bravo everyone!

Congrats to our 2017 champion MrPeaPod

I will post the 2018 schedule and sweeping contest changes in the middle of December. It will be a January 1st start date again.

Thanks to Brock, Bea, and Stryphos for running and moderating the contest this year. Playing these games over the year gave me a needed distraction while stuck in camp. I'd like to also thank the other competitors. Two in particular, Quest4nes and Arnpoly. Quest gave me some stiff competition in the beginning of the year. I'd never have put that much effort into donkey kong, bust a move or kirbys dream course without his scores to push me further. The win I was happiest with was in Super Buster Bros. Without Arnpoly's score I never would have been able to push myself to play the game over and over to achieve the score I did.

Looking forward to next year, as I will definitely be competing when I can!