Alright, here goes. The greatest rivalry on TSC...
sonicandamy vs *nuked*
TSC's TITANIC TUSSLE #1
RPG vs mike89 (The Whole Damn Site)
Now as this is between myself and RPG we're both going to write our own perspectives on the rivalry. However I'm not waiting a week and a half for him again >_>
Where do I begin? The days of mike89 vs RPG go back even before the beginning of TSC. So let's take a stroll down memory lane to about... early 2003
I'd just got SA2B and as I was a regular user on GameFAQs at the time, checked out the relevant message board. The first thing I noticed was that people actually thought that it was Hyper Shadow (...), and the second was that every topic that didn't deal with Shadow's name was a time attack topic. And the times even back then were outstanding. All the usual suspects were there: Cybrax, SS101, SM, NintenDan, and a few others that never really made the transition over here.
One day the plethora of time attack topics was complemented with a boss time attack topic, started by none other than RPG. A quick play through these suggested they'd be far easier to compete on than the levels proper, so I took the challenge and for much of the topic's life we were the top two by a handy margin. There was one other guy who was pretty good by the name of Smashnuke, but he never came to TSC either.
This topic continued even past the beginning of TSC, until it was for whatever reason deleted at about 460 posts. As you can imagine RPG was not impressed. Then bosses were added to SA2B competition in February of 2004 and it didn't matter any more.
Around this time games were getting added to TSC at a rapid rate. It was about this time that Sonic Advance 3 was released, so the game count on TSC sat at 23. It was here that the real rivalry began.
And also here the story of TSC's Unluckiest Member began to emerge. RPG held five separate championships in April, but none for more than two days. Drift was forcibly taken by yours truly, then wrested back and forth for a while. Drift 2 I believe, at this stage, fell to Turbos; Sonic Jam went to some guy whose name eludes me; and Sonic Adventure 2 was re-taken by SS101. Or Cybrax. One of them anyway.
As the year rolled on my list of championships got bigger, and I began to take a comfortable lead in the rivalry. Then the unthinkable happened.
On April 1st, 2005, TSC disappeared. It would not return for a full three months.
Without comparisons to existing times I found it hard to motivate myself to TA, but the rivalry was back on when RPG suggested we keep track of our SA2B improvements until the downtime was over. This got me playing again, and when the weightings were changed at the end of the year, I realised I had a real chance of taking the Crown Jewel for myself. I got to within 200 points before RPG had had enough and took SS101 to another level, leaving me in the dust. And with yoshifan smashing just about every record in sight, my chance has well and truly passed.
2006 and onwards has seen me take a lesser role in the rivalry, as I focused on my studies (shock!) and since finishing school I've taken on more responsibility around the site. RPG caught up to me in a few games, such as Sonic 1, but he's been slowing down of late too.
However, we didn't stop completely. There was the small matter of Sonic Pocket Adventure to contend with.
RPG had just decided to take Rolken and sonicam, the two players who had ruled the roost for a long period of time, to the cleaners. It got me thinking that I could match him blow for blow, and I pretty much did. I fiercely attacked all of RPG's records, and managed to steal a lot only before receiving similar blows back. It continued like that for a couple of weeks when I reached a point where I couldn't continue... agonisingly close to taking the championship again. How the leaderboard sits now is basically how it was then.
Since 2003, RPG and I have had rivalries on the following: SADX, SA2B, Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 1 GG, SPA, Sonic R, SD and SD2; and those are only the ones that occur to me as critical rivalries. Ours is by far the widest spanning rivalry on the site.
CURRENT LEADER: Too close to call. I've held more championships and have more records than he does, so statistically I should win. But RPG has more often than not won the one-on-one duels, so after four years we're still level. May another four years of competition bring a result!
The List that is No Longer Mysterious
#10: SkyLights vs Crowbar (Rush)
#9: Cybrax vs Rayku (SA2B)
#8: SJ vs eredani vs sonicam (SH)
#7: Rolken vs eredani (SC)
#6: NintenDan vs RPG vs douglas
#5: Rolken vs sonicam (SC/STT/SPA)
#4: mike89 vs sonicam (SADX)
#3: eredani vs mike89 (S&K)
#2: RPG vs SS101 (SA2B)
#1: RPG vs mike89 (TSC)
And just remember: It's these rivalries that make the site great. I've found that I've got to know the people in engaging in competition with them, and I am particularly impressed with RPG and sonicam as people. The kind of people with that bloody-minded determination that will serve them well in their lives.
Well, we're nearly done here (finally...). When RPG completes his end of the bargain, I've got some honourable mentions for you as usual.