Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | West Division |
|---|---|
| Match # | 28 |
| Match Date | Monday, July 28th, 2003 |
| Vote difference | 52,752 |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Dante - 83.54% (34,300 brackets) |
The fear of Ryu beating Dante only lasted for one match, because those hoping that Dante would come out and vastly outperform Ryu against Ryo Hazuki got their wish. Dante came out almost exactly like Ryu did, except that Dante's percentage rose throughout the day instead of dropping like Ryu's.
Dante > Ryu was seemingly back in order, though Ryu > Dante "upset" hype would have been massive if the stats existed back then. Check out where Ryo Hazuki and Duke respectively are in the 2002 stats. Not to take away from Dante or anything, but Devil May Cry 2 caused him to be overrated to all hell going into this contest. Sure it wasn't a good game, but what has Ryu done to appeal himself to the non-fighting game crowd since Street Fighter 2?
As for Ryo Hazuki, he fell from the ranks of being put in positions to win matches to the role of fodder within one year, and he would only see one more contest after this before losing the support necessary to make the field outright -- it was a one-and-done loss against Yoshi. Ryo has always relied on Shenmue's cult fanbase to get him into these things, but he has gradually lost his luster and appeal in these things.