Mr Smith

Doc Shakib

Doc Shakib

Mr Smith

Doc Shakib

Lord Dilks

Before the First Tournament was played the focus was on the Sonic 2 race between Doc Shakib and Mr Smith. At the time Doc Shakib's gauntlet game was the first test to see which of these two players was superior on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - the original idea that eventually lead to the creation of the Mega Drive Championships. In hindsight the split-screen style of this game generally means that the two players do not really go head-to-head until the final tallies and therefore the chances of a Sonic 2 classic battle are remote. The hugely one-sided score-line in the “Sonic 2 race” did little for this game to warrant a place in the history books. The next game Doc Shakib and Mr Smith faced each other on was Golden Axe. Doc Shakib's ambitions to become the Mega Drive Champion were looking pretty far-fetched, with just one win from his first four games, and defeat against Mr Smith would have ended them completely. Mr Smith on the other hand was in an excellent position to climb to the top of the table having won two out of two games and not conceded a single goal.

On paper this was going to be an easy victory for Mr Smith. Lord Dilks had beaten Doc Shakib 4-0 in the previous fixture while Mr Smith had dented Lord Dilks's title hopes with a 2-0 victory in game four. Yet this was a close affair from the start until the finish. Golden Axe's unique countdown scoring style provided a lot of excitement as the game neared its conclusion. Ultimately it was Doc Shakib who delivered the decisive blow and earned himself a 1-0 victory. This result briefly opened up the title race, but more importantly, the tense passion from this fixture fuelled the desire to have a re-match tournament, it also made Golden Axe a highlight of future title battles. Unlike the other two games in the First Mega Drive Championship, no single member was able to ascend to a position of dominance. This trend continued in the sequel game, Golden Axe 2, in which Doc Shakib, Lord Dilks and Mr Smith jostled for position despite having each played over twenty games.