League Overview
The Retro World Series provides flexible retro gaming leagues. Here is a quick overview of the leagues.
- Players register for upcoming game leagues based on their skill level.
- For each game’s league, players will be assigned to groups based on skill level (some leagues may start out with only one group).
- Groups will have no less than 5 players and no more than 8 players.
- Players within each group will play 3 matches against each player.
- There will be 1-2 matches per week for each player over a period of an 11-week season depending on group size (between 9 and 21 total matches per player).
- Schedules will be posted the 48 hours before the first day of the regular season.
- Players contact opponents throughout the season and schedule each match by its deadline.
- Players will record matches and send recordings (or provide replay links) and report scores to the League Organizer to track their standings.
- The top 2 players in each group will play each other for the division championship.
- In the inaugural season for each league, the top 50% of players will be promoted to a higher tier group in the next season. The bottom 50% will be relegated to a lower tier group.
- For season after the inaugural one, the top 2 players in each group will be promoted to the succeeding tier group (except the top tier) and the bottom 2 players will be relegated to the preceding tier group (except the bottom tier) for the following season.
- Division winners and runners-up will receive cash payouts (60/40 split) and medals.
Getting Started
- Register for leagues online at retroworldseries.com
- Registration deadline for the 2020 Fall Season is Sep 29, 2020.
- Join the Retro World Series Discord channel using the same username as your gamertag.
- Retro World Series Discord channel: https://discord.gg/aqBk2wR
Leagues Offered – Emulator Used
- Crash Team Racing – MedGui Reborn/Mednafen
- Dr. Mario – RetroArch
- Duke Nukem 3D – YANG2020
- King of Fighters 98 – FightCade 2
- Mario Kart 64 – Mupen64Plus/Mario Party Netplay 64
- Mario Tennis – Mupen64Plus/Mario Party Netplay 64
- Marvel vs Capcom 2 – FightCade 2
- NBA Jam T.E. (SNES) – FightCade 2
- NFL Blitz 2000 – Mupen64Plus/Mario Party Netplay 64
- Pokemon Puzzle League – Mupen64Plus/Mario Party Netplay 64
- Pokemon Stadium 2 – Mupen64Plus/Mario Party Netplay 64
- Puyo Puyo/Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine – FightCade 2
- R.B.I. Baseball – RetroArch
- Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike – FightCade 2
- Super Mario Kart – FightCade 2
- Super Smash Bros. – Mupen64Plus/Mario Party Netplay 64
- Super Street Fighter II X – FightCade 2
- Tecmo Bowl – RetroArch
- Tetris (NES version – Tetris Zero Hack) – RetroArch
- Windjammers – FightCade 2
Have a retro game you want us to create a league for? Guarantee us 5 players and we’ll start it.
Seasons
- 2020 Fall Season (Oct 4, 2020 – Dec 19, 2020)
- Division Championships (Dec 27, 2020 – Jan 2, 2021)
- Register here: https://retroworldseries.com/seasons/2020-21-season/2020-fall-league-online
- 2021 Winter Season (Jan 10, 2021 – Mar 27, 2021)
- Division Championships (Mar 28, 2021 – Apr 3, 2021)
Scheduling Matches
- Schedules will be posted the 48 hours before the first day of the regular season.
- Players can communicate with opponents via private messaging on Discord or email.
- Please keep record of all communications in case there is a dispute.
- Check your Discord or email regularly if you are in an active league.
- Contact each opponent at least one week prior to the match deadline. It is the responsibility of all players to contact their opponents.
- You must offer your opponent 3 valid dates/times (YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR TIME ZONE) to play or alternatively accept one of your opponents’ options or your opponent can score the match as a forfeit against you (assuming your opponent has attempted to contact you and made the proper offers by private messaging or email at least 5 days prior to the deadline).
- The deadline to complete a match during a week is by 11:59pm on Saturday.
- Each option offered to your opponent must be on different dates during that week.
- Offers must be accepted at least 24 hours prior to said offer.
- A player forfeits a match if they fail to show up after one hour of the agreed upon date/time.
- Each player is allowed to cancel/reschedule a match one time with at least 24 hours notice with no penalty assuming there is still time to play by the deadline or if both players agree to play late. If the match has already been rescheduled one time then it is up to the other player whether they will allow their opponent to reschedule it a second time.
- If a match is cancelled with less than 24 hours notice or if the match is being canceled for the 2nd time, the match can be scored as a forfeit against the player that cancelled/rescheduled.
- Players that determine they cannot complete a season due to conflicts MUST report this to the league and withdraw as soon as possible so that an attempt at finding a replacement can be made.
Groups/Tiers
Once the game’s inaugural season concludes, game leagues will have two divisions/groups, 8-Bit Division (lower tier) and 16-Bit Division (higher tier). Choose your playing level as accurately as possible. If we feel you haven’t selected the appropriate division, we reserve the right to move you to another division (which may incur additional fees). We also reserve the right to expand the number of participants in each division or the number of available divisions.
Score Reporting/Match Recording
- The winning player must report their match scores no later than 24 hours after the match is completed.
- Both players must record the match (to ensure there aren’t any file losses and we can solve disputes) and provide the League organizer a link to download the recording (through Google Drive or Dropbox) or view it on Youtube or Vimeo. Providing replay links for FightCade 2 is acceptable as well. The Retro World Series reserves the right to restream, redistribute, and/or republish the recordings.
Division Championships
- The top 2 players from each division will play each other to determine the Division Champion
- Tiebreakers will be determined by set wins or total points score (depending on the game).
- If there is a tie after the aforementioned tiebreakers, the tied players must play a single match against each other 48 hours prior to the Division Championship week.
- Once the top 2 players have been established, they must contact each other 48 hours prior to the Division Championship week and offer each other three date/time options.
Registration Fees
8-Bit Division – $15 each ($10 goes into the cash pool)
16-Bit Division – $20 each ($15 goes into the cash pool)
- This will be the higher skill tier implemented after the inaugural season.
Payouts/Prizes
Division Champions (60% payout and gold medal)
Division Runners-up (40% payout and silver medal)
League Withdrawals
You should avoid withdrawing from the league unless it is absolutely necessary. A player who shows a pattern of withdrawing will be suspended from the league.
If a player forfeits or is late scoring three or more matches or does not respond within a week to our inquiries, we reserve the right to remove them from the division if we have a replacement player.
Refunds
Players will receive a 100% refund of their registration fee if they cancel their registration prior to schedules being published. There are no refunds or credits after schedules have been published for a league.
Emulators/ROMS
Please visit the following page for instructions on installing and using Emulators and ROMs:
Game Specific Rules
Please visit the following page for game-specific rules:
Sportsmanship and Other Rules
Please visit the following page for our official rules: https://retroworldseries.com/info/official-rules
Disputes
Retro World Series league matches are “non-officiated matches,” and we expect players to handle disputes where there is disagreement on what occurred on the in-game in a sportsmanlike manner.
We require all dispute resolution requests to be accompanied by documentation which includes a timeline of events and copies of all emails/messages. If there is enough documentation for us to reach a conclusion, we will do so to avoid matches going unscored.