My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/BanjoKazooie.html
Jesse 'Jumpman' McColm's Single-segment 100% run
Verifier Responses
Decision: Accept
Reason: Banjo-Kazooie, now with 50% more optimization and 100% less controversy!
Question: The runner's comments say the final time is 2:28:51, but one of the verifiers says it's 2:28:56. Who is right?
Jesse 'Jumpman' McColm's Single-segment 100% run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Video quality staggered a bit at times (nothing big), but I don't know if that was the encode or my computer multitasking too much. Audio was good.
Too long of a run to really pick apart in detail. It's pretty easy to say that the mistakes made were fairly minor and very spread out. Each level/collectable seems very well planned, and some of the execution is really ballsy and impressive for an SS run. TTC and RBB were especially fun to watch. I doubt more than a few minutes can be shaved off of this, but that says a lot for a ~2.5 hour SS run.
Accept.
Too long of a run to really pick apart in detail. It's pretty easy to say that the mistakes made were fairly minor and very spread out. Each level/collectable seems very well planned, and some of the execution is really ballsy and impressive for an SS run. TTC and RBB were especially fun to watch. I doubt more than a few minutes can be shaved off of this, but that says a lot for a ~2.5 hour SS run.
Accept.
Quote:
MISSES THE BACKFLIP AT THE START. INSTANT REJECT.
Haha just kidding. Still kind of silly that he didn't reset, though.
Massive time improvement over the current run, uses the optimal route and tricks as far as I can see, and the execution of this run is quite impressive. For instance, you have to go 37 minutes into it to find a noteworthy mistake -- aside from that loltastic backflip. The mistakes he does make are relatively sparse and well corrected. I was actually very impressed at many points in the run where he flawlessly executed difficult choke points. So, despite this run having a few ugly-looking mistakes, almost all of which have already been outlined by the runner, I wouldn't hesitate to call it a great run for something as long and as difficult as BK 100%. In particular, I liked the improv beak bomb to get Grabba's jiggy (even though it was correcting a mistake, it was still a very cool correction, and in the end it almost looked *faster*), as well as the nearly instant glass clip in the RBB engine room. Little things like that scattered throughout the whole run really show the runner's effort.
The audio and video were fine for me. The previous verifier mentions stutters, but I didn't see any. I also didn't see any evidence of cheating.
Easy accept.
Haha just kidding. Still kind of silly that he didn't reset, though.
Massive time improvement over the current run, uses the optimal route and tricks as far as I can see, and the execution of this run is quite impressive. For instance, you have to go 37 minutes into it to find a noteworthy mistake -- aside from that loltastic backflip. The mistakes he does make are relatively sparse and well corrected. I was actually very impressed at many points in the run where he flawlessly executed difficult choke points. So, despite this run having a few ugly-looking mistakes, almost all of which have already been outlined by the runner, I wouldn't hesitate to call it a great run for something as long and as difficult as BK 100%. In particular, I liked the improv beak bomb to get Grabba's jiggy (even though it was correcting a mistake, it was still a very cool correction, and in the end it almost looked *faster*), as well as the nearly instant glass clip in the RBB engine room. Little things like that scattered throughout the whole run really show the runner's effort.
The audio and video were fine for me. The previous verifier mentions stutters, but I didn't see any. I also didn't see any evidence of cheating.
Easy accept.
Quote:
There are some ugly mistakes there, however there are so many points where this game can go wrong that expecting a run without any is just silly, and BK is one of those games where a tiny error just looks very bad, esp for a 100% run that's roughly 2.5 hours long! I agree that the saves after the big mistakes are quite nifty and mean that very little time is wasted (I'd even go so far as to say it's worth considering whether beak-bombing Grabba's jiggy leads to a faster, if much riskier, overall strat for Gobi's Valley) there are probably a couple of minutes of time that can be shaved off, assuming none of the other 600 risky tricks go wrong like TTC's instant jiggy-jig-skipping deathwarp or the awesome glass clip in RBB
There are other little errors on there, missing the odd note here and there and having to go back for it for instance, which ideally I'd like to have seen corrected. But there is so much improvement in terms of the strats and tricks used, like the whole of TTC (which was nicely brought to a tip by the aforementioned deathwarp), beating vile without the shoes in a freaking SS, getting several of the grunty jiggies the hard and fast way, excellent grunty battle at the end. There are lots of great little things too, like the air peck being used for several quick wins (e.g. collecting the jinjo at the start of MM), I also loved RBB when he skipped the bridge opening, the cunning use of eggs to one-shot the giant boom-box, and getting through those fans without slowing them.
Overall: Although there are a lot of little things that can be corrected to save more time, doing so while still getting all the other, successful tricks to work would require perfect jedi skillz or stupid amounts of luck (or both), and there isn't even that much time lost due to errors like that. It is an incredibly entertaining run and showcases great route planning, impeccable timing and consistent execution of tricks and minor glitches, as well as great improv skills for when things didn't turn out quite so well (which is critical in such a long SS) Even Grunty gets in on the entertainment front (I remember after he successfully skips a bit of platforming to active the Click-Clock jigsaw quicker, Grunty appears to ask what's taking so long!)
There was a bit of a stagger in the video quality which turned out to be my naff laptop as it ran perfectly on the second viewing; I'm presuming this is what the first verifier saw. No quality issues or cheating detected.
Accept
There are other little errors on there, missing the odd note here and there and having to go back for it for instance, which ideally I'd like to have seen corrected. But there is so much improvement in terms of the strats and tricks used, like the whole of TTC (which was nicely brought to a tip by the aforementioned deathwarp), beating vile without the shoes in a freaking SS, getting several of the grunty jiggies the hard and fast way, excellent grunty battle at the end. There are lots of great little things too, like the air peck being used for several quick wins (e.g. collecting the jinjo at the start of MM), I also loved RBB when he skipped the bridge opening, the cunning use of eggs to one-shot the giant boom-box, and getting through those fans without slowing them.
Overall: Although there are a lot of little things that can be corrected to save more time, doing so while still getting all the other, successful tricks to work would require perfect jedi skillz or stupid amounts of luck (or both), and there isn't even that much time lost due to errors like that. It is an incredibly entertaining run and showcases great route planning, impeccable timing and consistent execution of tricks and minor glitches, as well as great improv skills for when things didn't turn out quite so well (which is critical in such a long SS) Even Grunty gets in on the entertainment front (I remember after he successfully skips a bit of platforming to active the Click-Clock jigsaw quicker, Grunty appears to ask what's taking so long!)
There was a bit of a stagger in the video quality which turned out to be my naff laptop as it ran perfectly on the second viewing; I'm presuming this is what the first verifier saw. No quality issues or cheating detected.
Accept
Quote:
This is a great run. Everything from the beginning through Bubblegloop Swamp is fantastic; Mumbo's Mountain and the Cove in particular are phenomenal. Gobi's Valley and Freezeezy Peak are both a little rough (key word: little; they're still really good), but the runner comes back real strong for the remainder of the run, finishing off incredibly strong with the Grunty fight.
There are a few ugly mistakes, but they're ugly because there aren't very many of them, which is impressive considering the number of difficult tricks the runner attempts in the run. Most of them succeed, resulting in an impeccable plan put to near-perfect execution. Accept.
There are a few ugly mistakes, but they're ugly because there aren't very many of them, which is impressive considering the number of difficult tricks the runner attempts in the run. Most of them succeed, resulting in an impeccable plan put to near-perfect execution. Accept.
Quote:
I bet you thought it was going to take a month for me to take a look at this eh? Well I sure fooled you!
Mumbo's Mountain and Treasure Trove Cove are fantastic. Clanker's Cavern is over with pretty quickly too, though there are a few spots where a second gets lost due to a bad jump or a missed note. Bubblegloop Swamp is where the first noticeable mistake happens. He tries to jump to a high platform instead of just smashing the house and using the jump pad. He falls off and attempts the same trick again, getting it successfully this time.
The first big screw up has to be losing the running shoes in Gobi’s Valley while attempting to get all the music notes and the jiggy from Grabba. He kind of screwed up and lost too much health near the end of his damage-abuse note gathering, which forces him to use the gold feathers instead. This causes him not to be able to get the jiggy because he loses his running shoes too. This, of course, forces him to go back and get them and health to complete the section. Instead of running back to Grabba though, he does the pyramid run challenge next to the shoes, so it was a decent recovery.
The worst mistake in my opinion occurs after Freezeezy Peak. He has difficulty getting the jiggy in the Gruntilda statue’s eye and it snowballs from there. He tries to get it while flying a few times, but finally he just lands and gets it when the camera screws up and blocks his view. This forces him to run back and activate the flying pad to get the one above the level entrance.
Mad Monster Mansion is a great recovery though. Considering the difficulty of Rusty Bucket Bay and Click Clock Wood and how fast he completes them, it makes up for the time lost earlier. The Rusty Bucket Bay engine room has a new trick that gets used, and the shortcut gets pulled off right away. He does get trolled in Click Clock Wood twice though. Once by a bird knocking him off a ledge (kind of humorous) at the beginning of the Spring section and the other by Gobi and the flower using the game mechanics and possibly some grease against him (also kind of humorous).
The final fight against Gruntilda has improved phenomenally. It's even better when you realize that he skipped the red honeycomb health upgrade, which I've always argued wasn't needed anyway. This is where the only audio problem occurs too. When the Jinjonator is activated, some speaker crackling occurs.
I realize that the big mistakes I highlight make it look like this run should be rejected, but it's a two and a half hour 100% single segment speedrun that has everything else go so well when the slightest mistake means game over, especially with all the stuff being skipped that you're normally meant to get. There a few new techniques and route changes applied that also result in a better time than the last few runs of this game that I verified. All that death abuse also saves quite a bit of time. Over the course of a year, the overall time has gone from 2:40:05 to 2:36:01, to 2:33:22, and now finally to to 2:28:56. It's been a really rough road, but hey, now we finally have a Banjo-Kazooie run worthy of publication, even if it isn't perfect. I'd like to see it closer to perfect (hint hint runner), but there's no way I can reject this now.
Mumbo's Mountain and Treasure Trove Cove are fantastic. Clanker's Cavern is over with pretty quickly too, though there are a few spots where a second gets lost due to a bad jump or a missed note. Bubblegloop Swamp is where the first noticeable mistake happens. He tries to jump to a high platform instead of just smashing the house and using the jump pad. He falls off and attempts the same trick again, getting it successfully this time.
The first big screw up has to be losing the running shoes in Gobi’s Valley while attempting to get all the music notes and the jiggy from Grabba. He kind of screwed up and lost too much health near the end of his damage-abuse note gathering, which forces him to use the gold feathers instead. This causes him not to be able to get the jiggy because he loses his running shoes too. This, of course, forces him to go back and get them and health to complete the section. Instead of running back to Grabba though, he does the pyramid run challenge next to the shoes, so it was a decent recovery.
The worst mistake in my opinion occurs after Freezeezy Peak. He has difficulty getting the jiggy in the Gruntilda statue’s eye and it snowballs from there. He tries to get it while flying a few times, but finally he just lands and gets it when the camera screws up and blocks his view. This forces him to run back and activate the flying pad to get the one above the level entrance.
Mad Monster Mansion is a great recovery though. Considering the difficulty of Rusty Bucket Bay and Click Clock Wood and how fast he completes them, it makes up for the time lost earlier. The Rusty Bucket Bay engine room has a new trick that gets used, and the shortcut gets pulled off right away. He does get trolled in Click Clock Wood twice though. Once by a bird knocking him off a ledge (kind of humorous) at the beginning of the Spring section and the other by Gobi and the flower using the game mechanics and possibly some grease against him (also kind of humorous).
The final fight against Gruntilda has improved phenomenally. It's even better when you realize that he skipped the red honeycomb health upgrade, which I've always argued wasn't needed anyway. This is where the only audio problem occurs too. When the Jinjonator is activated, some speaker crackling occurs.
I realize that the big mistakes I highlight make it look like this run should be rejected, but it's a two and a half hour 100% single segment speedrun that has everything else go so well when the slightest mistake means game over, especially with all the stuff being skipped that you're normally meant to get. There a few new techniques and route changes applied that also result in a better time than the last few runs of this game that I verified. All that death abuse also saves quite a bit of time. Over the course of a year, the overall time has gone from 2:40:05 to 2:36:01, to 2:33:22, and now finally to to 2:28:56. It's been a really rough road, but hey, now we finally have a Banjo-Kazooie run worthy of publication, even if it isn't perfect. I'd like to see it closer to perfect (hint hint runner), but there's no way I can reject this now.
Quote:
To be blunt, I don't feel like making detailed run notes. The runners run notes sums about all of it up. Even though they sound awful in words, they look even worse when you visually see them. The run is so clean throughout and the fact that there was only a few mistakes is what makes them stand out. The first back flip was garbage on the games part, it really could not decide if it was gunna let the runner up or not. The second Gobi in TTW was great. who knew a camels back would have the same physics as ice... There are a few more things here and there that was not pretty, but this is hands down the best BK run I have ever seen.
I approve this run for SDA.
I approve this run for SDA.
Decision: Accept
Reason: Banjo-Kazooie, now with 50% more optimization and 100% less controversy!
Question: The runner's comments say the final time is 2:28:51, but one of the verifiers says it's 2:28:56. Who is right?
Thread title: