My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: Doesn't exist yet
PAL version run
Verifier Responses
I talked with the runner about the run after all of the comments came in, and he agreed with rejecting the run and improving it later.
Decision: Reject
Reason: Too many time-consuming deaths.
PAL version run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Audio and video are good. I didn't see any cheating either. As for the run I would say it was near perfection at some points and almost disaster on others. The death on the second level looked really awkward however the rest of the run makes up for it. I would say it goes flawless up until the final boss where he seems to be out of rhythm or something, he incurs his second death. Again it looks awkward. The end part he said you wont count so it doesn't matter how it looks.
Accept, despite the flaws this game is damn hard and the run looks really good.
Accept, despite the flaws this game is damn hard and the run looks really good.
Quote:
Audio/video/cheating etc
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The audio is desynched at the beginning, like the runner mentioned. Other than that, all good.
Gameplay
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Level 1 - All the enemies appear at the same place every time, they can pretty much all be taken out in one hit or one combo, so this level should be pretty damn perfect. The runner gets tossed around once or twice, but it's in the right places so the time loss is acceptable. I wonder why he doesn't manipulate the enemies waiting for him at the end of the bridges to run into the pit though ? The tas does that, it looks a bit faster and is easy to do.
Level 2 - A death ? I have to say that it's a REALLY ugly one too and costs a ton of time. I must also question the runner's comment regarding that area. He says that it's not possible to kill those bots consistently in the pal-version. However, if he can manage good fights against the two last sets of bots, I don't think it's too much to ask to at least not die against the first one...
Level 3 - Autoscroller that is ended by picking up 8 black pins. The 8 first ones are picked up, so all good.
Level 4 - Autoscroller.
Level 5 - Pretty much an autoscroller. Reached the checkpoints as early as can be expected in a speedrun and used the 'early exit'/'warp'/'glitch' or whatever to call it.
Level 6 - Autoscroller.
Level 7 - Like level 3. Could have ended it a tiny bit earlier, but hardly any time lost.
Level 8 - Very nice movements down to all the rat races. First rat race looks good. Second one starts with a mistake and some minor hick-ups are added after that. Third one like the second, but without the big mistake at the beginning. I'd say a passable level, but I'm still amazed that even speedrunners seem to have a hard time memorizing these rat races (I'm speaking both about this game and the nes-version).
Level 9 - If I counted correctly, 5 missed hits, which account for a decent bunch of time lost. Plus another death. It didn't cost any time, but still...
Level 10 (credits) - So taking out Silas Volkmire doesn't count, huh ? I must say that I'm strongly against this ruling, but whatever... Not a great fight and the runner explains why in the comments.
Recommendation
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As much as I would like to see a Battletoads in Battlemaniacs run on sda, I still recommend a rejection of this run. The few levels that don't run on a fixed timer contain several small hick-ups and a couple of major time losses (including one ugly death). The runner blaims the pal-version of the game for some of the mistakes. However, I wonder if enough practice of adapting to the different timing really went into this project before the run got recorded ?
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The audio is desynched at the beginning, like the runner mentioned. Other than that, all good.
Gameplay
========
Level 1 - All the enemies appear at the same place every time, they can pretty much all be taken out in one hit or one combo, so this level should be pretty damn perfect. The runner gets tossed around once or twice, but it's in the right places so the time loss is acceptable. I wonder why he doesn't manipulate the enemies waiting for him at the end of the bridges to run into the pit though ? The tas does that, it looks a bit faster and is easy to do.
Level 2 - A death ? I have to say that it's a REALLY ugly one too and costs a ton of time. I must also question the runner's comment regarding that area. He says that it's not possible to kill those bots consistently in the pal-version. However, if he can manage good fights against the two last sets of bots, I don't think it's too much to ask to at least not die against the first one...
Level 3 - Autoscroller that is ended by picking up 8 black pins. The 8 first ones are picked up, so all good.
Level 4 - Autoscroller.
Level 5 - Pretty much an autoscroller. Reached the checkpoints as early as can be expected in a speedrun and used the 'early exit'/'warp'/'glitch' or whatever to call it.
Level 6 - Autoscroller.
Level 7 - Like level 3. Could have ended it a tiny bit earlier, but hardly any time lost.
Level 8 - Very nice movements down to all the rat races. First rat race looks good. Second one starts with a mistake and some minor hick-ups are added after that. Third one like the second, but without the big mistake at the beginning. I'd say a passable level, but I'm still amazed that even speedrunners seem to have a hard time memorizing these rat races (I'm speaking both about this game and the nes-version).
Level 9 - If I counted correctly, 5 missed hits, which account for a decent bunch of time lost. Plus another death. It didn't cost any time, but still...
Level 10 (credits) - So taking out Silas Volkmire doesn't count, huh ? I must say that I'm strongly against this ruling, but whatever... Not a great fight and the runner explains why in the comments.
Recommendation
==============
As much as I would like to see a Battletoads in Battlemaniacs run on sda, I still recommend a rejection of this run. The few levels that don't run on a fixed timer contain several small hick-ups and a couple of major time losses (including one ugly death). The runner blaims the pal-version of the game for some of the mistakes. However, I wonder if enough practice of adapting to the different timing really went into this project before the run got recorded ?
Quote:
Hi Sexy, Psycho
Audio is out of wack in the beginning, but the music still rocks out with it's cock out.
Visual is acceptable.
No cheating evident, Sir!
Begin - Props for using Pimple over Rash
Mount-N's - Excellent, knock down yielded no time lost.
Tree Down - This level is nasty as kicking a puppy in the face. The runner has a laundry list as to why, but a lot seems correctable. The dragon heads can be punched from behind for more control. The pair of gyromites are easily killed if you stay in between them and let them shoot each other twice. But the first one simply handed the runner their ass. There is no way that was unavoidable. Positioning better punches alone would have fixed that. Kicking out the hover board is crap all the time anyway, don't do it. Don't know if I can get over all that...
Bonus Stage 1 - Yup
Speed Bikes from Hell - MmHmm
Snake Pit of Madness - Not much you can do to be faster. But the glitch exit is mandatory.
Race of Death - Not much to make this faster either.
Bonus Stage 2 - Fo Sho.
Rat Race - Couple of fumbles, but still acceptable.
Dark Queen - Is still hot. Anyway, she puts Pimple in the dirt before feeling her own defeat. The second death doesn't look good. Kind of hurts actually.
In summary, I was initially on the fence. However, looking level by level, the decision became clear. Level 1 and 2 you need to put in work. The next three levels and bonus stages you just need to get through, there really isn't anything you can do to be substantially faster than somebody else who knows how to play the game. The rat race is easy once memorized, no randomness. That just leaves the Dark Queen, one of only two bosses in this game. I can tolerate one death on the Hot Queen as she can be a real Be-Yotch. But that combined with the whole level 2 debacle is too much. I know the runner explains, but I feel all that can be overcome, as evidenced by how they ran the rest of the level. The runner shows a lot of skill, so I feel with some more attempts, they could get a better run with no level 2 fiasco. The Queen death would hopefully not happen again either.
I hate to do it but,
REJECT.
Audio is out of wack in the beginning, but the music still rocks out with it's cock out.
Visual is acceptable.
No cheating evident, Sir!
Begin - Props for using Pimple over Rash
Mount-N's - Excellent, knock down yielded no time lost.
Tree Down - This level is nasty as kicking a puppy in the face. The runner has a laundry list as to why, but a lot seems correctable. The dragon heads can be punched from behind for more control. The pair of gyromites are easily killed if you stay in between them and let them shoot each other twice. But the first one simply handed the runner their ass. There is no way that was unavoidable. Positioning better punches alone would have fixed that. Kicking out the hover board is crap all the time anyway, don't do it. Don't know if I can get over all that...
Bonus Stage 1 - Yup
Speed Bikes from Hell - MmHmm
Snake Pit of Madness - Not much you can do to be faster. But the glitch exit is mandatory.
Race of Death - Not much to make this faster either.
Bonus Stage 2 - Fo Sho.
Rat Race - Couple of fumbles, but still acceptable.
Dark Queen - Is still hot. Anyway, she puts Pimple in the dirt before feeling her own defeat. The second death doesn't look good. Kind of hurts actually.
In summary, I was initially on the fence. However, looking level by level, the decision became clear. Level 1 and 2 you need to put in work. The next three levels and bonus stages you just need to get through, there really isn't anything you can do to be substantially faster than somebody else who knows how to play the game. The rat race is easy once memorized, no randomness. That just leaves the Dark Queen, one of only two bosses in this game. I can tolerate one death on the Hot Queen as she can be a real Be-Yotch. But that combined with the whole level 2 debacle is too much. I know the runner explains, but I feel all that can be overcome, as evidenced by how they ran the rest of the level. The runner shows a lot of skill, so I feel with some more attempts, they could get a better run with no level 2 fiasco. The Queen death would hopefully not happen again either.
I hate to do it but,
REJECT.
Quote:
Run of SNES Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (PAL)
Cheating - None
Video / Audio - Audio desync as mentioned by the runner in the beginning, it ultimately resolves itself quickly. Video quality isn't amazing, but final encode will probably clean it up a bit.
Run notes:
Level 1 - A few slips (2) but good recoveries. Good execution of the level, and the boss is well done outside of a whiff or two.
Level 2 - That rough patch with the bot is really hard to watch, especially considering how easily the next one goes down. Rest of the level is executed well, but that's a pretty nasty blemish. I'm surprised you didn't reset.
Level 3 - a nice example of having some fun without losing time.
Level 4 - done as well as can be done.
Level 5 - great execution, catches the warp to shave a good 5+ seconds off the end.
Level 6 - Fine, with a few turns looking less than optimal. The response for this is a little stiffer than its NES counterpart. Losses probably amount to no more than 1-2 seconds.
Level 7 - Nicely done. Missing the last domino was not a big deal.
Level 8 - Outside of one turn too early, a very fine run of this level. Floaty jump/fall mechanics make this tricky.
Queen - Really not a great fight.
Timing: Assuming the missile sequence at the end is not factored, First character control at 0:30, last punch on queen at 22:35, leaving a run time of 22:05. Factoring in the missile sequence it is exactly two more minutes(which, as mentioned in the comments is not so hot because the runner can't see the crosshairs, but for the purposes of finish time it shouldn't matter. Unfortunately it does look bad, particularly for something so easy.
Deliberation - OK, so this appears to be the first entry for BiB, and it's a very fine one outside of two major nasty sections. The bit with the bot in level 2 is bad luck, and the final battle is victim to combat mechanics being a little less precise than the original Battletoads. I'm fully aware of how the control makes the game a little more frustrating, but the runner here knows everything backwards and is able to execute almost everything very well. Ironically this is why I'm on the fence. There is actually so little combat in this game that I think it would be worth the runner to go for a better time. S/he manages to virtually optimize all of the levels "on rails" such as the speeder bike, karnath pit and the tractor race with fuzz. Rat race is also extremely good. So why not go for the golden goose and attempt to recreate those great level times (you obviously know these levels like the back of your hand) and also manage a better level 2 and dark queen fight? I know this game is tough, and you own 98% of it. I think you may have settled a bit.
Verdict - This was a tough call, but I vote for Accept, but with the reservation that I sure hope we see this runner improve his/her time. With a similar run minus the bad luck, I bet 30 seconds could be shaved off, which at a 22 minute total is worthy of consideration.
Cheating - None
Video / Audio - Audio desync as mentioned by the runner in the beginning, it ultimately resolves itself quickly. Video quality isn't amazing, but final encode will probably clean it up a bit.
Run notes:
Level 1 - A few slips (2) but good recoveries. Good execution of the level, and the boss is well done outside of a whiff or two.
Level 2 - That rough patch with the bot is really hard to watch, especially considering how easily the next one goes down. Rest of the level is executed well, but that's a pretty nasty blemish. I'm surprised you didn't reset.
Level 3 - a nice example of having some fun without losing time.
Level 4 - done as well as can be done.
Level 5 - great execution, catches the warp to shave a good 5+ seconds off the end.
Level 6 - Fine, with a few turns looking less than optimal. The response for this is a little stiffer than its NES counterpart. Losses probably amount to no more than 1-2 seconds.
Level 7 - Nicely done. Missing the last domino was not a big deal.
Level 8 - Outside of one turn too early, a very fine run of this level. Floaty jump/fall mechanics make this tricky.
Queen - Really not a great fight.
Timing: Assuming the missile sequence at the end is not factored, First character control at 0:30, last punch on queen at 22:35, leaving a run time of 22:05. Factoring in the missile sequence it is exactly two more minutes(which, as mentioned in the comments is not so hot because the runner can't see the crosshairs, but for the purposes of finish time it shouldn't matter. Unfortunately it does look bad, particularly for something so easy.
Deliberation - OK, so this appears to be the first entry for BiB, and it's a very fine one outside of two major nasty sections. The bit with the bot in level 2 is bad luck, and the final battle is victim to combat mechanics being a little less precise than the original Battletoads. I'm fully aware of how the control makes the game a little more frustrating, but the runner here knows everything backwards and is able to execute almost everything very well. Ironically this is why I'm on the fence. There is actually so little combat in this game that I think it would be worth the runner to go for a better time. S/he manages to virtually optimize all of the levels "on rails" such as the speeder bike, karnath pit and the tractor race with fuzz. Rat race is also extremely good. So why not go for the golden goose and attempt to recreate those great level times (you obviously know these levels like the back of your hand) and also manage a better level 2 and dark queen fight? I know this game is tough, and you own 98% of it. I think you may have settled a bit.
Verdict - This was a tough call, but I vote for Accept, but with the reservation that I sure hope we see this runner improve his/her time. With a similar run minus the bad luck, I bet 30 seconds could be shaved off, which at a 22 minute total is worthy of consideration.
I talked with the runner about the run after all of the comments came in, and he agreed with rejecting the run and improving it later.
Decision: Reject
Reason: Too many time-consuming deaths.
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