Contra - February 13, 2018

Edit history:

SDAVerification: 2018-02-13 02:23:06 pm

2018-01-30 09:39:33 am

Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/Contra.html

Contra (ntscus) (nes) [Any %] [Single Segment] [2 Players]

Decision: Accept

Congratulations to Piotr 'TheMexicanRunner' Delgado Kusielczuk & Matthew 'AngryLanks' Wissig!

Thread title:

SDAVerification

2018-01-30 09:39:33 am

Run Information

Contra (ntscus) (nes) [Any %] [Single Segment] [2 Players]

Verification Files

http://v.speeddemosarchive.com/Contra-20180128/

Please refer to the Verification Guidelines before posting.

Please post your opinions about the run and be certain to conclude your post with a verdict (Accept/Reject). If you wish to remain anonymous, you can also send a pm with your reply to 'sdaverification' (please state clearly in that case which run you have verified). This is not a contest where the majority wins - Each verification will be judged on its content.

Sonikkustar

2018-02-02 04:51:41 pm

The Great Farming Empire

A/V Quality - Good
I saw them doing attempts at AGDQ. Needless to say, there is no cheating here.

It's interesting to see the Laser shot used, never thought that it would be useful anywhere. Otherwise, incredibly excellent run. Some of the movement is absolutely insane, let alone in a 2 player setting.

Easy Accept

ktwo

2018-02-09 07:29:04 am

I'm not down into the fine details of how to speedrun this game, but I made the following comparison between the new and the current SDA-run.

Stage 1 - Virtually identical for the two runs. The new run is about 1/10 of a second faster. New weapon strat at the end?

Stage 2 - A little over a second faster. New weapon strat or better mashing?

Stage 3 - Half a second slower. It looked like a missed jump halfway through, but it then looked like some time was gained back by the new weapon strat against the boss.

Stage 4 - One and a half seconds faster. From what I can tell, thanks to a new weapon strat and better mashing.

Stage 5 - Slightly, slightly faster. It doesn't look like any new strats, so I guess it's mostly because of marginally better mashing against the tanks and the boss.

Stage 6 - More than two seconds faster due to several route changes. The boss jumped once though.

Stage 7 - Around two and a half seconds slower due to keeping player 2 alive, which required some route changes.

Stage 8 - A few tenths of a second faster due to player 2 having better weapons.

All in all, a three second improvement. There are minor route changes for nearly all levels and most of them make sense. I'm honestly curious about the time loss in stages 7 and 8 though. It looks like it was because of a route decision for the worse. I think it's a bit of a pity that there are no comments at all for the run, because Contra has reached such a level of optimization that you need to pay pretty close attention to the details in order to fully enjoy the speedruns. Well, regardless of the lack or not of documentation, it's a fantastic run and an

Easy accept!

I'm not down into the fine details of how to speedrun this game, but I made the following comparison between the new and the current SDA-run.

Stage 1 - Virtually identical for the two runs. The new run is about 1/10 of a second faster. New weapon strat at the end?

Stage 2 - A little over a second faster. New weapon strat or better mashing?

Stage 3 - Half a second slower. It looked like a missed jump halfway through, but it then looked like some time was gained back by the new weapon strat against the boss.

Stage 4 - One and a half seconds faster. From what I can tell, thanks to a new weapon strat and better mashing.

Stage 5 - Slightly, slightly faster. It doesn't look like any new strats, so I guess it's mostly because of marginally better mashing against the tanks and the boss.

Stage 6 - More than two seconds faster due to several route changes. The boss jumped once though.

Stage 7 - Around two and a half seconds slower due to keeping player 2 alive, which required some route changes.

Stage 8 - A few tenths of a second faster due to player 2 having better weapons.

All in all, a three second improvement. There are minor route changes for nearly all levels and most of them make sense. I'm honestly curious about the time loss in stages 7 and 8 though. It looks like it was because of a route decision for the worse. I think it's a bit of a pity that there are no comments at all for the run, because Contra has reached such a level of optimization that you need to pay pretty close attention to the details in order to fully enjoy the speedruns. Well, regardless of the lack or not of documentation, it's a fantastic run and an

Easy accept!

Worn_Traveler

2018-02-12 09:49:47 pm

Formerly known as Skullboy

A/V is fine. No cheating is detected.

Laser seems to make a big difference in the run, especially in Base stages (2 and 4) and that's where a good chunk of the improved time comes from, at least from what I can tell. The runners take advantage of the things they can control in the game and outside of the jump from the Energy Zone boss, the game seems to be "nice" to the runners (if Contra has the capability of being nice). Deaths are spread out well and though there may be a time loss here or there to prevent a death, losing Spread would most likely make things slower, especially near the end.

Any improved time in this game is impressive. I accept this run as an improvement over the currently published run. Well done runners!

SDAVerification

2018-02-13 02:23:07 pm

Decision posted.