1-Up!
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/MegaManX2.html
Low% run
Verifier Responses
Decision: Reject
Reason: This run isn't quite polished enough yet.
This run will be available for a month. PM me for a link.
Low% run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Brevity beats everything.
Intro: No complaints. Boss was handled really well.
Wire Sponge: The level was pretty close to flawless, especially with the great elevator ascent. Boss fight coulda been a lot better (missed shots, too many hits), but that's stating the obvious and people don't like picky verifiers.
Wheel Gator: Two missed dashes and dodging the eagleroid!?! Level was fine aside from those two things. Boss fight was also not too great, and I'm starting to wonder if it would have been worth starting over after two sloppy boss fights so early on. Just sayin is all.
Bubble Crab: Something about getting hit by the fish sub's laser from so far away makes me unhappy. Boss fight is solid without any real flaws.
Flame Stag: As stated, this is too easy to really mess up.
Morph Moth: Near flawless level. Boss had that missed shot, but it's not much time lost when you consider how fast that fight is.
Magna Centipede: I guess I don't know much about this boss tactic, but it looks really goofy. I can't even tell if it's faster than just unloading with the Buster, so I'll refrain from verifying this fight entirely.
Crystal Snail: Didn't know you could skip the miniboss like that. Too bad about messing up the boss fight or I would have been impressed.
Overdrive Ostrich: Didn't know you could save the bike until the boss gate like this. Boss fight didn't have any mistakes, so I'm impressed.
Hunters 1: That first jump was rad. Boss fight was a little conservative but concerning how easily he can kill you, it's not so bad.
Hunters 2: Too much down time! That elevator miss is a big black eye on an otherwise great run. It kinda bleeds into the boss fight, where a lot of easy shots are missed. Sad times
Hunters 3: I don't even remember what this boss looks like without the Shoryuken. Don't know what trick was missed by the runner (maybe jumping off the bat in mid air?) but it seems negligible.
Refights: Nothing to say here: every fight was fairly optimised and the setups were fine (aside from Wheel Gator). Still don't get the Centipede fight though.
Final: It's funny how the runner makes the same early mistakes here and in the MC intro area. Zero fight was solid, though the attempt to shave off 1 second of running into place was lost when the runner took an unnecessary hit before the last blow was dealt. Using the Sonic Slicer on Sigma was smart (alliteration GO). It would have been cool if the Sigma Virus fight wasn't used to farm drops and had focused on the fight instead, but it's fine when you realize that you're 40 minutes in to an SS.
All said and done, it's an easy accept, but I feel like it's still improvable. Obviously the small slips aren't so bad, but you could shave off at least a minute in big mistakes.
Still, good job and congrats to the runner!
Intro: No complaints. Boss was handled really well.
Wire Sponge: The level was pretty close to flawless, especially with the great elevator ascent. Boss fight coulda been a lot better (missed shots, too many hits), but that's stating the obvious and people don't like picky verifiers.
Wheel Gator: Two missed dashes and dodging the eagleroid!?! Level was fine aside from those two things. Boss fight was also not too great, and I'm starting to wonder if it would have been worth starting over after two sloppy boss fights so early on. Just sayin is all.
Bubble Crab: Something about getting hit by the fish sub's laser from so far away makes me unhappy. Boss fight is solid without any real flaws.
Flame Stag: As stated, this is too easy to really mess up.
Morph Moth: Near flawless level. Boss had that missed shot, but it's not much time lost when you consider how fast that fight is.
Magna Centipede: I guess I don't know much about this boss tactic, but it looks really goofy. I can't even tell if it's faster than just unloading with the Buster, so I'll refrain from verifying this fight entirely.
Crystal Snail: Didn't know you could skip the miniboss like that. Too bad about messing up the boss fight or I would have been impressed.
Overdrive Ostrich: Didn't know you could save the bike until the boss gate like this. Boss fight didn't have any mistakes, so I'm impressed.
Hunters 1: That first jump was rad. Boss fight was a little conservative but concerning how easily he can kill you, it's not so bad.
Hunters 2: Too much down time! That elevator miss is a big black eye on an otherwise great run. It kinda bleeds into the boss fight, where a lot of easy shots are missed. Sad times
Hunters 3: I don't even remember what this boss looks like without the Shoryuken. Don't know what trick was missed by the runner (maybe jumping off the bat in mid air?) but it seems negligible.
Refights: Nothing to say here: every fight was fairly optimised and the setups were fine (aside from Wheel Gator). Still don't get the Centipede fight though.
Final: It's funny how the runner makes the same early mistakes here and in the MC intro area. Zero fight was solid, though the attempt to shave off 1 second of running into place was lost when the runner took an unnecessary hit before the last blow was dealt. Using the Sonic Slicer on Sigma was smart (alliteration GO). It would have been cool if the Sigma Virus fight wasn't used to farm drops and had focused on the fight instead, but it's fine when you realize that you're 40 minutes in to an SS.
All said and done, it's an easy accept, but I feel like it's still improvable. Obviously the small slips aren't so bad, but you could shave off at least a minute in big mistakes.
Still, good job and congrats to the runner!
Quote:
MMX2 low% verification:
The run that never got to SDA because it's so ZOMG WTF hard.
Audio: Great
Video: Great
Cheating: He obviously cheated on Violen, cause it's illegal to beat him on low% (j/k, no cheating).
Intro stage: He *missed* a dash jump! WTF!? But he has the timing down on the mechanaloid, nice.
Wire Sponge: Stage was damn-near perfect. The fight itself though, was not. One missed shot due to invincibility, and taking a lot of damage to get hits in. Sponge was not very nice in that regards.
Wheel Gator: A *missed* dash jump at the beginning of the stage. WTF?! As for the fight, he barely missed the initial chain hit. Once Gator resurfaced, he didn't manage to fully chain Gator to death, so Gator resurfaced 2 more times. This looks bad.
Bubble Crab: Minor bot mishaps at the end of the stage, otherwise it was pretty optimal. Crab could have been only marginally faster, but barely.
Flame Stag: Amazing how the stage ends almost as quickly as it begins. One missed quick shot on Stag, otherwise perfect.
Morph Moth: Stage was good. Phase 2 of fight needs work.
Magna Centipede: Stage had some clutch moves, but a little lag producing with tripping a couple extra alarms. Centipede could have been better, much better. Use the weakness, no matter how risky it is.
Crystal Snail: Nice, simple way to skip the mini boss. Rest of the stage could only have gone a second or so faster. Snail was annoying for a moment, and climbed back in his shell, the bastard.
Overdrive Ostrich: Lost a bit of time before jumping on the bike. He kept the bike through the whole stage?! WTF. Missed a second shot on Overdrive. I has a sad panda.
X-Hunter 1: Stage was nice. Violen, however, was not. He missed a few shots, and went into careful mode once he was down to one hit. Gotta stay aggressive.
X-Hunter 2: He missed the elevator skip, which is pretty damn hard in its own right. For a run that doesn't yet exist, this one trick I won't fault him for, even if everyone else will. The Serges fight was slow, with almost as many hits as misses.
X-Hunter 3: Minor mistakes, but only a second or so was lost with each. Agile was very cooperative, going invincible only once.
Re-fight hell: This is where it went downhill. NEVER use the last cutter hit on Sponge, cause it takes forever for him to die. Gator 2 went much better than Gator 1, bravo. Wasted even more time with Centipede 2. Crab 2 had a missed shot.
Sigma: Zero was damn-near perfect, until that last hit. Wolverine Sigma was a bit too close for comfort, and Lag Sigma needed a bit more aggression once he got the health drops. The runner wasted 18 seconds by not attacking Lag Sigma at all.
Final verdict: It's close, but I will reject it. A couple stages could go marginally faster, but the bosses pointed out must be better.
The run that never got to SDA because it's so ZOMG WTF hard.
Audio: Great
Video: Great
Cheating: He obviously cheated on Violen, cause it's illegal to beat him on low% (j/k, no cheating).
Intro stage: He *missed* a dash jump! WTF!? But he has the timing down on the mechanaloid, nice.
Wire Sponge: Stage was damn-near perfect. The fight itself though, was not. One missed shot due to invincibility, and taking a lot of damage to get hits in. Sponge was not very nice in that regards.
Wheel Gator: A *missed* dash jump at the beginning of the stage. WTF?! As for the fight, he barely missed the initial chain hit. Once Gator resurfaced, he didn't manage to fully chain Gator to death, so Gator resurfaced 2 more times. This looks bad.
Bubble Crab: Minor bot mishaps at the end of the stage, otherwise it was pretty optimal. Crab could have been only marginally faster, but barely.
Flame Stag: Amazing how the stage ends almost as quickly as it begins. One missed quick shot on Stag, otherwise perfect.
Morph Moth: Stage was good. Phase 2 of fight needs work.
Magna Centipede: Stage had some clutch moves, but a little lag producing with tripping a couple extra alarms. Centipede could have been better, much better. Use the weakness, no matter how risky it is.
Crystal Snail: Nice, simple way to skip the mini boss. Rest of the stage could only have gone a second or so faster. Snail was annoying for a moment, and climbed back in his shell, the bastard.
Overdrive Ostrich: Lost a bit of time before jumping on the bike. He kept the bike through the whole stage?! WTF. Missed a second shot on Overdrive. I has a sad panda.
X-Hunter 1: Stage was nice. Violen, however, was not. He missed a few shots, and went into careful mode once he was down to one hit. Gotta stay aggressive.
X-Hunter 2: He missed the elevator skip, which is pretty damn hard in its own right. For a run that doesn't yet exist, this one trick I won't fault him for, even if everyone else will. The Serges fight was slow, with almost as many hits as misses.
X-Hunter 3: Minor mistakes, but only a second or so was lost with each. Agile was very cooperative, going invincible only once.
Re-fight hell: This is where it went downhill. NEVER use the last cutter hit on Sponge, cause it takes forever for him to die. Gator 2 went much better than Gator 1, bravo. Wasted even more time with Centipede 2. Crab 2 had a missed shot.
Sigma: Zero was damn-near perfect, until that last hit. Wolverine Sigma was a bit too close for comfort, and Lag Sigma needed a bit more aggression once he got the health drops. The runner wasted 18 seconds by not attacking Lag Sigma at all.
Final verdict: It's close, but I will reject it. A couple stages could go marginally faster, but the bosses pointed out must be better.
Quote:
Video - Video is very good
Audio - Audio is equally good
Cheating - None here
Intro - Not bad, nothing worrisome really.
Wire Sponge - Stage was very well done, fight bugged me a little, but overall, fine.
Wheel Gator - The stage played through bugged me. There were quite a few missed dashes that made the overall run of the stage seem kind of meh. The fight could be a lot better. Missing those chain locks makes a big difference.
Bubble Crab - The stage was well done up until the end. The end of the stage cost him quite a chunk of time. Boss fight was fine.
Flame Stag - Stage went perfectly basically. Missed shot on Stag. Otherwise, okay.
Morph Moth - Stage was pretty much perfect. Boss fight needs a little more practice.
Magna Centipede - Stage could have been quite a bit better. Boss took far too much time, the whole stage plus the boss fight could be a lot better.
Crystal Snail - Interesting way to skip the mini boss... I have yet to see that method. A well done play through the stage. Boss fight went all right, just one annoying part.
Overdrive Ostrich - Nicely done with the bike part. Beginning needs a tinge of work. Missed one shot on Ostrich, overall though it was good.
Sigma Stage 1 - Stage was really well done up until towards the end where the player looked a bit awkward. The fight always bothered me how much luck is involved. Player got very lucky with how the boss moved around.
Sigma Stage 2 - Stage was very clean up until the elevator. Going up the elevator the long way isn't really an option imo. Boss fight was honestly... terrible. Needs a lot of work.
Sigma Stage 3 - Minor mistakes. Nothing big though. Agile went swimmingly.
8 man stage - 1 early shot on Morph Moth. Wire Sponge was fine until he killed him with the cutter. MUCH better on Wheel Gator. Ostrich was better this time. Same problem with Magna as earlier. Snail was perfect this time. Stag was also perfect this time. Bubble Crab could have gone better.
Zero - The stage getting up to Zero was a little screwy... awww, the Zero fight was almost perfect. That one screw up made it so anti-climatic.
1st form Sigma - PHEW. The first fight was kinda hilarious actually. Run could have ended right there, but went all right.
2nd form Sigma - Lost a LOT of time after grabbing the health. Went far too passive on Sigma afterwards.
Final Verdict: Reject.
Reasoning: There are a lot of problems with this run. This run looks all right, but compared to the other runs we've seen, this could be worlds better. The biggest reasons for my rejection of this run are Magna Centipede, the Sigma fight, Wheel Gator's stage as well as the fight, the elevator skip, and the second Sigma stage. My advice to the runner is to keep practicing. This has potential, it just needs to be refined a bit more.
Audio - Audio is equally good
Cheating - None here
Intro - Not bad, nothing worrisome really.
Wire Sponge - Stage was very well done, fight bugged me a little, but overall, fine.
Wheel Gator - The stage played through bugged me. There were quite a few missed dashes that made the overall run of the stage seem kind of meh. The fight could be a lot better. Missing those chain locks makes a big difference.
Bubble Crab - The stage was well done up until the end. The end of the stage cost him quite a chunk of time. Boss fight was fine.
Flame Stag - Stage went perfectly basically. Missed shot on Stag. Otherwise, okay.
Morph Moth - Stage was pretty much perfect. Boss fight needs a little more practice.
Magna Centipede - Stage could have been quite a bit better. Boss took far too much time, the whole stage plus the boss fight could be a lot better.
Crystal Snail - Interesting way to skip the mini boss... I have yet to see that method. A well done play through the stage. Boss fight went all right, just one annoying part.
Overdrive Ostrich - Nicely done with the bike part. Beginning needs a tinge of work. Missed one shot on Ostrich, overall though it was good.
Sigma Stage 1 - Stage was really well done up until towards the end where the player looked a bit awkward. The fight always bothered me how much luck is involved. Player got very lucky with how the boss moved around.
Sigma Stage 2 - Stage was very clean up until the elevator. Going up the elevator the long way isn't really an option imo. Boss fight was honestly... terrible. Needs a lot of work.
Sigma Stage 3 - Minor mistakes. Nothing big though. Agile went swimmingly.
8 man stage - 1 early shot on Morph Moth. Wire Sponge was fine until he killed him with the cutter. MUCH better on Wheel Gator. Ostrich was better this time. Same problem with Magna as earlier. Snail was perfect this time. Stag was also perfect this time. Bubble Crab could have gone better.
Zero - The stage getting up to Zero was a little screwy... awww, the Zero fight was almost perfect. That one screw up made it so anti-climatic.
1st form Sigma - PHEW. The first fight was kinda hilarious actually. Run could have ended right there, but went all right.
2nd form Sigma - Lost a LOT of time after grabbing the health. Went far too passive on Sigma afterwards.
Final Verdict: Reject.
Reasoning: There are a lot of problems with this run. This run looks all right, but compared to the other runs we've seen, this could be worlds better. The biggest reasons for my rejection of this run are Magna Centipede, the Sigma fight, Wheel Gator's stage as well as the fight, the elevator skip, and the second Sigma stage. My advice to the runner is to keep practicing. This has potential, it just needs to be refined a bit more.
Quote:
A/V is fine, no cheating as far as I can tell.
Intro: This was fine. Had a missed dash jump and instead just jumped up once, but nothing major.
Wire Sponge: This was also good. The boss gave good luck with jumping up immediately after being hit by the shot before you wait for him to do so.
Wheel Gator: The stage wasn't too bad. Had another little flub with jumping instead of dash jumping at the start, but the grapple was used nicely. The boss fight is what ruins this stage. I don't care how hard a perfect Wheel Gator fight is, you pretty much need to restart when you mess it up this early. When the gator goes into the water it wastes so much time, and he went down twice here. I've seen this runner get the boss fight perfectly tons of other times, so I'm not sure why he would settle for anything less now.
Bubble Crab: This stage definitely had some slop in the last room, but the boss fight was fine.
Flame Stag: This was acceptable. Shot a bit too early on Stag once but it cost like, frames.
Morph Moth: Stage was ok, could've avoid a hit he took at the end but it wasn't disastrous. The boss fight really needs some work. If nothing else, at least go up when the moth does. Watch Yoshiiscool's low% attempts from his stream for reference on doing this fight.
Magna Centipede: The lack of grapple in this stage puzzles me since a lot of the minor time savers cost no time to try. Most of them are only mere frames, but since it costs no time to attempt them I see no reason why you'd skip trying. I understand the risk involved with using the boss's weakness, and while I'm sure a lot of people would question you not using it for most of the fight, I can also see how it could turn out slower on average. This fight was very fast for the strategy used, so I'm giving a pass on this.
Crystal Snail: Again, I'm surprised the grapple was only pulled out for the boss door. The miniboss skip was cool. The boss got back in his shell once, but could've been worse I suppose.
Overdrive Ostrich: Pretty nice job on the stage and boss. Maybe you could consider a grapple before that ladder at the start to avoid being hit by that enemy?
Hunter 1: There was definitely some hesitance in some parts that cost some time. The boss fight was fine. Sure, X almost died, but he got through in a timely manner with a huge risk of death.
Hunter 2: Yes, I'm going to mention the elevator skip. Sure, it's difficult, but this is what you practice up for. Being fine with missing this skip is like being fine with missing the Spring Man quick kill in MM7. Sure, it's a hard trick, and you only get one shot, but the amount of time saved is too great to be fine with missing it. Worse than the skip being missed though is the boss fight. I wouldn't exactly consider Serges the master of dodging, but the runner sure made him look elusive.
Hunter 3: Definitely some notable missed jumps in this stage, and they seem particularly worse following up the disaster of the last stage. Almost died on the boss, but it was still very fast.
Refights: Morph Moth fight was pretty much the same. I'm not sure I agree with the strategy of making Wire Sponge use his super attack once, but I understand the logic behind it. The missed wall jump multiple times after the Wire Sponge fight looks very bad and wastes a lot of time for something so simple as going to a boss teleporter. At least there was a perfect Gator this time. Ostrich was fine. The Centipede fight felt a lot slower than the first one. The runner was ready for round 2 with the Snail. Stag was slightly better due to not missing a shot. Crab fight was fine, considering health didn't matter at that point.
Finale The Zero fight was fine until the very end, but not much time wasted. The hits taken on Sigma's first form really slow down the second form a lot, and that's unfortunate. It's surprising that more shots were not taken at the final form after weapon energy drops were collected. I know he was banking on a health drop for the quick finish, but it wouldn't hurt to get a few more shots in while waiting so the finish wouldn't take as long. Overall I'd say this boss fight went pretty bad, but part of that is just luck.
Verdict: Reject.
The stages seemed ok, but even then some extra practice in a few of them could really help, and the grapple should definitely be used a lot more on a couple. The elevator skip being missed is also a huge eyesore, but the worst part about the run is the lack of execution in a handful of boss fights. The strategies for a couple of other boss fights is questionable too, but considering the strategy that was used, the execution wasn't too bad on those. A ton of time can be taken off this run, and even though this is a category that has no runs on the site yet, I feel this wouldn't be a good first representative for it. I have seen this runner do other runs for SDA, and usually his expectations are so high that it's an easy accept whenever he submits something to the site, but this just happened to be an uncharacteristic submission from him I guess. I know he's capable of much more with this run and hope he continues to improve it before submitting again.
Intro: This was fine. Had a missed dash jump and instead just jumped up once, but nothing major.
Wire Sponge: This was also good. The boss gave good luck with jumping up immediately after being hit by the shot before you wait for him to do so.
Wheel Gator: The stage wasn't too bad. Had another little flub with jumping instead of dash jumping at the start, but the grapple was used nicely. The boss fight is what ruins this stage. I don't care how hard a perfect Wheel Gator fight is, you pretty much need to restart when you mess it up this early. When the gator goes into the water it wastes so much time, and he went down twice here. I've seen this runner get the boss fight perfectly tons of other times, so I'm not sure why he would settle for anything less now.
Bubble Crab: This stage definitely had some slop in the last room, but the boss fight was fine.
Flame Stag: This was acceptable. Shot a bit too early on Stag once but it cost like, frames.
Morph Moth: Stage was ok, could've avoid a hit he took at the end but it wasn't disastrous. The boss fight really needs some work. If nothing else, at least go up when the moth does. Watch Yoshiiscool's low% attempts from his stream for reference on doing this fight.
Magna Centipede: The lack of grapple in this stage puzzles me since a lot of the minor time savers cost no time to try. Most of them are only mere frames, but since it costs no time to attempt them I see no reason why you'd skip trying. I understand the risk involved with using the boss's weakness, and while I'm sure a lot of people would question you not using it for most of the fight, I can also see how it could turn out slower on average. This fight was very fast for the strategy used, so I'm giving a pass on this.
Crystal Snail: Again, I'm surprised the grapple was only pulled out for the boss door. The miniboss skip was cool. The boss got back in his shell once, but could've been worse I suppose.
Overdrive Ostrich: Pretty nice job on the stage and boss. Maybe you could consider a grapple before that ladder at the start to avoid being hit by that enemy?
Hunter 1: There was definitely some hesitance in some parts that cost some time. The boss fight was fine. Sure, X almost died, but he got through in a timely manner with a huge risk of death.
Hunter 2: Yes, I'm going to mention the elevator skip. Sure, it's difficult, but this is what you practice up for. Being fine with missing this skip is like being fine with missing the Spring Man quick kill in MM7. Sure, it's a hard trick, and you only get one shot, but the amount of time saved is too great to be fine with missing it. Worse than the skip being missed though is the boss fight. I wouldn't exactly consider Serges the master of dodging, but the runner sure made him look elusive.
Hunter 3: Definitely some notable missed jumps in this stage, and they seem particularly worse following up the disaster of the last stage. Almost died on the boss, but it was still very fast.
Refights: Morph Moth fight was pretty much the same. I'm not sure I agree with the strategy of making Wire Sponge use his super attack once, but I understand the logic behind it. The missed wall jump multiple times after the Wire Sponge fight looks very bad and wastes a lot of time for something so simple as going to a boss teleporter. At least there was a perfect Gator this time. Ostrich was fine. The Centipede fight felt a lot slower than the first one. The runner was ready for round 2 with the Snail. Stag was slightly better due to not missing a shot. Crab fight was fine, considering health didn't matter at that point.
Finale The Zero fight was fine until the very end, but not much time wasted. The hits taken on Sigma's first form really slow down the second form a lot, and that's unfortunate. It's surprising that more shots were not taken at the final form after weapon energy drops were collected. I know he was banking on a health drop for the quick finish, but it wouldn't hurt to get a few more shots in while waiting so the finish wouldn't take as long. Overall I'd say this boss fight went pretty bad, but part of that is just luck.
Verdict: Reject.
The stages seemed ok, but even then some extra practice in a few of them could really help, and the grapple should definitely be used a lot more on a couple. The elevator skip being missed is also a huge eyesore, but the worst part about the run is the lack of execution in a handful of boss fights. The strategies for a couple of other boss fights is questionable too, but considering the strategy that was used, the execution wasn't too bad on those. A ton of time can be taken off this run, and even though this is a category that has no runs on the site yet, I feel this wouldn't be a good first representative for it. I have seen this runner do other runs for SDA, and usually his expectations are so high that it's an easy accept whenever he submits something to the site, but this just happened to be an uncharacteristic submission from him I guess. I know he's capable of much more with this run and hope he continues to improve it before submitting again.
Quote:
Everything looks good here. No issues with A/V, no cheating.
As usual, I'll come right out and say this is PJ. I dislike anonymity. ^_^
Intro Stage: Everything looks good here, except for the missed dash jump. I'm questioning why the runner didn't do the ladder jumps, too (not jumping through the ladder, just jumping off the upper ledge to avoid the 'standing up' animation from X), but I'm assuming the runner knows better than I do if it's worth doing that.
Cucumber: Stage looks really nice. The boss fight was a little sloppy. As already mentioned, the runner intentionally took damage to hit Cucumber while he was spinning the wire...but he took so much damage unintentionally during the fight he was unable to use that technique when he needed it. He also missed one shot and lost a little bit of time. Not a huge loss, but it just looks sloppy.
Gator: I enjoyed watching this stage. He missed a dash jump immediately, but then recovered well and finished off the stage very cleanly. He can go through the ride armor bit little faster if he continues the momentum from his charged punch, but it's no big deal. The boss, though....the boss is a big deal. Again, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is unacceptable. The runner is definitely capable of better, and this is so early in the run for such a big mistake. I'm pretty sure I've seen the runner kill Gator in other runs quicker than he first damaged Gator in this run. He had to wait for Gator to resurface three times. This alone is enough to warrant a rejection.
Crab Puncher: Final climb had some blips. Acceptable boss fight.
Stag: I don't have any issues here.
Morf: The robots didn't jump around after they died. I admit I haven't been staying up to date with the patterns of those guys; last I remember though, it's random if they jump or not. That is the best part of the run so far. A really tentative moth-form fight takes away some of that gain, though.
Centipede: I will not lie when I say I absolutely hate this boss strategy. It is not at all fun to watch. It IS faster, however, and it was done well here. Great job!
Slugma: Nice miniboss skip. Slugma was having none of the runner's games, and snuck back into his shell briefly. Fortunately the runner recovered well and Slugma didn't do his silly rotation stall tactics.
Ostrich: Runner was hit by Boartron early in the stage...but that hardly matters. IIRC, there is a faster boss strategy that involves shooting Ostrich with dash jumped pellet shots in between the crystal shots. It's pretty hard to do, and I don't remember how much time it saves. This strategy works for me.
Hunter 1: The return of Boartron gave the runner a scare and he lost some time from the hesitation. Other than that, the stage was really good! He survived the boss, which is all I care about. He's such a difficult fight that I would never fault a low% runner for not being aggressive enough or not getting good enough luck.
Hunter 2: This....is not a good stage. Even if the rest of the run was perfect, this stage still unfortunately ends the run. As mentioned by the above verifier, missing the elevator skip is just too huge of a loss to accept. It is regrettable, but it is true. The boss fight just further cements this. There were 14 missed shots against Serges. Even lowballing it at 1 miss = 1 second, that's still 14 seconds gone.
Hunter 3: Really nice boss fight!
Refights: I don't really have much to say here. Regarding the Cucumber fight, I do understand why the runner chose to do this strategy. However, in a run that already lost over a minute to mistakes, I would think he'd use the riskier strategy to try to gain some of that time back. In a run with a 1-round Gator fight and a successful elevator skip, I would understand taking a safe route on Cucumber to avoid losing a large block of time from horrible luck, but in a run that is already at risk of rejection, there is no reason to play it safe.
Zero et al.: I have a problem with this Zero strategy. Yes, if you return to the left wall as you kill him, it cuts the one second it takes X to walk over there after the fight. But uh...if you don't kill Zero with that last hit, you'll lose 5 seconds or so. If the runner is willing to lose 8 seconds on the Cucumber refight just for consistency, why try this strategy on Zero? It makes more sense to me to just keep him locked and deal with the one second penalty. Sigma 1 had a few really good claw swipes....unfortunately it required the runner to play round 2 safely and farm for health drops. That was pretty ugly and cost a lot of time, but there's no way around it at this point. If the enemies don't drop health, they don't drop health.
Verdict: Reject. :/
I'm sorry, runner. This is a good starting point for a low% run and it was deathless, but it just had too many really large errors to submit. The first Gator fight, the missed elevator skip, and the Serges fight cost a ridiculously amount of time on their own. Even if the rest of the run was flawless, those errors are too large to ignore. I really hope the runner chooses to stick with it and improve this run, because he is certainly capable of crushing it.
As usual, I'll come right out and say this is PJ. I dislike anonymity. ^_^
Intro Stage: Everything looks good here, except for the missed dash jump. I'm questioning why the runner didn't do the ladder jumps, too (not jumping through the ladder, just jumping off the upper ledge to avoid the 'standing up' animation from X), but I'm assuming the runner knows better than I do if it's worth doing that.
Cucumber: Stage looks really nice. The boss fight was a little sloppy. As already mentioned, the runner intentionally took damage to hit Cucumber while he was spinning the wire...but he took so much damage unintentionally during the fight he was unable to use that technique when he needed it. He also missed one shot and lost a little bit of time. Not a huge loss, but it just looks sloppy.
Gator: I enjoyed watching this stage. He missed a dash jump immediately, but then recovered well and finished off the stage very cleanly. He can go through the ride armor bit little faster if he continues the momentum from his charged punch, but it's no big deal. The boss, though....the boss is a big deal. Again, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is unacceptable. The runner is definitely capable of better, and this is so early in the run for such a big mistake. I'm pretty sure I've seen the runner kill Gator in other runs quicker than he first damaged Gator in this run. He had to wait for Gator to resurface three times. This alone is enough to warrant a rejection.
Crab Puncher: Final climb had some blips. Acceptable boss fight.
Stag: I don't have any issues here.
Morf: The robots didn't jump around after they died. I admit I haven't been staying up to date with the patterns of those guys; last I remember though, it's random if they jump or not. That is the best part of the run so far. A really tentative moth-form fight takes away some of that gain, though.
Centipede: I will not lie when I say I absolutely hate this boss strategy. It is not at all fun to watch. It IS faster, however, and it was done well here. Great job!
Slugma: Nice miniboss skip. Slugma was having none of the runner's games, and snuck back into his shell briefly. Fortunately the runner recovered well and Slugma didn't do his silly rotation stall tactics.
Ostrich: Runner was hit by Boartron early in the stage...but that hardly matters. IIRC, there is a faster boss strategy that involves shooting Ostrich with dash jumped pellet shots in between the crystal shots. It's pretty hard to do, and I don't remember how much time it saves. This strategy works for me.
Hunter 1: The return of Boartron gave the runner a scare and he lost some time from the hesitation. Other than that, the stage was really good! He survived the boss, which is all I care about. He's such a difficult fight that I would never fault a low% runner for not being aggressive enough or not getting good enough luck.
Hunter 2:
Hunter 3: Really nice boss fight!
Refights: I don't really have much to say here. Regarding the Cucumber fight, I do understand why the runner chose to do this strategy. However, in a run that already lost over a minute to mistakes, I would think he'd use the riskier strategy to try to gain some of that time back. In a run with a 1-round Gator fight and a successful elevator skip, I would understand taking a safe route on Cucumber to avoid losing a large block of time from horrible luck, but in a run that is already at risk of rejection, there is no reason to play it safe.
Zero et al.: I have a problem with this Zero strategy. Yes, if you return to the left wall as you kill him, it cuts the one second it takes X to walk over there after the fight. But uh...if you don't kill Zero with that last hit, you'll lose 5 seconds or so. If the runner is willing to lose 8 seconds on the Cucumber refight just for consistency, why try this strategy on Zero? It makes more sense to me to just keep him locked and deal with the one second penalty. Sigma 1 had a few really good claw swipes....unfortunately it required the runner to play round 2 safely and farm for health drops. That was pretty ugly and cost a lot of time, but there's no way around it at this point. If the enemies don't drop health, they don't drop health.
Verdict: Reject. :/
I'm sorry, runner. This is a good starting point for a low% run and it was deathless, but it just had too many really large errors to submit. The first Gator fight, the missed elevator skip, and the Serges fight cost a ridiculously amount of time on their own. Even if the rest of the run was flawless, those errors are too large to ignore. I really hope the runner chooses to stick with it and improve this run, because he is certainly capable of crushing it.
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Quality (Capture)
The audio and visuals are fine.
Quality (Gameplay)Intro stage: Pretty fast.
Wire Sponge: Stage goes well. Boss looks a bit sloppy, but the time-consuming invisible attack is avoided.
Wheel Gator: Misses a dash jump at the start, but the rest of the stage goes fine. I realize that it may be hard to chain combo Wheel Gator (see what I did there?), but three resurfaces is too many for any speedrun.
Bubble Crab: The enemies cause some slow-downs during the wall climb outside the boss door. The rest of the stage was peachy. The crab battle was pretty good, there wasn’t a single wasted shot.
Flame Stag: Stage is over with quickly, and there was only one mistimed shot on Flame Stag.
Morph Moth: The stage and mini-boss battles go down without a hitch. The second phase of the boss battle needed a bit more manipulation though.
Magna Centipede: The stage I didn’t see any note-worthy problems with, but with the boss I did. My problem is that the boss fight looks really slow. I realize what it’s like if the boss’s weakness is used, but it’s a risk that should be taken.
Crystal Snail: Awesome mini-boss skip. Crystal Snail manages to make it back into his shell, but it’s not a really big loss.
Overdrive Ostrich: He manages to keep the bike for the whole stage, resulting in a really quick finish. The second shot during the boss battle is missed because Ostrich jumps to high, but the rest are connected with good timing.
Violen Stage: The stage goes well, but the boss has many mistimed or misaimed hits. Granted, it’s Violin sitting on top of a block throwing the ultimate “fuck you” weapon around, so I can see why it’d be a little tough to be consistent and lucky all the time.
Serges Stage: About 18 seconds are lost to a missed elevator ride, and almost an equal amount of time is missed when a bunch of shots miss Serges and his tiny-ass hitbox.
Agile Stage: The stage was okay, the boss was really good.
Sigma stage 1: Morph Moth is handled better. Wire Sponge shouldn’t have been killed with his weakness because the extra death animation takes more time. There are multiple failed jumps after this. Why pause to switch weapons before Wheel Gator? The runner gets a one round Wheel Gator, which is really nice. The terrain is kinder for the Overdrive Ostrich fight, so the runner can hit all the shots. The Magna Centipede refight is pretty slow. The Crystal Snail fight is faster than the other one. Flame Stag gets bubble jugged perfectly this time. Again, why pause to switch weapons for Bubble Crab?
Magna Centi... Sigma stage 2: He has Zero pretty much Blizzard Buffalo’d until the end where he screws up and loses a few seconds. There’s a random pause before Neon Tiger Sigma too. C4 Chip Sigma needs health farmed due to losing too much health on the previous Sigma. The enemies also cause damage at one point.
Timing:
39:18 is the time displayed at the start.
Overall:
Some parts of this run are really well done, but there are just too many major time loses present throughout it. It’s not a terrible run, but it’s not ready for SDA either. I’m going to reject this, but I really think the runner should try again with all the things we’ve pointed out in mind for improvements.
The audio and visuals are fine.
Quality (Gameplay)Intro stage: Pretty fast.
Wire Sponge: Stage goes well. Boss looks a bit sloppy, but the time-consuming invisible attack is avoided.
Wheel Gator: Misses a dash jump at the start, but the rest of the stage goes fine. I realize that it may be hard to chain combo Wheel Gator (see what I did there?), but three resurfaces is too many for any speedrun.
Bubble Crab: The enemies cause some slow-downs during the wall climb outside the boss door. The rest of the stage was peachy. The crab battle was pretty good, there wasn’t a single wasted shot.
Flame Stag: Stage is over with quickly, and there was only one mistimed shot on Flame Stag.
Morph Moth: The stage and mini-boss battles go down without a hitch. The second phase of the boss battle needed a bit more manipulation though.
Magna Centipede: The stage I didn’t see any note-worthy problems with, but with the boss I did. My problem is that the boss fight looks really slow. I realize what it’s like if the boss’s weakness is used, but it’s a risk that should be taken.
Crystal Snail: Awesome mini-boss skip. Crystal Snail manages to make it back into his shell, but it’s not a really big loss.
Overdrive Ostrich: He manages to keep the bike for the whole stage, resulting in a really quick finish. The second shot during the boss battle is missed because Ostrich jumps to high, but the rest are connected with good timing.
Violen Stage: The stage goes well, but the boss has many mistimed or misaimed hits. Granted, it’s Violin sitting on top of a block throwing the ultimate “fuck you” weapon around, so I can see why it’d be a little tough to be consistent and lucky all the time.
Serges Stage: About 18 seconds are lost to a missed elevator ride, and almost an equal amount of time is missed when a bunch of shots miss Serges and his tiny-ass hitbox.
Agile Stage: The stage was okay, the boss was really good.
Sigma stage 1: Morph Moth is handled better. Wire Sponge shouldn’t have been killed with his weakness because the extra death animation takes more time. There are multiple failed jumps after this. Why pause to switch weapons before Wheel Gator? The runner gets a one round Wheel Gator, which is really nice. The terrain is kinder for the Overdrive Ostrich fight, so the runner can hit all the shots. The Magna Centipede refight is pretty slow. The Crystal Snail fight is faster than the other one. Flame Stag gets bubble jugged perfectly this time. Again, why pause to switch weapons for Bubble Crab?
Magna Centi... Sigma stage 2: He has Zero pretty much Blizzard Buffalo’d until the end where he screws up and loses a few seconds. There’s a random pause before Neon Tiger Sigma too. C4 Chip Sigma needs health farmed due to losing too much health on the previous Sigma. The enemies also cause damage at one point.
Timing:
39:18 is the time displayed at the start.
Overall:
Some parts of this run are really well done, but there are just too many major time loses present throughout it. It’s not a terrible run, but it’s not ready for SDA either. I’m going to reject this, but I really think the runner should try again with all the things we’ve pointed out in mind for improvements.
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Most people have elaborated on the run enough, but I have to say something about Magna Centipede. That strategy is the fastest strategy for low %. Silk shot only does 2 damage, which is the same as a dash shot, and causes Centipede to teleport, sometimes repeatedly. Even if you shoot Centipede with normal shots, he'll teleport unless if you hit him during the rotating pieces or the magnetic tail attack. So in other words, what the runner is doing is the most reliable way to get a fast time against Centipede without the buster upgrade.
With the buster upgrade you'd just use charged silk shots because they deal 4 damage.
Unfortunately, like the other verifiers I'm going to reject. I know this is a very hard run to do, especially since the biggest run-killers, Violen and final Sigma, are very late into the game, but the three big mistakes (first Gator fight, missed elevator skip, and the Serges fight) almost add up to a minute alone.
Also, I have to agree with the fifth verifier. Why try to save one second against Zero when you risk losing at least 3 if you screw up? It's at the very end of the run too.
It's a shame too, because aside from those three major mistakes, this really is a very good, tight run.
With the buster upgrade you'd just use charged silk shots because they deal 4 damage.
Unfortunately, like the other verifiers I'm going to reject. I know this is a very hard run to do, especially since the biggest run-killers, Violen and final Sigma, are very late into the game, but the three big mistakes (first Gator fight, missed elevator skip, and the Serges fight) almost add up to a minute alone.
Also, I have to agree with the fifth verifier. Why try to save one second against Zero when you risk losing at least 3 if you screw up? It's at the very end of the run too.
It's a shame too, because aside from those three major mistakes, this really is a very good, tight run.
Decision: Reject
Reason: This run isn't quite polished enough yet.
This run will be available for a month. PM me for a link.
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