My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: Doesn't exist yet
Single-segment run
Verifier Responses
Decision: Reject
Reason: Too much hesistation and mistakes.
As always, the run will be up for a month, just PM me for a copy.
Single-segment run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Audio/Video: Fine. No discernible jumps or skips. Framerate seemed pretty good. Note: This game lags many times while playing. This can be very annoying when you're trying to make precise do-or-die jumps.
Gameplay....
Okay. First of all, the runner did a fair job at handling the jumping in this game. The mouse jumps are hard to get consisten some times and he does a fair job overall at it.
Now, I understand that this is a single-segment, but unfortunately....
I believe the overall theme of the gameplay is that the runner has not practiced each individual stage enough to realize that there are MANY seconds that can be gained by better boss fights and better use of the ice weapon.
Here is SOME of the level-by-level breakdown:
General
+ knows not to just spam shots on bosses. Good on him(her?) (invincibility frames)
-a lot of missed shots on all bosses, sub-optimal
-too afraid to take damage to save time
-too hesitant in many parts of the levels
-should know exactly what weapons to use and when
-does NOT use the ice weapon to its maximum extent. Missed saving MANY seconds.
***-various times during this run, runner should in my opinion have realized that you can boost through enemies instead away from enemies by facing away from enemies right before damage. This enables MANY quite faster (albeit riskier) strategies. Example: He did this at 8:23 and a couple of other times...
INDIVIDUAL STAGES
ICE NEZUMI
* This is a very annoying level to speedrun because of the stupid snowmen and the ice and spikes. Good job on the runner for at least getting through relatively unscathed.
-missed shot opportunities on boss, when he's rising and falling from his jump
DRAGON NEZUMI
* fairly good, but can be done more quickly using riskier strategies like using damage invincibility frames to walk on lava
WAVE NEZUMI
-damage boosted past ice mini-bosses, but not wave mini-bosses?
SMOKE NEZUMI
+good smoke fight, just about optimal
-tea pot area -- too hesitant
-10:00 big mistake, should have been enough for a run-killer
-10:08 failed to use obvious shortcut (in my opinion) through small hole using ice
MILKY NEZUMI
-missed opportunity to get through spikes and has to wait a half-cycle
-just overall way too cautious
DELAY NEZUMI
-many missed opportunies to use ice weapon
USAGI
-remember, enemy damages makes you immune to spike insta-death. You can use this to get through this area quicker
-you don't have to wait for usagi to come at you to hit him with your shot
BUTTER
- missed opportunities for ice weapon
- lol at the keyboard disconnect; unfortunately, though, it shouldn't have happened (no run-killer, though)
GYONIKU 1
+ fairly good octopus fight, learned something!
REST OF THE STAGES
+ learned something about the (what's that name again) boss, using the stars
- just too hesitant
FINAL BATTLES
+ I think you're damage strategy on the final boss (form 1) was a pretty good idea. It MIGHT not be the fastest, but maybe the most consistent.
DECISION: Reject
Now, even though this is a single-segment, I believe with more level-by-level practice the runner can be able to submit a successful run. I will post more detailed notes on how the runner can improve in the Nezumiman thread soon.
Gameplay....
Okay. First of all, the runner did a fair job at handling the jumping in this game. The mouse jumps are hard to get consisten some times and he does a fair job overall at it.
Now, I understand that this is a single-segment, but unfortunately....
I believe the overall theme of the gameplay is that the runner has not practiced each individual stage enough to realize that there are MANY seconds that can be gained by better boss fights and better use of the ice weapon.
Here is SOME of the level-by-level breakdown:
General
+ knows not to just spam shots on bosses. Good on him(her?) (invincibility frames)
-a lot of missed shots on all bosses, sub-optimal
-too afraid to take damage to save time
-too hesitant in many parts of the levels
-should know exactly what weapons to use and when
-does NOT use the ice weapon to its maximum extent. Missed saving MANY seconds.
***-various times during this run, runner should in my opinion have realized that you can boost through enemies instead away from enemies by facing away from enemies right before damage. This enables MANY quite faster (albeit riskier) strategies. Example: He did this at 8:23 and a couple of other times...
INDIVIDUAL STAGES
ICE NEZUMI
* This is a very annoying level to speedrun because of the stupid snowmen and the ice and spikes. Good job on the runner for at least getting through relatively unscathed.
-missed shot opportunities on boss, when he's rising and falling from his jump
DRAGON NEZUMI
* fairly good, but can be done more quickly using riskier strategies like using damage invincibility frames to walk on lava
WAVE NEZUMI
-damage boosted past ice mini-bosses, but not wave mini-bosses?
SMOKE NEZUMI
+good smoke fight, just about optimal
-tea pot area -- too hesitant
-10:00 big mistake, should have been enough for a run-killer
-10:08 failed to use obvious shortcut (in my opinion) through small hole using ice
MILKY NEZUMI
-missed opportunity to get through spikes and has to wait a half-cycle
-just overall way too cautious
DELAY NEZUMI
-many missed opportunies to use ice weapon
USAGI
-remember, enemy damages makes you immune to spike insta-death. You can use this to get through this area quicker
-you don't have to wait for usagi to come at you to hit him with your shot
BUTTER
- missed opportunities for ice weapon
- lol at the keyboard disconnect; unfortunately, though, it shouldn't have happened (no run-killer, though)
GYONIKU 1
+ fairly good octopus fight, learned something!
REST OF THE STAGES
+ learned something about the (what's that name again) boss, using the stars
- just too hesitant
FINAL BATTLES
+ I think you're damage strategy on the final boss (form 1) was a pretty good idea. It MIGHT not be the fastest, but maybe the most consistent.
DECISION: Reject
Now, even though this is a single-segment, I believe with more level-by-level practice the runner can be able to submit a successful run. I will post more detailed notes on how the runner can improve in the Nezumiman thread soon.
Quote:
First, I'd like to start by saying that the audio/video is good and I approve of it.
Now for the levels, Ice Nezumi seems pretty solid, though at the start I question whether jumping that snowman you chose to shoot would be faster. That aside, the runner knew what was going on and did some really nice dodging and enemy avoidance. Very nice damage boost through the seal minibosses. The Fight with Ice Nezumi probably could've gone faster with a couple more jump shots, but was otherwise done nicely.
Moving on to the Dragon Nezumi stage, there's a very early hit from a dragon that sets you back a few seconds that I feel could've been avoided, and there seems to be general hesitation in parts that don't call for it. Most of the level is good though, but I do hope in future runs you work more on this stage. The latter half is much better then the start, and the Dragon Nezumi fight is pretty much flawless.
Wave Nezumi's stage is good for the most part, but work on your timing for hitting the cannon enemies. The face miniboss goes well, as does most of the stage aside from missed shots, good usage of ice powerups near the end to get through a bit quicker. Great Wave Nezumi fight, but why didn't you jump for the last hit? Would've saved a bit more time.
Smoke Nezumi starts with a nice little damage boost. I'm noticing you're a bit hesitant on the weapon select menus, and though it's not part of the in game timer I'd suggest working a bit at that in the future. Good timing on the tea kettle segment, and a decent smoke skeleton room. The room with the spikes and the smoke enemies is really bad however, with a mistake that huge early in the run I would've reset and started over. Great job with the boss though.
Milky Nezumi starts solid enough, though I feel the first two hits could be avoided altogether. Good use of Dragon Nezumi's power to quickly get through a room. Odd missed jump in one room though. I also feel the spiked room could be done faster in a few spots. You seem to have the bosses down very well, as Milky Nezumi goes down pretty fast.
Delay Nezumi's level is one of my favorite levels in the game, and the strongest stage of this run so far. Awesome run of the stage and a good Delay Nezumi fight.
Usagi's stage has a really poor meh start, time is made up on dodging the squirrels though. Was it necessary to kill the monkey who's shot you dodged? I would've just jumped over him. Usagi fight is nice, but wouldn't it be faster to fully charge and run into the boss?
Butter Nezumi starts off much "butter" than the last stage. Good thinking with the Dragon Nezumi power on the miniboss, I can't think of a quicker way to beat that boss without relying on luck so props for that. Very good stage, but... there's a long pause, I see it's due to a keyboard disconnect and that the game runs off only the time that Nezumi is in control but it's still sorta silly. Make sure this doesn't happen in future runs please.
The first doctor stage has a lot of hesitation, I'm not sure how I feel about a lot of it. Some okay damage boosting, but you go out of your way for some energy that I feel is uneccessary, I'd say next time you play try to run it without grabbing the healthup. Squid boss went well.
The second doc stage is better than the first, some parts could use work. The really annoying shishkabob boss seemed to give you some trouble, but it's also the toughest boss in my opinion and you handled it as well as you could.
The third doc stage plays out decently, if you had played it a bit more risky on the laser parts it could've gone slightly faster I feel, don't let nerves choke you up if possible, this is another stage to practice for future runs. Very nice kitty boss fight.
Very solid boss refights. Same comments for Usagi as before. Good Dr. Gyoniku fight.
You seem unsure of what to do at the start of the final boss stage. First phase of the last boss goes nicely with a lot of quick damage. I feel phase 2 can get a few more shots of at times, otherwise nice.
Overall it seems like you had the general idea of a run route in your mind, but there is a lot of questionable stuff that occurs. I'm going to accept, but I really hope you spend some time to improve this run in the future, with some tweaking you can have a VERY solid run of this game and shave off a good bit of time still.
Status: ACCEPT
Now for the levels, Ice Nezumi seems pretty solid, though at the start I question whether jumping that snowman you chose to shoot would be faster. That aside, the runner knew what was going on and did some really nice dodging and enemy avoidance. Very nice damage boost through the seal minibosses. The Fight with Ice Nezumi probably could've gone faster with a couple more jump shots, but was otherwise done nicely.
Moving on to the Dragon Nezumi stage, there's a very early hit from a dragon that sets you back a few seconds that I feel could've been avoided, and there seems to be general hesitation in parts that don't call for it. Most of the level is good though, but I do hope in future runs you work more on this stage. The latter half is much better then the start, and the Dragon Nezumi fight is pretty much flawless.
Wave Nezumi's stage is good for the most part, but work on your timing for hitting the cannon enemies. The face miniboss goes well, as does most of the stage aside from missed shots, good usage of ice powerups near the end to get through a bit quicker. Great Wave Nezumi fight, but why didn't you jump for the last hit? Would've saved a bit more time.
Smoke Nezumi starts with a nice little damage boost. I'm noticing you're a bit hesitant on the weapon select menus, and though it's not part of the in game timer I'd suggest working a bit at that in the future. Good timing on the tea kettle segment, and a decent smoke skeleton room. The room with the spikes and the smoke enemies is really bad however, with a mistake that huge early in the run I would've reset and started over. Great job with the boss though.
Milky Nezumi starts solid enough, though I feel the first two hits could be avoided altogether. Good use of Dragon Nezumi's power to quickly get through a room. Odd missed jump in one room though. I also feel the spiked room could be done faster in a few spots. You seem to have the bosses down very well, as Milky Nezumi goes down pretty fast.
Delay Nezumi's level is one of my favorite levels in the game, and the strongest stage of this run so far. Awesome run of the stage and a good Delay Nezumi fight.
Usagi's stage has a really poor meh start, time is made up on dodging the squirrels though. Was it necessary to kill the monkey who's shot you dodged? I would've just jumped over him. Usagi fight is nice, but wouldn't it be faster to fully charge and run into the boss?
Butter Nezumi starts off much "butter" than the last stage. Good thinking with the Dragon Nezumi power on the miniboss, I can't think of a quicker way to beat that boss without relying on luck so props for that. Very good stage, but... there's a long pause, I see it's due to a keyboard disconnect and that the game runs off only the time that Nezumi is in control but it's still sorta silly. Make sure this doesn't happen in future runs please.
The first doctor stage has a lot of hesitation, I'm not sure how I feel about a lot of it. Some okay damage boosting, but you go out of your way for some energy that I feel is uneccessary, I'd say next time you play try to run it without grabbing the healthup. Squid boss went well.
The second doc stage is better than the first, some parts could use work. The really annoying shishkabob boss seemed to give you some trouble, but it's also the toughest boss in my opinion and you handled it as well as you could.
The third doc stage plays out decently, if you had played it a bit more risky on the laser parts it could've gone slightly faster I feel, don't let nerves choke you up if possible, this is another stage to practice for future runs. Very nice kitty boss fight.
Very solid boss refights. Same comments for Usagi as before. Good Dr. Gyoniku fight.
You seem unsure of what to do at the start of the final boss stage. First phase of the last boss goes nicely with a lot of quick damage. I feel phase 2 can get a few more shots of at times, otherwise nice.
Overall it seems like you had the general idea of a run route in your mind, but there is a lot of questionable stuff that occurs. I'm going to accept, but I really hope you spend some time to improve this run in the future, with some tweaking you can have a VERY solid run of this game and shave off a good bit of time still.
Status: ACCEPT
Quote:
The video and audio quality are acceptable for the most part, except I always seem to have a momentary freeze about 19:30 and 20:00 into the video (during Butter Nezumi's stage). It might just be me. Unfortunately I have to reject this run due to the gameplay. In the event this run is accepted anyway, the in-game timer reads 21:39 (real time was 34:00 starting from control on the boss select screen to the final hit of the last boss).
Here's my stage-by-stage breakdown of the run:
Ice Nezumi's stage actually wasn't too bad. In the actual stage, the player was only damaged once where they didn't intend to be. Two times they took damage to save time. I'm fairly certain that if they had stood closer to the boss when shooting, they could have landed more shots in before he started sliding, but I'm not going to hold that against them because that would be a close call.
Dragon Nezumi's stage started out okay too, although there were a few obvious mistakes like missing the jump over one of the little dragons. Took damage to save time again on the big dragons. Could have saved a little time on the rotating platforms if they were riskier, but decided not to sacrifice a couple seconds to play it safe. Boss fight was fine.
Wave Nezumi's stage had a few more little mistakes than the others, and they are starting to add up. Player seemed a little less familiar with the stage, but overall it still seemed fine. Wasted a lot of ice but still seemed to take an optimal route with it. Boss fight was as fast as they all should be, but could have saved time on the last shot by jumping toward her instead of waiting for her to come down.
Smoke Nezumi doesn't look like a mouse at all... anyway, this is the first stage that really made me start to consider rejection. Considering pauses don't add to the in-game timer, and this seemed to be the basis for the player's approach to the run, it was odd not to see them equip the ice power and use it to jump up the wall at the end of the first room instead of slowly climbing the ladder. They could have used the same trick at the end of the 2nd room. They use this technique later in the stage, but then forget about it in the cloud room. At the end of that cloud room, instead of shooting the ice at the wall to quickly climb up, they wait on the rising/falling cloud and then shoot an icicle at the wall anyway, only to be knocked down by the cloud enemies who were rising the whole time. Shooting earlier would have prevented the fiasco that ensued with those guys. At the end of the stage, the player still had LOTS of ice power left, so none of the time savers I mentioned would have been in jeopardy. The boss is a joke.
There was one thing that really, REALLY bugged me in Milky Nezumi's stage. Outside of the very opening of the level (meaning right when the player spawned), there was not a single time that the player performed a slide during the stage. Sliding in open areas could have saved countless seconds on the stage, and would have even allowed them to make it through the rising/falling spike section faster because there was a very obvious spot where sliding would have allowed them to outrun the spikes. Instead, they waited without even trying to beat the spikes on several occasions. Boss fight could have been a little faster, but they all go fast anyway so whatever.
Delay Nezumi's stage started out fine. The player seemed to have rehearsed the timing of the jumps very well. After hitting a switch and fighting off an enemy that was just past the rising platforms, the player faced yet another situation where using the ice power as a staircase would have saved a considerable amount of time. Instead, they ended up waiting on another platform to fully rise before continuing. Another situation like that came where the 2 elevator shafts are. The player rode the elevator all the way to the top instead of using ice to get up there quickly. The only place the player used ice to save time was after grabbing the S-tank, so there was way too much power left over to not use the time savers mentioned. Delay Nezumi was... a Nezumi Man boss. I think there may have been a couple misses with the star shot, but these may have come while the boss was still in his invincibility period anyway.
The start of Usagi's stage has me a little confused. If the player had trouble p-shooting the enemies in the opening room and lost more than half the health bar getting through it, and the in-game timer doesn't go up when paused, then why not switch to a more powerful weapon to blow through the room more comfortably? Doing so would have likely left them with enough health to feel more comfortable to play risky for the rest of the stage instead of doing stuff like waiting for one of the squirrels/chipmunks/whatevers to wander to the wall before attacking when they could have just slid through it. Took a slow platform to get more health, but missed the jump and ended up having to use ice to reach it anyway. Would have been faster to slide and then use the ice instead of the platform. At the end of the section with the spikes and slow moving platforms, I'm thinking it would have been better to be hit by the flower, slide across the spikes, get hit by the spider, and slide to the end. It's something worth trying, but is incredibly risky and I don't really blame the player for not doing it in a SS run. Just an idea, though. The strategy against the boss seems like it could be more optimal by attacking earlier instead of waiting for him to jump across the screen.
Butter Nezumi's up next. Did the player weigh using ice on the walls against waiting for the catapults? Whether it's real time or in-game timer, it seems like it'd be a close call. I hope this was tested, but I'm not going to count anything against the player there because of how close it'd be. My video freezes momentarily about 19:30 into the video, but it could just be me. You might need to look at it (if this gets accepted). The mini-boss is luck-based and is handled about as well as one could expect. Another missed ice opportunity after killing the enemy that follows the mini-boss. Another video freeze about 20:00 in. About 21:00 in, there's a 20 second pause that apparently adds nothing to the in-game timer, but looks ridiculous and certainly doesn't help the case for this run to be accepted. The boss seemed ok, but perhaps try taking damage and shooting through the shield? If it's like most other shield bosses in Mega Man games, it can be done. This is something I haven't tested myself yet, but merely want to suggest trying in future practices/test runs.
The start of final stage #1 seems fine but looks a little bit conservative. The player could stand to take a little extra damage with the cheese later in the stage available if it would keep them from stopping once in a while so they avoid damage. They probably don't even need that health considering they don't take damage from the boss, who is very scripted.
In final stage #2, the player gives a prime example of how slow those moving platforms are by jumping past it after activating it and moving significantly faster still. I suggest using an ice shot after that jumping sequence instead of timing the jumps so you can use the platform to reach the ladder. I'm not sure why they jump on a machine to shoot the ice at the wall when they could have just turned around and timed the shots. Perhaps this was too hard for them to pull off consistently, but there's no doubt it would have been way faster. The boss of this stage sucks for speed. The player wastes a lot of time here, but a good deal of that is not their fault, but that of the boss.
Final stage #3 has its rough spots, but is done better than the other 2 stages as far as using an optimal strategy for time. The player is lucky as hell that the run didn't end on the boss, because honestly they should have died there to the spikes. Using slowdown, it seems the player got hit by a bullet from the cat on the same frame that they landed on the spikes. Hilarious. So yea, the kitty put up a fight before going down.
There's not much to say about the boss rush. The only "new" fight was being able to use the weakness on Ice Nezumi, and the only thing the player could have done a little better was get more optimal positioning for the hits after the sliding phase. Everything I said about the other fights pretty much applies here. The full stage boss can't really be done much faster.
The player seemed a little confused before the final boss fight and was unsure of what refills were needed and what power should have been equipped. A couple seconds lost there (would have been more if it was real time instead of the in-game timer). The first phase of the boss was nice, fast, and risky. The player seemed to conservative and focused on survival in the second phase. More hits could have been landed in each cycle and at times could have been shot from closer range. Perhaps if the S-tank had been saved to be used during this phase instead of immediately before it, then the player would have had more than enough health to feel fine playing that way. As it stands, the player had well over half the health bar left when the boss was finished, so even that doesn't seem like it would have made much of a difference. Simply put, that final phase was a little lackluster and could have been faster if the player had been approaching it with a better speed running mentality.
Overall, the run had some nice ideas in it, but those ideas were not fully applied to the entire run by the player. This is especially the case with the usage of the ice power, which could have been used in several more locations for huge gains. That in addition to other botched opportunities for speed that I mentioned, along with several sloppy mistakes scattered throughout, led to my rejection of this run. I would like to see a run that makes use of more time savers (and I'm not even counting the wall skips, as that would be a separate category if a run like that ever came to exist) and has the player gain more familiarity with the later stages so that the execution looks tight and makes everything look more fluid. The first 3 stages of this run and a some of the final stages were pretty solid, and it just needs to be taken all the way next time. Good luck on future runs!
Here's my stage-by-stage breakdown of the run:
Ice Nezumi's stage actually wasn't too bad. In the actual stage, the player was only damaged once where they didn't intend to be. Two times they took damage to save time. I'm fairly certain that if they had stood closer to the boss when shooting, they could have landed more shots in before he started sliding, but I'm not going to hold that against them because that would be a close call.
Dragon Nezumi's stage started out okay too, although there were a few obvious mistakes like missing the jump over one of the little dragons. Took damage to save time again on the big dragons. Could have saved a little time on the rotating platforms if they were riskier, but decided not to sacrifice a couple seconds to play it safe. Boss fight was fine.
Wave Nezumi's stage had a few more little mistakes than the others, and they are starting to add up. Player seemed a little less familiar with the stage, but overall it still seemed fine. Wasted a lot of ice but still seemed to take an optimal route with it. Boss fight was as fast as they all should be, but could have saved time on the last shot by jumping toward her instead of waiting for her to come down.
Smoke Nezumi doesn't look like a mouse at all... anyway, this is the first stage that really made me start to consider rejection. Considering pauses don't add to the in-game timer, and this seemed to be the basis for the player's approach to the run, it was odd not to see them equip the ice power and use it to jump up the wall at the end of the first room instead of slowly climbing the ladder. They could have used the same trick at the end of the 2nd room. They use this technique later in the stage, but then forget about it in the cloud room. At the end of that cloud room, instead of shooting the ice at the wall to quickly climb up, they wait on the rising/falling cloud and then shoot an icicle at the wall anyway, only to be knocked down by the cloud enemies who were rising the whole time. Shooting earlier would have prevented the fiasco that ensued with those guys. At the end of the stage, the player still had LOTS of ice power left, so none of the time savers I mentioned would have been in jeopardy. The boss is a joke.
There was one thing that really, REALLY bugged me in Milky Nezumi's stage. Outside of the very opening of the level (meaning right when the player spawned), there was not a single time that the player performed a slide during the stage. Sliding in open areas could have saved countless seconds on the stage, and would have even allowed them to make it through the rising/falling spike section faster because there was a very obvious spot where sliding would have allowed them to outrun the spikes. Instead, they waited without even trying to beat the spikes on several occasions. Boss fight could have been a little faster, but they all go fast anyway so whatever.
Delay Nezumi's stage started out fine. The player seemed to have rehearsed the timing of the jumps very well. After hitting a switch and fighting off an enemy that was just past the rising platforms, the player faced yet another situation where using the ice power as a staircase would have saved a considerable amount of time. Instead, they ended up waiting on another platform to fully rise before continuing. Another situation like that came where the 2 elevator shafts are. The player rode the elevator all the way to the top instead of using ice to get up there quickly. The only place the player used ice to save time was after grabbing the S-tank, so there was way too much power left over to not use the time savers mentioned. Delay Nezumi was... a Nezumi Man boss. I think there may have been a couple misses with the star shot, but these may have come while the boss was still in his invincibility period anyway.
The start of Usagi's stage has me a little confused. If the player had trouble p-shooting the enemies in the opening room and lost more than half the health bar getting through it, and the in-game timer doesn't go up when paused, then why not switch to a more powerful weapon to blow through the room more comfortably? Doing so would have likely left them with enough health to feel more comfortable to play risky for the rest of the stage instead of doing stuff like waiting for one of the squirrels/chipmunks/whatevers to wander to the wall before attacking when they could have just slid through it. Took a slow platform to get more health, but missed the jump and ended up having to use ice to reach it anyway. Would have been faster to slide and then use the ice instead of the platform. At the end of the section with the spikes and slow moving platforms, I'm thinking it would have been better to be hit by the flower, slide across the spikes, get hit by the spider, and slide to the end. It's something worth trying, but is incredibly risky and I don't really blame the player for not doing it in a SS run. Just an idea, though. The strategy against the boss seems like it could be more optimal by attacking earlier instead of waiting for him to jump across the screen.
Butter Nezumi's up next. Did the player weigh using ice on the walls against waiting for the catapults? Whether it's real time or in-game timer, it seems like it'd be a close call. I hope this was tested, but I'm not going to count anything against the player there because of how close it'd be. My video freezes momentarily about 19:30 into the video, but it could just be me. You might need to look at it (if this gets accepted). The mini-boss is luck-based and is handled about as well as one could expect. Another missed ice opportunity after killing the enemy that follows the mini-boss. Another video freeze about 20:00 in. About 21:00 in, there's a 20 second pause that apparently adds nothing to the in-game timer, but looks ridiculous and certainly doesn't help the case for this run to be accepted. The boss seemed ok, but perhaps try taking damage and shooting through the shield? If it's like most other shield bosses in Mega Man games, it can be done. This is something I haven't tested myself yet, but merely want to suggest trying in future practices/test runs.
The start of final stage #1 seems fine but looks a little bit conservative. The player could stand to take a little extra damage with the cheese later in the stage available if it would keep them from stopping once in a while so they avoid damage. They probably don't even need that health considering they don't take damage from the boss, who is very scripted.
In final stage #2, the player gives a prime example of how slow those moving platforms are by jumping past it after activating it and moving significantly faster still. I suggest using an ice shot after that jumping sequence instead of timing the jumps so you can use the platform to reach the ladder. I'm not sure why they jump on a machine to shoot the ice at the wall when they could have just turned around and timed the shots. Perhaps this was too hard for them to pull off consistently, but there's no doubt it would have been way faster. The boss of this stage sucks for speed. The player wastes a lot of time here, but a good deal of that is not their fault, but that of the boss.
Final stage #3 has its rough spots, but is done better than the other 2 stages as far as using an optimal strategy for time. The player is lucky as hell that the run didn't end on the boss, because honestly they should have died there to the spikes. Using slowdown, it seems the player got hit by a bullet from the cat on the same frame that they landed on the spikes. Hilarious. So yea, the kitty put up a fight before going down.
There's not much to say about the boss rush. The only "new" fight was being able to use the weakness on Ice Nezumi, and the only thing the player could have done a little better was get more optimal positioning for the hits after the sliding phase. Everything I said about the other fights pretty much applies here. The full stage boss can't really be done much faster.
The player seemed a little confused before the final boss fight and was unsure of what refills were needed and what power should have been equipped. A couple seconds lost there (would have been more if it was real time instead of the in-game timer). The first phase of the boss was nice, fast, and risky. The player seemed to conservative and focused on survival in the second phase. More hits could have been landed in each cycle and at times could have been shot from closer range. Perhaps if the S-tank had been saved to be used during this phase instead of immediately before it, then the player would have had more than enough health to feel fine playing that way. As it stands, the player had well over half the health bar left when the boss was finished, so even that doesn't seem like it would have made much of a difference. Simply put, that final phase was a little lackluster and could have been faster if the player had been approaching it with a better speed running mentality.
Overall, the run had some nice ideas in it, but those ideas were not fully applied to the entire run by the player. This is especially the case with the usage of the ice power, which could have been used in several more locations for huge gains. That in addition to other botched opportunities for speed that I mentioned, along with several sloppy mistakes scattered throughout, led to my rejection of this run. I would like to see a run that makes use of more time savers (and I'm not even counting the wall skips, as that would be a separate category if a run like that ever came to exist) and has the player gain more familiarity with the later stages so that the execution looks tight and makes everything look more fluid. The first 3 stages of this run and a some of the final stages were pretty solid, and it just needs to be taken all the way next time. Good luck on future runs!
Decision: Reject
Reason: Too much hesistation and mistakes.
As always, the run will be up for a month, just PM me for a copy.
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