1-Up!
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/SonicAdventure2.html
Dark Side SS run
Verifier Responses
Decision: Accept
Congratulations to Felipe 'son1cgu1tar' D'Andrade!
Dark Side SS run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
To start with the file quality, there is one slight video glitch at 18:16, but nothing significant. Everything's synched properly.
Three of the four hunting stages are longer than in the previous run. That's mostly due to convenient target placement in the other run and not-so-good placement in this one. That said, the big one's over a minute faster. Everything else is done well; he usually maintains speed and any mistakes are minimal. The new strategy for the Wall means he avoids getting the armour, something which almost bites him in the backside on the following boss fight, but he pulls it off. There are some significant improvements in this run compared to its predecessor.
Accept.
Three of the four hunting stages are longer than in the previous run. That's mostly due to convenient target placement in the other run and not-so-good placement in this one. That said, the big one's over a minute faster. Everything else is done well; he usually maintains speed and any mistakes are minimal. The new strategy for the Wall means he avoids getting the armour, something which almost bites him in the backside on the following boss fight, but he pulls it off. There are some significant improvements in this run compared to its predecessor.
Accept.
Quote:
A/V: No worries
Cheating: None
I'm not going to write a whole lot here. There's not a lot to say, there's only a few mistakes and only the one in Egg Quarters costs more than a few seconds. I would like to say that the run was incredibly lucky just to get out of Radical Highway though. I've never hit that spring after the camera's been stuck behind the bridge. Not once.
Accept!
Cheating: None
I'm not going to write a whole lot here. There's not a lot to say, there's only a few mistakes and only the one in Egg Quarters costs more than a few seconds. I would like to say that the run was incredibly lucky just to get out of Radical Highway though. I've never hit that spring after the camera's been stuck behind the bridge. Not once.
Accept!
Quote:
The video and audio are fine, although things get very dark in Lost Colony (12:55 to 15:41 in the verification video). Some brightness correction could help here.
I found no cheating.
The play quality is good throughout. There are a number of minor mistakes and, in my opinion, at least one medium mistake (in Egg Quarters), but this game is hard to optimize. There were also some places where the fastest strategy wasn't used, but the fastest strategies are often quite risky, and the run has some dangerous stuff already. The luck on the hunting stages was good. The current run has better luck on the first three stages, but the new run makes up for it with a much faster Mad Space.
Verdict: Accept
EDIT: The time given by the runner, 0:28:14.52, is correct.
I found no cheating.
The play quality is good throughout. There are a number of minor mistakes and, in my opinion, at least one medium mistake (in Egg Quarters), but this game is hard to optimize. There were also some places where the fastest strategy wasn't used, but the fastest strategies are often quite risky, and the run has some dangerous stuff already. The luck on the hunting stages was good. The current run has better luck on the first three stages, but the new run makes up for it with a much faster Mad Space.
Verdict: Accept
EDIT: The time given by the runner, 0:28:14.52, is correct.
Quote:
Ah, it's finally ready to verify! I was wondering what happened to this run; I was looking forward to verifying it.
About a year ago, this same runner submitted a top-notch Hero story run which was easily accepted. Now he's made a Dark story run to complement it.
Video and audio - Good
Cheating - None detected
Level details:
Summary:
Shadow - Very clean runs, with nearly all of the known risky and cool tricks executed flawlessly. The most noticeable time loss was in White Jungle, which didn't look entirely like the runner's fault. Sky Rail, in particular, literally looked perfect.
Eggman - Probably the surprise highlight of the run to me. Sand Ocean was extremely daring, and Cosmic Wall had phenomenal execution. The other three levels had very solid performances too.
Rouge - Definitely above average emerald location luck, with sub-minute Mad Space as a standout; and the runner always knows where to go and how to get there quickly. A few execution errors, but the "route" is always different in these levels, so those mistakes are going to happen unless you practice a LOT. Oh, and Route 280 was certainly nice.
Bosses - Mostly very good with little room for improvement. The main exception would be Tails 2, with maybe 5-8 seconds possible. It's quite hard to get all the bosses to go perfectly though.
Overall - Tons of strong points and very few weak points, in a game that is very difficult to run without major mistakes. I can't imagine a run that could top this one. Congratulations to the runner for producing a brilliant Dark run to match their brilliant Hero run!
Vote: ACCEPT
About a year ago, this same runner submitted a top-notch Hero story run which was easily accepted. Now he's made a Dark story run to complement it.
Video and audio - Good
Cheating - None detected
Level details:
Iron Gate - 2:02.34
Getting under 2:05 here needs some attention to detail. The main detail to pay attention to is shooting the door locks quickly, and walking as close as possible to the doors as you break them down. If you move too early, you'll run into the door and lose momentum. The runner does a particularly good job with the doors near the beginning, though a bit of trouble with a couple of later doors (but they're harder to deal with anyway).
One thing that could potentially save a tiny bit of time and look cool: getting speed shoes. The idea is to jump over the 1:08 checkpoint, touch the elevator, and then go back. Wait 15-20 seconds, hit the checkpoint with 80-89 rings to get speed shoes, drop down to the elevator (which will be almost all the way down now) and proceed. However, this would only save like 1-2 seconds at most, and it takes extra effort to (1) make sure you get the right number of rings throughout the level, and (2) navigate with speed shoes without hitting obstacles.
Hot Shot - 0:23.47
This is 2-4 tenths faster than what I'd normally get with this strategy. I think the runner pays attention to hit the boss as soon as possible each time, by staying low as the boss jumps up. There are faster strategies that can get 22 seconds or less (the boss has less invulnerability time if you hit him while he's in the air), but this 23 strategy can be a very consistent one.
Dry Lagoon - 0:53.87
Note the use of the slope for a bit more height on the jump to piece 2. These locations are about average, but the runner navigates the level very well.
Sand Ocean - 2:05.54
A VERY impressive level. The runner uses a lot of death-defying jumps on/off of the spinner platforms to avoid a lot of waiting time. The speed shoes jump off of the fence is also an awesome and difficult looking shortcut. He loses a bit of time shortly after that shortcut, but it doesn't matter because he just barely catches the moving platforms after shooting the canisters.
After that, another tight jump to the last checkpoint, and then nails the timing for the high-speed jump that puts him one step up at the end (this jump isn't frame perfect, but it's yet another trick that seems 50/50 at best). Uses a damage boost for another shortcut. The runner's hard work is rewarded with a 2:05, miles ahead of the 2:28s or 2:35s that one would get from playing more conservatively.
Radical Highway - 1:46.79
Very fluent play here. The jump off of the highway sign looks cool, and was found by the runner, I believe. The shortcut jump down the tower is tweaked to the left, and then a lot to the right, so the runner clears the balloon easily (hitting the balloon would waste a second or so). After the next downhill, the runner goes for the left spring and gets onto the hexagonal platform just as it moves low enough. (If the runner were any faster, he might've missed the platform because it would be too high.)
After the next checkpoint, the runner doesn't quite manage to jump off the road for the shortcut. When he does jump off, the camera decides to be really nasty, but the runner gets a clutch hit on the spring anyway. The runner then successfully lands on the two rails on the bridge, possibly the hardest part of the level.
After the last checkpoint, the runner jumps off the jump ramp a bit late, causing him to go so far as to hit the ceiling fan. Just a minor slowdown though. The next skip makes up for it; the runner tackles the jump around the loop with high speed and seems to have just enough height to hit the spring. The rest is solid, and the runner finishes faster than my personal best time.
Egg Quarters - 1:11.82
The runner goes the opposite direction of the beetle security robot, which makes passing the robot easier. This worked pretty well for getting the upgrade and finding the keys, too. Some mistakes getting key 2, unfortunately costing about 7 seconds, but navigating to those upper chambers is annoying anyhow. The rest of the navigation was quite good, and the key 3 location was pretty lucky.
Lost Colony - 2:20.80
Another great Eggman level, with fast door entries and clean jumps. Misses a tough shortcut jump off of a rail, but getting on the elevator platform was a nice backup plan. The runner even manages his rings well and gets speed shoes from the checkpoint to save 1-2 seconds.
Weapons Bed - 1:30.84
The jump and hover over the water near the start is scary because of the camera, but it's not too difficult. Going over the railing at the end of the hover was nice and daring, though (he could've played it safe and gone for the part with no railing).
Really clean run up to the 0:50 checkpoint. At the next high platform, the runner shoots two boxes instead of one on the right side, so he isn't able to jump on a box to get enough height for the next hover; he needs to use the spring. Not a big deal though. The runner manages rings well again, and gets speed shoes again! I'm not sure, but from my experience, I think the pulley actually gets rid of your speed shoes effect; if I'm right, then the speed shoes don't help much here. A nice touch either way though.
Tails 1 - 0:14.27
An impressive fight; the runner doesn't get hit. The runner misses his first shot for the third hit, but it only costs a second.
Security Hall - 1:03.70
This level probably has the most annoying hints of any hunting level, because a lot of the hints can refer to any of 3 to 8 different locations. The runner seems to have it figured out pretty well, though. On the first emerald, the runner initially checks the wrong side of the room (not a mistake, just bad luck), but quickly realizes this and goes to the correct location.
Emerald 2 also trolls the runner a bit: Lonely door can be on any of the blue, yellow, or red levels. Unfortunately, it's on the blue level, which the runner checks last; fortunately though, the blue safes are the ones that are unlocked by default.
Emerald 3 is one of the more annoying locations on the upper floor. The runner demonstrates (not perfectly, though) a pretty neat strategy of getting up there without having to climb the wall in the back of the room. Overall, a nice time despite a couple of mistakes, and not having to unlock the other safes always helps a lot.
Flying Dog - 0:33.34
Very impressive fight and time. The screw kick at the beginning takes good timing, and there's actually a bit of risk of dying if you get it wrong. Hits 3 to 5 are gotten very efficiently by tricking the boss into flying back to the same corner.
White Jungle - 1:40.00
The runner avoids some air time at the beginning with a somersault, a neat idea that I don't remember seeing before. The part after the first vine is handled with very quick reflexes/timing. The runner skips a loop at 0:46; I don't know if this skip is consistent or intentional, but it might have something to do with staying enough to the right so that you can't go down the downhill tube cleanly, allowing you to pop up and set up the loop skip.
A weird mishap with not homing into the robot in the tunnel, costing about 3 seconds. Not sure how that happened. Makes up for it with a difficult upward slope jump, though. Near the end of the next halfpipe, the runner gets out of his spindash as part of his strategy to skip the spring after the vine. I don't know the reason why it works, but I know it works pretty well; the runner easily sails over the spring.
Skips the Air Shoes upgrade, since the Light Dash only saves a bit of time in Final Chase (the time saved there probably makes skip/no skip about evenly matched, though). Overall, the level wasn't totally perfect, but a lot of very well performed tricks and a cool time.
Sonic 1 - 0:14.25
A clean fight; can be a bit faster, but this is a good time.
Route 280 - 2:43.84
All that sliding allows the runner to maintain boosted speeds throughout the level, provided that not too many uphills/cars are hit. Hits a car at 47 seconds, but cancels the slowdown with a boost. Turns are taken fluently and fearlessly; the very last turn was a close call though! Overall, very fast, good boost management, and just 2 seconds off of the best IL times here.
Sky Rail - 0:42.99
Literally flawless with the strategy used. A couple more risks can be taken with rail transfers, but they're not consistent and lead to death if missed. The runner gets the Awesome jump at the second to last rail to get to the farthest platform possible; this jump requires good rail speed, and is hard to hit.
Egg Golem - 0:24.49
If you hit the Egg Golem at certain spots (mainly his chest and left arm), the weak spot panels will flash red and your shots will do 3 times more damage than usual. It's difficult to hit these spots, though, especially as the Golem is trying to punch you. The runner could've been maybe a second faster with locking onto the exposed weak spots, but it's nothing big. Maybe going right instead of left to dodge the second punch would help a bit with aiming for the last weak spot.
Very stylish finish: hitting multiple powerups, falling into the sand, and gaining control of Eggman's weapons as he does his victory hops. I'd never seen that last trick before; it seems to work when you fall into the sand at the end like that.
Mad Space - 0:59.62
Awesome luck with the first and third pieces. Times around 1:15 can be done consistently, but under a minute doesn't happen often, since you need to go to the round planet first to get the Iron Boots. Some time was lost to errors while going between planets, so this could've been even faster, believe it or not.
Knuckles - 0:16.69
The first hit is always tense; there's the weird camera and the lack of rings, and you need to get the first hit fast or Knuckles might begin to run away starting at the second hit. The runner uses a hit-and-run strategy with drill drives, and finishes in a fast time. Crucially, under 20 seconds, before the floor opens up and makes the fight much harder to finish.
Cosmic Wall - 3:42.65
In this run, there were two levels in particular that really took me by surprise with their awesomeness: Sand Ocean, and this. Up to the first rail ride, the runner executes nearly every jump (including the rail jump at 0:11) with perfect measuring and timing. The checkpoint is hit at 1:00, a second better than my best effort, and I think just 1 or 2 seconds short of the runner's best. The runner is showing no signs of nerves this far into the run.
The hover through the ceiling is done as fast as could reasonably be expected. This rail skip saves about 45 seconds; it wasn't in the current SDA run by petrie because the skip wasn't known at the time (I think).
After the ride up the moving weight, the runner gets the tricky hover jump to the left (you can see he barely gets enough height to clear the railing, that's pretty much how it always goes). The runner attempts a jump off the next railing, but doesn't quite get it; probably the only noticeable mistake in the level though, and it's a minor and finicky timesaver anyway. The second tower ascent is done as quickly as the first, and the runner completes the level in 3:42, beating the fastest IL video at the time (mine, in fact) by 7 seconds.
Tails 2 - 0:25.52
Tails puts up quite a fight, and almost ends the run. Yikes! Tails prolongs the second hit by dodging bullets and the canister's explosion, but doesn't hit the runner with any stray bullets. On the third hit, the runner jumps the laser at first, but Tails keeps turning and hits with the laser. On the fourth hit, the laser hits again, leaving the runner with a sliver of health left. Tails goes down in five hits instead of four, because the fourth hit ends up being a punch (which is weaker) to end Tails' laser before it's too late. Tails doesn't aim at the runner during the fifth hit, so the runner survives and the run continues!
Final Chase - 2:25.17
The runner's confidence hasn't wavered, as least as far as I can tell with those slim-margin jumps at 0:08 and 0:29 (actually just a spindash, not a jump). The gravity tube ascent goes as well as could be expected, and the halfway checkpoint is a solid 1:14. A cool looking non-jumping spindash (I'm still not sure exactly how these work) at 1:26 clears the big gap, and another big jump at 1:29. The runner's still executing precise tricks at will, with the jump dash under the artificial chaos at 2:06.
The tube doesn't quite give enough speed to jump high enough to skip the last spring, but no big loss. The runner doesn't opt for the rocket skip because it's way too risky at this point... yes, there's a lot going on in this level. The runner certainly took enough risks overall, though, and everything looked clean.
Sonic 2 - 0:32.52
The first hit's homing attack succeeds; it has to be not too early and not too late. The rest of the hits are done with the spindash strategy. The runner stands at the near edge of a platform while waiting for Sonic's attack, so the platform gap doesn't screw anything up.
I personally still like using simple jump dashes (instead of spindashes) to reach Sonic; it gets 29-30 seconds very often. Not a big deal though. What would be a bigger deal is the strategy where you continually homing attack Sonic, trying to hit Sonic during the small vulnerability window just before he lands from a jump dash. This can get times of around 20 seconds, but it's very inconsistent from my experience. It'll need a consistent method to be used at the very end of a speedrun.
In any case, the runner scores a clean finish!
Getting under 2:05 here needs some attention to detail. The main detail to pay attention to is shooting the door locks quickly, and walking as close as possible to the doors as you break them down. If you move too early, you'll run into the door and lose momentum. The runner does a particularly good job with the doors near the beginning, though a bit of trouble with a couple of later doors (but they're harder to deal with anyway).
One thing that could potentially save a tiny bit of time and look cool: getting speed shoes. The idea is to jump over the 1:08 checkpoint, touch the elevator, and then go back. Wait 15-20 seconds, hit the checkpoint with 80-89 rings to get speed shoes, drop down to the elevator (which will be almost all the way down now) and proceed. However, this would only save like 1-2 seconds at most, and it takes extra effort to (1) make sure you get the right number of rings throughout the level, and (2) navigate with speed shoes without hitting obstacles.
Hot Shot - 0:23.47
This is 2-4 tenths faster than what I'd normally get with this strategy. I think the runner pays attention to hit the boss as soon as possible each time, by staying low as the boss jumps up. There are faster strategies that can get 22 seconds or less (the boss has less invulnerability time if you hit him while he's in the air), but this 23 strategy can be a very consistent one.
Dry Lagoon - 0:53.87
Note the use of the slope for a bit more height on the jump to piece 2. These locations are about average, but the runner navigates the level very well.
Sand Ocean - 2:05.54
A VERY impressive level. The runner uses a lot of death-defying jumps on/off of the spinner platforms to avoid a lot of waiting time. The speed shoes jump off of the fence is also an awesome and difficult looking shortcut. He loses a bit of time shortly after that shortcut, but it doesn't matter because he just barely catches the moving platforms after shooting the canisters.
After that, another tight jump to the last checkpoint, and then nails the timing for the high-speed jump that puts him one step up at the end (this jump isn't frame perfect, but it's yet another trick that seems 50/50 at best). Uses a damage boost for another shortcut. The runner's hard work is rewarded with a 2:05, miles ahead of the 2:28s or 2:35s that one would get from playing more conservatively.
Radical Highway - 1:46.79
Very fluent play here. The jump off of the highway sign looks cool, and was found by the runner, I believe. The shortcut jump down the tower is tweaked to the left, and then a lot to the right, so the runner clears the balloon easily (hitting the balloon would waste a second or so). After the next downhill, the runner goes for the left spring and gets onto the hexagonal platform just as it moves low enough. (If the runner were any faster, he might've missed the platform because it would be too high.)
After the next checkpoint, the runner doesn't quite manage to jump off the road for the shortcut. When he does jump off, the camera decides to be really nasty, but the runner gets a clutch hit on the spring anyway. The runner then successfully lands on the two rails on the bridge, possibly the hardest part of the level.
After the last checkpoint, the runner jumps off the jump ramp a bit late, causing him to go so far as to hit the ceiling fan. Just a minor slowdown though. The next skip makes up for it; the runner tackles the jump around the loop with high speed and seems to have just enough height to hit the spring. The rest is solid, and the runner finishes faster than my personal best time.
Egg Quarters - 1:11.82
The runner goes the opposite direction of the beetle security robot, which makes passing the robot easier. This worked pretty well for getting the upgrade and finding the keys, too. Some mistakes getting key 2, unfortunately costing about 7 seconds, but navigating to those upper chambers is annoying anyhow. The rest of the navigation was quite good, and the key 3 location was pretty lucky.
Lost Colony - 2:20.80
Another great Eggman level, with fast door entries and clean jumps. Misses a tough shortcut jump off of a rail, but getting on the elevator platform was a nice backup plan. The runner even manages his rings well and gets speed shoes from the checkpoint to save 1-2 seconds.
Weapons Bed - 1:30.84
The jump and hover over the water near the start is scary because of the camera, but it's not too difficult. Going over the railing at the end of the hover was nice and daring, though (he could've played it safe and gone for the part with no railing).
Really clean run up to the 0:50 checkpoint. At the next high platform, the runner shoots two boxes instead of one on the right side, so he isn't able to jump on a box to get enough height for the next hover; he needs to use the spring. Not a big deal though. The runner manages rings well again, and gets speed shoes again! I'm not sure, but from my experience, I think the pulley actually gets rid of your speed shoes effect; if I'm right, then the speed shoes don't help much here. A nice touch either way though.
Tails 1 - 0:14.27
An impressive fight; the runner doesn't get hit. The runner misses his first shot for the third hit, but it only costs a second.
Security Hall - 1:03.70
This level probably has the most annoying hints of any hunting level, because a lot of the hints can refer to any of 3 to 8 different locations. The runner seems to have it figured out pretty well, though. On the first emerald, the runner initially checks the wrong side of the room (not a mistake, just bad luck), but quickly realizes this and goes to the correct location.
Emerald 2 also trolls the runner a bit: Lonely door can be on any of the blue, yellow, or red levels. Unfortunately, it's on the blue level, which the runner checks last; fortunately though, the blue safes are the ones that are unlocked by default.
Emerald 3 is one of the more annoying locations on the upper floor. The runner demonstrates (not perfectly, though) a pretty neat strategy of getting up there without having to climb the wall in the back of the room. Overall, a nice time despite a couple of mistakes, and not having to unlock the other safes always helps a lot.
Flying Dog - 0:33.34
Very impressive fight and time. The screw kick at the beginning takes good timing, and there's actually a bit of risk of dying if you get it wrong. Hits 3 to 5 are gotten very efficiently by tricking the boss into flying back to the same corner.
White Jungle - 1:40.00
The runner avoids some air time at the beginning with a somersault, a neat idea that I don't remember seeing before. The part after the first vine is handled with very quick reflexes/timing. The runner skips a loop at 0:46; I don't know if this skip is consistent or intentional, but it might have something to do with staying enough to the right so that you can't go down the downhill tube cleanly, allowing you to pop up and set up the loop skip.
A weird mishap with not homing into the robot in the tunnel, costing about 3 seconds. Not sure how that happened. Makes up for it with a difficult upward slope jump, though. Near the end of the next halfpipe, the runner gets out of his spindash as part of his strategy to skip the spring after the vine. I don't know the reason why it works, but I know it works pretty well; the runner easily sails over the spring.
Skips the Air Shoes upgrade, since the Light Dash only saves a bit of time in Final Chase (the time saved there probably makes skip/no skip about evenly matched, though). Overall, the level wasn't totally perfect, but a lot of very well performed tricks and a cool time.
Sonic 1 - 0:14.25
A clean fight; can be a bit faster, but this is a good time.
Route 280 - 2:43.84
All that sliding allows the runner to maintain boosted speeds throughout the level, provided that not too many uphills/cars are hit. Hits a car at 47 seconds, but cancels the slowdown with a boost. Turns are taken fluently and fearlessly; the very last turn was a close call though! Overall, very fast, good boost management, and just 2 seconds off of the best IL times here.
Sky Rail - 0:42.99
Literally flawless with the strategy used. A couple more risks can be taken with rail transfers, but they're not consistent and lead to death if missed. The runner gets the Awesome jump at the second to last rail to get to the farthest platform possible; this jump requires good rail speed, and is hard to hit.
Egg Golem - 0:24.49
If you hit the Egg Golem at certain spots (mainly his chest and left arm), the weak spot panels will flash red and your shots will do 3 times more damage than usual. It's difficult to hit these spots, though, especially as the Golem is trying to punch you. The runner could've been maybe a second faster with locking onto the exposed weak spots, but it's nothing big. Maybe going right instead of left to dodge the second punch would help a bit with aiming for the last weak spot.
Very stylish finish: hitting multiple powerups, falling into the sand, and gaining control of Eggman's weapons as he does his victory hops. I'd never seen that last trick before; it seems to work when you fall into the sand at the end like that.
Mad Space - 0:59.62
Awesome luck with the first and third pieces. Times around 1:15 can be done consistently, but under a minute doesn't happen often, since you need to go to the round planet first to get the Iron Boots. Some time was lost to errors while going between planets, so this could've been even faster, believe it or not.
Knuckles - 0:16.69
The first hit is always tense; there's the weird camera and the lack of rings, and you need to get the first hit fast or Knuckles might begin to run away starting at the second hit. The runner uses a hit-and-run strategy with drill drives, and finishes in a fast time. Crucially, under 20 seconds, before the floor opens up and makes the fight much harder to finish.
Cosmic Wall - 3:42.65
In this run, there were two levels in particular that really took me by surprise with their awesomeness: Sand Ocean, and this. Up to the first rail ride, the runner executes nearly every jump (including the rail jump at 0:11) with perfect measuring and timing. The checkpoint is hit at 1:00, a second better than my best effort, and I think just 1 or 2 seconds short of the runner's best. The runner is showing no signs of nerves this far into the run.
The hover through the ceiling is done as fast as could reasonably be expected. This rail skip saves about 45 seconds; it wasn't in the current SDA run by petrie because the skip wasn't known at the time (I think).
After the ride up the moving weight, the runner gets the tricky hover jump to the left (you can see he barely gets enough height to clear the railing, that's pretty much how it always goes). The runner attempts a jump off the next railing, but doesn't quite get it; probably the only noticeable mistake in the level though, and it's a minor and finicky timesaver anyway. The second tower ascent is done as quickly as the first, and the runner completes the level in 3:42, beating the fastest IL video at the time (mine, in fact) by 7 seconds.
Tails 2 - 0:25.52
Tails puts up quite a fight, and almost ends the run. Yikes! Tails prolongs the second hit by dodging bullets and the canister's explosion, but doesn't hit the runner with any stray bullets. On the third hit, the runner jumps the laser at first, but Tails keeps turning and hits with the laser. On the fourth hit, the laser hits again, leaving the runner with a sliver of health left. Tails goes down in five hits instead of four, because the fourth hit ends up being a punch (which is weaker) to end Tails' laser before it's too late. Tails doesn't aim at the runner during the fifth hit, so the runner survives and the run continues!
Final Chase - 2:25.17
The runner's confidence hasn't wavered, as least as far as I can tell with those slim-margin jumps at 0:08 and 0:29 (actually just a spindash, not a jump). The gravity tube ascent goes as well as could be expected, and the halfway checkpoint is a solid 1:14. A cool looking non-jumping spindash (I'm still not sure exactly how these work) at 1:26 clears the big gap, and another big jump at 1:29. The runner's still executing precise tricks at will, with the jump dash under the artificial chaos at 2:06.
The tube doesn't quite give enough speed to jump high enough to skip the last spring, but no big loss. The runner doesn't opt for the rocket skip because it's way too risky at this point... yes, there's a lot going on in this level. The runner certainly took enough risks overall, though, and everything looked clean.
Sonic 2 - 0:32.52
The first hit's homing attack succeeds; it has to be not too early and not too late. The rest of the hits are done with the spindash strategy. The runner stands at the near edge of a platform while waiting for Sonic's attack, so the platform gap doesn't screw anything up.
I personally still like using simple jump dashes (instead of spindashes) to reach Sonic; it gets 29-30 seconds very often. Not a big deal though. What would be a bigger deal is the strategy where you continually homing attack Sonic, trying to hit Sonic during the small vulnerability window just before he lands from a jump dash. This can get times of around 20 seconds, but it's very inconsistent from my experience. It'll need a consistent method to be used at the very end of a speedrun.
In any case, the runner scores a clean finish!
Summary:
Shadow - Very clean runs, with nearly all of the known risky and cool tricks executed flawlessly. The most noticeable time loss was in White Jungle, which didn't look entirely like the runner's fault. Sky Rail, in particular, literally looked perfect.
Eggman - Probably the surprise highlight of the run to me. Sand Ocean was extremely daring, and Cosmic Wall had phenomenal execution. The other three levels had very solid performances too.
Rouge - Definitely above average emerald location luck, with sub-minute Mad Space as a standout; and the runner always knows where to go and how to get there quickly. A few execution errors, but the "route" is always different in these levels, so those mistakes are going to happen unless you practice a LOT. Oh, and Route 280 was certainly nice.
Bosses - Mostly very good with little room for improvement. The main exception would be Tails 2, with maybe 5-8 seconds possible. It's quite hard to get all the bosses to go perfectly though.
Overall - Tons of strong points and very few weak points, in a game that is very difficult to run without major mistakes. I can't imagine a run that could top this one. Congratulations to the runner for producing a brilliant Dark run to match their brilliant Hero run!
Vote: ACCEPT
Quote:
There's nothing to say that hasn't been said already. No quality issues or cheating detected. By rights, pulling some of those skips should have killed the runner several times per minute. But the whole run shows fantastic execution and good luck (or a lack of particularly bad luck, anyway) and the unlucky areas are dealt with with an absolute minimum of time loss.
Accept
Accept
Decision: Accept
Congratulations to Felipe 'son1cgu1tar' D'Andrade!
Thread title: