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My feelings on The Demon Rush
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Mike 'mike89' Mckenzie's run

Verifier Responses

Quote:
Before I get in to the comments, I just want to say that this is a very impressive run.  What makes running this game so hard is that it has really weird physics and a lot of the levels are designed to be played through slowly  It takes a lot of practice, memorization, execution, and luck to get through these levels that fast.  Also there are a lot of pits in this game.  Unlike most other Sonic games where bad execution means the loss of a little time, bad execution in this game means death.

Green Hill 1
The first stage is very well optimized.  The game gear version has a weird physics engine that the runner carefully manipulates to get this time.  The score countdown takes longer than the stage itself.  Could we edit this out of the run or something?  Maybe there's some kind of mathematical algorithm we could use to figure out if it might be faster in real time to complete the stage slower to reduce the time bonus?  Thank heaven only one other stage gives you this big of a time bonus.

Green Hill 2
Very well optimized.  Landing onto those springs is a lot tougher than it looks.  You see the game's weird physics again as bouncing off the crab in the water allows Sonic to move very fast.

Green Hill 3
I forget how Robotnik (that's right Robotnik, punks! ) even tries to kill you in this level.  I think he moves horizoantally across the screen.  This is almost too boring.  No mistakes, though.

Bridge 1
This is level went very well.  He catches the spring toward the end of the level perfectly.  Practice this stage for a bit and you'll come to appreciate how well executed it is.  Overcoming this game's unusual physics and lag is quite the feat.  One little slip up here is death.

Bridge 2
Thank goodness there is only one auto scrolling level in this game.  Incidentally, I wonder if you could deliberately hit the sign post at the end at a bit slower speed to make it spin a bit lower in the air and save a second or so in real time.  It might not be too practical in the other stages but I think it might help here.

Bridge 3
I never had much of a problem rolling around into Doctor R on the bridge, but since you're able to take him out in two passes I don't really much care.

Jungle 1
This level is amazing.  If you watch carefully and see the obstacles, you'll see that this level was not really designed to be finished quickly.  Speedrunning it is terribly hard.  So many of the obstacles are designed to make you wait and go slow.  To go through it this fast requires really precise timing and a ton of memorization.

Jungle 2
There are a ton of jumps here.  Not one is missed.  That's quite a feat.  This level is just awesome.

Jungle 3
A missed jump here, but the boss fight went really well.  The game pushes you down after hitting Robotnik and it takes some really good positioning to not get hit by the rolling bombs.

Labyrinth 1
This level is pretty well optimized.  There was some nice physics manipulation with that roll toward the beginning.  A suspenseful escape from drowning and a nice jump at the end make this stage pretty really nice.

Labyrinth 2
This is the run's worst stage, and I can only imagine how frustrated the runner must be with everything else going so well.  A few good things I wanted to mention was that there was a really good damage boost on that spear.  The runner did a perfectly timed jump from the rising platform.  The runner took a hit from the gargoyle in this act.  It costs about three seconds.  It sure made the countdown more suspenseful, though.  After that there is a missed jump.  If stuff like this happened in the other stages, I'd be moving toward a reject vote, but this mistake is not typical of the run as a whole.

Labyrinth 3
This boss fight was excellent.  The runner was gutsy and got two hits in on Robotnik when he was in the center.  You can see how tough this is to do because of how close the runner comes to falling in to a watery grave.  Timing all of those hits before the missile comes out is pretty good too.

Scrap Brain 1
This stage is pretty well optimized.

Scrap Brain 2
This stage looks great.  A very nice jump down the long shaft and into the corridor that leads to the teleporter.  After that there was that cool death abuse that shaves off some time.

Scrap Brain 3
Pretty boring stage.  No mistakes

Sky Base 1
This stage is very hard.  One missed jump and it's run over.  Although the electricity comes at predictable intervals, the timing on everything is very tight.  You can see a damage boost in here as well as just narrowly missing the shock getting to one platform.  There was a nice platform skip at the end

Sky Base 2
I always hated this stage so much that I would avoid the top latter and ride the platform below.  Those cannons are a pain in the, and at this stage in the run, it's nerve racking.  They are random.  I suppose in a perfect world of luck manipulation, the runner would just run straight through them, but given the circumstances not too much time is lost.  The run probably lost another second just before going inside the base waiting for that lost shot to go off screen, but like I said, given where the run is at, it's not that important.  This is a single segment run, after all.

Sky Base 3
This is a very impressive boss fight.  Anyone who has played the game knows how dangerous this fight really is.  Hitting the glass can send you back at some weird angles, you can get stuck inside the glass or bounced back into the flames.  There was really no hesitation here and that last hit was timed perfectly.

Once again, we are all reminded that Dr. Robotnik has, and always will be faster than Sonic.  Heck, in Sonic 2 he can outrun Super Sonic in the Death Egg Zone.

My Vote:
Accept

This is a very tight run.  There were a couple of little missed jumps and a little hit, but these small mistakes don't change that this is an amazing run.  The runner uses damage boosts, races through some really difficult spots without losing time (The jungle zone in particular) and maintains a very high level of execution throughout.  The only major concession of speed for survivability is in Act 1 of the Bridge Zone and maybe in the Sky Base Zone, but every other risk, the runner attempts and succeeds.  This is a very impressive single segment run.


Quote:
The run looks done good. And while I briefly viewed it, I didn't sense technical problems.

I'm ok with the route, there's nothing obviously better to me. He does fine avoiding the lag in Bridge by jumping over the bridge, which also causes tremendous lag on the SMS. As he stated in the comments, he missed a jump on the way to the Jungle boss. And in Either labyrinth one or two, he jumps over a shot that keeps him from just walking of a ledge. It could have been faster to wait a second or he could have jumped lower. But this is half a second lost at worst. This does not account to the hit taken while ascending from the water and the missed jump directly afterwards, but these are the only two obvious execution problems.
The overall execution quality seems really solid and there are few moments where execution isn't really tight. Most of them are due to something random, like the cannons on the ship.

I'd pass it. Because the route seems good and the execution also.


Quote:
Alright.
Firstly, no comments on video and audio. They seem good.
One question? - Is this game a single-segment? - If it is, then I can let it pass. Between level 3 (boss fight) and level 2.1,  the number of lives changes from 10 to 9. Actually, if you check out the level introduction picture, it says 10 lives as well. I don't know if it is some sort of game mechanic, that disallows you to have more then 10 lives, I just wanted to mention this. In case it's multisegment, please ignore my comment on this.

-edit - it's a game mechaninc.

3.3 loses a second due to missing a jump.

4.2 Takes damage to save time. Almost dies in the end as he accidently get's hit by a spewing lion.

5.2 Warps using death. You need to run over the platform to continue, the game. Very well spotted actually. I had to pull out my old gamegear and check this out. Seems to work the way intended.


6.1 Takes damage to save time in the beginning.

6.2 The cannons in this level can be incredibly annoying, so a bit of random luck comes in to play here. Interesting bug there, using the "roof" as to pass most of the level.

These are the commenst from me.

I got no problem letting this game pass. In general, the gameplay is of quite high quality and I had a blast verifying this, thanks.


Decision: Accept

Reason: It's a well-optimized run.
Thread title:  
Was this the Game Gear or Master System version of the game?
SEGA Junkie
Game Gear, via Sonic Adventure DX. Mike was telling me that most verifiers were more familiar with the Master System version, which I thought might present problems as there are significant level design changes (especially in Labyrinth).

All the same, thanks guys Smiley
Generic Text
Huh. Could've sworn I sent out to verify it. Whatever, though. I always liked this version better than the Genesis version (anything over Marble Zone, IMO), and it'll be nice to see it on the site.
Visit my profile to see my runs!
Nice job, Mike89.  So, are there any other games on DX you'd be willing to run?  Are other game gear games on it? 

And somebody out there please do Sonic CD someday.  That'd be like the Old Console run of the year.
Edit history:
Greenalink: 2009-09-18 12:33:05 pm
DS Dictator
There's 12 GG games on SA DX.

1.Sonic the Hedgehog (Got done)

2.Sonic Drift (Racing game)

3.Sonic Chaos (Weakest platformer apparently, levels can be cleared in under 30s)

4.Sonic Labyrinth (Puzzle game where Sonic ISN'T fast but can still be 'speedrunable')

5.Sonic Spinball (Pinball & speedrunable

6.Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Platformer should be speedrunable)

7.Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Puyo Puyo PINGAS)

8.Sonic Triple Trouble (A good platformer, should be speedrunable)

9.Sonic Drift 2 (Another Racing game)

10.Tails' Skypatrol (Haven't heard much on this)

11.Sonic Blast (Not Sonic 3D Blast, a 2D platformer, graphics were inspired from DKC)

12.Tails Adventure (Tails chucks BOMBs, an RPG and speedrunable).
Visit my profile to see my runs!
Oh wow, thanks.  I suppose I really should have just looked that up online.

Part of the reason I asked was because I had been doodling with a Sonic Chaos run in July for Virtual Console.  Buuuuut.... game's abysmal.  Anyway, if Mike thought about working on it, that'd give me just the excuse I'd need to erase the game from my memory.
SEGA Junkie
Well, the only problem with that is that I don't really want to be the guy with the monopoly on the shitty Game Gear games... I tried to palm off Sonic 2 GG to stanski but he's not taking the bait.

To add to your list, Greenalink: Sonic Labyrinth would definitely be speedrunable, so would Sonic Spinball in all honesty (people have been talking about a run on the MegaDrive version for some time). Tails Adventures is more like an RPG, and I actually think that would make a really fun run too. I might tackle it at some stage... if I can remember how to complete it.