My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: Doesn't exist yet.
single-segment run
Verifier Responses
This is the note I sent the runner (yeah I was a verifier)
I realized I was too harsh so this is what I said afterwards, but my stance still stands.
Decision: Reject
Reason: The run is played too safely for a speedrun.
As always, the run is available upon request until may 20th, pm me.
single-segment run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Before running the stage by stage, I'll note that the video and audio quality are just fine, and I see no evidence of cheating, nor are there any deaths.
Stage1:
Looks good, no real mistakes. Good use of damage boosting to gain a bit of time, which is only really possible in the first few stages, given the difficult stage layouts of the latter two thirds of the game. Runner picks up the cross and a triple through the course of this stage. Boss fight goes well.
Stage2:
Again, good stage, no noticeable mistakes, great Medusa fight, owing to cross+triple, which is used through the whole run, which it should be.
Stage3:
Another solid stage. Nothing in particular to report here. Boss fight looked just a tad slow, but probably only could've been improved by a couple seconds at most.
Stage4:
Here's where the game starts to show its annoyance at having those first three stages destroyed in record time. A few of the skeletons give the runner some trouble in the first couple sections, nothing too major though. Boss gets pwnt really hard. Post boss, more random skeleton troubles. Makes good use of waiting time in the floaty block section to do some rhythm squatting.
Second boss goes well too.
Stage5:
Nothing to report here either. Good solid stage, no mistakes. Into the castle we go.
Stage6:
Oh man, the good old days of Mode7 effects. Ah the memories. Anyway...yeah, the later section with all the skeletons is a bit annoying, and has several glitched out ones that just sit there flickering. Unless my memory is bad and they're supposed to do that. Both could be possible.
Stage7:
All the stupid Axe Armors make this a bit of a slow stage, at least in the first bit. The next section looks cool with how Simon falls through 80% of it really fast, though. Yeah, that dog dropped a candle that fell through the floor. Weird stuff. And yeah, turns out those two health pickups weren't really necessary. The first one maybe, but not the second; that's my only gripe here.
Stage8:
Man, Stage 8 is so dangerous, but the runner makes a good show of it, being sure not to get stabbed in any way, which Simon will never complain about, I'm sure.
Stage9:
Ah, the stage that reminds us that points for extends really aren't necessary in a game that you can continue endlessly in. Yeah. Oh man, those two swings up to those two candles, I remember getting so irritated at that. Good times. Okay, so enough of my pointless digressing. The first critical mistake of the run occurs partway through, where Simon just can't seem to hit that anchor point thing in the quicksand gold room, or when he does, the stupid bone dragon knocks him off it. Probably loses 20 seconds here. And man, this boss was always such a pain, but Simon dispatches it as skillfully as any other.
Stage10:
Oh yeah, I was grooving hard in my chair to the music for this whole stage.
Stage, nothing much to talk about; it's again solid, except for that bone dragon near the top of the climb wanting to be annoying. Simon doesn't get smashed in the face by a giant runaway gear, which is always a plus. Boss gets whipped good. The whip isn't out when Simon catches the orb though, which I'm highly disappointed about. ;P
Stage11:
Okay, so I grooved to the music here too. It's necessary. Oh wow, I got tense during that first boss fight; it was down to the wire. Runner played it safe and stayed at range, opting to take one more hit to kill the boss rather than lose his own life. The second one goes great in comparison, and Death just fails at doing anything to our expert runner here. And now...the DRAC ATTACK! It's too bad Drac's second phase is really a lot easier than his first in this iteration of the series. Oh, and Simon looks like a girl. Yeah.
Anyways, it's a great run. There's only really one moment that can be counted as a critical mistake, and if you add to it the minor ones here and there, probably an extra 40ish seconds could be shaved from the time. I loved watching this run; it was a great throwback to the good old times when having an SNES meant you were the awesome kid at school.
Accept, most definitely.
Stage1:
Looks good, no real mistakes. Good use of damage boosting to gain a bit of time, which is only really possible in the first few stages, given the difficult stage layouts of the latter two thirds of the game. Runner picks up the cross and a triple through the course of this stage. Boss fight goes well.
Stage2:
Again, good stage, no noticeable mistakes, great Medusa fight, owing to cross+triple, which is used through the whole run, which it should be.
Stage3:
Another solid stage. Nothing in particular to report here. Boss fight looked just a tad slow, but probably only could've been improved by a couple seconds at most.
Stage4:
Here's where the game starts to show its annoyance at having those first three stages destroyed in record time. A few of the skeletons give the runner some trouble in the first couple sections, nothing too major though. Boss gets pwnt really hard. Post boss, more random skeleton troubles. Makes good use of waiting time in the floaty block section to do some rhythm squatting.
Stage5:
Nothing to report here either. Good solid stage, no mistakes. Into the castle we go.
Stage6:
Oh man, the good old days of Mode7 effects. Ah the memories. Anyway...yeah, the later section with all the skeletons is a bit annoying, and has several glitched out ones that just sit there flickering. Unless my memory is bad and they're supposed to do that. Both could be possible.
Stage7:
All the stupid Axe Armors make this a bit of a slow stage, at least in the first bit. The next section looks cool with how Simon falls through 80% of it really fast, though. Yeah, that dog dropped a candle that fell through the floor. Weird stuff. And yeah, turns out those two health pickups weren't really necessary. The first one maybe, but not the second; that's my only gripe here.
Stage8:
Man, Stage 8 is so dangerous, but the runner makes a good show of it, being sure not to get stabbed in any way, which Simon will never complain about, I'm sure.
Stage9:
Ah, the stage that reminds us that points for extends really aren't necessary in a game that you can continue endlessly in. Yeah. Oh man, those two swings up to those two candles, I remember getting so irritated at that. Good times. Okay, so enough of my pointless digressing.
Stage10:
Oh yeah, I was grooving hard in my chair to the music for this whole stage.
Stage11:
Okay, so I grooved to the music here too. It's necessary.
Anyways, it's a great run. There's only really one moment that can be counted as a critical mistake, and if you add to it the minor ones here and there, probably an extra 40ish seconds could be shaved from the time. I loved watching this run; it was a great throwback to the good old times when having an SNES meant you were the awesome kid at school.
Accept, most definitely.
Quote:
The video quality is a bit dark. It's watchable, it just takes some getting used to. Audio's fine.
Stages 1 through 3 are great, aside from a couple small hiccups. For instance, he ended Stage 3 with too many hearts, costing half a second.
It immediately becomes evident, however, that the runner has practiced those stages more than the rest. There are far fewer uses of damage boosts. He's very conservative with hearts, to the point where he has a lot left over at the end of stages. He doesn't always jump before climbing stairs. And there are a few spots where he does absolutely nothing for a second.
Stage 4 starts the overall dip in quality. The two times the skeletons ignored the crosses was very unfortunate, but there were other errors that could be blamed on the player. The two hits in 4-3 were very ugly, and very avoidable. At about 13:30, he throws a cross at a candle with an axe in it for no reason. The Koranot fight was also a little lackluster.
In 5-1, he had a tough time with Flea Riders. From experience, I can sympathize.
In Stage 6, it looked like he could've jumped onto the third chandelier right away. Afterwards, it looked like the big meat he got was unnecessary.
At 20:37 in Stage 7, the way he handled that Axe Armor didn't seem best. Throughout that first block, he seemed too conservative with his heart count.
Early on in Stage 8, he duckwalked under fireballs from a Bone Pillar. I understand this is a freakin hard stage, but he really should have just took the damage boost. Especially considering later on he got a leg of mutton while he had full health. His timing on the spike platforms wasn't best. Too many times did he have to wait for them to drop a second time. Peeping Eyes are a problem too. Crosses would be better to use on them.
The screwup at about 29 minutes in is really disgusting. The runner says 10 seconds lost, but it looks more like 15 on my end. 20 if I'm being generous. The boss fight for Stage 9 was a little rough, but when isn't it?
The Clock Tower fared a lot better than the other stages before it. Though I don't think the way he fought the mummy was best. After getting hit, why did he go to the left? Is there really no safe spot on the right side to avoid the bandages?
At the end of B-2, he walks back onto a moving platform just to whip a candle with 1 heart in it. I highly doubt that one heart would've made any difference. Slogra gets some really cheap hits on him. But he chickens out at the end of the fight and uses crosses from afar. I think he could've skipped one of the health pickups afterwards. He didn't need much after the pretty good Gaibon fight. His fight with Death was actually pretty good, too.
I think his Dracula fight is terrible. He wastes so many hearts on the first phase. I don't think more than three of them actually hit Drac. He desperately needs to work on his timing. Cause as it is now, it looks like he's throwing crosses blindly, hoping they'll hit.
A run of this game is well overdue. And I was surprised to see one in need of verification. Excited, even. While the first three levels are fantastic, the rest of the run lacks the same level of polish. It clocks in at just over 42 minutes. The mistake in Stage 9 alone cost him sub42. Add everything else on to that, I feel maybe even sub41 can be gotten.
I reject.
Stages 1 through 3 are great, aside from a couple small hiccups. For instance, he ended Stage 3 with too many hearts, costing half a second.
It immediately becomes evident, however, that the runner has practiced those stages more than the rest. There are far fewer uses of damage boosts. He's very conservative with hearts, to the point where he has a lot left over at the end of stages. He doesn't always jump before climbing stairs. And there are a few spots where he does absolutely nothing for a second.
Stage 4 starts the overall dip in quality. The two times the skeletons ignored the crosses was very unfortunate, but there were other errors that could be blamed on the player. The two hits in 4-3 were very ugly, and very avoidable. At about 13:30, he throws a cross at a candle with an axe in it for no reason. The Koranot fight was also a little lackluster.
In 5-1, he had a tough time with Flea Riders. From experience, I can sympathize.
In Stage 6, it looked like he could've jumped onto the third chandelier right away. Afterwards, it looked like the big meat he got was unnecessary.
At 20:37 in Stage 7, the way he handled that Axe Armor didn't seem best. Throughout that first block, he seemed too conservative with his heart count.
Early on in Stage 8, he duckwalked under fireballs from a Bone Pillar. I understand this is a freakin hard stage, but he really should have just took the damage boost. Especially considering later on he got a leg of mutton while he had full health. His timing on the spike platforms wasn't best. Too many times did he have to wait for them to drop a second time. Peeping Eyes are a problem too. Crosses would be better to use on them.
The screwup at about 29 minutes in is really disgusting. The runner says 10 seconds lost, but it looks more like 15 on my end. 20 if I'm being generous. The boss fight for Stage 9 was a little rough, but when isn't it?
The Clock Tower fared a lot better than the other stages before it. Though I don't think the way he fought the mummy was best. After getting hit, why did he go to the left? Is there really no safe spot on the right side to avoid the bandages?
At the end of B-2, he walks back onto a moving platform just to whip a candle with 1 heart in it. I highly doubt that one heart would've made any difference. Slogra gets some really cheap hits on him. But he chickens out at the end of the fight and uses crosses from afar. I think he could've skipped one of the health pickups afterwards. He didn't need much after the pretty good Gaibon fight. His fight with Death was actually pretty good, too.
I think his Dracula fight is terrible. He wastes so many hearts on the first phase. I don't think more than three of them actually hit Drac. He desperately needs to work on his timing. Cause as it is now, it looks like he's throwing crosses blindly, hoping they'll hit.
A run of this game is well overdue. And I was surprised to see one in need of verification. Excited, even. While the first three levels are fantastic, the rest of the run lacks the same level of polish. It clocks in at just over 42 minutes. The mistake in Stage 9 alone cost him sub42. Add everything else on to that, I feel maybe even sub41 can be gotten.
I reject.
Quote:
Alright, here we go on one the most awesome SNES games ever.
Video and audio are great (both in composition and in capture).
It's quite obvious he's not cheating.
I won't lie, I'm going to verify his Simon Belmont with my Simon Cowell. Even completing an SS of this game at all is an amazing feat, but I'm not going to let it off easy just for that.
First two levels: Good enough. He didn't boost nearly enough in level two, though, and some of the boosts he DID take would be better spent elsewhere. He spends a lot of time not in motion, too, most of it from landing lag which could be reduced significantly with only a little work.
Level three: First two areas are fine. I like the swing-hook shortcut he took in the waterfall, but he stayed back like a coward while the blocks were falling to begin the submerged city. That lag on the hydra fight is unavoidable unless you drop the idea of cross-spamming it, but ultimately cross spam is faster IMO.
Level four: level four, level four, level four. *sigh* To be honest, the run completely falls apart here. He takes a hit in the first screen which costs him at least five seconds (probably closer to ten) and then two really stupid hits in a row the very next screen. You can tell that he begins to lose his cool here (I'd have reset and perhaps even thrown the controller at the TV; I'd say his temper is considerably more even than mine), and the mistakes begin to cascade, with little things like forgetting to jump-whip instead of stand-whip. Puwexil fight was excellent, as was the rotating room.
Second part of level four starts out pretty good, he seems to have regained his confidence a bit. BUT! He grabs an invulnerability potion and then fails to take advantage of it (jump THROUGH the skeleta, don't kill them, it causes massive lag). Then he takes two bad hits right AFTER his invuln expires - whoops. In the next screen he drops off a platform, where making the proper jump would have saved him an entire cycle of that complex block structure (although not saving any time, the level was in dire need of some good tricks to redeem it). Then all goes quite well, although he stood to throw a cross for no good reason, and I consider that first bone pillar kill completely unnecessary and PERHAPS the second one as well, although I would probably kill it too. Koronot fight is quite good, although suffering from loss of cross-throwing strategy after the first barrage.
Level five: Absolutely terrible luck with the birds at the beginning, but he goes with it well. With good enough timing you don't need to destroy those bone-pillar shots OR wait for them to pass, you can just jump over them. Every single one of those bone pillars he kills later in the first part of the level, he could have boosted off of to save time. The whip skeleton to begin the second part of the level throws him off a little, but otherwise he only missed a couple of boosting opportunities.
Level six: I severely question the wisdom of keeping cross over holy water at this point. There were also more times when he really ought to have jump-whipped but threw a weapon or stand-whipped instead. Chandeliers were played safe, I've done them one cycle faster before but in an SS you have to be careful. Good in the screen after that. I especially like the bat boost up to the second story near the end, but I must say those Axe Armours are MUCH easier to dispatch with holy water, this is part of why I suggest he switch. Next few screens are good, especially well-done with the banquet tables and dancers, but he's consistently forgetting to jump onto staircases. Paula Abghoul and Fred Askare are well-done for only having cross and not holy water (which would have been III-blocked by the end of the level).
Level seven: Not bad to start, but I haven't got a damn clue what he was trying to do halfway through the first screen with the spear armour below and the axe armour above, besides frustrate me. Second screen was extremely well done, I like it. Next screen is well done, and the screen after that is excellent until he takes the unfortunate backwards hit from that last pack of bats. He should have only taken the second wall roast, though, not the first, that was just wasteful (probably the second only grabbed because of his mistake). Final couple of screens are pretty well done. Giant axe armour fight was as fast as it could have been, but holy water would have been faster.
Level eight: The SS thinking has kicked into full gear, he's playing very carefully. Within that context, first screen is pretty good, although he probably took more time crawling than he'd have taken killing the bone pillar that produced those shots. Second screen good. Third screen EXCELLENT. Luck on the spiked-ceiling segment was beyond terrible, I might have reset here even if I continued after that level 4 disaster. Frankenstein's monster fight was good (again holy water would be faster), unfortunate that he got hit though.
Level nine: Bad hit to start with the bat. Next couple of screens okay, though the occasional mistake does come up. Absolutely terrible in the quicksand-gold room with the white dragon. The run hasn't been this bad since level 4. Just kill it next time if you don't hit the hook on your first try. Rest of the level is good enough, though again little things are cropping up. Zapf Bat was okay but not great. This is one of the few late-game bosses that holy water does not speed up.
Level ten: All this walking he's been doing up the stairs instead of jumping onto them has been constantly wasting time, and it's really starting to add up. Compound that with MISSES when he does try to jump onto stairs and I actually facepalmed. Third screen has a few whoops-y moments but no serious objections. Bad luck on the white dragons at the beginning of each ascending-hook segment, but otherwise quite well done. Mummy would be soooooo much faster with holy water, but decently well dispatched given the circumstances here.
Level eleven: First two screens perfect by SS standards (I wouldn't trust myself with those crumbling rocks if I were doing one either). IIRC he could have swung right past that last rock giant before the rising platforms section. Bad luck on the platform appearance timing between parts there. There wasn't much he could have done to make Slogra go any better (except bring III-blocked holy waters!!) but it IS unfortunate that it forced him to pick up all that food and waste even more time. Gaibon is faster with cross than water, well done there. Death was played too carefully, he could have ended the battle much faster by going up to throw a few more volleys of crosses. Dracula's first and second patterns did not go well at all, but the third was quite adequate given the circumstances.
Verdict: Reject
He's got the right idea most of the time, and he shows one or two good time-savers that even I didn't know about, but a lot of the second half of the game was WAY too careful. Add to that the utter travesty that is level 4 and a LOT of bad luck and miscellaneous errors, not to mention what I consider an erroneus weapon choice at the beginning of level 6, and all I can say is 'good try and try again'.
Also, moonwalking up the stairs is fun and all, but he shouldn't go out of his way to do it. He wasted a lot of time throughout the run walking up parts of stairs that he could have jumped onto.
This would have been an 'accept' if level 4 wasn't so bad.
Video and audio are great (both in composition and in capture).
It's quite obvious he's not cheating.
I won't lie, I'm going to verify his Simon Belmont with my Simon Cowell. Even completing an SS of this game at all is an amazing feat, but I'm not going to let it off easy just for that.
First two levels: Good enough. He didn't boost nearly enough in level two, though, and some of the boosts he DID take would be better spent elsewhere. He spends a lot of time not in motion, too, most of it from landing lag which could be reduced significantly with only a little work.
Level three: First two areas are fine. I like the swing-hook shortcut he took in the waterfall, but he stayed back like a coward while the blocks were falling to begin the submerged city. That lag on the hydra fight is unavoidable unless you drop the idea of cross-spamming it, but ultimately cross spam is faster IMO.
Level four: level four, level four, level four. *sigh* To be honest, the run completely falls apart here. He takes a hit in the first screen which costs him at least five seconds (probably closer to ten) and then two really stupid hits in a row the very next screen. You can tell that he begins to lose his cool here (I'd have reset and perhaps even thrown the controller at the TV; I'd say his temper is considerably more even than mine), and the mistakes begin to cascade, with little things like forgetting to jump-whip instead of stand-whip. Puwexil fight was excellent, as was the rotating room.
Second part of level four starts out pretty good, he seems to have regained his confidence a bit. BUT! He grabs an invulnerability potion and then fails to take advantage of it (jump THROUGH the skeleta, don't kill them, it causes massive lag). Then he takes two bad hits right AFTER his invuln expires - whoops. In the next screen he drops off a platform, where making the proper jump would have saved him an entire cycle of that complex block structure (although not saving any time, the level was in dire need of some good tricks to redeem it). Then all goes quite well, although he stood to throw a cross for no good reason, and I consider that first bone pillar kill completely unnecessary and PERHAPS the second one as well, although I would probably kill it too. Koronot fight is quite good, although suffering from loss of cross-throwing strategy after the first barrage.
Level five: Absolutely terrible luck with the birds at the beginning, but he goes with it well. With good enough timing you don't need to destroy those bone-pillar shots OR wait for them to pass, you can just jump over them. Every single one of those bone pillars he kills later in the first part of the level, he could have boosted off of to save time. The whip skeleton to begin the second part of the level throws him off a little, but otherwise he only missed a couple of boosting opportunities.
Level six: I severely question the wisdom of keeping cross over holy water at this point. There were also more times when he really ought to have jump-whipped but threw a weapon or stand-whipped instead. Chandeliers were played safe, I've done them one cycle faster before but in an SS you have to be careful. Good in the screen after that. I especially like the bat boost up to the second story near the end, but I must say those Axe Armours are MUCH easier to dispatch with holy water, this is part of why I suggest he switch. Next few screens are good, especially well-done with the banquet tables and dancers, but he's consistently forgetting to jump onto staircases. Paula Abghoul and Fred Askare are well-done for only having cross and not holy water (which would have been III-blocked by the end of the level).
Level seven: Not bad to start, but I haven't got a damn clue what he was trying to do halfway through the first screen with the spear armour below and the axe armour above, besides frustrate me. Second screen was extremely well done, I like it. Next screen is well done, and the screen after that is excellent until he takes the unfortunate backwards hit from that last pack of bats. He should have only taken the second wall roast, though, not the first, that was just wasteful (probably the second only grabbed because of his mistake). Final couple of screens are pretty well done. Giant axe armour fight was as fast as it could have been, but holy water would have been faster.
Level eight: The SS thinking has kicked into full gear, he's playing very carefully. Within that context, first screen is pretty good, although he probably took more time crawling than he'd have taken killing the bone pillar that produced those shots. Second screen good. Third screen EXCELLENT. Luck on the spiked-ceiling segment was beyond terrible, I might have reset here even if I continued after that level 4 disaster. Frankenstein's monster fight was good (again holy water would be faster), unfortunate that he got hit though.
Level nine: Bad hit to start with the bat. Next couple of screens okay, though the occasional mistake does come up. Absolutely terrible in the quicksand-gold room with the white dragon. The run hasn't been this bad since level 4. Just kill it next time if you don't hit the hook on your first try. Rest of the level is good enough, though again little things are cropping up. Zapf Bat was okay but not great. This is one of the few late-game bosses that holy water does not speed up.
Level ten: All this walking he's been doing up the stairs instead of jumping onto them has been constantly wasting time, and it's really starting to add up. Compound that with MISSES when he does try to jump onto stairs and I actually facepalmed. Third screen has a few whoops-y moments but no serious objections. Bad luck on the white dragons at the beginning of each ascending-hook segment, but otherwise quite well done. Mummy would be soooooo much faster with holy water, but decently well dispatched given the circumstances here.
Level eleven: First two screens perfect by SS standards (I wouldn't trust myself with those crumbling rocks if I were doing one either). IIRC he could have swung right past that last rock giant before the rising platforms section. Bad luck on the platform appearance timing between parts there. There wasn't much he could have done to make Slogra go any better (except bring III-blocked holy waters!!) but it IS unfortunate that it forced him to pick up all that food and waste even more time. Gaibon is faster with cross than water, well done there. Death was played too carefully, he could have ended the battle much faster by going up to throw a few more volleys of crosses. Dracula's first and second patterns did not go well at all, but the third was quite adequate given the circumstances.
Verdict: Reject
He's got the right idea most of the time, and he shows one or two good time-savers that even I didn't know about, but a lot of the second half of the game was WAY too careful. Add to that the utter travesty that is level 4 and a LOT of bad luck and miscellaneous errors, not to mention what I consider an erroneus weapon choice at the beginning of level 6, and all I can say is 'good try and try again'.
Also, moonwalking up the stairs is fun and all, but he shouldn't go out of his way to do it. He wasted a lot of time throughout the run walking up parts of stairs that he could have jumped onto.
This would have been an 'accept' if level 4 wasn't so bad.
Quote:
Hi Mike,
below are my comments as usual. This run really had great entertainment value in its last part and I strongly recommend watching it!
Hi,
I feel like frezy_man!
I can't sense cheating, audio and video also seem fine.
From me this run gets a definite accept. For a SS of that game I think it is impressing and besides one fuck-up it has a really high play quality. Don't get fooled by my nit picking notes. I imagine this game to really be a bitch to speedrun, because there is a lot of randomness involved that's not obvious to most casual players.
To those who haven't played the game the run might look less impressive, but that's mostly because the game is rather slow paced. The play in this run isn't.
1-1
Nice start, nice damage boosting.
1-2
I liked how the shots from that bonepile were used to shorten the recovery time after a jump. The last skeleton before the first screen change could have probably been hit while jumping.
1-3
Not much to say, fluid.
2-1
No real stops, fluid and nice.
2-2
At about 363 (remaining time) you should have killed the skeletons by jump whipping.
UnnecessaryStopCount++
The fight against Me- ah, already over.
2-3
More damage busting and fluidness.
3-1
605: Nice, hitting the stalactite and boost through the golem. Yes, I know it's obvious, but there's nothing else to comment on.
3-2
Boost me up scotty!
3-3
Aww, no eye boosts. But I expected this to not be present. At 491 he misses the bird and wastes time for whipping. Soon after that, one of the hits towards an armed skeleton doesn't hit either.
UnnecessaryWhipCount++
The Hydra like boss wasn't perfect, but that's luck dependant. No fail here.
4-1
Ha! He took a hit from the skeleton at 537. Run quality is going down, baby!
At 523 it gets a bit messy with hits and skeletons. But not much time is actually lost. At 511 he could have jumped whipped, so again: UnnecessaryStop Count++
Skull goes down nice.
4-3
I can feel the shock the runner had at 408 and\or 401, when he ran into the skeleton.
4-4
Oh, a slight miss at a jump at 390. I noticed that! And at 358 he didn't jump onto the stairs, just walked. At 347 he hung a bit at the end of the stairs.
5-1
He aimed for the fireballs at 155 and missed. No jump whipping or boomerang at 136.
5-2
You could have damaged boost off that last bat. Lazy vampire hunter...
6-1
Another missed jump whip at 578. No jump on the stairs at 566. Again, 521 could have been a jump whip, also 512.
6-2
473: UnnecessaryWhipCount++
6-3
Vampires, dead dancing couples, they all get their share. With being damned to eternal silence and never getting laid, Simon shows his envy with the whip.
7-1
Passing those guys at 538 could have been better.
7-2
451: Hit by bat in the wrong direction. Knight goes done fine and proves one of the schnitzels to have been useless.
8-1
I am going to get serious now. The hard part of the run is beginning and counting single missed strokes of the whip doesn't make sense anymore. I'll spare the nit picking and only write down noteworthy things. And as there is enough of my dyslexic brabble already, no comment on a stage means done good.
8-2
-
9-1
Am I missing something, or why wasn't the upper route taken at 598?
He didn't even try to hit the second anchor.
9-2
Hahaha!
Slapstick fail. I really got nervous when he screwed up again. And then it looked as if he would get shot down once again, but he just manages to escape the fireball. Of course a mess, but still fun to watch.
The fat bat could have been a bit faster.
A-1
A-2
Bad luck with the mummy's position, otherwise fine.
B-1
It's actually pretty easy to stay on the braking stones at 995 and jump from them onto the stairs.
B-2
Oh God, this level is such a pain. It always was half the way luck for the stairs to not mess up - at least for me. At about 905 he waited for the platform to appear, then jumped too early and missed it because of that. Not even three seconds anyway. At 888 he wastes a second by waiting for his boomerang to come back. If someone actually read this, please use the word pineapple in your post.
B-3
Now for the really really really tasty part!
The first fight is filled with suspense already. Both have only one bar of health left and his undead enemy would take another two hits...
Watch for yourself, if nothing else, then the last five minutes of this run!
Flying whatshisname goes down quick, sickle-sucker does the same.
That Dracula fight was epic. If I didn't knew better, I'd say he was acting clumsy just to add another thrilling moment.
below are my comments as usual. This run really had great entertainment value in its last part and I strongly recommend watching it!
Hi,
I feel like frezy_man!
I can't sense cheating, audio and video also seem fine.
From me this run gets a definite accept. For a SS of that game I think it is impressing and besides one fuck-up it has a really high play quality. Don't get fooled by my nit picking notes. I imagine this game to really be a bitch to speedrun, because there is a lot of randomness involved that's not obvious to most casual players.
To those who haven't played the game the run might look less impressive, but that's mostly because the game is rather slow paced. The play in this run isn't.
1-1
Nice start, nice damage boosting.
1-2
I liked how the shots from that bonepile were used to shorten the recovery time after a jump. The last skeleton before the first screen change could have probably been hit while jumping.
1-3
Not much to say, fluid.
2-1
No real stops, fluid and nice.
2-2
At about 363 (remaining time) you should have killed the skeletons by jump whipping.
UnnecessaryStopCount++
The fight against Me- ah, already over.
2-3
More damage busting and fluidness.
3-1
605: Nice, hitting the stalactite and boost through the golem. Yes, I know it's obvious, but there's nothing else to comment on.
3-2
Boost me up scotty!
3-3
Aww, no eye boosts. But I expected this to not be present. At 491 he misses the bird and wastes time for whipping. Soon after that, one of the hits towards an armed skeleton doesn't hit either.
UnnecessaryWhipCount++
The Hydra like boss wasn't perfect, but that's luck dependant. No fail here.
4-1
Ha! He took a hit from the skeleton at 537. Run quality is going down, baby!
At 523 it gets a bit messy with hits and skeletons. But not much time is actually lost. At 511 he could have jumped whipped, so again: UnnecessaryStop Count++
Skull goes down nice.
4-3
I can feel the shock the runner had at 408 and\or 401, when he ran into the skeleton.
4-4
Oh, a slight miss at a jump at 390. I noticed that! And at 358 he didn't jump onto the stairs, just walked. At 347 he hung a bit at the end of the stairs.
5-1
He aimed for the fireballs at 155 and missed. No jump whipping or boomerang at 136.
5-2
You could have damaged boost off that last bat. Lazy vampire hunter...
6-1
Another missed jump whip at 578. No jump on the stairs at 566. Again, 521 could have been a jump whip, also 512.
6-2
473: UnnecessaryWhipCount++
6-3
Vampires, dead dancing couples, they all get their share. With being damned to eternal silence and never getting laid, Simon shows his envy with the whip.
7-1
Passing those guys at 538 could have been better.
7-2
451: Hit by bat in the wrong direction. Knight goes done fine and proves one of the schnitzels to have been useless.
8-1
I am going to get serious now. The hard part of the run is beginning and counting single missed strokes of the whip doesn't make sense anymore. I'll spare the nit picking and only write down noteworthy things. And as there is enough of my dyslexic brabble already, no comment on a stage means done good.
8-2
-
9-1
Am I missing something, or why wasn't the upper route taken at 598?
He didn't even try to hit the second anchor.
9-2
Hahaha!
Slapstick fail. I really got nervous when he screwed up again. And then it looked as if he would get shot down once again, but he just manages to escape the fireball. Of course a mess, but still fun to watch.
The fat bat could have been a bit faster.
A-1
A-2
Bad luck with the mummy's position, otherwise fine.
B-1
It's actually pretty easy to stay on the braking stones at 995 and jump from them onto the stairs.
B-2
Oh God, this level is such a pain. It always was half the way luck for the stairs to not mess up - at least for me. At about 905 he waited for the platform to appear, then jumped too early and missed it because of that. Not even three seconds anyway. At 888 he wastes a second by waiting for his boomerang to come back. If someone actually read this, please use the word pineapple in your post.
B-3
Now for the really really really tasty part!
The first fight is filled with suspense already. Both have only one bar of health left and his undead enemy would take another two hits...
Watch for yourself, if nothing else, then the last five minutes of this run!
Flying whatshisname goes down quick, sickle-sucker does the same.
That Dracula fight was epic. If I didn't knew better, I'd say he was acting clumsy just to add another thrilling moment.
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For a first time Castlevania IV submission this run far exceeded my expectations.
Great strategies employed thoughout. Nice enemy boosting, Boss strats, Routes.
The vertical revolving level is easily one of easiest sections of the game and seeing him make an oops there and not during so many other complicated sections made me laugh out loud.
Nothing enough to damn this superbly entertaining run.
Easy Accept
No cheating, sound, video issues noticed
Great strategies employed thoughout. Nice enemy boosting, Boss strats, Routes.
The vertical revolving level is easily one of easiest sections of the game and seeing him make an oops there and not during so many other complicated sections made me laugh out loud.
Nothing enough to damn this superbly entertaining run.
Easy Accept
No cheating, sound, video issues noticed
Quote:
Video: Good quality
Audio: Good quality
Stage 1: Minor hiccups, but overall great damage boosting. Could have grabbed the meat just before the boss to save a little time on the meter restore, but not that big a deal.
Stage 2: Excellent boss fight at Medusa. Could have done more damage boosting in the first half of the level, with 2 meats to restore life during. Still, played very well.
Stage 3: Some magnificent damage boosts here. Missed one stair jump that could have saved a little time. Had a little troubles with hitting the boss early, but probably due to the stupid lag the game gives. Should have wasted more hearts in stage to bring the counter down more.
Stage 4: Tough luck with the skeletons in 4-1 and 4-3. Got hung up a couple of times in 4-4 costing a little time. Stupid mistake firing the boomerang after the fast wall ascent. Boss fight went well, but I think most (if not all) of that damage could have been avoided without wasting time.
Stage 5: Short but sweet. As in earlier levels, could have probably done more damage boosting to get through faster.
Stage 6: Nice damage boost in 6-2. Overall well played. Great boss fight - nice and quick!
Stage 7: This level is long and hard, but the runner plays it very well. Great boss fight, but probably could have been a bit more aggressive.
Stage 8: The runner is a bit cautious, but understandably so, since this level is where things really turn into bitch mode. Good boss fight.
Stage 9: Had some troubles in 9-2 with that one anchor grab. Probably would have been better to kill the bone snake from behind, then gone across both anchors. Some other minor flaws, but this isn't an easy level either. Good boss fight, given that the boss loves to make things hell for you.
Stage A: Lots of odd jumps, stops, and attacks. I know it's getting late into the game, but this level could have been done better (but I might just be particular because this is my favorite level). Bad luck on Mummy (2nd position), but I think the placement could have been manipulated better by the player, since I think it's based upon your position.
Stage B: B-1 was very well done. B-2 had a couple minor slipups, but nothing major. It's a hard section and I think the minor waits to make sure his footing is right on the first half is necessary. B-3 has some nasty boss fights. Nearly blew it on the first one (but he's hard, so understandable). Second boss fight was great, but I think could have been more aggressive. Death went pretty well too. Wasted a LOT of hearts unnecessarily on Dracula, which cost in the end.
Despite all the problems, hiccups, and stuff, this was very well done. Super Castlevania IV is not as easy as people make it out to be, especially Stages 7-9 and Stage B. Trying to get through all of that without dying is no easy feat. Bravo to the runner for not only doing that, but actually beating the game in good time.
While there's still a huge time gap between the TAS and this (about 10 minutes), trying to do even half of what it does is not really possible (or at least feasible) for an unassisted runner in a long, tough game like this. So comparing the two is not fair in this case.
I have no objections to this being published.
Audio: Good quality
Stage 1: Minor hiccups, but overall great damage boosting. Could have grabbed the meat just before the boss to save a little time on the meter restore, but not that big a deal.
Stage 2: Excellent boss fight at Medusa. Could have done more damage boosting in the first half of the level, with 2 meats to restore life during. Still, played very well.
Stage 3: Some magnificent damage boosts here. Missed one stair jump that could have saved a little time. Had a little troubles with hitting the boss early, but probably due to the stupid lag the game gives. Should have wasted more hearts in stage to bring the counter down more.
Stage 4: Tough luck with the skeletons in 4-1 and 4-3. Got hung up a couple of times in 4-4 costing a little time. Stupid mistake firing the boomerang after the fast wall ascent. Boss fight went well, but I think most (if not all) of that damage could have been avoided without wasting time.
Stage 5: Short but sweet. As in earlier levels, could have probably done more damage boosting to get through faster.
Stage 6: Nice damage boost in 6-2. Overall well played. Great boss fight - nice and quick!
Stage 7: This level is long and hard, but the runner plays it very well. Great boss fight, but probably could have been a bit more aggressive.
Stage 8: The runner is a bit cautious, but understandably so, since this level is where things really turn into bitch mode. Good boss fight.
Stage 9: Had some troubles in 9-2 with that one anchor grab. Probably would have been better to kill the bone snake from behind, then gone across both anchors. Some other minor flaws, but this isn't an easy level either. Good boss fight, given that the boss loves to make things hell for you.
Stage A: Lots of odd jumps, stops, and attacks. I know it's getting late into the game, but this level could have been done better (but I might just be particular because this is my favorite level). Bad luck on Mummy (2nd position), but I think the placement could have been manipulated better by the player, since I think it's based upon your position.
Stage B: B-1 was very well done. B-2 had a couple minor slipups, but nothing major. It's a hard section and I think the minor waits to make sure his footing is right on the first half is necessary. B-3 has some nasty boss fights. Nearly blew it on the first one (but he's hard, so understandable). Second boss fight was great, but I think could have been more aggressive. Death went pretty well too. Wasted a LOT of hearts unnecessarily on Dracula, which cost in the end.
Despite all the problems, hiccups, and stuff, this was very well done. Super Castlevania IV is not as easy as people make it out to be, especially Stages 7-9 and Stage B. Trying to get through all of that without dying is no easy feat. Bravo to the runner for not only doing that, but actually beating the game in good time.
While there's still a huge time gap between the TAS and this (about 10 minutes), trying to do even half of what it does is not really possible (or at least feasible) for an unassisted runner in a long, tough game like this. So comparing the two is not fair in this case.
I have no objections to this being published.
This is the note I sent the runner (yeah I was a verifier)
Quote:
There's no way to say this nicely, so I'm just going to be blunt. There's no way I can accept this run. The first three stages were great - minimal mistakes and some nice damage boosts. In fact, I thought your run was going to be an easy pass if all the other stages were going to be like the first three.
Except the latter stages weren't like the first three, in fact, you start acting in the opposite manner - pausing to kill lots of enemies, going out of your way to collect health and single hearts, and accepting numerous gaffes. Simon Belmont suddenly turns from Vampire Killer into Simon Belmont from Captain N, the "oh please don't hurt me" version.
Here are some things I noticed when watching your run.
General: You on the ground a lot. I have no idea why you do this because you're wasting time each time you attack on the ground. If you're going to say, "it doesn't waste much time", well you're attacking on the ground so much that it actually does waste a lot of time. I know attacking on the ground can't always be helped, but I know you can reduce the number of times you do it.
I don't want to see you chasing after food so often. I don't care how finger-lickin' good the chicken is or how a nice plate of roast beef would satiate your growling stomach. You waste a lot of time eating food. If that food is to recover from mistakes you made (and I know at least some of it is collected for that purpose), then you should consider resetting your run.
I'm not saying you can't eat food during the entire run, I'm just saying don't take more than a half a second to a second to get food.
Stage 3: Why did you go out of your way to get that one heart during the waterfall portion? You have 11 hearts remaining when you finish the stage.
Stage 4: You say stage 9 has the only real goof of the run, but I see you run into four skeletons in this stage. I'd call that a pretty big goof.
Stage 5: Why not damage boost off the skull dragon instead of going out of your way to kill it? It's not like you're short on life there.
Stage 6: I'm pretty sure it's possible to make more jumps on the second chandelier, which would have saved a lot of time.
Stage 7: Despite going out of your way for food twice, you simply waited during the falling stones section instead of trying to damage boost off of one of them.
Stage 9: It seems like there is one button you don't know about. That button is called the reset button and its not on your controller. You use it so I don't have to see you justify mistakes in your comments. The rest of the stage was pretty good though.
Stage A: I know you were handed a shitty luck during your mummy battle, and I know the battle is late in the game, but that was borderline grounds for a restart.
Stage B: I'm really disappointed you didn't take the risk in the beginning of the stage, though that's just me. :-/ Going out of your way to collect one heart before the Slogra battle just looks bad, why would one heart make all the difference?
I'm also not sure collecting that chicken before death was a good idea.
One thing you will want to consider, if you rerun this game, is whether you want to switch to holy water after the third stage. It does more damage against most bosses from that point on, especially against Slogra (the three exceptions being Zapf Bat, Gaibon and Death). Holy water also might be better for taking out enemies while still moving forward because it freezes them in place, making it easier to jump over them.
If you want an example of a fairly long Castlevania run where the runner soldiers on no matter what the cost, watch stanski's Bloodlines run. Yes, he has to take his time to kill some enemies, but he loses the flaming spear if he gets hit.
Except the latter stages weren't like the first three, in fact, you start acting in the opposite manner - pausing to kill lots of enemies, going out of your way to collect health and single hearts, and accepting numerous gaffes. Simon Belmont suddenly turns from Vampire Killer into Simon Belmont from Captain N, the "oh please don't hurt me" version.
Here are some things I noticed when watching your run.
General: You on the ground a lot. I have no idea why you do this because you're wasting time each time you attack on the ground. If you're going to say, "it doesn't waste much time", well you're attacking on the ground so much that it actually does waste a lot of time. I know attacking on the ground can't always be helped, but I know you can reduce the number of times you do it.
I don't want to see you chasing after food so often. I don't care how finger-lickin' good the chicken is or how a nice plate of roast beef would satiate your growling stomach. You waste a lot of time eating food. If that food is to recover from mistakes you made (and I know at least some of it is collected for that purpose), then you should consider resetting your run.
I'm not saying you can't eat food during the entire run, I'm just saying don't take more than a half a second to a second to get food.
Stage 3: Why did you go out of your way to get that one heart during the waterfall portion? You have 11 hearts remaining when you finish the stage.
Stage 4: You say stage 9 has the only real goof of the run, but I see you run into four skeletons in this stage. I'd call that a pretty big goof.
Stage 5: Why not damage boost off the skull dragon instead of going out of your way to kill it? It's not like you're short on life there.
Stage 6: I'm pretty sure it's possible to make more jumps on the second chandelier, which would have saved a lot of time.
Stage 7: Despite going out of your way for food twice, you simply waited during the falling stones section instead of trying to damage boost off of one of them.
Stage 9: It seems like there is one button you don't know about. That button is called the reset button and its not on your controller. You use it so I don't have to see you justify mistakes in your comments. The rest of the stage was pretty good though.
Stage A: I know you were handed a shitty luck during your mummy battle, and I know the battle is late in the game, but that was borderline grounds for a restart.
Stage B: I'm really disappointed you didn't take the risk in the beginning of the stage, though that's just me. :-/ Going out of your way to collect one heart before the Slogra battle just looks bad, why would one heart make all the difference?
I'm also not sure collecting that chicken before death was a good idea.
One thing you will want to consider, if you rerun this game, is whether you want to switch to holy water after the third stage. It does more damage against most bosses from that point on, especially against Slogra (the three exceptions being Zapf Bat, Gaibon and Death). Holy water also might be better for taking out enemies while still moving forward because it freezes them in place, making it easier to jump over them.
If you want an example of a fairly long Castlevania run where the runner soldiers on no matter what the cost, watch stanski's Bloodlines run. Yes, he has to take his time to kill some enemies, but he loses the flaming spear if he gets hit.
I realized I was too harsh so this is what I said afterwards, but my stance still stands.
Quote:
hehe, I just really like the game so I want the first run to be really good. Also,
I'm not 100% sure when to pick up the holy water since I haven't played the game in a while, but I would say as soon as stage 3 ends, IMO.
I'm probably being really harsh because the game is really random IIRC.
I'm not 100% sure when to pick up the holy water since I haven't played the game in a while, but I would say as soon as stage 3 ends, IMO.
I'm probably being really harsh because the game is really random IIRC.
Decision: Reject
Reason: The run is played too safely for a speedrun.
As always, the run is available upon request until may 20th, pm me.
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