My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/Mario3.html
Single-segment no flutes run
Verifier Responses
Don't worry about being anonymous, I redact the names if necessary.
Decision: Reject
Reason: It's a good run that has too many rough spots.
As always, the run will be available for a month, just PM me for the link.
Single-segment no flutes run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Video and Audio are fine.
Cheating
I'm not an expert in the various glitches in Super Mario Bros. 3, but I can't get over 7:14 in the video. The runner kicks a turtle shell then apparently runs through it without dying. I watched it over and over. Is it a glitch? I tried researching it, but no SDA run features it or any playthroughs on the internet.
Game Play
Along that same note, even if it was a glitch, there seemed to be no real reason to do it in the first place. The runner does mention it in their comments, I think, but its still a waste of time that could have been easily skipped over.
For the most part, though, the runner does a good job noting all their hiccups. I'm not going to go into detail about all of them, but I will mention three more.
At level 7-2, the runner got a three star end to the level. It's not huge, but the runner has two chances after getting a star to avoid this from happening. Some may argue there is a bit of randomness associated with it, but I don't think so and after watching this run, I get the impression that the runner doesn't think so either.
At the final castle, not Bowser's castle, in World 8, right before the boss the runner ducks down to avoid getting hit by the spikes and waits for the P to finish so the conveyor will drag them to the boss. At first I was confused, but thought that the runner was simply trying to get fire power in the next level--which would really help out in the Bowser fight. But, when the runner reaches the next level, tank 2, right at the beginning they get hit by a cannon ball and goes small. One: this totally defeats the purpose of wasting time prior to the previous castle boss, and two: Makes it even harder to get and keep fire power for Bowser--which, as noted by the runner, they do not get and had to beat Bowser the traditional and, unfortunately, slow way.
Lastly, THE DEATH! I know the runner noted it, it's a single segment-run, and it doesn't waste a huge amount of time, but it looks so bad. I know I may sound a little harsh on this point, but nothing makes me cringe more than an unnecessary death that wastes even a small amount of time.
The runner says that they feel that they "can make [their] run a hell of alot better and faster." I think so to.
Plus they say "A new [run] is coming." Then why did they submit this one?
I know I sound like a total asshole. There is a lot of really solid game play here, but, in my opinion, too many time-consuming mistakes.
In my opinion, considering how many people know and sped run this game, if this run is posted it will be replaced very quickly.
Decision: Reject
Cheating
I'm not an expert in the various glitches in Super Mario Bros. 3, but I can't get over 7:14 in the video. The runner kicks a turtle shell then apparently runs through it without dying. I watched it over and over. Is it a glitch? I tried researching it, but no SDA run features it or any playthroughs on the internet.
Game Play
Along that same note, even if it was a glitch, there seemed to be no real reason to do it in the first place. The runner does mention it in their comments, I think, but its still a waste of time that could have been easily skipped over.
For the most part, though, the runner does a good job noting all their hiccups. I'm not going to go into detail about all of them, but I will mention three more.
At level 7-2, the runner got a three star end to the level. It's not huge, but the runner has two chances after getting a star to avoid this from happening. Some may argue there is a bit of randomness associated with it, but I don't think so and after watching this run, I get the impression that the runner doesn't think so either.
At the final castle, not Bowser's castle, in World 8, right before the boss the runner ducks down to avoid getting hit by the spikes and waits for the P to finish so the conveyor will drag them to the boss. At first I was confused, but thought that the runner was simply trying to get fire power in the next level--which would really help out in the Bowser fight. But, when the runner reaches the next level, tank 2, right at the beginning they get hit by a cannon ball and goes small. One: this totally defeats the purpose of wasting time prior to the previous castle boss, and two: Makes it even harder to get and keep fire power for Bowser--which, as noted by the runner, they do not get and had to beat Bowser the traditional and, unfortunately, slow way.
Lastly, THE DEATH! I know the runner noted it, it's a single segment-run, and it doesn't waste a huge amount of time, but it looks so bad. I know I may sound a little harsh on this point, but nothing makes me cringe more than an unnecessary death that wastes even a small amount of time.
The runner says that they feel that they "can make [their] run a hell of alot better and faster." I think so to.
Plus they say "A new [run] is coming." Then why did they submit this one?
I know I sound like a total asshole. There is a lot of really solid game play here, but, in my opinion, too many time-consuming mistakes.
In my opinion, considering how many people know and sped run this game, if this run is posted it will be replaced very quickly.
Decision: Reject
Quote:
No problems with video or audio, and no cheating I can see.
As for the run itself... improvable is the word that springs to mind. The run isn't terrible by any stretch, and in many levels there were particularly impressive manoeuvres and feats - off the top of my head, one of the world 4 forts and world 6 ones, plus a strategy that almost worked in the first world 6 fort but ended with death. However, this was counterbalanced by, in many places, the sheer mediocrity of the run. Despite the runner considering a majority of levels to be 'perfect' or 'near perfect', only a handful really come close to it, most having a second or so's mistakes, especially past world 1. Now, being a single segment, a lot of mistakes and many luck based things, such as Hammer Bros., are forgiveable, but there were simply too many to overlook. In a run of just one hour, there were probably a good 4-6 minutes of mistakes - about 6-10% of the run.
So I come back to my initial thought. The run is improvable. This is certainly a good benchmark for the runner to use or other potential runners to look at, and certainly the run itself isn't bad, it really just seems to lack practice in many places. So while I suggest any potential runners should give the video a look for strategy advice and generally good ideas in many levels, and aim to beat the run quite considerably, I'm going to have to give my verdict as follows.
Decision: Close reject.
TL;DR version of comments: Runner, I think you can beat this, and look forward to your next attempt.
As for the run itself... improvable is the word that springs to mind. The run isn't terrible by any stretch, and in many levels there were particularly impressive manoeuvres and feats - off the top of my head, one of the world 4 forts and world 6 ones, plus a strategy that almost worked in the first world 6 fort but ended with death. However, this was counterbalanced by, in many places, the sheer mediocrity of the run. Despite the runner considering a majority of levels to be 'perfect' or 'near perfect', only a handful really come close to it, most having a second or so's mistakes, especially past world 1. Now, being a single segment, a lot of mistakes and many luck based things, such as Hammer Bros., are forgiveable, but there were simply too many to overlook. In a run of just one hour, there were probably a good 4-6 minutes of mistakes - about 6-10% of the run.
So I come back to my initial thought. The run is improvable. This is certainly a good benchmark for the runner to use or other potential runners to look at, and certainly the run itself isn't bad, it really just seems to lack practice in many places. So while I suggest any potential runners should give the video a look for strategy advice and generally good ideas in many levels, and aim to beat the run quite considerably, I'm going to have to give my verdict as follows.
Decision: Close reject.
TL;DR version of comments: Runner, I think you can beat this, and look forward to your next attempt.
Quote:
A note for the first verifier, it looks like he did that thing on 2-5 in order to get his p-meter up.
Now for my run notes:
The runner definitely seems to have practiced all the levels and has a set strat on how to get his p-meter up on each of the levels (which I like). Some of the timing on the p-meter is just so beautiful and easy to miss if you aren't paying attention to it. It really makes the timing look very impressive.
Up until 3F I felt he was doing great, except I thought he aught to have been using fire mario.
All the hits he has taken up until seemed intentional. Except for the one in 3F.
In world 3 it looks like he takes on an unnecessary hammer bros, unless that star gets used up later.
3C also has an unnecessary hit, though it looks like that miss on the 2nd hit really threw him off.
4-2: Corner boost, was awesome!!!! If only it had TAS precision =P I bet it surprised the runner more than it did me.
4F1: was mighty impressive, loved it.
Another seemingly unnecessary hammer bro
4-6: The star seemed unnecessary
4F2: missed jump hurts!
5-Spiral: missed the pipe like 3 times. Hard to watch.
5F: Looked impressive though.
6F: Death! Doesn't look very good, and it looks like he aught to have practiced the timing on that a little bit better cause he wasn't even close to where he needed to be to make that jump. But I won't fault him too much for it, as it cost him a measly 20 seconds in a full hour run. And the SM64 120star run has a pair of deaths in it. So I'm not too upset about it, I just feel that it's something that aught to be worked on for sure.
6-8: looked excellent
7-2: How totally unlucky with all the last 3 star cards. Thats the roll of the dice I spose.
7-9: went very nicely, except for the beginning, though I would venture to guess it saved him time overall to get hit.
World 8: Only 1 hand, kind of acceptable for a SS no whistle, though preferably with enough practice and time, it'd be possible to get a quality run that doesn't get one.
8-2: Made me cringe, he just gets hit too damn much.
8-F: Just missed the p-door, hurts to see.
8-C went well considering no Fire Power.
Overall, the 2 "extra" hammer bros I mentioned, were indeed unnecessary. He has 1 extra star after he uses one on Bowser's castle. And the one he used for the castle is pretty much worthless. Partner that with the many many times he needlessly gets hit, (I can't imagine that they were all intentional, and if they were, he needs to rework his strategies to not have them).
There's a lot to like about this run, but unfortunately, there's also a lot to dislike.
Decision: Depressingly Rejected.
Now for my run notes:
The runner definitely seems to have practiced all the levels and has a set strat on how to get his p-meter up on each of the levels (which I like). Some of the timing on the p-meter is just so beautiful and easy to miss if you aren't paying attention to it. It really makes the timing look very impressive.
Up until 3F I felt he was doing great, except I thought he aught to have been using fire mario.
All the hits he has taken up until seemed intentional. Except for the one in 3F.
In world 3 it looks like he takes on an unnecessary hammer bros, unless that star gets used up later.
3C also has an unnecessary hit, though it looks like that miss on the 2nd hit really threw him off.
4-2: Corner boost, was awesome!!!! If only it had TAS precision =P I bet it surprised the runner more than it did me.
4F1: was mighty impressive, loved it.
Another seemingly unnecessary hammer bro
4-6: The star seemed unnecessary
4F2: missed jump hurts!
5-Spiral: missed the pipe like 3 times. Hard to watch.
5F: Looked impressive though.
6F: Death! Doesn't look very good, and it looks like he aught to have practiced the timing on that a little bit better cause he wasn't even close to where he needed to be to make that jump. But I won't fault him too much for it, as it cost him a measly 20 seconds in a full hour run. And the SM64 120star run has a pair of deaths in it. So I'm not too upset about it, I just feel that it's something that aught to be worked on for sure.
6-8: looked excellent
7-2: How totally unlucky with all the last 3 star cards. Thats the roll of the dice I spose.
7-9: went very nicely, except for the beginning, though I would venture to guess it saved him time overall to get hit.
World 8: Only 1 hand, kind of acceptable for a SS no whistle, though preferably with enough practice and time, it'd be possible to get a quality run that doesn't get one.
8-2: Made me cringe, he just gets hit too damn much.
8-F: Just missed the p-door, hurts to see.
8-C went well considering no Fire Power.
Overall, the 2 "extra" hammer bros I mentioned, were indeed unnecessary. He has 1 extra star after he uses one on Bowser's castle. And the one he used for the castle is pretty much worthless. Partner that with the many many times he needlessly gets hit, (I can't imagine that they were all intentional, and if they were, he needs to rework his strategies to not have them).
There's a lot to like about this run, but unfortunately, there's also a lot to dislike.
Decision: Depressingly Rejected.
Quote:
Thanks. That makes sense. But what about the apparent ability to go through the turtle shell without dying?
Nothing against you, but I like to remain anonymous when doing verifications, even to other verifiers.
I hope, with this new message setup, it's possible to continue to remain anonymous, otherwise I think I'll stop verifying. Not really meant to sound like a threat, it's just if people know who I am, I'm less likely to be completely honest.
Nothing against you, but I like to remain anonymous when doing verifications, even to other verifiers.
I hope, with this new message setup, it's possible to continue to remain anonymous, otherwise I think I'll stop verifying. Not really meant to sound like a threat, it's just if people know who I am, I'm less likely to be completely honest.
Quote:
I'm no expert on the subject, but I don't think shells hurt you unless they completely leave your sprite and come back. That shell didn't, so it just passed through.
Don't worry about being anonymous, I redact the names if necessary.
Quote:
Hi Mr. Mike,
SuperThe Wizard
Sorry for the delay. I was kidnapped to Las Vegas for the weekend, not that I'm complaining....
A/V is fine, no severe cheating as some people call it.
Moving right along:
World one as a whole is pretty nice, not much to comment on.
World two -
2.5 It appears the runner goes to the bottom to gain speed, but it doesn't appear to be faster than just going for it.
World 3 -
Good use of the star for the water brothers and the cloud for the bridge skip.
3.9 Why didn't the runner use the shell/bullet bill trick to get 99 lives?
Wendy fight was a little off.
World four -
Bestest world EVAR.
4.6 Don't think it was necessary to waste time getting the star.
World five -
Not much of note here. Not too shabby, although about now I'm wanting some Tanooki action.
World six -
Hammer Bros: Get the damn item box, don't worry about smashing all the bricks.
Castle: WTF was that?! FATALITY. I can understand the damage abuse to skip a little, but that was bad.
Some nice P wing FTW'ing.
World seven -
7.2 Three stars for the lose. Bummer Dood.
7.3 Don't think the stars were necessary. Again.
7.7 Okay, the stars were needed this time.
World eight -
Tank: Immediately loses fire power which is pretty useful in this world. Then loses the power of flight.
Hands: Making it through would have been impressive. One ain't bad though.
8.1 The loss of power ups is really showing.
8.2 Piranha plant molestation. Complete waste of leaf.
Castle: Big choke on the P running out and closing the door on the run, literally.
Tank the second: Immediately shot in the face by a cannonball.
Final Castle: Runner isn't big, so they can't do the skip up top. Bowser fight is painfully long with no fire power.
About the shell issue at 7:14. I have had similar glitches happen while playing. Although, I don't know if the runner does it on purpose.
Overall, the runner shows some good skill and great item use. But this run could see some pretty big improvement. Unfortunately, I have to reject. With some more attempts, I'm confident the runner could produce a better, deathless run as this isn't exactly a random game.
Although it is good to see the runner not use whistles.
Super
Sorry for the delay. I was kidnapped to Las Vegas for the weekend, not that I'm complaining....
A/V is fine, no severe cheating as some people call it.
Moving right along:
World one as a whole is pretty nice, not much to comment on.
World two -
2.5 It appears the runner goes to the bottom to gain speed, but it doesn't appear to be faster than just going for it.
World 3 -
Good use of the star for the water brothers and the cloud for the bridge skip.
3.9 Why didn't the runner use the shell/bullet bill trick to get 99 lives?
Wendy fight was a little off.
World four -
Bestest world EVAR.
4.6 Don't think it was necessary to waste time getting the star.
World five -
Not much of note here. Not too shabby, although about now I'm wanting some Tanooki action.
World six -
Hammer Bros: Get the damn item box, don't worry about smashing all the bricks.
Castle: WTF was that?! FATALITY. I can understand the damage abuse to skip a little, but that was bad.
Some nice P wing FTW'ing.
World seven -
7.2 Three stars for the lose. Bummer Dood.
7.3 Don't think the stars were necessary. Again.
7.7 Okay, the stars were needed this time.
World eight -
Tank: Immediately loses fire power which is pretty useful in this world. Then loses the power of flight.
Hands: Making it through would have been impressive. One ain't bad though.
8.1 The loss of power ups is really showing.
8.2 Piranha plant molestation. Complete waste of leaf.
Castle: Big choke on the P running out and closing the door on the run, literally.
Tank the second: Immediately shot in the face by a cannonball.
Final Castle: Runner isn't big, so they can't do the skip up top. Bowser fight is painfully long with no fire power.
About the shell issue at 7:14. I have had similar glitches happen while playing. Although, I don't know if the runner does it on purpose.
Overall, the runner shows some good skill and great item use. But this run could see some pretty big improvement. Unfortunately, I have to reject. With some more attempts, I'm confident the runner could produce a better, deathless run as this isn't exactly a random game.
Although it is good to see the runner not use whistles.
Quote:
The sound has been dubbed to both channels as a nice change, but the capture quality is like Tom Votava run from five years ago.
Gameplay wise, this runner certainly knows the game and is very good at it, but I don’t think he should have submitted this speedrun. A lot of levels go “perfect”, but a lot of others don’t. In fact, a lot of the levels the runner keeps calling actually are not. There’s a death in this speedrun when it comes to the first World 6 castle, and since this is a single segment speedrun of a Mario game, the quality needs to be top notch. The death looks really, really awful and I have no idea what the hell he was trying to do. It looks like he needed to practice it a bit more, like a lot of other things in other levels like precise jumps and power-up planning. Once he makes it to World 8, everything goes downhill so fast. He gets hit way too many times and he loses the fire flower before the last few worlds which would have helped him make nearly a minute of improvements. He also fights two Hammer Bros. that he probably didn’t need to, one of which he puts to sleep way too early and fights anyway. He also gets the “5-Up” animation at the end of 7-2.
He does pull off some impressive moves at some points, but for the most part, he really needs to practice this more because the execution is really lacking in the second half of this. There was a Diddy Kong Racing speedrun submitted recently that was a lot like this in that it shouldn’t have been what the runner submitted to SDA because he’s certainly capable of much better. There was also the promise of the runner “submitting a better run” while the inferior one sat in verification. If that’s the case, then I’m not going to recommend putting the sub-par run on the site, especially if there’s a chance that it isn’t going to be beaten. I’m rejecting this.
Gameplay wise, this runner certainly knows the game and is very good at it, but I don’t think he should have submitted this speedrun. A lot of levels go “perfect”, but a lot of others don’t. In fact, a lot of the levels the runner keeps calling actually are not. There’s a death in this speedrun when it comes to the first World 6 castle, and since this is a single segment speedrun of a Mario game, the quality needs to be top notch. The death looks really, really awful and I have no idea what the hell he was trying to do. It looks like he needed to practice it a bit more, like a lot of other things in other levels like precise jumps and power-up planning. Once he makes it to World 8, everything goes downhill so fast. He gets hit way too many times and he loses the fire flower before the last few worlds which would have helped him make nearly a minute of improvements. He also fights two Hammer Bros. that he probably didn’t need to, one of which he puts to sleep way too early and fights anyway. He also gets the “5-Up” animation at the end of 7-2.
He does pull off some impressive moves at some points, but for the most part, he really needs to practice this more because the execution is really lacking in the second half of this. There was a Diddy Kong Racing speedrun submitted recently that was a lot like this in that it shouldn’t have been what the runner submitted to SDA because he’s certainly capable of much better. There was also the promise of the runner “submitting a better run” while the inferior one sat in verification. If that’s the case, then I’m not going to recommend putting the sub-par run on the site, especially if there’s a chance that it isn’t going to be beaten. I’m rejecting this.
Decision: Reject
Reason: It's a good run that has too many rough spots.
As always, the run will be available for a month, just PM me for the link.
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