My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/MarioLostLevels.html
Brandon 'Grimslade' Coker's Luigi run
Verifier Responses
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's an improvement over the current run, and maybe Master-88 will stop complaining about this run.
Brandon 'Grimslade' Coker's Luigi run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Having watched the run a few times now it's time to write down my comments.
My thoughts on levels I had special thoughts about:
1-1: It's possible to jump over the piranha plant by first landing on the edge of the pipe. I confirmed by doing this on my SNES. However, Luigi is actually kinda clumsy and it's not very consistent. Moreover it really isn't that big a deal, it just caught my eye.
1-2: The block jumping looks good. Overall nice execution for the whole level.
4-1: Nice jump at the end.
4-4: Definetely looks like he could've run under Bowser's first jump, but I guess that very close call with that fireball got him cautious. Which is understandable.
5-1: The TAS has Luigi jump from a turtle to get on top of the wall without wasting any time, but I don't know how doable that is on console, neither do I know if it's possible on the All-Stars version. I find it weird the author didn't mention anything about this in his comments.
5-2: I kinda liked that jump on the vine block.
8-1: Slowed down before hammer bros, but for obvious reasons.
8-4: Too bad he missed the first jump to the pipe. Other than that, the level was played very well.
B-2: This water level doesn't look very pleasing, but my guess is the fish that made him slow down are random. Not too much time spent anyway, and water levels are generally annoying.
D-2: The first stair jumps where he bumped against wall. I'm actually positively surprised he made it this far without screwing them up.
D-3: I can see why he decided to play it safe against hammer bros the way he did. Can't argue against. Unless there was a mushroom earlier he could've wasted here. There were some mistakes in this level, but nothing too serious.
Generally good execution everywhere, and props for running A-D levels as well. There is room for improvement with more risky tricks, but it's a good speedrun nevertheless.
Accept.
My thoughts on levels I had special thoughts about:
1-1: It's possible to jump over the piranha plant by first landing on the edge of the pipe. I confirmed by doing this on my SNES. However, Luigi is actually kinda clumsy and it's not very consistent. Moreover it really isn't that big a deal, it just caught my eye.
1-2: The block jumping looks good. Overall nice execution for the whole level.
4-1: Nice jump at the end.
4-4: Definetely looks like he could've run under Bowser's first jump, but I guess that very close call with that fireball got him cautious. Which is understandable.
5-1: The TAS has Luigi jump from a turtle to get on top of the wall without wasting any time, but I don't know how doable that is on console, neither do I know if it's possible on the All-Stars version. I find it weird the author didn't mention anything about this in his comments.
5-2: I kinda liked that jump on the vine block.
8-1: Slowed down before hammer bros, but for obvious reasons.
8-4: Too bad he missed the first jump to the pipe. Other than that, the level was played very well.
B-2: This water level doesn't look very pleasing, but my guess is the fish that made him slow down are random. Not too much time spent anyway, and water levels are generally annoying.
D-2: The first stair jumps where he bumped against wall. I'm actually positively surprised he made it this far without screwing them up.
D-3: I can see why he decided to play it safe against hammer bros the way he did. Can't argue against. Unless there was a mushroom earlier he could've wasted here. There were some mistakes in this level, but nothing too serious.
Generally good execution everywhere, and props for running A-D levels as well. There is room for improvement with more risky tricks, but it's a good speedrun nevertheless.
Accept.
Quote:
So, someone finally decided to obsolete my old run of this game! Took long enough. :p I timed this run at 16:38 (frame 1043 to 60917), a 47 second improvement. Most of the improvement comes from not dying.
Video quality is fine, better than the existing run. Audio is fine too.
Now for an unnecessarily detailed comparison between this run and my old one, since I'm curious:
1-1: This level is almost exactly the same. (cumulative total realtime improvement: 0s)
1-2: Some real nice play here leads to this level being completed 13 in-game time units faster than my old run. (4.9s)
4-1: A nice jump near the end saves 1 time unit (5.3s)
4-2: A small mistake costs 1 time unit. (4.6s)
4-3: Same as the old run. (4.6s)
4-4: The new run loses a moment due to being more cautious at the beginning, but then catches up and pulls ahead due to a couple of small improvements later in the level. Unfortunately, bad luck with Bowser's movement ends up making this run 4 time units slower than the old one. (2.6s)
5-1: Running into a block costs 1 time. (2.1s)
5-2: Caution at the start and slower vine grabbing costs 5 time. (-0.1s)
8-1: Caution at the start costs time. There are various differences throughout the level, but overall they're about the same speed. The new run is 3 time units slower due to the beginning, but doesn't get fireworks, so it ends up being faster. (1.5s)
8-2: The new run is slower at grabbing the vine, and completes the level 2 time units behind. However, the new run also doesn't die here, making it much faster. (21.9s)
8-3: This run hits the invisible blocks faster, but then waits around on the scales near the end (more of this "caution" nonsense :p), causing it to finish 1 time unit behind. (21.5s)
8-4: Caution at the start and missing a jump to a pipe later in the level cost significant time. Bowser luck was the same. The new run is 16 slower. (15.1s)
A-1: Not messing up a certain jump near the start makes this level 3 faster than the old run. Additionally, not dying horribly at the very end of the level saves tons of time. (52.2s)
A-2: Less than 1 time unit slower. (52.1s)
B-1: Interestingly, the more cautious route at the end here costs a negligible amount of time, and the level is finished at the same in-game time. Doing this the more daring way (as in my old run) is one of the most difficult things in the game, so anyone trying to improve this run should probably take the cautious route here. (52.1s)
B-2: Ah, fishies. Random random fishies. The new run is 10 time units faster than the old, even though it takes a more cautious route at the end. Unlike the other places where this runner chose caution, I didn't think this spot was particularly dangerous, but it has been long enough since I did my run that I could be forgetting something. (55.9s)
B-3: The new run picks up a mushroom here, and thus is 13 time units slower. (49.7s)
B-4: The new run gains time from not missing a jump near the beginning, and then throws away that time by inexplicably taking a slower route through a very easy section of the level. Really, I have no idea why the runner did this. (49.5s)
D-1: This level is 4 time units slower, due to the runner's continued insistence on using this "caution" nonsense. (This is also what that mushroom was for.) What, a ~50% chance to die unavoidably on one of the last levels isn't good enough for you? (47.5s)
D-2: The new run messes up on the stairs and on the last jump, which is unfortunate since this is such an easy level. 5 time units slower. Also, the new run doesn't do the fancy run-off-the-ledge-and-land-on-the-koopa that my run does, which (even though it doesn't cost any time) is disappointing to me since it's both showy and easier to pull off than the more obvious jump that this run uses. (45.6s)
D-3: This run is slow at getting past hammer bros #3 and #4, and it doesn't even try to kick the koopa shell into hammer bro #5, instead taking the slower route of hitting the invisible block and jumping over. Did the runner even watch my run? 16 time units slower. (39.7s)
D-4: The new run is a bit slower getting into the tunnel after the flying fish part, slows down unnecessarily to get past a flying blooper (the method I demonstrated in my old run is easy and doesn't require any slowing down), and stops near the end to avoid a fireball (I think this was unnecessary, but it would have been close). Bowser luck is again the same. Overall, it's 8 time units slower, but again that silly "not dying" thing leads to the new run being faster. (46.9s)
Verdict: Reject, because "caution" and "not dying" are for scrubs and my old run would totally have been faster if I hadn't died.
(Kidding. Definite accept: it's played quite well and is faster than the existing run. It was very entertaining to watch, even if I do have quibbles with some of the minor route decisions.)
Video quality is fine, better than the existing run. Audio is fine too.
Now for an unnecessarily detailed comparison between this run and my old one, since I'm curious:
1-1: This level is almost exactly the same. (cumulative total realtime improvement: 0s)
1-2: Some real nice play here leads to this level being completed 13 in-game time units faster than my old run. (4.9s)
4-1: A nice jump near the end saves 1 time unit (5.3s)
4-2: A small mistake costs 1 time unit. (4.6s)
4-3: Same as the old run. (4.6s)
4-4: The new run loses a moment due to being more cautious at the beginning, but then catches up and pulls ahead due to a couple of small improvements later in the level. Unfortunately, bad luck with Bowser's movement ends up making this run 4 time units slower than the old one. (2.6s)
5-1: Running into a block costs 1 time. (2.1s)
5-2: Caution at the start and slower vine grabbing costs 5 time. (-0.1s)
8-1: Caution at the start costs time. There are various differences throughout the level, but overall they're about the same speed. The new run is 3 time units slower due to the beginning, but doesn't get fireworks, so it ends up being faster. (1.5s)
8-2: The new run is slower at grabbing the vine, and completes the level 2 time units behind. However, the new run also doesn't die here, making it much faster. (21.9s)
8-3: This run hits the invisible blocks faster, but then waits around on the scales near the end (more of this "caution" nonsense :p), causing it to finish 1 time unit behind. (21.5s)
8-4: Caution at the start and missing a jump to a pipe later in the level cost significant time. Bowser luck was the same. The new run is 16 slower. (15.1s)
A-1: Not messing up a certain jump near the start makes this level 3 faster than the old run. Additionally, not dying horribly at the very end of the level saves tons of time. (52.2s)
A-2: Less than 1 time unit slower. (52.1s)
B-1: Interestingly, the more cautious route at the end here costs a negligible amount of time, and the level is finished at the same in-game time. Doing this the more daring way (as in my old run) is one of the most difficult things in the game, so anyone trying to improve this run should probably take the cautious route here. (52.1s)
B-2: Ah, fishies. Random random fishies. The new run is 10 time units faster than the old, even though it takes a more cautious route at the end. Unlike the other places where this runner chose caution, I didn't think this spot was particularly dangerous, but it has been long enough since I did my run that I could be forgetting something. (55.9s)
B-3: The new run picks up a mushroom here, and thus is 13 time units slower. (49.7s)
B-4: The new run gains time from not missing a jump near the beginning, and then throws away that time by inexplicably taking a slower route through a very easy section of the level. Really, I have no idea why the runner did this. (49.5s)
D-1: This level is 4 time units slower, due to the runner's continued insistence on using this "caution" nonsense. (This is also what that mushroom was for.) What, a ~50% chance to die unavoidably on one of the last levels isn't good enough for you?
D-2: The new run messes up on the stairs and on the last jump, which is unfortunate since this is such an easy level. 5 time units slower. Also, the new run doesn't do the fancy run-off-the-ledge-and-land-on-the-koopa that my run does, which (even though it doesn't cost any time) is disappointing to me since it's both showy and easier to pull off than the more obvious jump that this run uses. (45.6s)
D-3: This run is slow at getting past hammer bros #3 and #4, and it doesn't even try to kick the koopa shell into hammer bro #5, instead taking the slower route of hitting the invisible block and jumping over. Did the runner even watch my run? 16 time units slower. (39.7s)
D-4: The new run is a bit slower getting into the tunnel after the flying fish part, slows down unnecessarily to get past a flying blooper (the method I demonstrated in my old run is easy and doesn't require any slowing down), and stops near the end to avoid a fireball (I think this was unnecessary, but it would have been close). Bowser luck is again the same. Overall, it's 8 time units slower, but again that silly "not dying" thing leads to the new run being faster. (46.9s)
Verdict: Reject, because "caution" and "not dying" are for scrubs and my old run would totally have been faster if I hadn't died.
(Kidding. Definite accept: it's played quite well and is faster than the existing run. It was very entertaining to watch, even if I do have quibbles with some of the minor route decisions.)
Quote:
This run was pretty cool, I enjoyed it. There were many spots which are improvable though. The run itself is played with much caution. Most actions/routes seem to be based on the safest methods possible, while still being pretty fast at the same time.
There were a few spots of what I thought to be unnecessary caution. For example, in 1-2, after going down the 1st pipe, with Luigi it is possible to make a full jump over the pipe with the pirahna emerging (jumping from the 1st pipe to the platform after the second pipe) without slowing down.
In level 5-1, it is faster to bounce upwards off the turtles onto the high wall, with some practice, it can be done pretty consistently esp. with Luigi.
Level 8-4 is a bit tricky to get the start correct and I can see why you wouldn't attempt it. Though it would have saved ~4 seconds.
World D was a bit rough, but definitely acceptable. I think getting a mushroom in level B-3 was a good idea, I feel like with the amount of caution used in D-3, you should have tried to get another mushroom, but you played well given the difficulty.
This is a good run, but I think there are 25+ seconds of improvement with a less cautious run. But overall, I mean there weren't any deaths and all the levels were played MUCH faster than the average player.
Accept.
There were a few spots of what I thought to be unnecessary caution. For example, in 1-2, after going down the 1st pipe, with Luigi it is possible to make a full jump over the pipe with the pirahna emerging (jumping from the 1st pipe to the platform after the second pipe) without slowing down.
In level 5-1, it is faster to bounce upwards off the turtles onto the high wall, with some practice, it can be done pretty consistently esp. with Luigi.
Level 8-4 is a bit tricky to get the start correct and I can see why you wouldn't attempt it. Though it would have saved ~4 seconds.
World D was a bit rough, but definitely acceptable. I think getting a mushroom in level B-3 was a good idea, I feel like with the amount of caution used in D-3, you should have tried to get another mushroom, but you played well given the difficulty.
This is a good run, but I think there are 25+ seconds of improvement with a less cautious run. But overall, I mean there weren't any deaths and all the levels were played MUCH faster than the average player.
Accept.
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's an improvement over the current run, and maybe Master-88 will stop complaining about this run.
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