Contra - March 28, 2023

Edit history:

SDAVerification: 2023-03-28 01:18:55 pm

2023-03-17 12:02:22 pm

Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/Contra.html

Contra (ntscus) (nes) [Low %] [Single Segment]

Decision: Accept

Congratulations to 'K1ngK0opa'!

Thread title:

SDAVerification

2023-03-17 12:02:23 pm

Run Information

Contra (ntscus) (nes) [Low %] [Single Segment]

Verification Files

http://v.speeddemosarchive.com/Contra-20230313/

Please refer to the Verification Guidelines before posting.

Please post your opinions about the run and be certain to conclude your post with a verdict (Accept/Reject). If you wish to remain anonymous, you can also send a pm with your reply to 'sdaverification' (please state clearly in that case which run you have verified). This is not a contest where the majority wins - Each verification will be judged on its content.

ktwo

Edit history:

ktwo: 2023-03-24 06:35:20 am

ktwo: 2023-03-24 06:32:18 am

2023-03-24 06:25:54 am

A/V: Great

Gameplay: I know Angrylanks has a slightly faster time than the currently published SDA-run, but for the sake of simplicity to avoid the hazzle of having to deal with twitch vods, I decided to make a comparison with dk's run instead.

Level 1
- Pretty much the same in both runs (as expected)
- 0.1s behind

Level 2
- More aggressive strat in the last room, saving almost 1.5s
- Another second gained on the boss. All shots connected this time. I think that was the reason for the time save?
- 2.5s ahead

Level 3
- Around 4s saved in the level. Some minor mishaps with non-cooperating enemies in the current SDA-run, but also additional jump manipulations that I believe have been found more recently. I know this is a very technical level, so I can't tell if there are still any possible time saves by even better enemy RNG or potential jump skips.
- 3-cycle boss fight that's actually a few tenths slower in the new run. I believe a 2-cycle fight is possible, but very difficult, so I guess this looks like the first "big" improvement potential.
- 6.5s ahead

Level 4
- Almost a second saved in the second room. The sensor route looks new. The new route manages to avoid the dodging in the previous route, which I assume is the reason behind the time save? It's difficult to tell from just watching though.
- Got the "legendary" 2-jump kill in the 7th room! Around 1s saved.
- 4.5s saved on the boss. I know this boss is pretty technical, so I won't attempt an explanation, but this was sick fast!
- 12.5s ahead

Level 5
- A little under half a second saved in the first part until the tank. It looked like mostly just from more aggressive play, such as jump-shooting, instead of duck-shooting.
- A few tenths saved before the first tank. I believe the current run had slightly bad luck with an enemy and therefore had to delay triggeering the tank.
- Insane mashing on both tanks, but so had the previous run, and solid playthrough of the final part of the level. Looks like dk's run managed to still get a few tenths back in this part, but the time difference is small and I can't immediately make out where it comes from (the mashing on the tanks seemed roughly the same in both runs).
- A sick 4-jump boss fight (5 jumps in dk's run) for a time save of 0.7s or so.
- 14s ahead

Level 6
- Looks like a bad global timer at the "up-and-down" section with flames. Dk's run had a great pattern here and was around a second faster in this section.
- The rest of the level was slightly faster than the previous run. Can't tell what the time difference came from though.
- Oh boy... That was an absurdly good boss fight. No jumps from the boss!?!? 3s saved.
- 16s ahead

Level 7
- Nice touch to add a ledge jump at 9:20 to land on the cart slightly earlier than by just dropping down onto it
- 3s saved during the stage. Most of it seemed to come from better global timers when passing the "spike-punchers" (don't know if they have a more established name), especially passing the last set of them was much faster in the submitted run.
- Looks like the previous run had a fraction faster boss kill. Unclear if it was from jump-attacking instead of diagonal attacks when standing or just slightly better mashing overall?
- Just under 19s ahead

Level 8
- Marginally faster alien head fight in dk's run, otherwise pretty much a tie during the level (as expected)
- No bad spawns in either run during the heart fight. The mashing seemed similar (equally insane) in both runs, resulting in more or less a tie for the boss fight.
- 18.5s ahead

Just like the recent submission for the any% category, this is a crazy good speedrun. The more you look at it, the more impressive details emerge. I hope we eventually will get some run comments, because this run definitely deserves to be documented. To the untrained eye, the previous low% records already looked more or less flawless, but the new run still manages to completely obliterate the previous record. And for this to result in a sub-11 time is icing on the cake! Unless any route improvements were to be found, it looks to me like anyone trying to compete with this run would have to focus on a 2-cycle kill of the 3rd boss and/or grind out an attempt with better flame patterns in level 6. And it's not exactly like those are free time saves...

As a fellow NES-speedrunner and peer, it's humbling to watch a run of this quality and the level of play. Absolutely phenomenal run, ACCEPT!!!

A/V: Great

Gameplay: I know Angrylanks has a slightly faster time than the currently published SDA-run, but for the sake of simplicity to avoid the hazzle of having to deal with twitch vods, I decided to make a comparison with dk's run instead.

[b]Level 1[/b]
- Pretty much the same in both runs (as expected)
- 0.1s behind

[b]Level 2[/b] 
- More aggressive strat in the last room, saving almost 1.5s
- Another second gained on the boss. All shots connected this time. I think that was the reason for the time save?
- 2.5s ahead

[b]Level 3[/b]
- Around 4s saved in the level. Some minor mishaps with non-cooperating enemies in the current SDA-run, but also additional jump manipulations that I believe have been found more recently. I know this is a very technical level, so I can't tell if there are still any possible time saves by even better enemy RNG or potential jump skips.
- 3-cycle boss fight that's actually a few tenths slower in the new run. I believe a 2-cycle fight is possible, but very difficult, so I guess this looks like the first "big" improvement potential.
- 6.5s ahead

[b]Level 4[/b]
- Almost a second saved in the second room. The sensor route looks new. The new route manages to avoid the dodging in the previous route, which I assume is the reason behind the time save? It's difficult to tell from just watching though.
- Got the "legendary" 2-jump kill in the 7th room! Around 1s saved.
- 4.5s saved on the boss. I know this boss is pretty technical, so I won't attempt an explanation, but this was sick fast!
- 12.5s ahead

[b]Level 5[/b]
- A little under half a second saved in the first part until the tank. It looked like mostly just from more aggressive play, such as jump-shooting, instead of duck-shooting.
- A few tenths saved before the first tank. I believe the current run had slightly bad luck with an enemy and therefore had to delay triggeering the tank.
- Insane mashing on both tanks, but so had the previous run, and solid playthrough of the final part of the level. Looks like dk's run managed to still get a few tenths back in this part, but the time difference is small and I can't immediately make out where it comes from (the mashing on the tanks seemed roughly the same in both runs).
- A sick 4-jump boss fight (5 jumps in dk's run) for a time save of 0.7s or so.
- 14s ahead

[b]Level 6[/b]
- Looks like a bad global timer at the "up-and-down" section with flames. Dk's run had a great pattern here and was around a second faster in this section.
- The rest of the level was slightly faster than the previous run. Can't tell what the time difference came from though.
- Oh boy... That was an absurdly good boss fight. No jumps from the boss!?!? 3s saved.
- 16s ahead

[b]Level 7[/b]
- Nice touch to add a ledge jump at 9:20 to land on the cart slightly earlier than by just dropping down onto it
- 3s saved during the stage. Most of it seemed to come from better global timers when passing the "spike-punchers" (don't know if they have a more established name), especially passing the last set of them was much faster in the submitted run.
- Looks like the previous run had a fraction faster boss kill. Unclear if it was from jump-attacking instead of diagonal attacks when standing or just slightly better mashing overall?
- Just under 19s ahead

[b]Level 8[/b]
- Marginally faster alien head fight in dk's run, otherwise pretty much a tie during the level (as expected)
- No bad spawns in either run during the heart fight. The mashing seemed similar (equally insane) in both runs, resulting in more or less a tie for the boss fight.
- 18.5s ahead

Just like the recent submission for the any% category, this is a crazy good speedrun. The more you look at it, the more impressive details emerge. I hope we eventually will get some run comments, because this run definitely deserves to be documented. To the untrained eye, the previous low% records already looked more or less flawless, but the new run still manages to completely obliterate the previous record. And for this to result in a sub-11 time is icing on the cake! Unless any route improvements were to be found, it looks to me like anyone trying to compete with this run would have to focus on a 2-cycle kill of the 3rd boss and/or grind out an attempt with better flame patterns in level 6. And it's not exactly like those are free time saves...

As a fellow NES-speedrunner and peer, it's humbling to watch a run of this quality and the level of play. Absolutely phenomenal run, ACCEPT!!!

K1ngK0opa

Edit history:

K1ngK0opa: 2023-03-24 12:24:37 pm

2023-03-24 12:01:26 pm

Thanks ktwo ,but i'm still not really happy with this run because it have some tiny mistakes and not the best execution in a couple of bosses, i think if i return to this category at some point in the future i'm gonna probably aim for a sub 10:55, is gonna be really hard to beat this run but with the enough grind i think i can do it, and tomorrow i'm gonna provide comments for this run as well Smiley

SDAVerification

2023-03-28 01:18:56 pm

Decision posted.