Metal Max is this cool series that blends WRPG open-worldlyness with JRPG-type battles and presentation. Only two games are available in English: Metal Saga for the PS2, and Returns, which saw a fan-translation. It's a SFC remake of the original Famicom Metal Max. I think it makes for an interesting speed game because the world is wide open with only a couple of chokepoints on the critical path. Random battles are easily runnable, so the route becomes using the (ample) resources available to get past those chokepoints early and quickly.
Some categories have to be defined though. There are two runs on speedrun.com listed as any% but they're got different goals. One goes for an early "bad" ending that can be achieved in less than five minutes. The other beats the final boss and goes through most of the game. Here's how I would re-categorize them:
any% - Get to the "bad" ending at the earliest opportunity. Takes about 4 minutes. Kind of a silly run as it doesn't require any skill or planning. Just cross your fingers and hope you don't run into a bunch of encounters.
low% - Gets to the credits via beating the final boss. Curent run takes just over an hour. Might be optimized via a different route. I'm playing around with this. There's a TAS that cuts out about 30 minutes via RNG manipulation. Not sure if it's possible to affect in real time, I haven't found any documentation on it. Also, the credits take about ten minutes and are unskippable, but there it's an input required after them to activate a "the end" message. They're currently included in the run but I don't know how I feel about an extra ten minutes just for the sake of an A press.
outlaw% - A large part of a casual playthrough is spent hunting down sixteen wanted outlaws for cash and reputation. They're entirely optional, but I think a run that got them all would be a lot of fun. It would be a longer, but also pretty engaging. It presents 16 "puzzles." What is the best way to prepare for these fights, when should they be attempted, in what order, etc? I'm in the process of routing this out.
100% - There are also eight tanks in the game, only one is required. This run wouldn't be too different from outlaw%, as most of these tanks are won after outlaw battles. It would be something more to do though.
true100% - I don't even know what this would look like. There's tons of minor inconsequential items to find, tank parts with which to upgrade, titles to be won, a map to fill out, and more. It strikes me as an insane endeavor, but hey, this is speedrunning. There's the possibility at any rate.
This is a really cool game (and series) that's been mostly ignored. I think it has a lot of potential. I'm working on those two runs in English (probably slower than Japanese, don't care at this point) which hopefully sparks some interest.
Some categories have to be defined though. There are two runs on speedrun.com listed as any% but they're got different goals. One goes for an early "bad" ending that can be achieved in less than five minutes. The other beats the final boss and goes through most of the game. Here's how I would re-categorize them:
any% - Get to the "bad" ending at the earliest opportunity. Takes about 4 minutes. Kind of a silly run as it doesn't require any skill or planning. Just cross your fingers and hope you don't run into a bunch of encounters.
low% - Gets to the credits via beating the final boss. Curent run takes just over an hour. Might be optimized via a different route. I'm playing around with this. There's a TAS that cuts out about 30 minutes via RNG manipulation. Not sure if it's possible to affect in real time, I haven't found any documentation on it. Also, the credits take about ten minutes and are unskippable, but there it's an input required after them to activate a "the end" message. They're currently included in the run but I don't know how I feel about an extra ten minutes just for the sake of an A press.
outlaw% - A large part of a casual playthrough is spent hunting down sixteen wanted outlaws for cash and reputation. They're entirely optional, but I think a run that got them all would be a lot of fun. It would be a longer, but also pretty engaging. It presents 16 "puzzles." What is the best way to prepare for these fights, when should they be attempted, in what order, etc? I'm in the process of routing this out.
100% - There are also eight tanks in the game, only one is required. This run wouldn't be too different from outlaw%, as most of these tanks are won after outlaw battles. It would be something more to do though.
true100% - I don't even know what this would look like. There's tons of minor inconsequential items to find, tank parts with which to upgrade, titles to be won, a map to fill out, and more. It strikes me as an insane endeavor, but hey, this is speedrunning. There's the possibility at any rate.
This is a really cool game (and series) that's been mostly ignored. I think it has a lot of potential. I'm working on those two runs in English (probably slower than Japanese, don't care at this point) which hopefully sparks some interest.
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