Metal Slug 5 (Mike did the run)

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-06-19 04:22:35 am

2005-09-16 10:00:41 pm

Never give up!

I have finally gotten my hands on Metal Slug 4 & 5 for the PS2, and after seeing the other Metal Slug runs on this site (actually, I saw those before I got Metal Slug 4 & 5), I've considered doing a run of Metal Slug 5. (Beating the current MS4 run is simply out of my reach at this time.)

Some initial recon of the game (acquired by one playthrough and also by viewing BigBoss's guide at GameFAQs) has revealed the following information to me:

-SNK Playmore thought it would be funny to eliminate the Flame Shot altogether, so the Shotgun winds up the most powerful weapon. (from the guide)

-It might be just me, but crouching seems to allow you to throw grenades faster. (from the playthrough) (Point once discredited, but now reinstated after more review)

-I probably will be faster ditching the plane after it runs out of missiles during the second boss fight, since your 'bombs' outside the plane can hit the boss while it's behind you, whereas the plane's Vulcan cannot. (from the playthrough) (Point has been discredited after further review)

-During the third boss fight, I plan on going easy with the grenades until the boss starts to lower, and then hurl them as fast as possible. (from the playthrough)

-The fourth boss fight seems pretty simple, in all honesty, especially from above it. (from the playthrough)

-I am going to hate the first part of the fifth mission with a passion. (from the playthrough)

-The spider slug in the train/subway station in the fifth mission appears to be too slow to be worth getting. (from the playthrough)

-You only have to destroy the droids in the area right before the final boss to progress. (from the playthrough)

-I don't think I can stock any extra grenades before the final boss fight. If I do, though, it seems I MUST hang on to them. (interpreted from the guide)

-The best route (as I interpret from the guide) and boss-fighting weapons for a speedrun appears to be the following:
==Mission 1: In the Inner Temple area (the part with the fire geysers), take the upper path. Only problem I see with this path is that the best weapon available looks like Dual Machine Guns, compared to a Shotgun near the end of the other path.
==Mission 2: No real serious path differences, although entering the plane may be better for starting the boss fight. Seems like the best weapon possible is a Heavy Machine Gun.
==Mission 3: Skip the airduct and destroy the door instead (the airduct path is 80% forced scrolling). There may be an Enemy Chaser (perhaps my favorite Metal Slug weapon) on the other route, but Dual Machine Guns seems to be the best weapon on this path.
==Mission 4: No path differences I notice. The Laser Gun looks more likely, but if my ammo for it is drastically low by that time I'll take Dual Machine Guns (there's a hostage with them just before the boss fight).
==Mission 5: Again, I don't see any path differences. If I can keep enough Dual Machine Gun ammo, the boss ought to go a little faster. I'd say the Shotgun from the subway station section, but I think I'd run out of ammo long before I got to the boss.

If I do this run, I'd be actually submitting it around December - hopefully I can manage a no-death single-segment run (on Hard, like Mike's MS4 run) by then.

I'm in the planning stage right now, though, so if you'd like to refute any of my information here, or supply new information, please speak up. If you're refuting my information, please, PLEASE give me the better alternative. Lastly, if you wish to give your opinions on the game or the run, go ahead and do so.

Thread title:

I have finally gotten my hands on Metal Slug 4 & 5 for the PS2, and after seeing the other Metal Slug runs on this site (actually, I saw those before I got Metal Slug 4 & 5), I've considered doing a run of Metal Slug 5.  (Beating the current MS4 run is simply out of my reach at this time.)

Some initial recon of the game (acquired by one playthrough and also by viewing BigBoss's guide at GameFAQs) has revealed the following information to me:

-SNK Playmore thought it would be funny to eliminate the Flame Shot altogether, so the Shotgun winds up the most powerful weapon.  (from the guide)

-It might be just me, but crouching seems to allow you to throw grenades faster.  (from the playthrough)  (Point once discredited, but now reinstated after more review)

[s]-I probably will be faster ditching the plane after it runs out of missiles during the second boss fight, since your 'bombs' outside the plane can hit the boss while it's behind you, whereas the plane's Vulcan cannot.  (from the playthrough)[/s]  (Point has been discredited after further review)

-During the third boss fight, I plan on going easy with the grenades until the boss starts to lower, and then hurl them as fast as possible.  (from the playthrough)

-The fourth boss fight seems pretty simple, in all honesty, especially from above it.  (from the playthrough)

-I am going to hate the first part of the fifth mission with a passion.  (from the playthrough)

-The spider slug in the train/subway station in the fifth mission appears to be too slow to be worth getting.  (from the playthrough)

-You only have to destroy the droids in the area right before the final boss to progress.  (from the playthrough)

-I don't think I can stock any extra grenades before the final boss fight.  If I do, though, it seems I MUST hang on to them. (interpreted from the guide)

-The best route (as I interpret from the guide) and boss-fighting weapons for a speedrun appears to be the following:
==Mission 1:  In the Inner Temple area (the part with the fire geysers), take the upper path.  Only problem I see with this path is that the best weapon available looks like Dual Machine Guns, compared to a Shotgun near the end of the other path.
==Mission 2: No real serious path differences, although entering the plane may be better for starting the boss fight.  Seems like the best weapon possible is a Heavy Machine Gun.
==Mission 3: Skip the airduct and destroy the door instead (the airduct path is 80% forced scrolling).  There may be an Enemy Chaser (perhaps my favorite Metal Slug weapon) on the other route, but Dual Machine Guns seems to be the best weapon on this path.
==Mission 4: No path differences I notice.  The Laser Gun looks more likely, but if my ammo for it is drastically low by that time I'll take Dual Machine Guns (there's a hostage with them just before the boss fight).
==Mission 5: Again, I don't see any path differences.  If I can keep enough Dual Machine Gun ammo, the boss ought to go a little faster.  I'd say the Shotgun from the subway station section, but I think I'd run out of ammo long before I got to the boss.

If I do this run, I'd be actually submitting it around December - hopefully I can manage a no-death single-segment run (on Hard, like Mike's MS4 run) by then.

I'm in the planning stage right now, though, so if you'd like to refute any of my information here, or supply new information, please speak up.  If you're refuting my information, please, PLEASE give me the better alternative.  Lastly, if you wish to give your opinions on the game or the run, go ahead and do so.

-Suzaku-

2005-09-16 10:44:23 pm

Eternal Understudy

Sounds good, but watch out for Mike Uyama. He'll be doing the rest of the Metal Slug games sooner or later. For tips on random MS stuff look at Mike's comments on his MS1 and 4 run and my ccomments on my MSX run. Good luck

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2005-09-17 03:52:41 am

2005-09-17 03:36:53 am

Never give up!

Let me be honest, my bigger goal right now is a no-death run, with speed taking the passenger seat. I do intend, however, to use the speed route from the first post, and to try and optimize where I can do so safely.

Anyway, some new notes:

-This game simply gives you very few extra grenades, unlike many of the Metal Slug games before it. Either that or they severely toughened up the bosses, I'm not sure which. In either case, I don't think blitzing the bosses with grenade rushes (a tactic I notice a lot with Mike Uyama's current Metal Slug runs) is going to work the same way it did in past games.

-The deaths in my last run notwithstanding, this game does like giving you Heavy and Dual Machine Guns over all else. (Yes, I am aware that a number of them are set in the level design, not randomized.)

-I have a long way to go for a no-death run. My last test run (on Hard mode, with 1 life per continue so I could measure how many deaths I had accurately) came up with 58 deaths - and I think 8 to 10 were on the last boss alone.

-Speaking of the last boss, I finally found two real uses for the new slide maneuver. The first is the third boss fight - I can slide under the mid-level cannon shots. With this one I can also shoot-slide (hitting the fire button while sliding) to great effect. The second would be the final boss - proper sliding is the only way I know of to dodge his massive 'orb shower' attack.

-The game likes to kick you out of vehicles right before they could be useful. (A notable example is the first portion of the second mission - they kick you out of the Slug right before a part where they are sending quite a few vehicles your way.)

-I've only witnessed two places that had Shotgun powerups with my own eyes, and both were in the fifth mission, far from the boss - so I can't rely on it as a boss-killer. I never actually went on that lower path I cited as having a Shotgun in the first stage yet, though.

Let me be honest, my bigger goal right now is a no-death run, with speed taking the passenger seat.  I do intend, however, to use the speed route from the first post, and to try and optimize where I can do so safely.

Anyway, some new notes:

-This game simply gives you very few extra grenades, unlike many of the Metal Slug games before it.  Either that or they severely toughened up the bosses, I'm not sure which.  In either case, I don't think blitzing the bosses with grenade rushes (a tactic I notice a lot with Mike Uyama's current Metal Slug runs) is going to work the same way it did in past games.

-The deaths in my last run notwithstanding, this game does like giving you Heavy and Dual Machine Guns over all else.  (Yes, I am aware that a number of them are set in the level design, not randomized.)

-I have a long way to go for a no-death run.  My last test run (on Hard mode, with 1 life per continue so I could measure how many deaths I had accurately) came up with 58 deaths - and I think 8 to 10 were on the last boss alone.

-Speaking of the last boss, I finally found two real uses for the new slide maneuver.  The first is the third boss fight - I can slide under the mid-level cannon shots.  With this one I can also shoot-slide (hitting the fire button while sliding) to great effect.  The second would be the final boss - proper sliding is the only way I know of to dodge his massive 'orb shower' attack.

-The game likes to kick you out of vehicles right before they could be useful.  (A notable example is the first portion of the second mission - they kick you out of the Slug right before a part where they are sending quite a few vehicles your way.)

-I've only witnessed two places that had Shotgun powerups with my own eyes, and both were in the fifth mission, far from the boss - so I can't rely on it as a boss-killer.  I never actually went on that lower path I cited as having a Shotgun in the first stage yet, though.

AquaTiger

2005-09-17 05:07:59 pm

Never give up!

I've decided the best way for me to practice this early on is to play individual stages. Therefore, from here until it's time to seriously practice the whole game run, I plan on describing my route and weapon choices throughout each given stage.

Oh, before I forget.... for purists' sake I'm going to leave 'Vulcan fix' off.

I would like critique on the individual stage routes, of course.

Mission 1:

-While on the first boat, the plan is for me to melee as many enemies as safely possible. The boat section mostly autoscrolls, so speed is a non-issue.

-I plan on destroying the copter right after getting on the second boat and picking up the Enemy Chaser. So far, I've seen that as the best weapon to take on the 'missile boats' (despite the fact that a single grenade does the trick as well, the timing is exacting, and I want to save those).

-A few grenades appears to be the fastest way to destroy the wall of stones.

-Nothing to say about the falling ceiling area, although this is the roughest part of the stage for me.

-In the third section, I plan on snagging the Dual Machine Guns from the first hostage and then taking the upper route.

-Fourth area.... it's really not required for me to save any more hostages, to my knowledge. My rushing has so far not allowed me to avoid becoming 'big' (it's around the second 'falling pillar'), but I could use the larger bullets anyway. I plan on taking the lower path both times in this area - the first allows you to dispose of the two guards more swiftly (shoot the first, bomb the second - in general, anyone with a shield in this area gets bombed) and the second allows me to pick up the Metal Slug - crucial to the boss fight.

-Speaking of the boss fight, we're already there. Whatever I do, I must make sure NOT to get flattened, as even if you're in the Metal Slug, that's an instant kill. Anyway, my strategy. I plan to empty the Slug's cannon into the boss, and shoot him with the Vulcan whenever it is safe. Once he's damaged enough that he rears up, it's time to crash the Slug into him and continue the fight on foot. By this time in the fight, the first hostage should have given me the Rocket Launcher, and I intend to use it for all it's worth, as well as emptying all my grenades into the boss. If he's STILL alive then, time to just use the pistol (although the second hostage would probably arrive with grenades if this happened).

I've decided the best way for me to practice this early on is to play individual stages.  Therefore, from here until it's time to seriously practice the whole game run, I plan on describing my route and weapon choices throughout each given stage.

Oh, before I forget.... for purists' sake I'm going to leave 'Vulcan fix' off.

I would like critique on the individual stage routes, of course.

Mission 1:

-While on the first boat, the plan is for me to melee as many enemies as safely possible.  The boat section mostly autoscrolls, so speed is a non-issue.

-I plan on destroying the copter right after getting on the second boat and picking up the Enemy Chaser.  So far, I've seen that as the best weapon to take on the 'missile boats' (despite the fact that a single grenade does the trick as well, the timing is exacting, and I want to save those).

-A few grenades appears to be the fastest way to destroy the wall of stones.

-Nothing to say about the falling ceiling area, although this is the roughest part of the stage for me.

-In the third section, I plan on snagging the Dual Machine Guns from the first hostage and then taking the upper route.

-Fourth area.... it's really not required for me to save any more hostages, to my knowledge.  My rushing has so far not allowed me to avoid becoming 'big' (it's around the second 'falling pillar'), but I could use the larger bullets anyway.  I plan on taking the lower path both times in this area - the first allows you to dispose of the two guards more swiftly (shoot the first, bomb the second - in general, anyone with a shield in this area gets bombed) and the second allows me to pick up the Metal Slug - crucial to the boss fight.

-Speaking of the boss fight, we're already there.  Whatever I do, I must make sure NOT to get flattened, as even if you're in the Metal Slug, that's an instant kill.  Anyway, my strategy.  I plan to empty the Slug's cannon into the boss, and shoot him with the Vulcan whenever it is safe.  Once he's damaged enough that he rears up, it's time to crash the Slug into him and continue the fight on foot.  By this time in the fight, the first hostage should have given me the Rocket Launcher, and I intend to use it for all it's worth, as well as emptying all my grenades into the boss.  If he's STILL alive then, time to just use the pistol (although the second hostage would probably arrive with grenades if this happened).

AquaTiger

2005-09-17 09:04:07 pm

Never give up!

For organizational purposes, I plan to give each mission its own post.

Mission 2:

-I can skip the pre-level cutscene - it wasn't worth watching and, besides, I have rules to follow.

-I need to stay on the upper set of those 'cliffs' until I get the Heavy Machine Gun up there. I can melee all those guys after the upper bridge without problems.

-The Metal Slug might jump fairly short of its target (forcing a 'climb up' animation, kinda like when the Slug ran over cars in Mission 5 of the original), but its cannon is crucial to taking out vehicles, and the Vulcan can help me save ammo on those troops. I'm considering crashing the Slug into the last vehicle there to make things flow better - the game kicks you out of the slug abruptly after the first section anyway.

-The game gives you the Heavy Machine Gun twice in a row in the second section, which makes the vehicles bearable. No use of grenades on shield troops here, though, because I should have plenty of ammo.

-I made a mistake earlier - there's a Shotgun right here before the elevator starts plummeting. I plan to run out the Heavy Machine Gun on those red robots first before picking the Shotgun up, unless the Shotgun's about to vanish (like some powerups do), in which case I'll snag it immediately. I must try to shoot two or more red robots with each blast when possible, in order to save ammo.

-Just one shotgun round would make the third section get off to a good start (there's a shield trooper early on), but I should have plenty more available for some fun.

-If I'm feeling really confident, I'll shoot-slide under the shot from the 'sniper' instead of jumping.

-There's three areas with those hovering vehicles that shoot one missile and then leave. I'm considering an 'all or none' approach on the first two - if I can get them all, I'll get them all; otherwise I don't shoot any. Why? You don't need to kill any of them to progress, and if I don't shoot them all, it seems they'll go at just the same pace and I'll just waste ammo. I may need that ammo to make the level go faster.

-The third area with the hovering vehicles (which is in the fourth section), however, is definitely going to involve me not shooting any. I might shoot the missiles if I can't dodge them, but I need the ammo for the boss.

-On that note, I've discovered that contact with the boss itself is not harmful - only contact with its shots does damage. This is going to be a long boss fight for sure. On the first pass, if the boss uses its spread cannon, I plan on unloading missiles into it until the spread bullets are close, but if it uses the turrets I'm staying away and waiting until the boss is in front of me to use missiles. Well, okay, I might be able to stay there when in the plane, but certainly not when outside it. Once I'm out of missiles, I will be using the plane's Vulcan until I've taken three hits (vehicles in this game can take four before you have to exit), then I'm crashing the plane into the boss and fighting it on jetpack (I'd say 'on foot', but this is an air battle). While using the jetpack, your 'grenades' are in fact seeking missiles, and I plan to reserve those for the next time the boss is behind me. I hope I can shoot the blue bombs emitted while the boss is in front of me - those yield Heavy Machine Guns, which will be crucial to my fight.

For organizational purposes, I plan to give each mission its own post.

Mission 2:

-I can skip the pre-level cutscene - it wasn't worth watching and, besides, I have rules to follow.

-I need to stay on the upper set of those 'cliffs' until I get the Heavy Machine Gun up there.  I can melee all those guys after the upper bridge without problems.

-The Metal Slug might jump fairly short of its target (forcing a 'climb up' animation, kinda like when the Slug ran over cars in Mission 5 of the original), but its cannon is crucial to taking out vehicles, and the Vulcan can help me save ammo on those troops.  I'm considering crashing the Slug into the last vehicle there to make things flow better - the game kicks you out of the slug abruptly after the first section anyway.

-The game gives you the Heavy Machine Gun twice in a row in the second section, which makes the vehicles bearable.  No use of grenades on shield troops here, though, because I should have plenty of ammo.

-I made a mistake earlier - there's a Shotgun right here before the elevator starts plummeting.  I plan to run out the Heavy Machine Gun on those red robots first before picking the Shotgun up, unless the Shotgun's about to vanish (like some powerups do), in which case I'll snag it immediately.  I must try to shoot two or more red robots with each blast when possible, in order to save ammo.

-Just one shotgun round would make the third section get off to a good start (there's a shield trooper early on), but I should have plenty more available for some fun.

-If I'm feeling really confident, I'll shoot-slide under the shot from the 'sniper' instead of jumping.

-There's three areas with those hovering vehicles that shoot one missile and then leave.  I'm considering an 'all or none' approach on the first two - if I can get them all, I'll get them all; otherwise I don't shoot any.  Why?  You don't need to kill any of them to progress, and if I don't shoot them all, it seems they'll go at just the same pace and I'll just waste ammo.  I may need that ammo to make the level go faster.

-The third area with the hovering vehicles (which is in the fourth section), however, is definitely going to involve me not shooting any.  I might shoot the missiles if I can't dodge them, but I need the ammo for the boss.

-On that note, I've discovered that contact with the boss itself is not harmful - only contact with its shots does damage.  This is going to be a long boss fight for sure.  On the first pass, if the boss uses its spread cannon, I plan on unloading missiles into it until the spread bullets are close, but if it uses the turrets I'm staying away and waiting until the boss is in front of me to use missiles.  Well, okay, I might be able to stay there when in the plane, but certainly not when outside it.  Once I'm out of missiles, I will be using the plane's Vulcan until I've taken three hits (vehicles in this game can take four before you have to exit), then I'm crashing the plane into the boss and fighting it on jetpack (I'd say 'on foot', but this is an air battle).  While using the jetpack, your 'grenades' are in fact seeking missiles, and I plan to reserve those for the next time the boss is behind me.  I hope I can shoot the blue bombs emitted while the boss is in front of me - those yield Heavy Machine Guns, which will be crucial to my fight.

mikwuyma

2005-09-17 11:17:21 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

/AquaTiger: Before you get too far, let me give you some advice. I was working on this game along with Metal Slug 3, but I stopped because I couldn`t find a consistent method of killing the final boss without dying (I have done it before, but at a rate of less than 10%). That and Metal Slug 3 is about 10 times better than this game.

If anyone is wondering I couldn`t finish Metal Slug 3 Cry

You`re still getting Contra III though :D.

Play for speed and no deaths. This game is easier than both 3 and 4, the only really hard part is the final boss (the rest is pretty easy). Your time should be below 29 minutes.

Vulcan fix off is in good taste Wink

This game uses the same engine as 3 and 4 so crouching makes EVERYTHING fire faster, including grenades.

Speaking of grenades, you`re mostly correct, most stages don`t give lots of grenades, but you can have up to 50 grenades for the fourth boss (but 40-45 is more realistic).

BTW, what are your best times for practice? I can`t remember all of my times so some might be off.

Stage 1: 3:15 (this can be improved by a few seconds)
Stage 2: 5:36
Stage 3: 4:40ish
Stage 4: 4:30-4:45
Stage 5: 8:20ish (this time is really inaccurate because I died during the boss and I didn`t save this time to my records)

A couple of notes:

Stage 1: All the time you spend outside is forced scrolling, including the boats. The only 2 things that make a difference in your time here is the helicopter and the stone wall. Once you collect the enemy chaser from the helicopter you shouldn`t shoot until you reach the stone wall, or if there is no other way to dodge a missile.

Don`t use grenades to destroy the stone wall, use enemy chaser.

You can get through the falling ceiling area before the ceiling has a chance to fall down. It involves a lot of sliding with slide canceling (press jump after you slide, make sure you`re not holding down).

I`m not sure whether it`s faster to keep your remaining chaser rockets or to collect the heavy machine gun.

I also take the top path, you get a tank at the very end which helps on the boss.

I collect the rockets towards the end of the stage, but I`m not 100% sure they are worth it (I think they are because of the boss)

Boss: You should have 20 grenades and 20ish rockets. Your first move should be move right while firing your vulcan, once you hear the vulcan hitting the boss start firing your cannon constantly, even while you move backwards to dodge the fireballs.

Once you knock the boss back, hold down and spam all of your grenades. Once you run out of grenades crash your tank and get up close to the boss and spam all of your rockets. The boss should be dead once you`ve rocket spammed.

More notes later.

/AquaTiger: Before you get too far, let me give you some advice.  I was working on this game along with Metal Slug 3, but I stopped because I couldn`t find a consistent method of killing the final boss without dying (I have done it before, but at a rate of less than 10%).  That and Metal Slug 3 is about 10 times better than this game.

If anyone is wondering I couldn`t finish Metal Slug 3  :'(  You`re still getting Contra III though  :D.

Play for speed and no deaths.  This game is easier than both 3 and 4, the only really hard part is the final boss (the rest is pretty easy).  Your time should be below 29 minutes.

Vulcan fix off is in good taste ;)

This game uses the same engine as 3 and 4 so crouching makes EVERYTHING fire faster, including grenades.

Speaking of grenades, you`re mostly correct, most stages don`t give lots of grenades, but you can have up to 50 grenades for the fourth boss (but 40-45 is more realistic).

BTW, what are your best times for practice?  I can`t remember all of my times so some might be off.

Stage 1:  3:15 (this can be improved by a few seconds)
Stage 2: 5:36
Stage 3: 4:40ish
Stage 4: 4:30-4:45
Stage 5: 8:20ish (this time is really inaccurate because I died during the boss and I didn`t save this time to my records)

A couple of notes:

Stage 1:  All the time you spend outside is forced scrolling, including the boats.  The only 2 things that make a difference in your time here is the helicopter and the stone wall.  Once you collect the enemy chaser from the helicopter you shouldn`t shoot until you reach the stone wall, or if there is no other way to dodge a missile.

Don`t use grenades to destroy the stone wall, use enemy chaser.

You can get through the falling ceiling area before the ceiling has a chance to fall down.  It involves a lot of sliding with slide canceling (press jump after you slide, make sure you`re not holding down).

I`m not sure whether it`s faster to keep your remaining chaser rockets or to collect the heavy machine gun.

I also take the top path, you get a tank at the very end which helps on the boss.

I collect the rockets towards the end of the stage, but I`m not 100% sure they are worth it (I think they are because of the boss)

Boss:  You should have 20 grenades and 20ish rockets.  Your first move should be move right while firing your vulcan, once you hear the vulcan hitting the boss start firing your cannon constantly, even while you move backwards to dodge the fireballs.

Once you knock the boss back, hold down and spam all of your grenades.  Once you run out of grenades crash your tank and get up close to the boss and spam all of your rockets.  The boss should be dead once you`ve rocket spammed.

More notes later.

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2005-09-18 01:28:01 am

2005-09-18 12:56:07 am

Never give up!

Well, I guess I didn't know anything about your postability when you said you were going to Japan, Mike.....

I haven't got a full set of times yet - I'll actually post my times when I've tried every stage individually.

What I gather from your first two notes is that those missile boats don't need to be shot down. I'll test that, but in any event I'm surprised how few things need to be destroyed in this game.

As for the second part of your boss notes.... that trick is STILL in the Metal Slug series? (I swear I saw a trick used at least once in the first game where grenades could be thrown at a much faster rate from inside a vehicle.) I surely thought SNK would've wisened up by now. (Then again, that may explain the loss of the Flame Shot.)

My last point originally here about the analog stick has been removed, because it didn't work for all controllers I had.

(Story is, I have one genuine PS2 controller, and one controller made by a company called Mad Catz - the latter seemed to detect directional movement with the analog stick, despite the fact that not all games supported it - Metal Slug 5 seems to allow the Mad Catz controller as well as the genuine one. The problem with the Mad Catz controller in Metal Slug 5 is that it makes using the Vulcan on vehicles a bit too easy. The real reason I'd used it at first, however, was the sheer fact the controller was larger. My hands are big, you see. So for purists's sake, in these practice runs, and the real run, I'm highly considering avoiding the use of the Mad Catz controller, no matter how undetectable to the viewer it may be.)

Well, I guess I didn't know anything about your postability when you said you were going to Japan, Mike.....

I haven't got a full set of times yet - I'll actually post my times when I've tried every stage individually.

What I gather from your first two notes is that those missile boats don't need to be shot down.  I'll test that, but in any event I'm surprised how few things need to be destroyed in this game.

As for the second part of your boss notes.... that trick is STILL in the Metal Slug series?  (I swear I saw a trick used at least once in the first game where grenades could be thrown at a much faster rate from inside a vehicle.)  I surely thought SNK would've wisened up by now.  (Then again, that may explain the loss of the Flame Shot.)

My last point originally here about the analog stick has been removed, because it didn't work for all controllers I had.

(Story is, I have one genuine PS2 controller, and one controller made by a company called Mad Catz - the latter seemed to detect directional movement with the analog stick, despite the fact that not all games supported it - Metal Slug 5 seems to allow the Mad Catz controller as well as the genuine one.  The problem with the Mad Catz controller in Metal Slug 5 is that it makes using the Vulcan on vehicles a bit too easy.  The real reason I'd used it at first, however, was the sheer fact the controller was larger.  My hands are big, you see.  So for purists's sake, in these practice runs, and the real run, I'm highly considering avoiding the use of the Mad Catz controller, no matter how undetectable to the viewer it may be.)

AquaTiger

2005-09-18 03:07:31 am

Never give up!

Okay, time for my next set of notes.

Mission 3:

-Considering how far I have to go into the stage to get a good weapon, those first two droids can be a pain. However, it'd be smarter to stick to the pistol (I believe it's a little more than a dozen pistol rounds to destroy a single droid) - I REALLY need those grenades later.

-That Heavy Machine Gun after the first two droids... I think that if I don't make every bullet count, I may not even SURVIVE the first section, let alone go fast.

-Theoretically, you can climb up to that second airduct and enter there, but I'm going to skip it, as that route is slower for sure.

-With the Slug Walker in the second section.... I've decided long jumps (by jumping and then waiting until the low part to boost) are the fastest way to go through. I'm pretty sure I'd die if I tried to do this without the Slug Walker, or at least waste grenades. I think it may be best to crash the walker into the last truck in the area, but I'll have to confirm this.

-In the third section, I believe it's physically possible to go through the first and fourth floors without firing a shot. On the second, third, and fifth you need to destroy everything. I plan on picking up the Dual Machine Guns on the fourth floor to speed the fifth floor up, but I want to make all bullets count, so I have some for the boss.

-If I wind up not hating the final boss on practice runs, this stage's boss will be my least favorite. Why? There are long periods during the battle where there is NO WAY YOU CAN HIT IT (assuming no grenades AND no Heavy Machine Gun). Also, those missiles never seem to give me any Heavy Machine Guns when I need them (which is constantly). Not only that, the boss rarely likes using the missile attack at all. So yeah, here's my major aggravation.

Okay, time for my next set of notes.

Mission 3:

-Considering how far I have to go into the stage to get a good weapon, those first two droids can be a pain.  However, it'd be smarter to stick to the pistol (I believe it's a little more than a dozen pistol rounds to destroy a single droid) - I REALLY need those grenades later.

-That Heavy Machine Gun after the first two droids... I think that if I don't make every bullet count, I may not even SURVIVE the first section, let alone go fast.

-Theoretically, you can climb up to that second airduct and enter there, but I'm going to skip it, as that route is slower for sure.

-With the Slug Walker in the second section.... I've decided long jumps (by jumping and then waiting until the low part to boost) are the fastest way to go through.  I'm pretty sure I'd die if I tried to do this without the Slug Walker, or at least waste grenades.  I think it may be best to crash the walker into the last truck in the area, but I'll have to confirm this.

-In the third section, I believe it's physically possible to go through the first and fourth floors without firing a shot.  On the second, third, and fifth you need to destroy everything.  I plan on picking up the Dual Machine Guns on the fourth floor to speed the fifth floor up, but I want to make all bullets count, so I have some for the boss.

-If I wind up not hating the final boss on practice runs, this stage's boss will be my least favorite.  Why?  There are long periods during the battle where there is NO WAY YOU CAN HIT IT (assuming no grenades AND no Heavy Machine Gun).  Also, those missiles never seem to give me any Heavy Machine Guns when I need them (which is constantly).  Not only that, the boss rarely likes using the missile attack at all.  So yeah, here's my major aggravation.

mikwuyma

2005-09-18 04:49:51 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Yeah, posting in Japan is soooo hard because Japan is obviously a backwards nation Roll Eyes

The ability to throw grenades faster than normal in a tank only exists in the first Metal Slug. You throw grenades while in the tank because you won`t die if the first boss hits you with a stray bullet (you actually throw grenades more slowly in the tank than you do crouching).

Yes, the boats in the first stage are timered. You will reach the stone wall at the same time whether you destroy them or not.

Stage 2:

Don`t collect the tank, it moves slowly and you will kill quickly enough with just your heavy machine gun. You shouldn`t run out until the last vehicle anyways (the bomb roller). If you`re wondering how to preserve bullets, you don`t need to shoot every enemy at the enemy checkpoint after you collect the heavy machine gun.

About the areas with hovering vehicles, it`s too hard to shoot them all and your ammo is best reserved for later in the stage.

In the very final area with hovering vehicles you can actually start moving towards the plane immediately. You might want to shoot while jumping so a stray missile doesn`t hit you.

Boss: You should be in the plane, and you should have at least 180 heavy machine gun bullets with at least 17 grenades. First you want to constantly shoot at the plane with your vulcan while constantly unloading missiles. The only time you shouldn`t constantly unload missiles is when the plane shoots all those fireballs, because your missiles will probably hit a fireball instead of the boss.

Once you unload all of your missiles don`t immediately slug crash. Why? Because the plane`s vulcan is more powerful than heavy machine gun bullets. Once the boss finishes two loops (one loop is being on the left then right) you should crash your vehicle.

Once you crash your vehicle (which should have been done at the very end of the second loop so you don`t lose time being unable to shoot the boss), start spamming heavy machine gun and grenades into the boss. The boss should die in one or two more loops.

Stage 3:

I don`t know what you`re talking about with the heavy machine gun. Once I get to the part where terrorists start coming out of airducts on the left and the right, I get on top of the center pile of boxes and shoot a downwards spread (jump, fire, then tap down). This usually leaves me with 40-70 bullets afterwards.

About the very end of the first section, focus all of your fire on the robot. Once you kill the robot, you automatically move onto the next section.

Getting in the slug walker is a good choice, but you should stay in the walker until the last robot before the boss, then you crash it. Why? The jets allow you to make numerous minor shortcuts. For example, you don`t have to wait for the elevators, you just jet up them.

Make sure you collect the dual machine gun and save every single bullet for the boss. It saves a LOT of time. To preserve ammo make sure you keep your slug walker, use the gun, and use the cannon on almost every robot you see.

Boss:

You`re right, this boss sucks. You can lose up to 30 seconds simply due to bad luck. This boss always does the same action for its first move: it will come down from the top and shoot a set of three fat bullets. You should simply shoot it with your dual machine gun when it does this.

You should use your grenades when the boss goes down to the very bottom and summons soldiers. There is no other way of hitting him when he does this. Sad

Killing this boss quickly depends on the boss shooting missiles, and whether you can collect a heavy machine gun out of one of the missiles. This boss isn`t hard, just incredibly annoying.

Yeah, posting in Japan is soooo hard because Japan is obviously a backwards nation  ::)

The ability to throw grenades faster than normal in a tank only exists in the first Metal Slug.  You throw grenades while in the tank because you won`t die if the first boss hits you with a stray bullet (you actually throw grenades more slowly in the tank than you do crouching).

Yes, the boats in the first stage are timered.  You will reach the stone wall at the same time whether you destroy them or not.

Stage 2:

Don`t collect the tank, it moves slowly and you will kill quickly enough with just your heavy machine gun.  You shouldn`t run out until the last vehicle anyways (the bomb roller).  If you`re wondering how to preserve bullets, you don`t need to shoot  every enemy at the enemy checkpoint after you collect the heavy machine gun.

About the areas with hovering vehicles, it`s too hard to shoot them all and your ammo is best reserved for later in the stage.

In the very final area with hovering vehicles you can actually start moving towards the plane immediately.  You might want to shoot while jumping so a stray missile doesn`t hit you.

Boss:  You should be in the plane, and you should have at least 180 heavy machine gun bullets with at least 17 grenades.  First you want to constantly shoot at the plane with your vulcan while constantly unloading missiles.  The only time you shouldn`t constantly unload missiles is when the plane shoots all those fireballs, because your missiles will probably hit a fireball instead of the boss.

Once you unload all of your missiles don`t immediately slug crash.  Why?  Because the plane`s vulcan is more powerful than heavy machine gun bullets. Once the boss finishes two loops (one loop is being on the left then right) you should crash your vehicle.

Once you crash your vehicle (which should have been done at the very end of the second loop so you don`t lose time being unable to shoot the boss),  start spamming heavy machine gun and grenades into the boss.  The boss should die in one or two more loops.

Stage 3:

I don`t know what you`re talking about with the heavy machine gun.  Once I get to the part where terrorists start coming out of airducts on the left and the right, I get on top of the center pile of boxes and shoot a downwards spread (jump, fire, then tap down).  This usually leaves me with 40-70 bullets afterwards.

About the very end of the first section, focus all of your fire on the robot.  Once you kill the robot, you automatically move onto the next section.

Getting in the slug walker is a good choice, but you should stay in the walker until the last robot before the boss, then you crash it.  Why?  The jets allow you to make numerous minor shortcuts.  For example, you don`t have to wait for the elevators, you just jet up them.

Make sure you collect the dual machine gun and save every single bullet for the boss.  It saves a LOT of time.  To preserve ammo make sure you keep your slug walker, use the gun, and use the cannon on almost every robot you see.

Boss:

You`re right, this boss sucks.  You can lose up to 30 seconds simply due to bad luck.  This boss always does the same action for its first move:  it will come down from the top and shoot a set of three fat bullets.  You should simply shoot it with your dual machine gun when it does this.

You should use your grenades when the boss goes down to the very bottom and summons soldiers.  There is no other way of hitting him when he does this. :(

Killing this boss quickly depends on the boss shooting missiles, and whether you can collect a heavy machine gun out of one of the missiles.  This boss isn`t hard, just incredibly annoying.

Radix

2005-09-18 05:13:18 am

I'm addicted to games

Quote:

Japan is obviously a backwards nation

[...]

won`t

The apostrophes are backwards!

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2005-09-18 07:02:41 am

2005-09-18 06:57:11 am

Never give up!

Quote:

Yeah, posting in Japan is soooo hard because Japan is obviously a backwards nation Roll Eyes

Hey, I can't assume to know where in Japan you're staying at this time. (There might be the rare few places that dislike people posting to places like this - I can't assume there's ANY place like that in Japan, but YOU NEVER KNOW.)

Quote:

Don`t collect the tank, it moves slowly and you will kill quickly enough with just your heavy machine gun. You shouldn`t run out until the last vehicle anyways (the bomb roller).

That's going to take me some getting used to, I can tell.

Quote:

I don`t know what you`re talking about with the heavy machine gun. Once I get to the part where terrorists start coming out of airducts on the left and the right, I get on top of the center pile of boxes and shoot a downwards spread (jump, fire, then tap down). This usually leaves me with 40-70 bullets afterwards.

I seem to have a lot more trouble with this specific part than you cite. Maybe it's just not enough practice, I don't know.

Quote:

About the very end of the first section, focus all of your fire on the robot. Once you kill the robot, you automatically move onto the next section.

I've actually seen some pretty funny (the 'ha ha' kind, not the 'weird' kind) things while doing this. One time I destroyed the robot in midair, but one of the guys had thrown a bomb. It hit me squarely but THERE WAS NO DEATH. (I think something related happened in your MS4 run in the final mission.)

I plan on specifying Mission 4 and Mission 5 stuff tomorrow.

By the way, for you people who are wondering what character I chose for this run (not like it matters, because the characters in this game, like most Metal Slug games, only differ cosmetically), it's Eri. Why? Marco and Fio already have speedruns to themselves (Metal Slug and Metal Slug X, to be precise), and for some reason I CANNOT STAND TARMA. (If Mike ever wants to deliberately spite me, completing a run of any Metal Slug game with Tarma, besides the fourth one where he's not available to the player, is one way.)

[quote]Yeah, posting in Japan is soooo hard because Japan is obviously a backwards nation  ::) [/quote]

Hey, I can't assume to know where in Japan you're staying at this time.  (There might be the rare few places that dislike people posting to places like this - I can't assume there's ANY place like that in Japan, but YOU NEVER KNOW.)

[quote]Don`t collect the tank, it moves slowly and you will kill quickly enough with just your heavy machine gun.  You shouldn`t run out until the last vehicle anyways (the bomb roller).[/quote]

That's going to take me some getting used to, I can tell.

[quote]I don`t know what you`re talking about with the heavy machine gun.  Once I get to the part where terrorists start coming out of airducts on the left and the right, I get on top of the center pile of boxes and shoot a downwards spread (jump, fire, then tap down).  This usually leaves me with 40-70 bullets afterwards.[/quote]

I seem to have a lot more trouble with this specific part than you cite.  Maybe it's just not enough practice, I don't know.

[quote]About the very end of the first section, focus all of your fire on the robot.  Once you kill the robot, you automatically move onto the next section.[/quote]

I've actually seen some pretty funny (the 'ha ha' kind, not the 'weird' kind) things while doing this.  One time I destroyed the robot in midair, but one of the guys had thrown a bomb.  It hit me squarely but THERE WAS NO DEATH. (I think something related happened in your MS4 run in the final mission.)

I plan on specifying Mission 4 and Mission 5 stuff tomorrow.

By the way, for you people who are wondering what character I chose for this run (not like it matters, because the characters in this game, like most Metal Slug games, only differ cosmetically), it's Eri.  Why?  Marco and Fio already have speedruns to themselves (Metal Slug and Metal Slug X, to be precise), and for some reason I CANNOT STAND TARMA.  (If Mike ever wants to deliberately spite me, completing a run of any Metal Slug game with Tarma, besides the fourth one where he's not available to the player, is one way.)

AquaTiger

2005-09-18 03:19:15 pm

Never give up!

I decided to do some quick times for the first three missions, along with trouble notes and my entire set of goal times for every mission. Note that these times are straight from the game - I believe they factor in any and all deaths in the stage to an extent. (I will view a death as a five-second loss total.)

Mission 1: 3:31 (A bad jump in the falling ceiling section made me lose a second, and I stayed in the tank too long trying to use its Vulcan. No deaths, however. My goal time is 3:26.)

Mission 2: 6:19 (There were three deaths in this run - two in the section before the boss, one by a trooper and one by a missile, and one at the boss by a fireball. My goal for this mission is under six minutes - even if that's 5:59.)

Mission 3: 5:21 (I need a lot of practice here - a whopping eight deaths, three at the boss and all three coming at the hands of those bazooka troopers it summons. Damned things. The farthest I ever got the Slug Walker was the third floor of the section before the boss - any advice for using the Slug Walker properly? Goal time is 5:10.)

Goal Time for Mission 4: 4:59

Goal Time for Mission 5: Between 8:25 and 8:40

Goal Game Time (calculated from goal times): 27:59-28:14

Anyway, on to Mission 4 notes.

-The four grenade stashes are as follows: First hostage in the level, wooden roadblock near the Drop Shot hostage, last hostage in the underwater section, and final hostage before the boss.

-Those SNK people love hiding things, don't they? I discovered a Heavy Machine Gun in one of the speakers.

-To Drop Shot or not to Drop Shot? That is the next question.

-In the enclosed area where they make you fight three choppers... should I deal with those 'black ops' grenade throwers when I have suitable time? The shield guys keep respawning, so there's no point in taking them.

-They put more armor on those last two vans in the first area than I thought they would. I usually have the Iron Lizard by now though, which helps - assuming I allocate just four grenades in this level, two will go here.

-In the area underwater where five mines block your progress through a cavern, it took me a while to recognize you only need to destroy those five mines to progress.

-I hate the helly- erm, jellyfish.

-That part where the mines are blocking the tunnel... just how many must I destroy to trigger the squids into coming out?

-The underwater base is what I will hate most of this stage. However, the Laser Gun in the room where over half a dozen hostages are hanging ought to be a big plus.

-The stairs... oh god, I hate the stairs. If I allocate just four grenades for the whole level, I will likely use the other two here for safety reasons.

-With how wasteful I've been known to be with the Laser Gun (hopefully this changes by the time a real run happens), I plan on picking up the Dual Machine Guns right before the boss. They deal damage just as quickly, and that's what I need here.

-I have never fought this boss in earnest from any direction besides above - I feel his 'fire rain' is in fact the easiest of his attacks to dodge. He tries so hard to keep you above him, it makes me wonder why he didn't pick something more accurate for an attack there. In any event, if I played my cards right, it's time for a 'grenade rush' - and about time too, I've had enough of being short-changed in the grenades department.

I decided to do some quick times for the first three missions, along with trouble notes and my entire set of goal times for every mission.  Note that these times are straight from the game - I believe they factor in any and all deaths in the stage to an extent.  (I will view a death as a five-second loss total.)

Mission 1: 3:31 (A bad jump in the falling ceiling section made me lose a second, and I stayed in the tank too long trying to use its Vulcan.  No deaths, however. My goal time is 3:26.)

Mission 2: 6:19 (There were three deaths in this run - two in the section before the boss, one by a trooper and one by a missile, and one at the boss by a fireball.  My goal for this mission is under six minutes - even if that's 5:59.)

Mission 3: 5:21 (I need a lot of practice here - a whopping eight deaths, three at the boss and all three coming at the hands of those bazooka troopers it summons.  Damned things.  The farthest I ever got the Slug Walker was the third floor of the section before the boss - any advice for using the Slug Walker properly?  Goal time is 5:10.)

Goal Time for Mission 4: 4:59

Goal Time for Mission 5: Between 8:25 and 8:40

Goal Game Time (calculated from goal times): 27:59-28:14

Anyway, on to Mission 4 notes.

-The four grenade stashes are as follows:  First hostage in the level, wooden roadblock near the Drop Shot hostage, last hostage in the underwater section, and final hostage before the boss.

-Those SNK people love hiding things, don't they?  I discovered a Heavy Machine Gun in one of the speakers.

-To Drop Shot or not to Drop Shot?  That is the next question.

-In the enclosed area where they make you fight three choppers... should I deal with those 'black ops' grenade throwers when I have suitable time?  The shield guys keep respawning, so there's no point in taking them.

-They put more armor on those last two vans in the first area than I thought they would.  I usually have the Iron Lizard by now though, which helps - assuming I allocate just four grenades in this level, two will go here.

-In the area underwater where five mines block your progress through a cavern, it took me a while to recognize you only need to destroy those five mines to progress.

-I hate the helly-  erm, jellyfish.

-That part where the mines are blocking the tunnel... just how many must I destroy to trigger the squids into coming out?

-The underwater base is what I will hate most of this stage.  However, the Laser Gun in the room where over half a dozen hostages are hanging ought to be a big plus.

-The stairs... oh god, I hate the stairs.  If I allocate just four grenades for the whole level, I will likely use the other two here for safety reasons.

-With how wasteful I've been known to be with the Laser Gun (hopefully this changes by the time a real run happens), I plan on picking up the Dual Machine Guns right before the boss.  They deal damage just as quickly, and that's what I need here.

-I have never fought this boss in earnest from any direction besides above - I feel his 'fire rain' is in fact the easiest of his attacks to dodge.  He tries so hard to keep you above him, it makes me wonder why he didn't pick something more accurate for an attack there.  In any event, if I played my cards right, it's time for a 'grenade rush' - and about time too, I've had enough of being short-changed in the grenades department.

AquaTiger

2005-09-18 04:35:44 pm

Never give up!

My last set of notes starts here. FINALLY.

Mission 5:

-I am going to hate the Slugmobile part. I've gathered that time only really comes into play once the planes start arriving, and I'm likely to save my missiles for that red chopper, as he's been known to block them with his own.

-From here until the boss, I must keep my big fingers off of the grenade button completely. Not one press of it.

-The subway tracks, in addition to having three secret weapons (all powered-up - shoot the second, third, and fourth lights for a Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, and Laser Gun, respectively - and I plan on using them all), is probably going to involve the highest level of concentrated chaos in this mission.

-The section after the subway might be chaotic as well. Hopefully I can keep enough Laser ammo for the first part. Once I get the Shotgun, no one else should ideally stand a chance.

-The section before the boss... there's both a Super Grenade and a Dual Machine Gun right off the bat, but I'm stumped on which to pick. So far I've used the Dual Machine Guns, because they last longer and the Super Grenade isn't that much stronger (it's about as powerful as a regular grenade, I think).

-As I've said before, I only need to shoot the droids in that section before the boss.

-The elephant statues (that's what I call them, anyway - they're those two guys before the boss that rain larvae and shoot lasers) are probably going to be a bit nerve wracking. The plan is to destroy one, weaken the other and then start destroying maggots until I get a Dual Machine Gun (that's all they drop, to my knowledge). Once I get that I can destroy the second one - I ABSOLUTELY NEED that Dual Machine Gun.

-Okay, the final boss. Rather than paragraph form, I'll be listing stuff on this boss in note form:
==His standard orb attack (the slow one) has actually been the hardest for me to dodge consistently, because those tend to appear out of nowhere. Try not to focus on any one area.
==The 'orb shower' attack... this is how I dodge it, and it's worked with an 85% or so success rate to this point. When he flies up there, get to a corner of the area. Now, when you see the first wave of orbs start moving toward you, slide like there's no tomorrow. NEVER CANCEL A SLIDE; you're going to get pegged for sure if you do.
==As for his scythe attack.... this is also hard to dodge. Go to a corner of the area like with the orb shower, and watch the background. The instant his shadow disappears, jump like crazy to the other side; I believe this dodge method, when executed properly, has a 90% success rate, with the most likely failure being that one of the flames went really high and far.
==Now, for actually hurting him. Use the grenades early, but throw only two on each jump or you're likely to miss with one. After that (or even during it), only fire when you can get a clear shot without risking touching a fireball. The Dual Machine Guns are CRITICAL because they do damage so fast. Also, this boss NEVER DROPS ANYTHING, so once you're out of grenades and special weapons, your pistol is all that's left.

My last set of notes starts here.  FINALLY.

Mission 5:

-I am going to hate the Slugmobile part.  I've gathered that time only really comes into play once the planes start arriving, and I'm likely to save my missiles for that red chopper, as he's been known to block them with his own.

-From here until the boss, I must keep my big fingers off of the grenade button completely.  Not one press of it.

-The subway tracks, in addition to having three secret weapons (all powered-up - shoot the second, third, and fourth lights for a Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, and Laser Gun, respectively - and I plan on using them all), is probably going to involve the highest level of concentrated chaos in this mission.

-The section after the subway might be chaotic as well.  Hopefully I can keep enough Laser ammo for the first part.  Once I get the Shotgun, no one else should ideally stand a chance.

-The section before the boss... there's both a Super Grenade and a Dual Machine Gun right off the bat, but I'm stumped on which to pick.  So far I've used the Dual Machine Guns, because they last longer and the Super Grenade isn't that much stronger (it's about as powerful as a regular grenade, I think).

-As I've said before, I only need to shoot the droids in that section before the boss.

-The elephant statues (that's what I call them, anyway - they're those two guys before the boss that rain larvae and shoot lasers) are probably going to be a bit nerve wracking.  The plan is to destroy one, weaken the other and then start destroying maggots until I get a Dual Machine Gun (that's all they drop, to my knowledge).  Once I get that I can destroy the second one - I ABSOLUTELY NEED that Dual Machine Gun.

-Okay, the final boss.  Rather than paragraph form, I'll be listing stuff on this boss in note form:
==His standard orb attack (the slow one) has actually been the hardest for me to dodge consistently, because those tend to appear out of nowhere.  Try not to focus on any one area.
==The 'orb shower' attack... this is how I dodge it, and it's worked with an 85% or so success rate to this point.  When he flies up there, get to a corner of the area.  Now, when you see the first wave of orbs start moving toward you, slide like there's no tomorrow.  NEVER CANCEL A SLIDE; you're going to get pegged for sure if you do.
==As for his scythe attack.... this is also hard to dodge.  Go to a corner of the area like with the orb shower, and watch the background.  The instant his shadow disappears, jump like crazy to the other side; I believe this dodge method, when executed properly, has a 90% success rate, with the most likely failure being that one of the flames went really high and far.
==Now, for actually hurting him.  Use the grenades early, but throw only two on each jump or you're likely to miss with one.  After that (or even during it), only fire when you can get a clear shot without risking touching a fireball.  The Dual Machine Guns are CRITICAL because they do damage so fast.  Also, this boss NEVER DROPS ANYTHING, so once you're out of grenades and special weapons, your pistol is all that's left.

mikwuyma

2005-09-19 01:19:14 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Yeah I probably shouldn't have been rude like that about Japan since I didn't specify where I was going. I'm in a hotel that has free internet right now, and I'll be moving into my dorm tomorrow. So I'll still probably check these forums too often for my own good Tongue

Eri is cool, the only two I really hate are Marco and Trevor, though the male characters both look really stupid while sliding.

Quote:

I've actually seen some pretty funny (the 'ha ha' kind, not the 'weird' kind) things while doing this. One time I destroyed the robot in midair, but one of the guys had thrown a bomb. It hit me squarely but THERE WAS NO DEATH. (I think something related happened in your MS4 run in the final mission.)

This happens whenever you have triggered the exit. You will start walking to the right automatically, and if anything hits you, you won't (haha, found the correct apostrophe Radix!) die.

About your goal times, I think these are better goal times:

Mission 1: 3:21 (this mission is not hard to optimize)
Mission 2: 5:50ish
Mission 3: too hard to make a goal time due to how random the boss is.
Mission 4 and 5: Your goal times are probably fine, the mission 4 one might be a little high though.

Keeping the Slug Walker in Mission 3:

You need to do this to get a decent time in mission 3. I am completely reciting this from memory. Any inaccuracies can be blamed on my memory.

-When you first get the walker do some jet jumps while spamming your machine gun downwards to hit the enemies and boxes below you. Make sure you destroy the first set of boxes.

-After you destroy the first set of boxes, hold down and go into tank mode. You will want to remain in tank mode throughout the rest of this section.

-Just keep on firing while moving right. If there are some terrorists behind you, then move left to run them over and continue moving right.

-At a certain point you will see a gas can right next to a mine and there will probably be a bomb rolling towards you. Wait until the bomb rolls left of the gas can, then go right. You should get hit, then immediately recover life from the hit because the gas can is to the right of the armor.

-At the very final checkpoint before the elevator area keep on shooting until you blow the mask off of one of the robots (it looks different from all of the robots you have seen so far), then immediately use your cannon afterwards. After you destroy all the robots do a jet jump so that you land all the way on the right of the screen. This is to make sure you minimize the walking time for your walker.

-At this point you should have 9 cannon shots and full armor on your slug walker.

-About the elevator section, I never tried whether killing all the robots is optional. If it is optional, then what I'm about to tell you is crap.

-Do a jet jump to the right, fire a cannon (this should hit all the enemies on your right). Wave your gun up and down to hit the robot on top. Then a robot should appear from top left, simply turn to the left and start waving your gun up and down.

-After you destroy the robot from the top left, jump up to the left, start walking left and the screen should start scrolling to the left. Fire a cannon, then do a jet jump to the left. You should now be on your first elevator.

-Once you get on the elevator, turn to the right and do a jet jump. Once you land fire your cannon, you will probably get hit here but it's not a big deal. Now wave your machine gun up and down to hit the robot on top, when the robot comes down simply fire to the right.

-After you kill off all the enemies there, the screen should scroll right a bit and you will see a robot constantly firing a set of two bullets. Make sure you don't go past the clearing where you can jump up to the next floor. Simply wave your gun up and down to kill the robot (the terrorists should die to stray gunfire). Turn to the left.

-Now jump up to the left and hold down the fire button, you should be repeatedly punching a robot and you will kill it before it can hit you. Make sure you collect the dual machine gun. Get on the elevator while still facing left, jump up to the right and cannon the robot that falls from the top left.

-Turn right and do a jet jump to the right, a bunch of robots should fall from the ceiling. I can't remember exactly where the robots spawn from, but as long as you remain facing right (go into tank mode) and fire some cannon shots you should be ok. I think two appear from the top, then after you destroy them, three appear from the top.

-After you destroy those five robots. A robot should appear from the left. Simply go into tank mode, move left and cannon him (if you ran out then simply fire machine gun/pummel it). After you kill that robot, hold down and slug crash and you will kill off the robot appearing from the right side. Now you should have 300 dual machine gun bullets and 10 grenades for the boss.

I'll post stage 4 and 5 comments soon.

Yeah I probably shouldn't have been rude like that about Japan since I didn't specify where I was going.  I'm in a hotel that has free internet right now, and I'll be moving into my dorm tomorrow.  So I'll still probably check these forums too often for my own good :P

Eri is cool, the only two I really hate are Marco and Trevor, though the male characters both look really stupid while sliding.

[quote]I've actually seen some pretty funny (the 'ha ha' kind, not the 'weird' kind) things while doing this.  One time I destroyed the robot in midair, but one of the guys had thrown a bomb.  It hit me squarely but THERE WAS NO DEATH. (I think something related happened in your MS4 run in the final mission.) [/quote]

This happens whenever you have triggered the exit.  You will start walking to the right automatically, and if anything hits you, you won't (haha, found the correct apostrophe Radix!) die.

About your goal times, I think these are better goal times:

Mission 1: 3:21 (this mission is not hard to optimize)
Mission 2: 5:50ish
Mission 3: too hard to make a goal time due to how random the boss is.
Mission 4 and 5:  Your goal times are probably fine, the mission 4 one might be a little high though.

Keeping the Slug Walker in Mission 3:

You need to do this to get a decent time in mission 3.  I am completely reciting this from memory.  Any inaccuracies can be blamed on my memory.

-When you first get the walker do some jet jumps while spamming your machine gun downwards to hit the enemies and boxes below you.  Make sure you destroy the first set of boxes.

-After you destroy the first set of boxes, hold down and go into tank mode.  You will want to remain in tank mode throughout the rest of this section.

-Just keep on firing while moving right.  If there are some terrorists behind you, then move left to run them over and continue moving right.

-At a certain point you will see a gas can right next to a mine and there will probably be  a bomb rolling towards you.  Wait until the bomb rolls left of the gas can, then go right.  You should get hit, then immediately recover life from the hit because the gas can is to the right of the armor.

-At the very final checkpoint before the elevator area keep on shooting until you blow the mask off of one of the robots (it looks different from all of the robots you have seen so far), then immediately use your cannon afterwards.  After you destroy all the robots do a jet jump so that you land all the way on the right of the screen.  This is to make sure you minimize the walking time for your walker.

-At this point you should have 9 cannon shots and full armor on your slug walker.

-About the elevator section, I never tried whether killing all the robots is optional.  If it is optional, then what I'm about to tell you is crap.

-Do a jet jump to the right, fire a cannon (this should hit all the enemies on your right).  Wave your gun up and down to hit the robot on top.  Then a robot should appear from top left, simply turn to the left and start waving your gun up and down.

-After you destroy the robot from the top left, jump up to the left, start walking left and the screen should start scrolling to the left.  Fire a cannon, then do a jet jump to the left.  You should now be on your first elevator.

-Once you get on the elevator, turn to the right and do a jet jump.  Once you land fire your cannon, you will probably get hit here but it's not a big deal.  Now wave your machine gun up and down to hit the robot on top, when the robot comes down simply fire to the right.

-After you kill off all the enemies there, the screen should scroll right a bit and you will see a robot constantly firing a set of two bullets.  Make sure you don't go past the clearing where you can jump up to the next floor.  Simply wave your gun up and down to kill the robot (the terrorists should die to stray gunfire).  Turn to the left.

-Now jump up to the left and hold down the fire button, you should be repeatedly punching a robot and you will kill it before it can hit you.  Make sure you collect the dual machine gun.  Get on the elevator while still facing left, jump up to the right and cannon the robot that falls from the top left.

-Turn right and do a jet jump to the right, a bunch of robots should fall from the ceiling.  I can't remember exactly where the robots spawn from, but as long as you remain facing right (go into tank mode) and fire some cannon shots you should be ok.  I think two appear from the top, then after you destroy them, three appear from the top.

-After you destroy those five robots.  A robot should appear from the left.  Simply go into tank mode, move left and cannon him (if you ran out then simply fire machine gun/pummel it).  After you kill that robot, hold down and slug crash and you will kill off the robot appearing from the right side.  Now you should have 300 dual machine gun bullets and 10 grenades for the boss.

I'll post stage 4 and 5 comments soon.

AquaTiger

2005-09-19 04:59:35 pm

Never give up!

....insane attention to detail, anyone?

If knowing is only half the battle, I have the feeling that by the time I'm done Mike will have been responsible for between 25% and 45% of the entire run (50% to 90% of the route strategy). Has anyone else had this kind of thing happen to them?

Yoshi348

Edit history:

Yoshi348: 2005-09-20 08:30:53 pm

2005-09-20 08:30:30 pm

dinosaur from the past

I've got a rented copy of 4/5, and I'm still in awe over how you people can do a LEVEL without a CONTINUE in NORMAL, let alone the entire game in hard without dieing once. Then again, I suck ass at button mashing.

Is the final boss's sycthe attack faster/cover a wider area on Hard compared to Normal? Because I could always slide out of the way if I started as soon as the whooshing clouds appeared.

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2005-09-20 10:28:36 pm

2005-09-20 10:27:42 pm

Never give up!

On the part where you're in awe: The way I practiced (and intend to keep practicing) was to set my 'hero' count to 1 in addition to setting the difficulty to Hard right off. That way I could generally get an accurate count of how many deaths I'd suffered in a level by the number of times the continue text showed up, find my trouble spots, and work on those. It also helps if you practice individual levels using the Stage Select rather than working up to them. I still have a little work down the road, yes, but it's getting there.

On the scythe: Quite a bit. If you just slide on Hard, you'll probably get missed by the scythe itself, but the resulting clouds will own you, almost no questions asked. (You might be able to get away with the aid of a few slide cancels, but I don't count on it.)

About half the time (at the very least a quarter of the time), there will be one cloud that goes much higher (and maybe faster) than the others on Hard. That cloud alone is probably the biggest trouble.

On the part where you're in awe: The way I practiced (and intend to keep practicing) was to set my 'hero' count to 1 in addition to setting the difficulty to Hard right off.  That way I could generally get an accurate count of how many deaths I'd suffered in a level by the number of times the continue text showed up, find my trouble spots, and work on those.  It also helps if you practice individual levels using the Stage Select rather than working up to them.  I still have a little work down the road, yes, but it's getting there.

On the scythe: Quite a bit.  If you just slide on Hard, you'll probably get missed by the scythe itself, but the resulting clouds will own you, almost no questions asked.  (You might be able to get away with the aid of a few slide cancels, but I don't count on it.)

About half the time (at the very least a quarter of the time), there will be one cloud that goes much higher (and maybe faster) than the others on Hard.  That cloud alone is probably the biggest trouble.

mikwuyma

2005-09-20 11:14:38 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

The scythe attack is actually easy to dodge. Simply stay all the way to the left or right, then constantly jump towards the other side when the boss pulls his arm all the way back. The hardest attacks are the first two (random fireball slinging, and the rain of fireballs).

I'll post some about mission 4 and 5 later, when I'm not feeling lazy.

AquaTiger

2005-09-22 02:50:03 am

Never give up!

Erm... a bit sorry about leaving this quiet.

I'm still practicing the levels and trying to get to the point where, on five given attempts, I can clear an individual level four times without a single death. Once I can do that for all five levels I'll start talking about recording the whole game run.

Also keep in mind I have a speedrun of another game in the works, and I'm trying to split attention between the two. (Thankfully both are sidescroller-type, even if the other game doesn't require the sense of caution Metal Slug games do.)

AquaTiger

2005-09-24 08:45:25 pm

Never give up!

Wow, Mike's studies must have picked up the pace.

Anyway, I'm probably going to wind up putting the run on a short (like, a couple of weeks at most) hiatus while I finish another run I've been working on (what run? The Jazz Jackrabbit 2 runs). Once the other run is done and on its way (I might mail the tape this time even though I could process it myself, due to limitations on my end), though, expect me to be back on this project.

In the meantime, if Mike manages to find time to post anything, I'd like him to post his comments on my level 4 and level 5 notes.

mikwuyma

2005-09-25 03:40:45 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Actually my semester doesn't start until October 3rd. A combination of doing stuff outside of this forum (OMG noooo) and simply being lazy is why I haven't posted about missions 4 and 5.

Mission 4:

-You are dead on with the grenade pickups, you want ALL of them for the boss.

-Yes there is a heavy machine gun behind that speaker and you want it. It helps kill the enemies slightly faster.

-Yes get the drop shot. This is the one area in any Metal Slug game where the drop shot is actually useful. Collect the drop shot and the grenades, then simply walk right off the ledge. Once you land, crouch and fire drop shots like an idiot. Make sure you have at least 6 left for the bomb roller at the top of the stairs or else it will take a pretty long time to kill it.

-I can't really remember how to get past the area with shield and bazooka soldiers. I do remember it involves jumping and some slight pauses to lure out bazooka shots.

-About the area with the helicopters. The moment you spawn the shield soldiers, walk left and immediately start mashing the fire button. You should have taken care of most of the shield soldiers on the left side (they stop spawning after you kill a bunch) when the first helicopter comes out. Make sure you destroy each helicopter in the middle so you can collect the weapon they drop.

-In the section where you get surrounded by vehicles, go to the right and crouch fire your iron lizard like mad. Then go up the stairs on the left and crouch fire the vehicle on the left. Don't use grenades here, it's not worth it IMO.

Underwater Area:

-When you see a sub to your right use a torpedo. You won't be staying in your submarine for long.

-Yes, there is an area where all you have to do is run into the mines on the right, and you will immediately be granted passage.

-At the bomb pickup, crash your slug and pickup the bombs.

-Killing the jellyfish without dying is just a matter of staying far back and shooting as rapidly as you can.

-At the very end I don't think it matters how many mines you shoot down. I think the squids spawning is a timered event.

Tunnel Area:

-After the first area where you fight a bunch of robots you will want to use a grenade on the first group of three soldiers. I can't remember if you also want to use a grenade on the second group.

-When the mini-tank appears jump on it and start shooting downwards (you should be bouncing off of it while shooting). My memory is a little fuzzy on what else to do in that area.

-The prisoner with the laser should be the fourth one from the right. You should immediately start shooting left once you enter this area or else you'll get hit by a knife.

-Use two grenades for the large flight of stairs. Then once you get up to the top, jump once you pass bya foreground object (I forgot what it was) and shoot your laser. You should kill the two terrorists standing on top of the boxes, and therefore be able to get to the boss without much trouble.

Boss: You should have at least 100 laser ammo and 45 grenades. The first thing you should do is jump right and only collect the bombs. Don't even touch the prisoner with the heavy machine gun. Then go left and make sure you are on top of the the front of the sub (not the very top, and I should probably make a picture of this). Now start chucking all of your grenades into the sub, stop the moment you need to dodge. Collect the heavy machine gun after you have used some laser ammo. Fifty is enough, but the more you can use up the better

-In general stay left, not on the top because it's usually easier to dodge the fire rain on the left and it's easier to shoot the boss/chuck grenades at it. The only exception to this is when the boss emerges almost all the way on the left, you should start moving to the right in this case or else you won't have enough space to dodge the fire rain.

I know my explanation of the boss is not the best, but I can eleborate more if you want. Also, stage 5 strategies coming later.

Actually my semester doesn't start until October 3rd.  A combination of doing stuff outside of this forum (OMG noooo) and simply being lazy is why I haven't posted about missions 4 and 5.

Mission 4:

-You are dead on with the grenade pickups, you want ALL of them for the boss.

-Yes there is a heavy machine gun behind that speaker and you want it.  It helps kill the enemies slightly faster.

-Yes get the drop shot.  This is the one area in any Metal Slug game where the drop shot is actually useful.  Collect the drop shot and the grenades, then simply walk right off the ledge.  Once you land, crouch and fire drop shots like an idiot.   Make sure you have at least 6 left for the bomb roller at the top of the stairs or else it will take a pretty long time to kill it.

-I can't really remember how to get past the area with shield and bazooka soldiers.  I do remember it involves jumping and some slight pauses to lure out bazooka shots.

-About the area with the helicopters.  The moment you spawn the shield soldiers, walk left and immediately start mashing the fire button.  You should have taken care of most of the shield soldiers on the left side (they stop spawning after you kill a bunch) when the first helicopter comes out.  Make sure you destroy each helicopter in the middle so you can collect the weapon they drop.

-In the section where you get surrounded by vehicles, go to the right and crouch fire your iron lizard like mad.  Then go up the stairs on the left and crouch fire the vehicle on the left.  Don't use grenades here, it's not worth it IMO.

Underwater Area:

-When you see a sub to your right use a torpedo.  You won't be staying in your submarine for long.

-Yes, there is an area where all you have to do is run into the mines on the right, and you will immediately be granted passage.

-At the bomb pickup, crash your slug and pickup the bombs.

-Killing the jellyfish without dying is just a matter of staying far back and shooting as rapidly as you can.

-At the very end I don't think it matters how many mines you shoot down.  I think the squids spawning is a timered event.

Tunnel Area:

-After the first area where you fight a bunch of robots you will want to use a grenade on the first group of three soldiers.  I can't remember if you also want to use a grenade on the second group.

-When the mini-tank appears jump on it and start shooting downwards (you should be bouncing off of it while shooting).  My memory is a little fuzzy on what else to do in that area.

-The prisoner with the laser should be the fourth one from the right.  You should immediately start shooting left once you enter this area or else you'll get hit by a knife.

-Use two grenades for the large flight of stairs.  Then once you get up to the top, jump once you pass bya foreground  object (I forgot what it was) and shoot your laser.  You should kill the two terrorists standing on top of the boxes, and therefore be able to get to the boss without much trouble.

Boss:  You should have at least 100 laser ammo and 45 grenades.  The first thing you should do is jump right and only collect the bombs.  Don't even touch the prisoner with the heavy machine gun.  Then go left and make sure you are on top of the the front of the sub (not the very top, and I should probably make a picture of this).  Now start chucking all of your grenades into the sub, stop the moment you need to dodge.  Collect the heavy machine gun after you have used some laser ammo.  Fifty is enough, but the more you can use up the better

-In general stay left, not on the top because it's usually easier to dodge the fire rain on the left and it's easier to shoot the boss/chuck grenades at it.  The only exception to this is when the boss emerges almost all the way on the left, you should start moving to the right in this case or else you won't have enough space to dodge the fire rain.

I know my explanation of the boss is not the best, but I can eleborate more if you want.  Also, stage 5 strategies coming later.

AquaTiger

2005-09-26 07:12:16 pm

Never give up!

I'll try repeating the boss strategy the way I interpreted it, and I'd like for you to let me know if I messed up.

-Collect the grenades from the second hostage.

-Convince the sub to lift, starting the boss fight.

-IMMEDIATELY go to the left, toward the nose of the submarine. Go as low on the nose as you reasonably can without actually falling back to the ground.

-While facing the boss, crouch and unload grenades as fast as possible, stopping only to dodge.

-Once out of grenades, start shooting the laser at it.

-If your laser ammo gets low (around 30 or less), rescue the hostage and get the machine gun (last I checked, that one was Dual, not Heavy) when convenient in terms of safety.

-If the boss should rise while all the way to the left, go all the way to the right.

mikwuyma

Edit history:

mikwuyma: 2005-09-27 01:47:32 am

2005-09-27 01:46:12 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

You pretty much got it right (it is a dual machine gun, don't know why I said heavy), except for what you do when the boss first emerges. You do want to be on the left, but you want to be on top of the nose so that you're right next to this bump (I forgot what it's called). This allows you to throw grenades as fast as possible.

Last set of notes, Mission 5:

The car part is easy, it's just a lot of memorization. I'll see if I can guide you through it with my memory.

-First thing you should do is move all the way to the left, then aim your gun to the right and start firing. You should get rid of some missiles without getting hit doing this.

-Afterwards you'll hit a ramp, it's better hit this early, but not too early or else you won't jump far enough and you will die.

-IIRC, there will be a missile coming from the bottom left after a missile from the top and the middle come through from the left. Simply aim slightly down and to the left to destroy it.

-Now move left again and aim your gun to the right. Once you see the missile on the right side shoot a homing bomb. Most likely when start to jump over the pit the missile won't be destroyed yet, to solve this simply shoot down and to the right when you jump. The missile should be destroyed before you land.

-You should come across another ramp. Again you should hit it fairly early, but not too early or you will die.

-A missile will approach from the bottom left after you land, aim down and to the left again. Afterwards two missiles approaching from the middle right should be traveling left. Simply aim your gun in their general direction before they appear and they should be destroyed before you need to make the jump.

-After you make the jump terrorists on hovercraft should appear. I think you have to kill three sets of them before the helicopter appears. I usually use a bomb (only one) in this area. It's also ok if you take damage here since you should be able to take plenty of hits in this area.

-Make sure you are on the left before the helicopter spawns. This is to make sure the helicopter will spawn on the right, allowing you to use up the rest of your bombs (make sure you're firing the vulcan too) and destroy the helicopter really fast.

I actually take the Spider Walker for two reasons:

1. You mostly have to kill enemies in that area anyways, so there isn't too much time wasted from the slow walking speed.

2. You can collect a shotgun, and preserve it for the next area. Therefore making the next area a lot faster.

I won't go into any specifics on using the Spider Walker except make sure you collect the shotgun along the way (you will have to jump out and get it), and make sure the slug doesn't get destroyed until you complete the area. Also, I don't know if it is actually faster to do this, I never tried a different strategy in the tunnel.

The outdoors area:

First thing you do is constantly jump right until a robot appears from the right, then do this:

shotgun the right side of the screen once,
jump left and shotgun to the left once,
jump right and shotgun to the right three times while crouching,
jump left and shotgun to the left once.

After you complete that sequence you should be able to move on.
I'll post more later, feeling lazy right now

You pretty much got it right (it is a dual machine gun, don't know why I said heavy), except for what you do when the boss first emerges.  You do want to be on the left, but you want to be on top of the nose so that you're right next to this bump (I forgot what it's called).  This allows you to throw grenades as fast as possible.

Last set of notes,  Mission 5:

The car part is easy, it's just a lot of memorization.  I'll see if I can guide you through it with my memory.

-First thing you should do is move all the way to the left, then aim your gun to the right and start firing.  You should get rid of some missiles without getting hit doing this.

-Afterwards you'll hit a ramp, it's better hit this early, but not too early or else you won't jump far enough and you will die.

-IIRC, there will be a missile coming from the bottom left after a missile from the top and the middle come through from the left.  Simply aim slightly down and to the left to destroy it.

-Now move left again and aim your gun to the right.  Once you see the missile on the right side shoot a homing bomb.  Most likely when start to jump over the pit the missile won't be destroyed yet, to solve this simply shoot down and to the right when you jump.  The missile should be destroyed before you land.

-You should come across another ramp.  Again you should hit it fairly early, but not too early or you will die.

-A missile will approach from the bottom left after you land, aim down and to the left again.  Afterwards two missiles approaching from the middle right should be traveling left.  Simply aim your gun in their general direction before they appear and they should be destroyed before you need to make the jump.

-After you make the jump terrorists on hovercraft should appear.  I think you have to kill three sets of them before the helicopter appears.  I usually use a bomb (only one) in this area.  It's also ok if you take damage here since you should be able to take plenty of hits in this area.

-Make sure you are on the left before the helicopter spawns.  This is to make sure the helicopter will spawn on the right, allowing you to use up the rest of your bombs (make sure you're firing the vulcan too) and destroy the helicopter really fast.

I actually take the Spider Walker for two reasons:

1.  You mostly have to kill enemies in that area anyways, so there isn't too much time wasted from the slow walking speed.

2.  You can collect a shotgun, and preserve it for the next area.  Therefore making the next area a lot faster.

I won't go into any specifics on using the Spider Walker except make sure you collect the shotgun along the way (you will have to jump out and get it), and make sure the slug doesn't get destroyed until you complete the area.  Also, I don't know if it is actually faster to do this, I never tried a different strategy in the tunnel.

The outdoors area:

First thing you do is constantly jump right until a robot appears from the right, then do this:

shotgun the right side of the screen once,
jump left and shotgun to the left once,
jump right and shotgun to the right three times while crouching,
jump left and shotgun to the left once.

After you complete that sequence you should be able to move on.
I'll post more later, feeling lazy right now

AquaTiger

2005-09-29 01:11:15 pm

Never give up!

I rest my case when I say you've got an insane capacity for remembering details.

Anyway, yeah, things have been going a bit slow as far as my work on the run goes. School decided it'd pick up on me, and sports practice (I'm on this school's competitive swimming team) starts on the same day Mike's semester starts in earnest. I've been trying to completely finish my other run before that, so this one hasn't seen as much use.

But I'm still confident that two months' practice (maybe even three) can produce a no-death run, even under this tight schedule, since Metal Slug is one of those games that's short enough where you can get several practice runs in a day without much stress. (Like I said before, I'd like to be able to submit this run in December.)

AquaTiger

2005-10-06 12:51:22 am

Never give up!

Okay, here's the verdict.

I plan on resuming work on this run on Monday, October 10, now that my other run has been completed.

I might wind up a little rusty, but so be it.