Mighty Bomb Jack (NES)

ktwo

Edit history:

ktwo: 2013-09-09 02:56:34 pm

ktwo: 2013-09-09 02:55:08 pm

2013-09-09 02:53:34 pm

I've been speedrunning this game lately. I just finished a normal ending run and plan to start routing best ending as my next step. I haven't even gotten the best ending casually, so it might take a while before I'm ready to make attempts though. In the meanwhile I'll just submit the normal ending run. I also wanted to mention that I have started to write down some information about the game in the knowledge base:
https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Mighty_bomb_jack_(nes)
Anyone familiar with this game is of course welcome to share their knowledge there (or in this thread).

Edit: The end parenthesis doesn't seem to want to be included in the link above. You'll have to add it yourself.

Thread title:

Dragondarch

2013-09-09 05:58:36 pm

Pudding%

I know Sn64 was working on MBJ a while back. Dunno if he still is, but I think he's got a few videos linked on his twitch page...

http://www.twitch.tv/sn64

SN64

2013-09-10 10:07:24 am

Yes, I did indeed run this once upon a time, but I haven't touched it in awhile. That's partly because I got times I was fairly happy with, partly because there was no one else interested in taking up the game at the time, and partly because my laptop sucks too much to stream these days. My best Any% time is a 7:43 in my Twitch highlights somewhere, and my best Best Ending% time is a 13:31 and is uploaded to my Youtube channel (both timed from pressing Start on title screen to transitioning to the ending screen): http://www.youtube.com/user/OmegaRed64/videos

Note that both of those are on the NA version of the game. There are version differences between NA and JP that have a very small impact on the Any% run and a very large impact on the Best Ending% run.

The only other evidence I'd seen of anyone running this game beforehand is this JP RTA wiki: http://www40.atwiki.jp/niconamarta/?cmd=word&word=%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF&type=normal&page=%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF

Finally, once I completed my NA version Best Ending% run, I wrote up a (probably overly) detailed walkthrough of the route I used, complete with some numbercrunching on when I could use jump presses during Jack's various coin-activated powered up states. Here's a pastebin with those notes in it: http://pastebin.com/07ArcRhT

Yes, I did indeed run this once upon a time, but I haven't touched it in awhile.  That's partly because I got times I was fairly happy with, partly because there was no one else interested in taking up the game at the time, and partly because my laptop sucks too much to stream these days.  My best Any% time is a 7:43 in my Twitch highlights somewhere, and my best Best Ending% time is a 13:31 and is uploaded to my Youtube channel (both timed from pressing Start on title screen to transitioning to the ending screen): http://www.youtube.com/user/OmegaRed64/videos

Note that both of those are on the NA version of the game.  There are version differences between NA and JP that have a very small impact on the Any% run and a very large impact on the Best Ending% run.

The only other evidence I'd seen of anyone running this game beforehand is this JP RTA wiki: http://www40.atwiki.jp/niconamarta/?cmd=word&word=%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF&type=normal&page=%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF

Finally, once I completed my NA version Best Ending% run, I wrote up a (probably overly) detailed walkthrough of the route I used, complete with some numbercrunching on when I could use jump presses during Jack's various coin-activated powered up states.  Here's a pastebin with those notes in it: http://pastebin.com/07ArcRhT

ktwo

2013-09-10 02:39:34 pm

Hi, I actually watched a normal ending run from you. It was pretty well played, but I assume you know that the routing could be improved here and there. The run I'm submitting is 6:57 (sda-timing) and there is still a bit of room for improvement. I plan to take a look on your best ending run (and notes) once I've had the time to play around with the category myself.

I will also take this opportunity to mention that I have completed what I intended to put into the knowledge base for this game (for now).

SN64

2013-09-10 05:43:34 pm

Yeah, I always figured there were probably better routing options even for the Any% run, and I also never completed another Any% run after learning that holding down makes Jack fall slightly faster, so that would've helped shave some time, too. I'll be looking forward to checking out that Any% run of yours and seeing how much you destroy my Best Ending% run by.

Bismuth

2013-09-10 10:17:57 pm

Worthless categories WR master

I know I have beaten the game with some noob ending fairly recently (in college, 2 or 3 years ago) and that this game is much more difficult than it looks at first glance. I would be interested in seeing speedruns of it but I can't do it myself since my NES is dead. I was playing on a girl's NES in college so now I don't quite have the option to do so anymore.

ktwo

2013-09-25 02:06:43 pm

Just a quick update. I have been trying a bit to lower my time for the normal ending run. I've had a couple of good attempts, but one of the later rooms (13) is tricky to get right and has killed off the good attempts reaching that far.

I've mostly played around with the best ending though. I literally got the best ending on console for my first time ever today. I guess there are easier ways to get the best ending than my speedrun route, but whatever... I got a time of ~12:32 (sda-timing). With my route, it could go as low as 12:15, but that's from adding times from when I routed the game on emulator. The run I got today had a couple too many mistakes so I hope that I can cut off a few seconds more at least. If I don't get a better run before my normal ending run is ready to be verified, I might just send the one I got so there is something for the best ending as well (provided it passes verification of course).

Bismuth

2013-09-25 07:52:27 pm

Worthless categories WR master

I saw there was a run in need for verifiers so I applied.

ktwo

2013-09-26 11:44:35 am

I appreciate it Bismuth. It's good to see that there is an interest in this game. I think the game could have been really fun to play normally, but it's just horribly designed. So I'm not surprised this game never got much praise. It's not too bad for a speedrun though, which also eliminates some of the annoying things with the game (finding all the secrets, no continues etc).

jeffsledge

2014-02-06 08:54:24 am

Some folks over in Japan have been running this game recently, as you can see in the RTA wiki link above.
Takenoko just uploaded this recording of a 10:26 warpless bad-ending:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm22830416

ktwo

Edit history:

ktwo: 2024-05-16 10:40:13 am

ktwo: 2024-03-07 11:28:26 pm

ktwo: 2024-03-04 04:46:32 am

2024-02-27 08:29:07 am

I've started playing this game again. Better solutions for almost every room has been developed since my run that is currently published on SDA and there is now also a proper TAS for this category. My pb right now is 6:31 (https://vimeo.com/917142297), which is 26s better than the hosted run. I'm not too far off what I consider to be an acceptable run, but I need at least one more improvement before I'm there. After that, look into the best ending again, but one thing at a time...

Edit (290224): 6:30 (https://vimeo.com/918037826). A few big mistakes, so I will still keep going.
Edit (070324): 6:26. Not perfect, but I will stop here and plan to start working on the best ending category when I'm ready.
Edit (160524): The guide in the knowledge base has been updated with the current knowledge for the any% route.

ktwo

Edit history:

ktwo: 2024-11-05 07:16:24 am

ktwo: 2024-11-05 07:16:06 am

2024-10-31 12:50:10 pm

I'm back with this game again, but this time working on the best ending run. A lot of improvements have been found since my current run that's on the game page (12:06). Too many to list. My current pb has come down to 11:32 (from today), but there is one major mistake that I don't like to see in a final run. With today's pb, I at least hope I'm on the final stretch for getting a run I'm happy with.

My pbs since the current SDA-run:
11:41 (11th of Aug -24) - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2221430581
11:38 (20th of Oct -24) - https://vimeo.com/1025214276 (offline attempt)
11:32 (31st of Oct -24) - https://vimeo.com/1025214932 (offline attempt)

Edit (5th of Nov -24): New pb today, 11:29. Again in an offline attempt. I will stop there and submit this run.

ktwo

2024-12-07 12:57:53 am

I'm doing a final effort in this game by getting back to the any% run. I have around 1.5s of better strats to help me lower the time (current SDA-run 6:26) and my movement has also improved a little since I played this category earlier this year. I'm currently down to a pb of 6:22. There are a couple of (fairly minor) mistakes. I will try a bit more and see if I can get a better time. Otherwise I might settle with my current pb.

My pbs since the current SDA-run:
6:24 (1st of Dec -24) - https://vimeo.com/1036966178 (offline attempt)
6:22 (6th of Dec -24) - https://vimeo.com/1036966366 (offline attempt)