Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/DeathValleyRally.html
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally (Any %) (Single Segment)
Verifier Responses
Decision: Accept
Reason: There are some significant errors, but it's better than the run on the site. I do encourage the runner to try to improve this, though.
Congratulations to 'Lenophis'!
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally (Any %) (Single Segment)
Verifier Responses
Quote:
The runner gains control at 0:19 and loses control at 24:00 so I'd estimate the time as 23:41.
Episode 1: Zippity Splat
At the boss he slips off the platform and hits the cacti, though considering how hard controlling Road Runner's momentum (and trying to stop in general) can be it's amazing it took this long for that to happen.
Episode 2: Rock n' Rivet
Around 4:58 the runner misses a jump that costs around 7 or 8 seconds. On the boss he misses a few pecks at the boss' weak point costing a second or two.
Episode 3: Train Runnery
In the second section the runner misses a tricky jump around 8:55 and dies. Eight or so seconds from that death.
Around 9:59 in the third section the runner misses another jump and dies, though it looks like this was intentional to get some energy back and launch higher off the giraffe.
Episode 5: Quantum Beep
Note: I can't overstate just how unforgiving this series of stages can be.
The runner struggled a bit with some rather tight platforming from 19:35 on. At 21:32 the runner dies after altering the route to avoid getting hit, costing a little over 20 seconds. At 23:36 the runner misses the jump to the top of the boss which costs another 10 seconds.
Overall the runner does a solid job avoiding enemies or using the speed boost's invulnerability to go through Wile E. Coyote. Considering how sluggish the controls are and that despite how he looks when jumping, Road Runner won't land on anything unless the center part of his body is over it, the platforming is done pretty well. Also, the runner makes sure to drain the energy meter before the end of every level to save a little time on the Energy Bonus.
There is definite room for improvement, but in spite of that one unfortunate mistake in the fifth episode I'll say Accept.
Episode 1: Zippity Splat
At the boss he slips off the platform and hits the cacti, though considering how hard controlling Road Runner's momentum (and trying to stop in general) can be it's amazing it took this long for that to happen.
Episode 2: Rock n' Rivet
Around 4:58 the runner misses a jump that costs around 7 or 8 seconds. On the boss he misses a few pecks at the boss' weak point costing a second or two.
Episode 3: Train Runnery
In the second section the runner misses a tricky jump around 8:55 and dies. Eight or so seconds from that death.
Around 9:59 in the third section the runner misses another jump and dies, though it looks like this was intentional to get some energy back and launch higher off the giraffe.
Episode 5: Quantum Beep
Note: I can't overstate just how unforgiving this series of stages can be.
The runner struggled a bit with some rather tight platforming from 19:35 on. At 21:32 the runner dies after altering the route to avoid getting hit, costing a little over 20 seconds. At 23:36 the runner misses the jump to the top of the boss which costs another 10 seconds.
Overall the runner does a solid job avoiding enemies or using the speed boost's invulnerability to go through Wile E. Coyote. Considering how sluggish the controls are and that despite how he looks when jumping, Road Runner won't land on anything unless the center part of his body is over it, the platforming is done pretty well. Also, the runner makes sure to drain the energy meter before the end of every level to save a little time on the Energy Bonus.
There is definite room for improvement, but in spite of that one unfortunate mistake in the fifth episode I'll say Accept.
Quote from ktwo:
First of all, nice touch by whoever encoded the verification copy (a roadrunner themed statid).
Second of all, thanks to the runner for working on this game. A good speedrun of this game looks highly impressive. The speedrun potential is very high. I hope the game will get some more attention.
Now let's get to the actual verification. The runner has clearly worked up the skill in this game. The levels that are done well look awesome. Unfortunately, there are a number of major mistakes in this run:
- Unintentional death in 2-2. 8 seconds lost.
- Unintentional death in 2-3. 13 seconds lost.
- Missing a jump and having to jump back up (at around 20:00). 7-8 seconds lost.
- Unintentional death in 5-3. Around 40 seconds lost.
- Missing a jump on the last boss. Around 10 seconds lost.
(For information, the missed jump in 2-2, at around 5:00 doesn't matter. The platforms are on a timer and the runner would have had to wait later on anyways.)
Other than the major mistakes (I drew the line at 5 seconds lost), there are a number of minor mistakes as well (some close to 5 seconds).
I know this game is tough (anyone who wants a true challenge on the snes, try to beat this game without a walkthrough or save state practice etc) and some more leeway than many other runs of this length (20-25 min) is justified. However, while the potential is there, this was just not the run (for sda). There is no way I can recommend anything other than a
REJECT
(And yes, I know this beats the shit out of the current sda run. However, that was made in a different era and under different conditions. For example, I don't think Votava used emulator save states and he had no other runs or tas to compare the route with. Votava deserves cred for what he did, but beating his time doesn't really say anything by today's standards.)
(To the runner, if you're unhappy with my recommendation and want to canalize your anger against something other than an anonymous verifier, I might just as well say that this is ktwo.)
Second of all, thanks to the runner for working on this game. A good speedrun of this game looks highly impressive. The speedrun potential is very high. I hope the game will get some more attention.
Now let's get to the actual verification. The runner has clearly worked up the skill in this game. The levels that are done well look awesome. Unfortunately, there are a number of major mistakes in this run:
- Unintentional death in 2-2. 8 seconds lost.
- Unintentional death in 2-3. 13 seconds lost.
- Missing a jump and having to jump back up (at around 20:00). 7-8 seconds lost.
- Unintentional death in 5-3. Around 40 seconds lost.
- Missing a jump on the last boss. Around 10 seconds lost.
(For information, the missed jump in 2-2, at around 5:00 doesn't matter. The platforms are on a timer and the runner would have had to wait later on anyways.)
Other than the major mistakes (I drew the line at 5 seconds lost), there are a number of minor mistakes as well (some close to 5 seconds).
I know this game is tough (anyone who wants a true challenge on the snes, try to beat this game without a walkthrough or save state practice etc) and some more leeway than many other runs of this length (20-25 min) is justified. However, while the potential is there, this was just not the run (for sda). There is no way I can recommend anything other than a
REJECT
(And yes, I know this beats the shit out of the current sda run. However, that was made in a different era and under different conditions. For example, I don't think Votava used emulator save states and he had no other runs or tas to compare the route with. Votava deserves cred for what he did, but beating his time doesn't really say anything by today's standards.)
(To the runner, if you're unhappy with my recommendation and want to canalize your anger against something other than an anonymous verifier, I might just as well say that this is ktwo.)
Quote:
1-1: Good
1-2: Very nice
1-3: Not perfect, but still good
1-B: Good
2-1: Imperfect, but quite well played
2-2: First very costly-looking mistake on a fall, but ktwo notes this doesn't matter.
2-3: Good
2-B: Wasted a few seconds, but non-awful
3-1: Really quite nice altogether
3-2: Oh nooooooo, dead early. A couple of bobbles late in the level too.
3-3: Oh nooooooo, dead again. Decent recovery.
3-B: Fun bit of showing off here, about as fast as can be expected on what plays like an auto-scroller, came close to missing a bomb or two, but pulled it out.
4-1: Mistake near the end costs several seconds. Stupid controls, stupid hard game.
4-2: Error near end slows down RR a bit.
4-3: Another costly couple mistakes near the end.
4-B: Lost a few seconds on missing the pecks on the engine and getting shot to the ceiling once. Relatively disappointing world overall.
5-1: Pretty good all things considered, but could be a few seconds faster.
5-2: Very good, the bounce to get to the first 14 transporter is the move of the game for me.
5-3: Some bad play early, a pretty good middle and then some bad play late compounded by a death.
5-B: Costly missed jump.
It’s either 23:40 or 23:41, I’d say.
Man, I don’t know whether to accept this because it’s a sight better than what’s on record or reject because so many mistakes and hope the runner tries again (I know how unforgiving this game can be regarding jumps and momentum and I know that a lot of tight jumps were executed very nicely here). I will give it a very, very tepid ACCEPT and see how the final verifier leans.
1-2: Very nice
1-3: Not perfect, but still good
1-B: Good
2-1: Imperfect, but quite well played
2-2: First very costly-looking mistake on a fall, but ktwo notes this doesn't matter.
2-3: Good
2-B: Wasted a few seconds, but non-awful
3-1: Really quite nice altogether
3-2: Oh nooooooo, dead early. A couple of bobbles late in the level too.
3-3: Oh nooooooo, dead again. Decent recovery.
3-B: Fun bit of showing off here, about as fast as can be expected on what plays like an auto-scroller, came close to missing a bomb or two, but pulled it out.
4-1: Mistake near the end costs several seconds. Stupid controls, stupid hard game.
4-2: Error near end slows down RR a bit.
4-3: Another costly couple mistakes near the end.
4-B: Lost a few seconds on missing the pecks on the engine and getting shot to the ceiling once. Relatively disappointing world overall.
5-1: Pretty good all things considered, but could be a few seconds faster.
5-2: Very good, the bounce to get to the first 14 transporter is the move of the game for me.
5-3: Some bad play early, a pretty good middle and then some bad play late compounded by a death.
5-B: Costly missed jump.
It’s either 23:40 or 23:41, I’d say.
Man, I don’t know whether to accept this because it’s a sight better than what’s on record or reject because so many mistakes and hope the runner tries again (I know how unforgiving this game can be regarding jumps and momentum and I know that a lot of tight jumps were executed very nicely here). I will give it a very, very tepid ACCEPT and see how the final verifier leans.
Quote:
Accept
Decision: Accept
Reason: There are some significant errors, but it's better than the run on the site. I do encourage the runner to try to improve this, though.
Congratulations to 'Lenophis'!
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