SDA "Mark II" Speedrunning Tourney (ALL CLEAR)

JaggerG

Edit history:

JaggerG: 2009-02-19 12:12:53 am

2009-02-18 09:03:59 pm

Jumping Turtle

You can slash at him using your up-slash, but he still does the electric boogaloo if you do. As far as I can tell you can only attack him as he attacks you, and your options are either the grappling hook for half a heart of damage and no stars or the death rattles for half a heart of damage and four stars each (or specials that cover the screen). I'm pretty sure everything including specials only do half a heart of damage to every boss. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, as that could save a grip of time if I could do anything more per hit. He's my least favorite boss, I think, as he's only vulnerable after so many frames of not provoking him. >_<

EDIT: Oh man, I just figured out the method to get the chest I couldn't get before in level 3, above all those fire spitting statue heads. I suppose a 100% run can be done in this game, if you count all the chests. I'm gonna randomly guess it's about 1:15, but I'm not gonna try it any time soon. A lot of these are freakin' tough.

Also Break, yeah, that vampire miniboss is almost as bad as the red mage, and that route isn't really that much shorter than mine I'm pretty sure. Other than that, though, any other route changes or boss strategies you had in mind?

-My strategy for the rock eye is kind of questionable because I can't actually hit him until those things fall off (or can I?) and once they fall I'm still bombing. Perhaps I should just use one magical bombu and grapple the rest of them off?

-Four-face has really odd patterns that I can't seem to figure out. He sometimes uses his beams and things directly across from me, but other times he attacks from the top of the screen. I can't figure out a reliable method to get him to the ground once I kill him, because they die faster the closer they are to the ground.

-I don't really understand Overdrive Ostriche's hitboxes, but I guess I'm not supposed to touch his feet as he's moving or something. O_o I think I do okay against him though.

-Red Mage: Ugh. There is no better strategy, really.

-Anyone: can any boss take more than half a heart of damage to a certain attack? I haven't really tested thoroughly at all.

EDIT EDIT: 38:25 - JaggerG - ALL
I originally thought it had been much more sloppy right after recording, but apparently it had been my best run yet. I recorded the zmv from ZSNESv1.35

You can slash at him using your up-slash, but he still does the electric boogaloo if you do. As far as I can tell you can only attack him as he attacks you, and your options are either the grappling hook for half a heart of damage and no stars or the death rattles for half a heart of damage and four stars each (or specials that cover the screen). I'm pretty sure everything including specials only do half a heart of damage to every boss. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, as that could save a grip of time if I could do anything more per hit. He's my least favorite boss, I think, as he's only vulnerable after so many frames of not provoking him. >_<

EDIT: Oh man, I just figured out the method to get the chest I couldn't get before in level 3, above all those fire spitting statue heads. I suppose a 100% run can be done in this game, if you count all the chests. I'm gonna randomly guess it's about 1:15, but I'm not gonna try it any time soon. A lot of these are freakin' tough.

Also Break, yeah, that vampire miniboss is almost as bad as the red mage, and that route isn't really that much shorter than mine I'm pretty sure. Other than that, though, any other route changes or boss strategies you had in mind?

-My strategy for the rock eye is kind of questionable because I can't actually hit him until those things fall off (or can I?) and once they fall I'm still bombing. Perhaps I should just use one magical bombu and grapple the rest of them off?

-Four-face has really odd patterns that I can't seem to figure out. He sometimes uses his beams and things directly across from me, but other times he attacks from the top of the screen. I can't figure out a reliable method to get him to the ground once I kill him, because they die faster the closer they are to the ground.

-I don't really understand Overdrive Ostriche's hitboxes, but I guess I'm not supposed to touch his feet as he's moving or something. O_o I think I do okay against him though.

-Red Mage: Ugh. There is no better strategy, really.

-Anyone: can any boss take more than half a heart of damage to a certain attack? I haven't really tested thoroughly at all.

EDIT EDIT: 38:25 - JaggerG - ALL
I originally thought it had been much more sloppy right after recording, but apparently it had been my best run yet. I recorded the zmv from ZSNESv1.35

Attachment:

Magical Pop'n (J).zmv

Metal Dream

2009-02-19 12:10:42 am

A winner is you!

Finally managed to complete it but there's a lot of place for improvement

51:58 - Metal Dream - All

Breakdown

Edit history:

Breakdown: 2009-02-19 05:07:58 am

2009-02-19 04:03:39 am

Haters gonna hate

Thanks for the route advice JaggerG.

36:15 - Breakdown - ALL

This went well for the most part, but there were a few truly dumb mistakes. I plan to keep trying, I think a time in the 34s is realistic for the week.

Replay for SNES9X v1.43 v13

JaggerG

2009-02-19 07:15:51 am

Jumping Turtle

It keeps desyncing for me the first time you use the grappling hook. :^(

groobo

2009-02-19 09:39:14 am

boss

Just fyi: I made a run back when the first speedrunning tourney took place and the time was 32ish without any risky strats and such.

Zealie

2009-02-19 10:55:02 am

Well my second (and most likely last) attempt:

1:06:17 - ZaibirQuild - ALL

It was actually my third attempt since I died too much the 2nd time I had to use a continue. Almost died too much again, but picked up 6 of those heads (most of the time without even wanting too, ah well.)
I'll leave this game to the ones who practiced a bit.
Dieing at the end boss costs a lot of time Sad

It's actually quite an easy game, the bosses are extremely easy, had more trouble with the flying blue mage thingy (stage 6) then the end boss. I died at the end boss because I didn't know yet how to kill his first form and had taken too much dmg figuring it out Sad

JaggerG

2009-02-19 11:41:30 am

Jumping Turtle

Hah, ironically for speedrunning I find the blue mage to be the easiest. But yeah, the final boss is like a three minute battle. It's not crazy hard or anything, though. Also, I had a run that almost got 44, then got a game over right before the very last hit. That level took about 11 minutes. >_<

Man, I really gotta think up some better strategies. I probably have like 3 minutes of route or strategy changes to make if I hope to even catch a glimpse of 32.

AquaTiger

2009-02-20 08:27:18 pm

Never give up!

I won't have much chance to play for the rest of the week and I just want to put a basement score on to show I actually played, so:

21:05 - AquaTiger - Stage 2

You don't get much more pitiful than that. About two-thirds of the time spent was on the second stage alone. I'll say it now for those who don't know - even though I've run a few of them, 2D platformers are not a strong suit of mine.

Enhasa

2009-02-20 09:57:28 pm

everybody wanna tell you the meaning of music

Ok, I wanted to beat Breakdown but I suck and also I didn't get to spend nearly as much time as I wanted this week (lame excuses, I know). I can see how groobo has 32, there's a ton of room for improvement (I'm guessing sub30 but I dunno). Keep in mind groobo death abuses by default, and you can roll really aggressively if you feel like it.

36:43 - Enhasa - ALL

Breakdown: I watched your smv, I guess most of what I would say, you already know. Mainly to roll more (you can do little shortcuts in places by rolling up spikes for example). Also this is really minor, but it's helpful to sword bounce a lot more in general, like when you're dealing with uneven terrain.

I had a lot of specific ideas when I was playing this before the first speedrunning tourney, but the one I especially remember is this one really neat trick. It's too bad it doesn't save more time but whatever, it's badass. In stage 6, after that one miniboss, there's this room where you have to hit this switch halfways up the left side, then go around the right to the door above on the left. What you can do is, after you hit the switch, you can use the grappling hook magic (the one that lets you move around with spikes coming out) and use the invincibility to ride up the spike block like an elevator. Looks like this:

Ok, I wanted to beat Breakdown but I suck and also I didn't get to spend nearly as much time as I wanted this week (lame excuses, I know). I can see how groobo has 32, there's a ton of room for improvement (I'm guessing sub30 but I dunno). Keep in mind groobo death abuses by default, and you can roll really aggressively if you feel like it.

36:43 - Enhasa - ALL

Breakdown: I watched your smv, I guess most of what I would say, you already know. Mainly to roll more (you can do little shortcuts in places by rolling up spikes for example). Also this is really minor, but it's helpful to sword bounce a lot more in general, like when you're dealing with uneven terrain.

I had a lot of specific ideas when I was playing this before the first speedrunning tourney, but the one I especially remember is this one really neat trick. It's too bad it doesn't save more time but whatever, it's badass. In stage 6, after that one miniboss, there's this room where you have to hit this switch halfways up the left side, then go around the right to the door above on the left. What you can do is, after you hit the switch, you can use the grappling hook magic (the one that lets you move around with spikes coming out) and use the invincibility to ride up the spike block like an elevator. Looks like this:

[img]http://enhasa.quandra.org/popn_stage6.png[/img]

JaggerG

2009-02-21 12:10:47 am

Jumping Turtle

>_< that thought never crossed my mind. although it may be a couple seconds faster to use my really tough method of jumping and using the roll up there.

Breakdown

2009-02-21 04:08:27 am

Haters gonna hate

Death abuse, eh?

35:17 - Breakdown - ALL

One intentional death because I can't find anywhere else that makes sense to die. This run is far from perfect but it doesn't have much in the way of big mistakes. Really, outside of screwing up one of the timed rooms in level 4 there wasn't anything in the levels that cost me more than 5 seconds or so. Some of the boss fights could've been better certainly, and there's a bunch of little mistakes here and there. Did get three double hits on the last boss though, so this won't be too easy to top for me (I have no method for it, just swing and hope). I can see how a 32 is possible, but I don't think I'm going to get there this week. I will probably play some more though, so we'll see what happens.

I'm recording replays every time I play, so whatever my best time ends up being will get youtubed at the end of the week. If anyone wants the movie file early, just ask.

groobo

2009-02-21 04:19:21 am

boss

Actually I don't remember death abusing anywhere in the run.

JaggerG

2009-02-21 06:07:05 am

Jumping Turtle

You said you use snes9x version 1.43, right? Let me see if your latest playthrough syncs. The problem may be in the settings or something though.

Normand Nubcake

2009-02-21 06:11:31 pm

33:56 - Normand - ALL

JaggerG

Edit history:

JaggerG: 2009-02-23 02:23:31 am

2009-02-22 01:26:31 pm

Jumping Turtle

~~35:25 - JaggerG - ALL~~

I got one double hit on the final boss. >_< Slightly better timing and I could have had you there, Break. I made a ton of really minor mistakes, though, and I missed the shortcut in the timed thunder spike room like four times, and for the fourth and fifth level I had been dangerously close to running out of stars, but that luckily never caused a problem. I had pretty good boss fights, though. I still don't understand the face boss, but I found that he tends to stay on the bottom more often if you're on the left side for some reason. It had gone a bit faster.

EDIT: This is really interesting. As you guys time it, do you do so manually, setting a timer as soon as you move and stopping it as soon as you deal the last hit, or do you record smvs and approximate the frames, then divide by 60 for your time in seconds? Assuming it's the latter, I just managed to finally beat Break getting just under 35:11. I also took the liberty of manually timing the replay just in case...and it came out to 35:16.

No deaths, I think I got three double hits on the final boss, and had like three or four big mistakes throughout the run I considered resetting for. Break, even if you're done in this game for a long time, I think you should check it out nevertheless. Some of my rooms, especially in the first level, are like a second faster and are really lenient. I also got some really good boss fights (mixed in alongside a couple really bad ones). Most of those I think I can get consistently. Four-Head has been doing that pattern the last four or so playthroughs, so I think I'm on to something there. Also I noticed you didn't manipulate the knights as much as I do. As long as you hit them across the screen, then stand at the edge and don't even attack until you get closer, so they only do that attack. And the peahat...it really LOOKS like you can get three hits off of him but I never can. Maybe if I use the beam as the first and second strike? :^/

[s]35:25 - JaggerG - ALL[/s]

I got one double hit on the final boss. >_< Slightly better timing and I could have had you there, Break. I made a ton of really minor mistakes, though, and I missed the shortcut in the timed thunder spike room like four times, and for the fourth and fifth level I had been dangerously close to running out of stars, but that luckily never caused a problem. I had pretty good boss fights, though. I still don't understand the face boss, but I found that he tends to stay on the bottom more often if you're on the left side for some reason. It had gone a bit faster.

EDIT: This is really interesting. As you guys time it, do you do so manually, setting a timer as soon as you move and stopping it as soon as you deal the last hit, or do you record smvs and approximate the frames, then divide by 60 for your time in seconds? Assuming it's the latter, I just managed to finally beat Break getting just under 35:11. I also took the liberty of manually timing the replay just in case...and it came out to 35:16.

No deaths, I think I got three double hits on the final boss, and had like three or four big mistakes throughout the run I considered resetting for. Break, even if you're done in this game for a long time, I think you should check it out nevertheless. Some of my rooms, especially in the first level, are like a second faster and are really lenient. I also got some really good boss fights (mixed in alongside a couple really bad ones). Most of those I think I can get consistently. Four-Head has been doing that pattern the last four or so playthroughs, so I think I'm on to something there. Also I noticed you didn't manipulate the knights as much as I do. As long as you hit them across the screen, then stand at the edge and don't even attack until you get closer, so they only do that attack. And the peahat...it really LOOKS like you can get three hits off of him but I never can. Maybe if I use the beam as the first and second strike? :^/

Attachment:

Magical Pop'n (J).smv

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2009-02-23 09:28:35 am

2009-02-23 07:01:48 am

Never give up!

Alright, I've gone ahead and logged those times, and I'm about to set up the info for the week 3 game, Jackal.

JaggerG: I used the larger of the two times you stated in the paragraph.

Edit: Jackal's all set up, and submissions for Magical Pop'n are CLOSED at this time.

Metal Dream

2009-02-23 05:12:13 pm

A winner is you!

Man, Jackal is one awesome game with a kickass soundtrack (even though it's very short)
I expect this week to be a mega war!

JaggerG

2009-02-23 05:19:49 pm

Jumping Turtle

Hang on...Normand got third in pop'n? I'm confused.

AquaTiger

2009-02-23 06:46:29 pm

Never give up!

Ooh, glad you caught that. I somehow read that as a 35 and not a 33 like I should have.

Fixed. I hope I got the leaderboard adjustment right....

JaggerG

2009-02-23 09:46:01 pm

Jumping Turtle

The year of release implies it, but should you mention NES in the post just for completionalism?

JaggerG

Edit history:

JaggerG: 2009-02-24 05:14:14 pm

2009-02-24 04:50:35 am

Jumping Turtle

...Yeah, this game freakin' sucks.

I made it up to the final boss and it's freakin' tough to hit. I probably managed to hit it like eight times using like three lives. The later levels require you to play nearly frame perfectly just to squeak by unscathed in several parts throughout the game, and if you get hit once, you go back to the shitty ass grenades. The last level doesn't even have upgrades (except for one, but I can rarely actually get it, and it's even crappier than the grenades).

I think I managed to reached the last level before I had to use a continue, but I'm just not sure I can beat the game. Much less on one continue. I'm probably eventually gonna do it, and if I don't time it I could just say xx:xx or something. Until then, it's a race to level six, guys. :^/

EDIT: Just reached the final boss, then lost my last life at 28:59. -_-

AquaTiger

2009-02-24 06:22:17 pm

Never give up!

3:47 - AquaTiger - Stage 2

I figure the bigshots are taking forever getting JUST the right run, so I figured I'd post a time now just so the standings for this week don't remain empty.

As far as powerups. Full or bust. I can safely say you NEED at least the level 2 rockets (in other words, the ones with extra explosions horizontally) for the second boss to go smoothly. Other than that, if you lose a life (and decide not to restart your run based on that), forget about getting a powerup unless you know you can get a second one quickly. Grenades may be a bit slower ordinance, but they bypass barriers more easily than level 1 rockets (which can matter sometimes).

JaggerG: I hesitated on making the time hinted at in the edit to your post an official one. I can extrapolate if you remember how long it took to get from the start of stage 6 to the point you cite.

JaggerG

2009-02-24 08:10:44 pm

Jumping Turtle

Honestly I can't give you an estimate at all because of the FREAKING TURRETS but I plan on beating my time so it doesn't really matter I guess. I think I might actually be able to beat the game in one continue after several days of practice.

As for the Level 2 boss, the horizontal explosions are definitely a major plus, but not exactly necessary for a smooth enough run. You can scroll a couple of the heads off the screen, and the rockets go PAST you if you stay against the pillars and move to the side.

Speaking of scrolling things off screen, you can sometimes avoid creating the potholes in the final room if you scroll the turrets or their fire off screen. It needs more testing, but really it doesn't make that huge a difference against the final boss

JaggerG

2009-02-25 04:03:15 pm

Jumping Turtle

Okay I did it.

27:38 - JaggerG - ALL

Lost about as many lives as I farmed for. I'm probably gonna go for sub-25.

X

2009-02-25 07:45:04 pm

destroy them with lazers

29:34 - All - X

Done it but I could have gone alot faster. I'm a bit defensive on this game to much shit always flying at me.