Posts for Darkman425
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Posted: 2/3/2023 6:30 PM
(Edited: 2/3/2023 6:36 PM)
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
Posts: 247
Location: Texas
SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
Got around to watching this submission. Review: I can confirm that this run and the improvement file sync for me. This run was used for comparison: [1736] GBA Wario Land 4 "Hard" by andymac in 40:04.88 The big question that probably needs answering is how to handle this Normal difficulty submission compared to Hard difficulty. The main changes is that enemy and item layouts are changed, generally with more and/or tougher enemies and some different gem pieces. For the most part, Normal has the gem pieces closer to the "critical path" to the frog switch compared to Hard. Watching this submission and andymac's publication shows that in a lot of the stages the changed gem locations make for different routing approaches and solutions needed for game completion. For the most part Normal difficulty leads to faster times but there are a few places that Hard ends up faster (assuming I watched them right), notably Pinball Zone and Hotel Horror being genuinely faster on Hard. On a macro level the major time differences is due to gem locations, although the increase enemies do speed up some rooms on Hard thanks to making faster setups. That being said, this submission for shared sections either meets or beats the sections that don't really have differences between Normal and Hard difficulty. This is noticeable with boss fights and the entirety of Golden Passage. 12 years makes for more understood tech, making the execution tighter overall. Thus my final opinion is that Normal and Hard difficulty TASes are different enough that they can be published alongside each other due to these changes, and that an improvement to Hard difficulty would obsolete the current Hard difficulty publication. There's also the unlockable Super Hard difficulty which also changes enemy and item layouts as well as force Wario to start at 1 HP every stage which can also be considered its own branch if/when that's ever done since damage boosting is a substantial part of both Normal and Hard difficulty TASes.
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Posted: 1/28/2023 7:00 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
You know the game engine has problems when the credits sequence demos desync as bad as they do. Yes vote! Still somehow not the worst Genesis to GBA conversion that I know of, somehow.
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Posted: 1/25/2023 6:24 PM
(Edited: 1/29/2023 5:40 PM)
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
Got around to watching this run. Here's my review of this TAS: There are a couple of minor things that bother me though they probably only save frames rather than seconds and minutes:
  • When turning around on the ground, Samus can shoot to reduce the frames of the turnaround animation which saves a very minor bit of frames. This is most noticeable after picking up some of the items in the run.
  • There were a few instances where the morph ball bounces when landing from a great height that seem preventable here and there but I'm not completely certain there's a way to prevent all of those.
Otherwise the optimization seems pretty solid overall from my understanding of the GBA Metroid games. I can't say for certain if the route is completely optimal but being over 6 minutes faster IGT than the 100% world record as of this post seems like it's pretty solid as well. It would help if the author did expand their submission notes to have info about the routing choices, as it would definitely help out with understanding the run. EDIT: For this run to sync, this requires the version 1.1 patch of the hack. There's a checksum mismatch and desync shortly after the first boss when replaying this movie with the version 1.0 patch.
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Posted: 1/24/2023 10:10 PM
(Edited: 1/24/2023 10:23 PM)
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Making the first thread for the Flash subforum with one of the 2000s frustration platformer games along with its (somewhat as of this post) recent sequel. The links to the dev's page don't have any 3rd party Flash player so you can't play them in browser, sadly. 人生オワタの大冒険 / The Big Adventure of Owata Link to the game on the dev's website. One of those old flash games that was the genesis of the masocore genre of platformers, Owata was the game that inspired a lot of the design of I Wanna Be the Guy. IWBTG in turn inspired the original dev, King Soukutu, to finish the original Owata. I sadly have never seen any videos of all routes and bosses out there, but I do know taking the bottom route and beating the boss does earn a Rush Jet-like item. It'd be interesting to see this get fully routed out and TASed, especially if the secret super hard difficulty that removes all checkpoints is selected. 人生オワタの大冒険2 / The Big Adventure of Owata 2 Link to the game on the dev's website. This one was made before the end of Adobe's support of Flash as a whole and is about that very topic. This one much shorter and mostly easier. Part of that is because of the expectation the player is already in on the joke of designed rudeness for comedy. This one does have recorded speed runs out there for folks to see how the game is played and done. There's also a helpful in-game timer that can be enabled in the options. SRC board for Owata 2.
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Posted: 1/21/2023 7:35 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Amazed how the Habs find new ways to blow it.
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Posted: 1/21/2023 10:47 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
One of the things that never gets brought up by almost everyone is that print cutter can also hit the final boss when he's close enough to the screen. This also has lower boss i-frames on use but I don't know if that's enough to match the damage pace of the power bomb.
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Posted: 1/17/2023 6:40 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Location: Texas
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Perfectly normal sled driving here. (Does not know anything about motorsled riding.) Yes vote!
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Posted: 1/15/2023 7:00 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Difficulty mainly changes where items are located in stages. which does include the gems. Difficulty also affects starting health for a stage, with higher difficulties giving less.
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Posted: 1/10/2023 7:21 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Nice work! The only notable thing I found for this game was that the knockdown times seemed to vary a bit with RNG. That doesn't seem to matter for just getting the win condition as soon as possible but it would be relevant for a maximum score run where depleting every use of each trap would be the main goal.
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Posted: 1/9/2023 9:02 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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I had to re-verify some tech with playing the game again. The puzzle pieces count as collected even if you die in a stage. This means both potential to make the dead end stages faster by getting the collectables then dying rather than finishing the stages, and the possible problem of routing out where to get extra lives to burn to end stages faster. I haven't seen this mentioned here so I don't know if that was common knowledge or not. There's also the factor of each world having a key but the last one is unnecessary since they're only used for unlocking worlds, from what I remember.
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Posted: 1/8/2023 10:12 PM
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Darkman425
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It's worth mentioning that the ROM hack is available at RHDN here.
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Posted: 1/4/2023 3:01 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
Posts: 247
Location: Texas
SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
My picks for Sega TASer nominations: The8bitbeast He always brings some high quality Sega TASes and this year is no exception. aiqiyou Though normally someone I see as an NES TASer, he brought some fantastic TAS work to Sega consoles as well. Neat of him to branch out.
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Posted: 1/2/2023 5:34 PM
(Edited: 1/2/2023 5:36 PM)
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Hmm. Considering that there's 9 waves in a loop, that would by my estimate mean that there's a good 4-5 seconds that can be done better. I'll take another hard look at this in the future to see how much further I can push this down.
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Posted: 1/2/2023 5:48 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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A couple of Sega TASes I want to nominate: [4580] Genesis Barney's Hide & Seek Game by Samsara & Spikestuff in 04:54.51 You wouldn't think it but this has one of the more fascinating cases of managing a whole bunch of lag in a seemingly simple game. [4913] Genesis DecapAttack by EZGames69 & Sonikkustar in 19:26.22 Watching a grotty looking Vic Tokai platformer finished up swiftly is pretty satisfying.
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Posted: 1/2/2023 5:23 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
A couple of lucky TASes I'd like to nominate: [4778] SNES Wario's Woods "Round Game" by PoochyEXE in 31:20.84 Manipulating 100 rounds of pretty inscrutable levels is a tough ask, and this TAS delivers on solving that as swift as possible. [4834] INTV Tower of Doom "The Fortress" by Winslinator in 00:12.55 This takes a very short amount of time manipulating a whole bunch of important factors needed to finish the game in seconds. Also worth reading to get a detailed breakdown of the sequence of events happening since it's a pretty amusing sequence.
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Posted: 1/2/2023 12:45 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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A few SNES TASes I want to nominate: [4637] SNES F-Zero by nymx in 39:30.36 F-Zero is a complex game, and it's nice to see a full TAS to completion. The use of a brute forcer to find the best route really shows with how inhumanly tight some of the driving is. [4735] SNES The Lion King by EZGames69 & SBDWolf in 11:22.99 It's nice to see this incredibly mean game get demolished with glitches to get past chunks of levels. [4778] SNES Wario's Woods "Round Game" by PoochyEXE in 31:20.84 This is one I feel gets overlooked since it's an inscrutable puzzle game. The RNG involved for getting the right colors and combos makes for a mesmerizing watch for the entire run for me. I'd recommend it if you like weird puzzle games being dominated.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 9:03 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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My picks for Nintendo 3D TASer nominations: Natetheman223 He makes incredible TASes of 3D Spider-Man games which are pretty complex. Lobsterzelda I like the work that he put into the pretty lengthy Star Fox Adventure TAS. Pontus Their work on the Network Transmission is pretty cool, with all the routing and planning needed to make it fast.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 6:29 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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The Nintendo 3D TASes I'd nominate: [4925] Wii Donkey Kong Country Returns by TheRandomMaster, SpeedyTheHedgehog & Jaiden in 1:25:02.95 No crazy glitches, just some solid platforming action throughout the TAS. Even during downtime there's little actions that keep things entertaining. [4963] Wii Spider-Man: Edge of Time by Natetheman223 in 1:11:17.42 Spider-Man TASes are always really fun when it comes to crazy movements and tricks. This one is no exception with a lot of precise web swinging throughout, especially out of bounds. [4999] GC Mega Man Network Transmission by Pontus in 47:47.62 This is a fine TAS with a lot of consideration in routing and planning. This not being typical Mega Man platforming, the battle chip and upgrade management is carefully considered to get through this as fast as possible.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 3:48 PM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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My picks for Atari TAS of the year: [4717] A2600 Warlords by ShesChardcore in 00:00.28 Set it, and forget it! It's fascinating how the AI somehow doesn't handle the player not doing anything as bad as it does. [4803] A7800 Knight Guy in Low Res World: Castle Days by MrTASer & Samsara in 12:44.75 A neat homebrew platformer with some neat tech get through it all. [5007] A2600 Othello "maximum score" by negative seven in 01:37.84 The process of making this TAS is definitely worth a read, especially for checking out Othello AIs and the process of finding the fastest solution across hundreds of thousands of possible solutions.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 6:24 AM
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Darkman425
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I got a couple of Atari TASer nominations: ShesChardcore The sheer number of Atari TASes, with a mix of well known to obscure and forgotten, makes this an easy nomination choice, MrTASer He did a few TASes of homebrew Atari games, which are pretty neat.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 2:32 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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The exotic TAS nominations that I got: [4585] PICO8 CELESTE Classic by FlyingPenguin223, RichConnerGMN, cominixo, ikuyo, Meep, Snoo23, gonengazit, Lord Snek, Akliant, Beeb, Warspyking & RoundUpGaming in 01:42.77 A whole team of TASers working together to get this one as optimal as possible with lots of swift movement throughout. [4819] Arcade Super Contra "1 player" by Clicher in 05:38.85 It's Super C, but on the arcade and weird! Doesn't change that this is still solid running and gunning. [4829] WSWAN Makaimura for WonderSwan by enderpal7 in 22:10.54 This one fell on the wayside but I found this one neat. Just some solid platforming through an unforgiving game.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 2:23 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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I got a few GBA TAS nominations: [4636] GBA Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance "Juste, Boss Rush, Hard" by Tarion in 05:01.34 Juste going ham on all these bosses in no time is a fun flurry of numbers until the bosses explode. [4780] GBA Dark Arena by tapioca in 04:55.48 I always commend GBA developers that risk trying to make 3D games on the system. This one is a pretty neat looking FPS in the vein of Doom, including the whole "going out of bounds" thing to finish levels even faster. [4815] GBA Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend by M1D in 20:36.13 This is a well crafted movie of a neat platformer. It's kind of like watching a Bruce Lee movie but supercut to just the action parts.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 1:58 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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I'm filled with caffeine and here to nominate my homebrew TASes of the year: [4589] NES Böbl by EZGames69 & ikuyo in 03:31.45 A short and sweet Metroidvania that has some neat tech. A short and sweet TAS of a short and sweet game. [4984] MacOS Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void by rythin in 07:59.83 This game might seem like a joke. Though it kind of is, the production values with regards to presentation and gameplay design make it interesting. The TAS shows off what makes this game genuinely neat to play.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 1:11 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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Location: Texas
SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
I'm gonna preface this with the fact that reading Samsara's nominations from last year really spoke to me. Giving kind words to newcomers genuinely does encourage them to come back to do more work, especially if they were on the fence like I was. The 2022 wave of rookie TASers coming out with the revamped site means that there are a lot of newcomers of various but great skills for making TASes. I'm gonna split my nominations into digestible categories. Absolute volume and breadth of games:
  • ShesChardcore
  • MarioAtWork
These two newcomers showed off a whole lot of TASes this year. More interestingly, they showed off a lot of games that usually don't have that mainstream appeal that would've gotten those games notice. Whether they were old and forgotten games from decades ago, or indie homebrew games that simply doesn't have the outreach to get popular recognition, these two give those games a chance to show themselves off with a neat TAS for others to see. Record keepers of extremely high level tech:
  • benstephens56
  • Cadit
  • DeathKontrol
  • M1D
  • Pontus
These five newcomers have submission notes that are extremely detailed and helpful. So much information on display that would help out not only anyone curious bout what's going on under the hood after watching the TAS, but also information that would help future TASers looking to improve those to have in a nice, handy location to use. If there's one pet peeve of mine, it's the problem of tech that gets used in places but is either inadequately explained or, much worse, never explained or written down in an easily accessible place. These five make some incredibly helpful TAS notes that are incredibly technical, detailed, and helpful for understanding how the games they TAS work. That research definitely shows in their great TASes. For love of the hobby:
  • MrTASer
  • LogansGamingRoom
These two newcomers show some genuine enthusiasm to me with regards of making TASes. While they've proven themselves to be pretty good at TASing, I expect them to stick around improving their craft and bringing some great TASes in the future.
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Posted: 1/1/2023 12:28 AM
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Darkman425
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Joined: 9/19/2021
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SNES TASer of 2023 Sega TASer of 2022 GBA TASer of 2022
My nominations for ROM hack TAS of the year: [4694] NES Super Orb Bros. "all orbs" by Mizumaririn in 09:17.07 The new mechanics introduced by the hack get pushed to their limits even beyond the original hacker's intentions. Mizumaririn shows off their incredibly high level knowledge to show that even precisely designed Kaizo type hacks can have some impressively unintended solutions. [4994] NES Rockman 2: Basic Master by CUI in 18:25.33 The new weapons and items demonstrate just how dangerous it is to give players, especially TASers, the tools to just do zips almost whenever in Mega Man 2. cui has a strong grasp of fundamental Mega Man 2 physics as well as exploiting all the quirks of the new weapons to zip past huge chunks of the game.
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