Submission #4550: Jigwally's NES Othello in 00:26.42

Nintendo Entertainment System
baseline
FCEUX 2.2.2
1588
60.0988138974405
25
Unknown
Othello (U).nes
Submitted by Jigwally on 1/16/2015 8:15:34 PM
Submission Comments
  • Aims for the fastest time
  • Manipulates luck
A black victory in 9 turns is the fastest possible game of Othello/Reversi. I accidentally discovered this route in a casual run. Manipulating opponent moves is simply a matter of waiting an extra frame or two.

Nach: All of us who have played Othello often have been in one of those games with a new player, where the game was completed in just a few moves like this. There's nothing particularly interesting or novel about what happens in this run, and the move list used in the run can be found on many Othello websites. There's not much to be said regarding mastery over an intentionally crippled AI player either.
In order for a TAS to become publish-worthy, it must stand out from normal play. What is happening in this run isn't particularly different from a normal player playing against a particularly poor (or tired) player, nor necessarily any different to a player playing this port without TAS tools.
Board games which are inherently random, like Monopoly, which has dice roles, it's easy to see how luck is manipulated for a perfect game, thus differentiating from typical play. However, there is no inherent randomness in Othello, and any randomness used in a video game port is to choose between some limited moves. In this run, the moves chosen are particularly awful, and can happen to a regular player playing this game on such an easy difficulty setting.
Since there is nothing here occurring which supplies true entertainment value, or even anything out of the ordinary, this is not a run which portrays TASing mastery over regular game playing, rejecting.
Last Edited by adelikat on 10/12/2023 5:28 PM
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