Submission #6660: Geinuhayst's GBA Mega Man Zero 3 "100%" in 1:02:47.71

(Link to video)
Game Boy Advance
100%
VBA-rr v23.6
225036
59.7275005696058
69867
Unknown
Megaman Zero 3 (U).gba
Submitted by Geinuhayst on 3/20/2020 9:46:28 AM
Submission Comments
This movie is 4953 frames (or 1:22.55 if 60fps) faster than the previous 100% TAS by Rolanmen1. At the end of game, save data shows that the in-game time is 00:26'20

Movie features

  • Recorded with VBA-rr 23.6
  • Aims for fastest 100% completion
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Uses death to save time
  • Luck manipulation

About the movie

Same as the previous movie, 100% completion here means obtaining all disks, sub-tanks and all ex-skills.
The JP version of the game has a faster dialog speed than the US version. However, in the gameplay part, they have nothing different. So I still used the US version.

About the game

Weapons

Zero has a arsenal of four weapons, which are -
  • Buster Shot: Can easily deal with weak enemies and flying enemies from a distance. Also highly used due to its ability of manipulating luck.
  • Z-Saber: The most powerful weapon but can cause a pause of 4 frames and a delay of enemy's death. Usually used to fight against tough enemies such as a boss in the run.
  • Recoil Rod: Used for special purposes such as breaking or pushing obstacles, eliminating specific foes and climbing.
  • Shield Boomerang: Not used.

Ex-skills

There are total 12 ex-skills can be learned. To learn one, you have to get an S or A level (average ≥ 85p) at the end of stage.
Compared with the previous TAS, I abandoned Burst Shot since it is more likely to raise the possibility of lag than save time, on the other hand, I activated Soul Launcher because it can save lots of time in Gigantic Elevator.

Tricks

You can make [-2,2]px (due to your current position) shift of your horizontal position by climbing on a wall. I abuse this trick at the top of some walls to perform a slight boost. Notice that you can always get a 2px shift when your first time climbing on some obstacles.
Dashing towards a wall pushes Zero backwards. I found this useful for saving time in many situations.
When climbing onto the top of a ladder, press A to skip the climbing animation and land immediately. It's very useful for a fast climbing with Recoil Rod beacause you can ignore the delay time after performing a charge jump and climb on a ladder.
Buster Shot normally has a 5 frames delay after a shot but it can be changed by doing specific moves. The shortest delay time is 2 frames.

Stage comments

Derelict Spacecraft

I had done a huge amount of luck manipulation in first three stages to get enough EC for upgrading my cyber elves. Besides, climbing part and boss fight were all improved.

Weapon Regeneration Factory

Saber Smash is a powerful ex-skill for boss fights. In order to learn it as early as possible, I chose this level as the opening. Moreover, I got the first cyber elf Biraid as preparation for final boss fight. In the boss fight, I performed a trick of cancelling charge attack, which was performed in the next stage of any% run, and saved several frames.

Aegis Volcano Base

A really heavily luck manipulating part. Here I got my second cyber elf Clokkle and obtained enough EC. Also, fire body chip is needed for the collections in the next stage.

Old Residential Section

This run uses the same route as the any% run and I chose this route for the same reason.

Maritime Highway Ruins

The way of climbing underwater is different from normal climbing.

Missile Factory

Though Buster Shot don't have a pause while hit, I didn't use it because it lost more time to switch Zero's weapon twice. In the boss fight, They were manipulated to get close so that I could hit them at the same time.

Ice Frontline Base

In the second half of the stage, ladder climbing trick was frequently used. In the boss fight, cancelling charge attack trick was introduced and saved frames successfully.

Forest of Anatre

I found the way to get on the branch at left side as soon as the beginning of the stage so that I got the No.063 secret disk very quick. At last, thanks to the active of boss, which cancelled triple slash by destroying the block beneath Zero and caused his own faster death.

Twilight Desert

There is not that much to say about this stage.

Area X-2

A climbing stage. I had to collect disks while climbing so I found this part more challenging. Uses Recoil Rod to fight against boss will be faster but Buster Shot is needed for next stage.

Snowy Plains

There is a point that visually only 3 Shellcrawlers are killed but the disk shows. You may be confused because the disk shows only when you have killed 4 Shellcrawlers. In this run, I performed a trick to respawn the first Shellcrawler outside the screen and let the "Skate Boy" killed it again. In mid-boss fight, Buster Shot was used in order to avoid the pause by attacking with Z-Saber.

Energy Facility

Strategy was changed at the conveyer part and saved some time.

Gigantic Elevator

Maybe the hardest part of this run. The whole elevator part was improved greatly due to the use of Soul Launcher and improved mid-boss fight strategy.

Sunken library

Reflect Lazer was first used in the run. Its usefulness is far beyond my imagination.

Sub Arcadia

If jump onto the spikes to kill yourself just like the previous TAS, Zero will revive in the teleport room to the Phantom fight and have to go pass a gate. However, I found that if you commit suicide at the start of the next part. You get a better reviving point. So while waiting for Petatria to become vulnerable, I took some hits on purpose to lower my HP by 6. Then in the Phantom fight I received 8 damage, which means only 2 hit points left. Zero was easily killed by a bullet and respawned at the exact point I want.
The boss fight is a little bit confusing because the dialog after defeating boss has a strange showing time but I still figure it out.

Underground Laboratory

I changed the strategy of boss rush part over and over again to get the most satisfacting result. Here is a tip that the dialog of defeated boss only shows up after Zero lands but a boss's explosion happens after the death animation. The final boss fight is also improved.

Thanks to

  • hellagels, for his providing many helps about my run, encoding the movie and his any% run.
  • Rolanmen1, for his 100% run.
  • McBobX, for his 100% run.
  • klmz, for his advice of improvement.
  • alxeusxiao, for his advice of improvement.
  • AND YOU!

feos: Full completion, as it's defined in this branch, has been verified. I also checked every level, and this movie is faster in every segment. Nice job, accepting over the current 100% run.
Dacicus: Processing...
Last Edited by adelikat on 11/3/2023 12:09 AM
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