This movie syncs with other USA version ROMs as well. The only difference is the caution message on the save menu which doesn't appear on a non-Rev 0 ROMs.
This run improved the published TAS by 1497 frames (24.91 seconds). Unfortunately, the movie doesn't have any notable route changes compared to the previous attempt. All the improvements come only from better optimizations. New routes using recorder warping were planned with multiple possibilities, but I decided that not all of them could be realized. You'll need to get the recorder early to make full use of the glitch, but level 5 is too far away in terms of location, and the amount of keys it takes to complete level 5 is very high. If you visit there before collecting the magical key, it will be noticeably slow as you will have to detour some rooms due to lack of keys. Still, I think it's an impressive achievement to see this run improved by almost 1500 frames over previous run.
Problems with defining "all items"
I don't think these objections need to be handled anymore, as the previous run have already been published without issues, but I want to get its problems straight. Because there may still be audiences asking the same question. Some viewers after watching the run could say:
1. You didn't collect the yellow boomerang, white sword, and blue ring.
2. You didn't collect all the keys, secrets that the old men told, secret rupees, etc..
These arguments arise because the game does not officially provide a collection rate. Games that offer a collection rate, such as Metroid Zero Mission, or Donkey Kong Country, can indisputably define the criteria for "Full Completion". For games that do not provide it, however, players have no choice but to arbitrarily discuss on the standard. The same goes for this game. When a run is submitted with such an ambiguous goal, the feedback of audiences plays a big role in the judgement, as far as I know. The previous author, TASeditor decided which items to be included in "all items" as follows, which was agreed by most of the audience:
- All heart containers
- All maps
- All compasses
- Letter
- 16 bomb upgrade
- Bow
- Silver arrow
- Magical boomerang
- Ladder
- Raft
- Recorder
- Magical sword
- Red candle
- Magical bracelet
- Magical rod
- Magic book
- Magical key
- Red ring
- Bait (bought twice)
- Red potion
- Big shield
Yellow boomerang, white sword, and blue ring, since all of these items have a corresponding higher item, the audiences were contented with the condition that the highest one can replace the lower one.
Some had argued that you should collect all the keys of the Underworld, all the secrets of old men, all the secret rupees of the Overworld, and even finish the game with having 16 bombs and 255 rupees. But the opinion was refuted, as the movie would be boring if it was actually done that way. Imagine going back to the rooms to replenish for 1 rupee of the final blow to Ganon. Almost all viewers would not want such a process, and so do I.
Level comments
Level 3
There are both compass and map on the way to the raft room and Triforce room, so it is very similar to any% run. 21 frames faster with better rupee picking and boss fight. Dungeon visits in the order of 3, 4, 1. On the way from level 4 to level 1 there is a shop selling big shields and baits cheaply, so reset the game after completing level 3 and gamble to win 255 rupees before visiting.
Level 4
Swap with blue candle before complete the level since we have to visit the shop. Saved 128 frames with better optimization.
Level 1
Link is currently equipped with a candle when entering level 1. 1 key from Stalfos holding, and 1 key from immediately after swapping the blue candle for the bomb and resetting the game to revisit the level, saving a total of 2 keys. This strategy is very useful as Link needs to use bombs to progress through level 1. We still need a lot of rupees because have some items to buy, so collect blue rupees from Stalfos drops to make us gamble less in the future. Gathered an extra 5 rupee and 2 frames lost.
The heart container here is located far away from level 1, so it's wise to reset the game and visit it. The fact that the secret rupees on the next screen here and level 8 are close to each other is also a big plus.
Level 8
The main reason to visit level 8 early is the magical key. Once you obtain this, you no longer need to collect extra keys, avoiding unnecessary room clears that drop keys as a reward. 49 frames faster with more damage boosting and optimizations.
Level 2
Likewise, collected 11 rupees from snakes because I wanted to reduce the number of gambling. In the magical boomerang room, I went through the bombed wall instead of the door on the left, took the free bomb and saved 151 frames to avoid refilling the bomb from the enemies.
Level 2 to Level 5
The delay that shows around 15:06 is not a mistake. That terrible gambling luck forced Link to wait around 40 frames, and in short, this was the intended scene. About 500 frames were saved with one less gambling.
Level 5
The secret entrance strategy is about 110 frames faster.
Resetting the game after obtaining the recorder will empty 10 lives. This means that you lose a lot of time if you don't recover enough life until you complete the level, so I came up with a new strategy using fairy counters (0x0627). It's a game system where if you kill 16 enemies without getting hit, the 16th enemy will give fairy as a bonus. Since its value increases immediately when the enemies die, multiple fairy can be dropped at once.
1 bat when leaving the bomb upgrade room + 6 blue darknuts + 3 bats in the basement + 3 gibdos + 1 red darknut in the compass room = kill 14 enemies total, and finish 2 red darknuts with bombs to restore 6 lives as 2 fairies. My attempt to forgo damage boosting and complete the level with full-life is about 199 frames faster (including exit animation skipping).
Level 5 to Level 7
Get to level 3 by blowing with the recorder without restarting the game to prevent losing lives. This secret entrance is the same idea as the new strategy for entering level 8, is possible because the structure inside the sub-screen shares some of the structure of the Overworld.
Level 7
The bait is an essential item to progress level 7. It is consumed once you feed Goriya, so we'll need to buy another one before completing the game. 47 frames faster with more damage boosting.
Level 6
Lost a few frames in the wand room because we started with 1 less bomb, but gained a total of 85 frames again thanks to other optimizations.
Level 9
Frequently swinging a sword in the Patra fight can be good for entertainment, but it's probably better to deal damage to many targets at once with the least amount of blades. 226 frames were saved.
Special thanks to TASeditor. His attempts have inspired and helped me a lot, and also gave me a little feedback on my WIP. The overall route he had planned was so perfect that I couldn't find anything that could be changed.
Samsara: Judging!
Samsara: Absolutely fantastic work! Accepting as an improvement to the published run!
EZGames69: Processing...