Checksum: 494156a4799d3c19de58d34917b6def7b15986e1 - Originally recorded using the European ROM; later resynced and edited for use with the US ROM. If your emulator coughs up a "Movie hash does not match game hash" notice, that's why. Trust me, it's fine.
Power Rangers SPD is the last PR game for the GBA, and subsequently the last PR game developed by NDC. No, not NDC as in Ninten...Do... Company... NDC as in Natsume Dream Creator, the development studio of the larger entity named Natsume. The game runs through the first 8 episodes of the show, where
3 Space Patrol Delta members and 2 drafted crooks are recruited as the Power Rangers team of the year, arresting criminals left, right, and center in a near future where humanity somehow managed to co-exist with aliens. This cultivates in a climax where S.P.D. Commander Doggy Kruger returns to the frontlines as the Shadow Ranger. And now to chase after the big bad-- oh the credits are here. Huh.
Unlike most Power Rangers games (But actually quite like Dino Thunder for the same system), each mission assigns you to a specific ranger to control and complete the objective with. Usually, this means "reach the end", but some missions are just built differently. Each ranger has one ability, and one unique power, engaged using the R button. The red ranger can wall jump and phase through attacks and walls (but only while moving), the blue ranger can double jump and summon a forcefield, which can not only block projectiles, but also knock enemies down and deal damage. The green ranger can also double jump, but his power can sense auras, which makes him Lucario useful for tracking things down, which means he actually has a wholly different objective for his missions (Of course, TAS can make him move like he already knows where everything is, so this move is not used at all during the TAS.) The yellow ranger can stop, drop, and roll, completely avoiding damage whether possible. This hurts her speed badly, so it's seldom used. However, she also has the much more used power to duplicate herself, which creates two copies that mimic the player's movement. In real-time playthroughs, it's mainly just used to deal more damage to stronger foes, due to how cumbersome it usually ends up being. However, TAS is able to use this power to all its strength. Meanwhile, the pink ranger can also dodge roll, but has a much more basic super punch for her special move. The shadow ranger, featured in the very last stretch of the game, has all three abilities, and also has a super strike to deal large damage. This isn't used at all... the final boss is 95% of the time way too fast to use in RTA, but also just ended up slower than what I ended up using in the final product.
There's actually more missions than just running forward and fighting when forced to, and I'm not just talking about the lame megazord fights. There's also various vehicle levels, such as Not-Missile-Command, and autoscrolling courses where you race to the scene of the crime. Because both end at specific point, they're generally inconsequential to the grand scheme of things, although pressing R will give you a turbo boost in driving levels. Megazord fights are very brainless in this game, giving you an up-to three-hit punch attack, a heavy kick attack, a block, and an opponent that likes to block way too much... For some reason, the punch attack only registers the last throw that is performed. Strangely, the third punch deals the same damage as the second, so the second punch is the one that ends up being used the most.
When it comes to the levels themselves, there's a few major techniques that are used throughout the run. Of course there's the usual suspects like jumping before a large drop to enter with the most momentum, and damage boosting off of enemy attacks. But unlike Dino Thunder, you don't really get sent flying faster than you would just running, so damage boosts aren't really used on purpose. Although, a quirk both games have is that the recovery for getting hit in the air is shorter than on the ground, so if I have to get hit by a projectile, getting hit in the air is the best way to go. When it comes to fighting enemies, the worst thing to happen in a speedrun is to have them get knocked down. You have to wait for them to get back up just so you can hit them again, which is really tedious, and can add up quite a bit. The red ranger's kick attack is seldom used, as a result, since without fail, it will do just that. Other rangers' air attacks don't exhibit this behavior, which means you can lead an attack with one, and then only have to deal three ground hits instead of four, dealing with them just a bit quicker. One other technique that dawned on me at one point was to just... not... finish... the combo. ...It took me until Episode 5 to figure that out the first time around. Yes, for enemies that are too strong for just one four-hit-combo, you can just stop at the third hit before restarting, to keep them from getting knocked down before it's their time. This basically humiliates every boss, as once they leave an opening, they get stunlocked into absolute oblivion. It's also worth noting that every boss from Episode 2 on will have countermeasures against simply trying to run up to them. However, as you can see in the TAS, if you dodge these, there's a small window where you can hit them back before they go for a second countermeasure, sealing their fate for good.
feos: Claiming for judging.
feos: Oh and fixed the movie header.
despoa: Processing...