Hello, this is DarkShamilKhan here. Back with another TAS. Well, not specifically entirely by me. This is an improvement over Our previous TAS, done by rodonic01, done on Bizhawk! A little back story, after I saw the reviews on our Sonic 2 100% TAS. Which.. kinda demotivated me and ended up not even doing a TAS at all. And also when I saw there was a Sonic 2 all emeralds TAS by DDRKhat that I never knew it existed to be honest with you. I wished that I did my research before sending that TAS.
I'm guessing due to my demotivation and how rodonic01 saw the unoptimized parts of the TAS. rodonic01 took the matter in his hands and made this TAS into reality. And thanks to him and bunch of my friends, I may eventually come back to the TASing scene. Now with all of that said. Please enjoy, this new TAS of Sonic 2, collecting all the emeralds! And the True/Good Ending of the Game!
Description
This run of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 consists of collecting all the Emeralds and getting the true ending (with Super Sonic). Also consists of Few times saves in some zones and beating the previous times. This run also finds new gltiches and zips that were never seen in previous runs.
Game objectives
- Contains speed/entertainment tradeoffs
- Aims for in-game time instead of real-time
- Takes Damage to save time
- Forgoes time-saving glitches
- Genre: Platform
Now, before I say anything. Just to clarify, we used inputs from the Previous Movie by Aglar and Zurggriff. Credits go to them for the movie inputs as well. You may ask, why 100 percent of Sonic 2. This game never had a TAS of 100%. So me, Shiro Paradox and rodonic01 decided we should do a 100 percent TAS of it.
Times
These are the times that were improved from the previous TAS.
| Levels | New Time | Old Time |
|---|---|---|
| EHZ1 | 0:33::36 | 0:42::36 |
| EHZ2 | 0:57::56 | 1:06::00 |
| CPZ1 | 0:13::31 | 0:13::31 |
| CPZ2 | 0:30::44 | 0:31::58 |
| ARZ1 | 0:12::50 | 0:12::50 |
| ARZ2 | 0:27::16 | 0:27::16 |
| CNZ1 | 0:18::57 | 0:19::32 |
| CNZ2 | 0:36::52 | 0:36::52 |
| HTZ1 | 0:23::45 | 0:23::45 |
| HTZ2 | 0:38::04 | 0:38::32 |
| MCZ1 | 0:22::12 | 0:22::12 |
| MCZ2 | 0:32::11 | 0:32::11 |
| OOZ1 | 0:16::42 | 0:16::42 |
| OOZ2 | 0:28::58 | 0:28::58 |
| MZ1 | 0:24::25 | 0:31::16 |
| MZ2 | 0:12::22 | 0:12::22 |
| MZ3 | 0:32::38 | 0:32::38 |
| SCZ | 2:05::56 | 2:05::57 |
| WFZ | 1:27::21 | 1:33::30 |
| DEZ | 0:40::29 | 0:40::29 |
General Information Relevant To The Submission
The following information is not new to speedruns of this game, rather, it is here for convenience.
- The game has a hidden in-game timer that counts the frames. It does not increment during lag frames or while the game is paused.
- On horizontal ground, Sonic will lose speed when rolling. While holding forward when running, Sonic will maintain speed. When traveling down slopes, Sonic accelerates faster while rolling than running. Transitioning from rolling to running is done by jumping or falling off the ground.
- Sonic will lose horizontal speed if the vertical speed is upward and less than 4 pixels per frame. This is avoided when possible by jumping from slopes that give Sonic a downward vertical speed or by bumping a ceiling.
- Spindash release speed is controlled by how many times the buttons A, B, or C are pressed and how long the spindash is held before being released. The first button press sets the held spindash speed at 8 pixels per frame. Subsequent button presses raise the speed by 1.5 pixels per frame and each frame the spindash is held lowers the speed by 1/32 of the held speed value. The range for spindash speed is bounded to a minimum 8 pixels per frame and a maximum of 12 pixels per frame and the release speed only occurs in increments of 1/2 pixel per frame. Thus, it takes 6 button presses to release a maximum speed spindash.
- Zips occur when Sonic is inside solid terrain. The game ejects Sonic at speeds up to 32 pixels per frame in the opposite direction that Sonic is traveling. This is useful for performing a level wrap but is also good for just going fast.
- Special Stages have a little thing in them, they have lag frames in them. The devs added lag frames because if there were no lag frames in the special stages, you wouldn't control Sonic/Tails properly and the special stage would move fast. They also changed the aspect ratio of it as well. Special Stages can be improved by jumping, this causes less frame lags.
Stage By Stage Comments
Emerald Hill 1
(Commented by rodonic01)
Here in Act 1, I got a few things I have to say. There are lot of different routes I could have chosen, but the fastest and the most suitable route was the one I chose. This is the fastest and most optimized route and ring planning I chosen.
After getting the first emerald, I head towards the speed monitor to gain and maintain my speed, then bouncing on Masher while Tails collects rings. This route was optimized as it should and it is the fastest way to get to the 2nd checkpoint. With that out of the way, we'll just slide our way to get the 2nd emerald.
Now the 3rd checkpoint; this one was the most optimized route DSK did. There are 2 routes, the loop de loop one and the above the loop one. The loop de loop one was 5 to 6 seconds slower due to the ring placement and not enough rings to get to the checkpoint. The other route that DSK choose here had a better ring placement (meaning it had few ring boxes), now that it's faster than DDRKhat's loop de loop route, I've decided to improve the above the loop one. Now that the 3rd emerald has been collected; We can now finish the stage as normally.
Emerald Hill 2
(Commented by rodonic01)
The route DDRKhat originally choose to begin with had more rings (about 3 to 2 rings). But by the power of 2 players, DSK managed to get Tails to get extra rings in the bottom path of the level, where the speed shoes monitor is placed, and instead of reaching the checkpoint from bottom and above the loop de loop, I decided to reach the checkpoint from floating platform, but reaching the checkpoint earlier, Sonic can't land on the platform, instead he falls down by speed and he has 2 seconds to reach there...
After getting the 4th emerald, I choosed the DDRKhat's route with power of 2 players, unfortunately Tails can't collect rings off-screen, and if he touches an object like bridge off-screen, he'll instantly dissappear.
After getting the 5th emerald, DSK headed towards the left, where DSK was greeted with few rings and a ring monitor. After getting the monitor and passing the loops with great epic ness; DSK was once greeted with 2 pathways. If DSK chose the upper path, he would have more rings but reach the checkpoint late, but if he chose the bottom path, he would have less rings but reach the checkpoint early. That being said, he choose the bottom path because yes. But wait; he is 3 rings less than to get the stars to appear. No problem, I'll use Tails to get the 3 rings that were on the bridge near the checkpoint since he destroyed Masher to save Sonic from losing rings.
After getting the 6th emerald, I immediately took the top path as it had plenty of rings, while using Tails for more rings. After getting the required amount of rings, we get the checkpoint, enter the special stage and finish to get the very last emerald.
Now Sonic can be Super Sonic. But we wont use Super Sonic for now as we have to beat the first boss.
Chemical Plant 2
This zip was found by CubbyCubbyCat at the Classic Sonic Speedruns, they found out that it is possible to get a time save in this zone by going to the top path and using the blocks to make Sonic upwards and being at the very edge of it to get to the zip area. Forgot to mention, that part doesn't crush you. So after that investigation, Tee-n-Tee found an even better route and it was insane to begin with. There is a part of the level that is slightly open and that part, you need to make the game to think that you're on the top path instead of the downwards. With that in mind, the loop section would be open and you'll be able to go in that area without the wall stopping you. With that 2nd clip done, there is a 3rd clip that you have to do very precisely. Basically you have to go to the loop and make the angle where you're going to the right with sufficient speed, then you can or have to clip through the loop and meet in a ground where you'll find emptiness. With the right speed and subpixel (I believe subpixel is included), you can clip through the wall/block and reach the boss. This trick saves a lot of time. Done by Tee-n-Tee!
Casino Night 1
Now, this strat was found by Joeybaby69 over on CSSs and he found out that you zip through the end of the stage by going to that position and ducking down. Whilst ducking down, make sure you jump at the right moment with the right subpixels. Other wise, you'll either die by the blue block, or you'll die at the bottom of the stage or you'll get stuck. This strat is pretty easy and tough at the same time. Me and Kaan55 got the same time :D. rodonic01 made is interesting by using the second controller! Nice.
Hill Top 2
Now, this was an interesting strat convered by JoeyBaby69. Which saves a bunch of time in Hill Top 2. A little insight on how sonic 2 and sonic 1's path and collision switching works. Now, Sonic 2 has a little thing called Path Switching. Which is used for going to one chunk to another. In sonic 1, that wasn't really the case, since as soon as you go through a loop, the games code does that by switching the chunks with another identical one but with different collision. Sonic 2 however, doesn't use that and can't do that due to its chunk size (being 128×128). It basically does this, if you come from the left layer to the right. The right chunk(s) would be solid. And vice versa.
Enough of that bullcrap. I wanna tell you how this strategy was found. After Sonic glitches through the loop. Essentially the game thinks we're still on the left side and we haven't crossed the layer yet. That way, the upcoming wall doesn't have any collision in it. With right timing by hitting the badnik, we can then go to the upper path and proceed the level normally. No need for that extra time by going to the upper route and coming back down. Ew gross. But yeah, done by rodonic01!
Metropolis 1
This strat was again found by Joeybaby69, he found out that, you can get at the very last pixel of the crushers and stand on it. With that in mind, if you duck and make the camera pan down and as soon as the crusher is about to go up, quickly jump on it or walk on it at the very last pixel. And while the camera is moving in the Vertical Position, you now have slope glitch and you can now jump and go downwards to the path where the curve section is and zip through the level with great ease. Done by me. Additional 2nd player inputs by Rodonic01!
Sky Chase
Honestly I don't even know how Shiro got 1 frame time save from it. Maybe because of Super Sonic, which we now used only in this zone.
Wing Fortress (with Super Sonic)
The TAS starts off as per usual. The Sonic Spindashes and goes through the level. Dodges a few stuff here and there, while collecting 50 rings for Super Sonic. However, you may notice when he bypasses through the Giant Fan or propeller with his Super form, the player pauses the game for a few seconds or frames, that's because of how the Wing Fortress Platforms are handled... by what time you powered on the game basically. So rodonic01, whilst keeping that in mind, collects 50 rings for Super Sonic to bypass the Giant Fan or propeller, pauses the game for a few frames and then unpauses it so that the game loads or initiate the platforms. After that. It's your regular Sonic 2 TAS, but with Super Sonic. However it saves more time than regular Sonic. So yay. (Thanks to Winslinator for the tip.)
Improvements
Currently, We don't know. However, accepting improvements if we find.
Suggested Screenshots
(Will be added shortly)
arkiandruski: Claiming for judging.
arkiandruski: Replacing the file with an improvement.
arkiandruski: Looks good. Accepting as an improvement to [4682] Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "100%" by Tee-N-Tee, DarkShamilKhan, ParadaxeTH, Aglar & Zurggriff in 32:25.82
despoa: Processing...