I used Gens Movie 9f, I haven't changed any emulator settings. I take damage to save time.
Shadow of the Beast is a game with gorgeous graphics and awesome music. The gameplay is a little harsh, not giving you a lot of time to attack enemies before being attacked yourself, and having many different paths you could follow, most of them being the wrong ones.
I recorded this TAS over 2 years ago, and there still isn't a SotB run on here, so here it is. I don't know of any glitches in this game, so this is a straightforward speed run. This was fairly straightforward to make after looking at guides to plan the route, the main challenge was finding out where to save time by trading damage.
Here are a few notes I made when I recorded this, with time stamps for reference:
- 1:10:50 Of course, jumping off the ledge is faster than just falling
- 1:25 The amazing disappearing horseman!
- 1:27:10 I punch the horseman here because a flying kick would put me too far from the ladder
- 1:46:10 I'm careful for the first part of this fight (not much of a fight though) but I deliberately take some damage to save time
- 2:05 This is a fairly simple boss, but if it touches you, you die instantly. Since you can't just run and gun (only one shot can be on the screen at the same time) I try to get as close to it as possible and keep firing shots when I can.
- 2:25 Our hero vanquishes some more horsemen then decides to ride his invisible pogo-stick
- 2:38 The switch releases the force field on the power punch later on in the dungeon
- 2:49:48 You are supposed to stop between the bouncing eyes, but who has that kind of time?
- 3:08 Of course, taking all this damage means a slight detour for some health, between this and the next health potion, I could have just charged through all the enemies. But I decided to take as little damage as possible to make it more entertaining
- 4:01 Then after getting the health potion, I run into these blasted green things. Either I punch them and lose 2 HP or I lose 4 HP.
- 4:14 I did intend to kick this guy, but I think it looks funnier doing a flying kick over him
- 4:26:45 And here's the power punch. Without it, I'd take too much damage trying to kill the next boss.
- 5:11 Unfortunately you have to stop to pick up these health potions. I spent quite a bit of time trying to do a flying kick and then land on them
- 6:29 Try as hard as I could, some of these green guys just wouldn't die before they managed to hurt me.
- 7:56 These chicken leg like things took massive amounts of health off me no matter what I did. So I just charge through them.
- 8:10 A red demon surprised our hero from behind and our hero hops with furious anger
- 9:08 And now I have a GUN! HAHAHA! Naturally I only shoot things when they're right up close to me. Long range? What does that mean?
- 10:02 This three headed boss has its weak point far back on its body. So I have to get in close so that my bullets reach it. Then I have to pull back to get out of range of the downward fireball. Fortunately the difference between these two positions is only 2-3 frames. Near the end of the fight I jump out and then run back in with the last shot. This actually saves time. Retreating before the fireball and then moving back in actually takes more frames to kill this guy.
- 11:22 Another boss with a weak point far back on its body. Anybody would think the game designers hated their audience
- 11:35 I don't collect the middle pick-up because it's actually a HP down
- 11:48 And I don't collect the last health potion because I don't need it
- 12:17 The final boss seems to not like the air in front of his toes being punched. Talk about Achilles heel!
- 12:29 After defeating the boss, our hero does his happy dance
All in all, a satisfying and entertaining run. A fun game, especially when played with save states.
NesVideoAgent: Hi! I am a robot. I took a few screenshots
of this movie and placed them here.
I'm not sure I got the right ROM though. (I tried
Shadow of the Beast (UE) [!].gen, which was the closest match to what you wrote.) Well, here goes! Feel free to clean up the list.
mmbossman: Several comments in the discussion thread mention possible improvements to this run; I especially noticed the possibility for improved health management. However, the game itself is interesting, and a more optimized version would likely make a good addition to the TASvideos collection. Rejecting this, and good luck on your next try!
