The second installment of the Top Gear series, and for most people the hardest one, let's make it harder shall we?

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Snes9X 1.43
  • Plays at Championship difficulty level
  • Uses an automatically generated password
  • Uses a suboptimal car
  • Manipulates luck

Comments

To make things a little worse, let's start on the 16th country (United States) with no upgrades, if you think it's impossible to win such a game "you might be missing some of the benefits the TAS can provide!"

Tracks

Las Vegas

Driving skills are useless without a competitive car, so I need a little help from the CPU controlled cars.
  • Length: 2.2 Miles
  • Laps: 3
  • Total Time: 2'27"81
  • Upgrades: None

Los Angeles

To get that extra help here I need to catch up with them first, let's buy a nitrous upgrade then.
  • Length: 2.2 Miles
  • Laps: 3
  • Total Time: 2'25"26
  • Upgrades: Nitrous Level 2

New York

Snow and level one tires, a really bad combination, it's time for a tire upgrade.
  • Length: 3.0 Miles
  • Laps: 2
  • Total Time: 2'14"05
  • Upgrades: Wet Tires Level 4

San Francisco

I know you may be bored by now, but please don't stop the movie yet, it's the last stage.
  • Length: 2.5 Miles
  • Laps: 3
  • Total Time: 2'46"30
  • Upgrades: Dry Tires Level 4 and Nitrous Level 3

Final comments

It may look controversial, but "as fast as possible" is not one of the goals on this TAS, the main objective here is the difficulty already present in the game multiplied by the use of a far inferior car.

Read this first if you never played this game before!

Quoted from PSI Slime's post:

Top Gear 2 is a pretty difficult game (on the hardest difficulty setting). As you play the game and beat a country or two, your car SCREAMS for you to buy it upgrades to keep beating races. Starting at the very last country, with a totally non-upgraded car? I wouldn't have thought it could be possible, even in a TAS! The manipulation is brilliant... Only someone who has played the game a lot can tell the extent of it.

Suggested Screenshot

21304

FractalFusion: Judging.
FractalFusion: Knowing the circumstances about using a suboptimal car makes it a lot more interesting. I'll accept the run for publication. It will obsolete the Top Gear single track movie.
Yes, the movie uses a level password.
sgrunt: Publishing momentarily.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2729: Dooty's SNES Top Gear 2 in 11:50.62
Editor
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Glitched password? Please elaborate on why this should be allowed.
Active player (417)
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Nice technique, very well played. But a little repetitive. At least it's better than the published Top Gear 1 TAS.
Expert player (2466)
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henke37 wrote:
Glitched password? Please elaborate on why this should be allowed.
There are published runs that uses passwords, Biker Mice from Mars for example, and runs that uses glitches, what's wrong with Glitched Passwords?
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Editor
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Of course I know about those. I am just asking for a rationale, what is the point of the password, and what exactly does "glitched" mean in this particular case.
Expert player (2466)
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I'm using this password to play on the last country, but I don't need to input the password, so it's a kind of glitch.
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Noxxa
They/Them
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Posts: 4089
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Dooty wrote:
I'm using this password to play on the last country, but I don't need to input the password, so it's a kind of glitch.
So, you use a password, but not by inputting it? How does that work, then?
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Expert player (2466)
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Location: Teresópolis - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Go to Continue Country and highlight any country that you want to race on (they should be grey) and press the A button. At the Password screen press A and when it says "Invalid Password" press Start. Now on the Menu screen go down to Continue Game and start the game with the password that is already on the screen and you will start your race on the country and difficulty level that you selected.
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Joined: 1/22/2008
Posts: 319
Location: Brasil
mario kart has lots of glitches, it makes fun to watch bike mace from mars has ultra super speed, but this as said above is very repetitive, theres no action, just completing the tracks one by one ill vote meh, i cant decide,
Run..Run...Run.....
caitsith2
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Encoded the run. archive.org or Direct Link. Screenshot
Expert player (2466)
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@ Wicked: Biker Mice from Mars uses a fully stocked bike, it's possible to use a fully stocked car in Top Gear too, but there will be no difficult to win the races this way. In this TAS the only way to win the races is by luck manipulation, positioning my car on the right spot to receive a little speed boost from the opponent's car. Thank you for the encode caitsith2, but the screenshot is a little different from the suggested one:
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Editor
Joined: 3/31/2010
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I liked how you abused the AI to win. Yes vote.
When TAS does Quake 1, SDA will declare war. The Prince doth arrive he doth please.
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Isn't it possible to cross the Finish line in 1st and 2nd at the same time? just for fun, like in Top Gear 1. Also, is there any Top Gear 1 TAS? Where can i find it?
Editor
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Eye Of The Beholder wrote:
Isn't it possible to cross the Finish line in 1st and 2nd at the same time? just for fun, like in Top Gear 1. Also, is there any Top Gear 1 TAS? Where can i find it?
http://tasvideos.org/74S.html It's only a single track demo.
When TAS does Quake 1, SDA will declare war. The Prince doth arrive he doth please.
Player (36)
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Posts: 2630
It's a little short. I'd like to see all 16 countries raced someday.
Build a man a fire, warm him for a day, Set a man on fire, warm him for the rest of his life.
Editor
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Location: Sweden
This game sure loves to screw with your view, only one of the levels had proper visibility for the road. As for the actual run, I fail to see how this is better than a regular guy playing the game. the game simply doesn't have any spots where TASing is suitable. I mean, if it wasn't for the menus (and the big sticker), I wouldn't have known that this was tool assisted at all!
Expert player (2466)
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Looks like luck manipulation in a racing game is not as obvious as in others genres. If you are watching the movie in the emulator, do this: stop the movie and try to win, or at least qualify for the next race, it's impossible no matter how skilled you are... The reason is the lack of upgrades in your car, even using the nitro it's impossible to win any race in the 16th country with a car that barely win races in the 1st country... edit: I've edited the submission text to include "uses a suboptimal car", also changed the "glitched password" to "automatically generated password".
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Joined: 12/30/2008
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I am voting yes. Top Gear 2 is a pretty difficult game (on the hardest difficulty setting). As you play the game and beat a country or two, your car SCREAMS for you to buy it upgrades to keep beating races. Starting at the very last country, with a totally non-upgraded car? I wouldn't have thought it could be possible, even in a TAS! The manipulation is brilliant... Only someone who has played the game a lot can tell the extent of it. I think a full game would be boring to watch in a TAS, because it is a bit more repetitive to watch run perfectly. This submission uses the perfect setting (in my opinion) for this particular game... and even adds in the suboptimal car twist!
I lurk, okay?
mklip2001
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Thanks, PSI Slime, for a little more explanation of the difficulty of the run. I see now where the difficulty comes from, and it's pretty amusing how many cars run into your backside to make you go faster. (In some sense, this makes the first track the most impressive...) The awesome music also keeps the run from being too repetitive, so I think this deserves a weak Yes vote.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Expert player (2466)
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I also wish to thank PSI Slime, and ask him if I can quote his post on my submission text, thanks in advance. edit: I went ahead and put it there, I hope you don't mind.
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
Joined: 12/30/2008
Posts: 45
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I don't see what is so special about what I wrote. I was just explaining a bit the reason why I think this TAS is good. But I don't mind, you can quote whatever I say. Anyway, for those who have never played the game, I'll explain in a bit more details. Basically, in Top Gear 2, there are 16 "countries". Each country consists of four(?) tracks. I am unsure if it's exactly four, or if it varies between countries, as I haven't played in so many years. You get a new password after you beat a country. I like to compare it to Zombies Ate My Neighbors, where you get a new password every 4 or so stages. As you gain money, you can upgrade your car's engine, nitro power, armor (collisions weaken your armor, and weaker armor = poorer max speed, probably cornering and acceleration too, I forgot), and so on. However, the opponent cars upgrade as well, as you progress through the game. I know for a fact that their upgrades do not necessarily match yours, as I tried low upgrades before, and they were getting upgrades and overpowered me quickly enough, but I assume it's by country. I would like to think that each racer gets upgrades separately depending on the money that they gain in races, but I doubt the game would be that indepth. If I recall correctly, you need to be in the first 10 to be able to go to the next track at all, and you need to be in the top 3 scorers to pass to the next country. Correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't played in so long. Like I said, it is absolutely essential to upgrade your car to keep winning (or qualifying, as finishing first isn't mandatory). Of course, you do get money, so it's not difficult to get a few basic upgrades while playing normally. But if you don't win enough or don't get the optimal upgrades (like getting armor upgrades first instead of engine or whatever), you find the opponent cars overwhelming quickly enough. This isn't like any regular platforming game or shooter game or whatever. You aren't invincible due to the TAS abilities to dodge any incoming attacks and hit the enemy everytime. Due to starting on the very last country with no upgrades, the opposition is overpowering. It's your underwhelming, unupgraded car against fully geared opponent cars. It's not about showing skill, as skill alone cannot win these tracks. It's about using every trick available to win and move to the next track. In this case, using other cars, along with other carefully planned strategies. I want to compare it to an F1 race. What if there was one car that went 25 miles per hour slower than everybody else? He wouldn't stand a chance would he? Real life needs tool assistance too. I think that a full game TAS would be uninteresting because it would be easily over 50 races (16 countries * 4 races = 64 races), it would get dull quickly. Don't get me wrong, I'd still watch it and enjoy it, but a lot less people would feel the same way. This TAS has a great twist. Many racing games (then again, it depends on the game too) get boring and dull quickly, due to the repetitive nature of a racing game, where it involves multiple laps of the same track. For games where laps are quick and/or show many impressive tricks (Super Mario Kart for example), it's not dull. But for game that are closer to "simulation" kind of racing, which is a lot slower-paced, it's not as interesting in general. That is basically why I think that a full game would not be received as well, for this particular game. The twist is great. Last country, non-upgraded car. I think it's the best setting for a TAS, for this particular game.
I lurk, okay?
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My vote is Meh if this run stands on its own. My vote is weak yes if it has a chance to obsolete the "one track" Top Gear 1. This run at least has some technically sound achievement to it.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
sgrunt
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DarkKobold wrote:
[...]if it has a chance to obsolete the "one track" Top Gear 1.
I would agree with this.
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sgrunt wrote:
DarkKobold wrote:
[...]if it has a chance to obsolete the "one track" Top Gear 1.
I would agree with this.
I'm seconding this. Good idea.
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Same take for the third time. I would vote meh normaly (bored me to death), but if this can obsolete the one track demo shit, im all for it.