(Link to video)
The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle is a frustrating action puzzler. In this run, I attempt to complete the game as fast as possible while trying to also maximize my score. I primarily use heavy luck manipulation to achieve this in around 40 minutes, which is impressive considering that the game is 60 levels long.

Encode With Input Display:

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my first submission! I started this run during a break from my other WIP, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge. Although many think this might not be the best game choice, I disagree for the following reasons:
  • The luck manipulation in this game makes it far from trivial.
  • There are ways to spice this up a little, and I do my best to use all of them.
  • Regardless of the AVGN's opinions, I liked this game a lot as a kid, and I bet a lot of other people here did too, so I thought a proper run should be made for it.
So, I went for it, and I think I was fairly successful. For more information on the run, please read watch the encode with subtitles enabled, as I document nearly everything I do in the run throughout.

Game Objectives

  • Emulator used: FCEUX 2.1.4a
  • Attempts to complete the game in the fastest time possible
  • Aims to maximize score / kills without losing time
  • Heavy luck manipulation

Results

In the thread for this game, Mysterypea had already constructed a 33 level WIP. Using it as a model, I tried my best to obsolete it. Here is a table of our respective times. Note: I define a level's length as the difference between the frame in which Bugs' sprite shows up and the one in which the "1UP" bubble appears.
LevelMy VersionMysterypea's VersionDifference
116821686-4
221172209-92
316281669-41
412891329-40
519812282-301
616211829-208
712621492-230
821723166-994
919032638-735
1016821974-292
1114601980-520
1212001400-200
1317102768-1058
1424872663-176
1521232519-396
1620702120-50
1717201879-159
1819692325-356
1924892618-129
2024843547-1063
2122992553-254
2222032372-169
2320192515-496
2414391579-140
2517831949-166
2618522223-371
2717201724-4
2815741894-320
2919392093-154
3012441589-345
3123172345-28
3218532149-296
3313371446-109
341882
351670
361913
371692
382296
391614
401843
412863
421527
432801
441462
451606
461774
471371
482055
492145
501887
511364
522416
531674
542232
552656
561834
572247
581540
593799
602003
Total94537705249896
Average15762137300
In addition to this, I ended the game with 77000 points. It should be noted that the re-record count is unknown as it was lost somewhere in the editing process.
It's worth noting that Level 26 of could take a different path and get the exact same time. Here is a YouTube stream of that path, and here is the movie file.

Future Runs

If the reception to this run is positive, I might attempt a quad run of the Crazy Castle GB games. Considering that you can move forward using up or down as opposed to pressing left and right, and that there are many frames in which input is rendered moot, this would be the perfect candidate for such a run. UPDATE: Crazy Castle 4 apparently does not move forward when pressing up or down, so a triad run of the first three games would probably be a better option.

Possible Improvements

Although I have a fairly strong understanding of the AI for this game, I certainly don't have an exact formula. If I had such a thing, it might be possible to make every enemy irrelevant. It would also be helpful if I had a script that allowed me to see other segments of the screen so I can see how my input influences an enemy that is off-screen.

Known Improvements

nitrogenesis has reported that I transition from level to level incorrectly. Instead of pressing Start, I can press A and save one frame per level. If this was implemented for this run, then, it would be exactly a second shorter. Still, I don't think this improvement alone warrants a new submission, so this will have to wait until a bigger improvement is found.

Special Thanks

Thank you to Mysterypea for his original WIP, Randil for his not so accurate, yet helpful lost frame calculating script, andymac for his "AVI Heads Up Display" script, and feos for his work with andymac on the aforementioned script. I also appreciate all the feedback I've gotten so far.

Suggested Screenshot

Closing Statement

I put a lot of work into this run, so I hope you enjoyed it! However, if you didn't, all I can say is...
Haters gonna hate. Credit to NrgSpoon.

Nach: This was a tough one, tons of yes votes, but several strong dissenters as well. I have to agree, this isn't the most entertaining of games. However, this game is deceptively simple. Everyone who knows this game well (which seems to be the majority of viewers) knows how tricky it really can be. The lousy play control, unpredictable enemies, and confusing route chooses make this game tricky to play, let alone play well. Just paying close attention to level 27 for example shows how the game isn't so clear cut as it may seem.
Since this run requires TAS techniques such as route planning (which changed WIP to WIP), and luck manipulation, I feel this run deserves consideration to be published. The question is then down to: "Did it entertain?"
It definitely had its moments, and knowing the game well really enhances that. But it was rather long and repetitive. Although I sat through this run twice, most people won't want to watch this in a single sitting. Thinking about whether that is acceptable or not, I realized we have published several multi-hour RPG TASs in the past, which no one is going to be sitting through in a single sitting. Therefore I feel that this should not be a barrier to publication, especially since the levels in this game are pretty short, and can be watched individually without missing anything.
Those that don't know the game will probably skip this run, and those that do will probably enjoy it immensely. I decided to err on the side of caution and go with the majority of the audience, and accept this run as a first run for this game. I hope future runs will improve the routes further and find more exciting ways to manipulate the enemies and shave off two or three minutes.

Brandon: Publication underway! Thanks for allowing me to do the one thing I haven't done for TASVideos; make a published TAS. :)

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3155: Brandon's NES The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle in 40:50.61
Patryk1023
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Nice 1st TAS! :-D Yes vote, and I also watched AVGN's review, but AVGN not goes to my opinion.
<Nach> scrimpy is fretty with her sunglasses on I'm here. never visible.
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Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 2081
Congrats on your first submissionn Brandon, it's always a big deal. That being said, I think Crazy Castle makes a very poor game for a TAS, because it is so very limited and long. Technically the run seems very solid, but you still at times have to wait for something or go out of your way to get a boxing glove. There were interesting and neat moments, but they weren't really frequent enough to make it more interesting. Maybe it just is because I never played the game, but I don't really think the run offers enough for its length. I will vote Meh and wish you best of luck for future projects.
Joined: 4/7/2010
Posts: 181
Location: Taguig City, Philippines
Great TAS, Brandon..... Well, the part in this move I loved is when Bugs Bunny uses a boxing glove. I VOTE YES.
Qlex
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I thought that was very good! Just a slight mistake I noticed : In stage 44, you claim that killing Wile E. Coyote would make you lose 1 frame, yet you encounter him later on and lose much more than 1 frame in order to get the last carrot. Couldn't you have used the falling glove? Don't worry though, I didn't lose interest in the stages after this one. All that well-explained luck manipulation was interesting and funny at the same time. I remember I played this game and I assure you I really smiled at all the Sylvesters going crazy. Overall : Yes vote, that was even very promising for the future TAS, if any!
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Wow, I just really like the interactive transcript on the Youtube encode. I've never seen that before.
Current Project: - Mario Kart 64
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This turned out pretty well. I played this game and it's very impressive how often you don't have to go out of your way to manipulate or kill enemies. Good luck with your next run.
mklip2001
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Location: Georgia, USA
Nice job! It took me a while to realize that when you drop down or come off a staircase, the game forces you to walk a square before you can turn around. Before that, I was wondering why you took so many steps that seemed out of the way. Anyway, this run is long, but each part is very good (sort of like Aqfaq's run of The Humans). I think this earned a Yes vote. Also, I have some alternate screenshot suggestions. I think that it would be nice to have a screenshot from the end of a stage where Bugs is cheering. I found these stages to have especially interesting endings: 23, 27, 42.
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.
Brandon
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Qlex wrote:
In stage 44, you claim that killing Wile E. Coyote would make you lose 1 frame, yet you encounter him later on and lose much more than 1 frame in order to get the last carrot. Couldn't you have used the falling glove?
The reason I added subtitles was so that people could see my faulty logic. I feel like the was a reason why I didn't do that. I'll look it over again and see if I can quickly add the improvement. I don't have to cancel to add an improvement, right? Edit: Let me elaborate, Qlex. When I said it wastes 1 frame, I mean it wastes 1 frame for the final time. If I take the current path, it is one frame faster than if I kill Wile E. Turning around costs a lot of time. Thanks for keeping me honest, though!
mklip2001 wrote:
Also, I have some alternate screenshot suggestions. I think that it would be nice to have a screenshot from the end of a stage where Bugs is cheering. I found these stages to have especially interesting endings: 23, 27, 42.
Could you upload what you had in mind please?
All the best, Brandon Evans
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As I 've said before, I find this to be 40 minutes of extremely repetitive fetch quest, and I think your other upcoming TAS will be worlds better. No vote.
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.
Joined: 10/20/2006
Posts: 1248
Very slow game, boring to watch and extremely long. Voting yes nevertheless. I think this game is popular and good enough to warrant a published run.
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The game was interesting enough, and the TAS was done well. I also liked the music. Yes from me.
NitroGenesis
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Assuming this is the same fm2 that you showed me last night, yes vote. The only stage that was dull was 36, and the music did get a bit grating.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Joined: 6/6/2010
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Location: Laurentides, Quebec
Great work on improving my run, definitely a yes vote.
Joined: 5/14/2011
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Nice submission, Brandon. Yes vote.
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Although it is well done, this wasnt really entertaining. I kinda blame game choice on this one. Sorry Brandon, but No vote.
Dwedit
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The way you interact (or don't) with the various enemies is just wonderful.
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Definite yes vote from me. Superb execution.
Synahel
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I liked watching it, for such a boring game that's a plus. God, how I hated this game as a kid (well the GB version anyway). Great execution on this Brandon, awesome. And thanks, now I know that Space Jam wasn't the first WB product to place a female Bugs Bunny somewhere (oh God, why did they do that?!), now I know. My soul can rest at last. Whatever. Voted yes of course.
Brandon
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Rayas wrote:
(oh God, why did they do that?!)
This was a port of a game featuring Roger Rabbit, so I'll presume it had a similar ending screen with Jessica Rabbit.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Joined: 10/11/2010
Posts: 19
Very well done, it's obvious how much effort went into the run itself, the submission text, and the subtitles when watching. Being able to see the controller input is nice too. If you haven't played this, it is harder than it looks. I played a Mickey Mouse version on the Game Boy, but it's the same game down to the music and everything (though I think it had 80 levels.) Yes vote.
Jungon
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I knew my knowledge of GB wasn't just Castlevania and Pokemon, when I saw the screenshot on this one I had to check this TAS out =P I knew this Crazy Castle game because of the GB version, and I really liked the run, although the game is very long ... well, it's a Yes vote from me \o I'm even looking forward for the GB version =P
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Joined: 6/4/2009
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Strong yes vote, all the levels look carefully planned and executed, and the interactive commentary on the Youtube adds a nice touch of explanation, I really have no more to ask, this is good under any point of view. I own the Game Boy version of this game on my real Game Boy, I did not know there is a NES version, the level seem to be similar but different, and since the Game Boy version is a hard game, I somehow am in the position to appreciate the technicality of this TAS even even more. And this is your first TAS? Congratulations, I am impressed, sir. I definitely look forward to your future submissions. As for the suggested screenshot, I think one in which Bugs gets the last carrot in mid air and therefore dances in mid air would be hilarious, there are at least half a dozen of such episodes in the TAS so pick either one, in my opinion.
Joined: 6/23/2009
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Very slow and repetative gameplay. Not the best TAS material. Still great execution and I do have fond memories of it. SO I guess thats a weak yes vote.
Joined: 6/6/2010
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Rayas wrote:
I liked watching it, for such a boring game that's a plus. God, how I hated this game as a kid (well the GB version anyway).
Looks like everyone played the GB version, including me. Coincidence? I think so.