(Link to video)
The original Bionic Commando completed 814 frames faster than the currently published run.

Goals

  • Used FBA-RR v.0.0.7
  • No death

Comments

Arcade Bionic Commando makes for a less smooth TAS than the other games in the series, mostly due to the fact that you cannot use your bionic arm in the air and the lengthy climbing/swinging animations that come from it. For its short length, the game is rather difficult though, so TASes still look quite tense to watch.
The main improvement over Mukki's movie is different routing through the levels. Going straight up is generally the fastest way to go, because although it is possible to ascend horizontally, the animation is so slow that this generally isn't the most viable option. I tried to keep the amount of times I ascended horizontally to a minimum by only doing so when a platform is quite close so the animation stays short.
The walking animation in this game is quite slow. There are a few times in this movie where I grapple upwards into walls simply to trigger the faster "rolling" animation simply because the character's stroll is quite slow. I decided to maintain Mukki's goal of no deaths just because dying respawns you at the top of the screen which would make this game pretty boring since it's almost entirely vertical.
Mukki only picks up one weapon in his movie, the gun in stage 3 that allows you to shoot through walls. Although I also pick that up in my run I also acquire a red gun in that same level that allows me to kill those robot enemies with one shot before picking up the former ewapon. The other weapons aren't viable, since the main reason the green gun is acquired is because it fires through walls.

Other comments

So yeah, that's Bionic Commando for you. Short but entertaining enough for what it is. Thanks to Mukki for his movie. Just a quick note: he recorded his run on the US set 1 fileset of this game in FBA while I recorded mine on the default European version. For what it's worth both of them play the same and both runs sync regardless of version so I figure it doesn't matter.

Nach: Very nice solid run. Accepting as improvement to existing.
fsvgm777: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #4989: Jules's Arcade Bionic Commando in 05:34.70
Alyosha
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wow RobynS you are on a roll! Keep it up! Somehow I have never seen the arcade version of this before, looks fast and fun.
mklip2001
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Really nice! This had to be difficult to optimize, and I can't really compare this to the other run easily without watching the two side-by-side. But it's definitely a good improvement and an interesting watch when you barely graze so many enemies and avoid death.
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.
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Looks good! Nice work.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
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I didn't even remember there was an Arcade-version of this game. It was a nice, quick watch (with surprisingly good music too). I'll give it a yes.
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Thanks for this, RobynS! Glad to see there is enduring love for this game. I agree with AKheon about the music. Fans of the NES version may recognize certain music tracks from this version.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [3068] Arcade Bionic Commando by Jules in 05:34.70
Jules
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Hooray! But why is there a transparent border on the screenshot?
fsvgm777
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I'm only able to publish 384x224 screenshots, since the site expects Arcade screenshots to be 384x224. Therefore, I added transparent borders left and right, since it'd look really ugly when stretched to 384x224. Only the admins and the senior publisher can override this limitation.
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Jules
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I see, thanks for the explanation.
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Well then post the cropped one.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
fsvgm777
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I don't have to anymore. It's now fixed, courtesy of Nach.
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I was watching PJ's run of this game at the Arcade Superplay Expo, and I noticed that his grapple seems to retract a lot faster than the one used in this TAS. If you look at the upgrade icons, the one he uses has a different shape. Is this a loop 2 exclusive item? If not, grabbing it seems an easy way to get a faster run, considering how much time is spent climbing.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.