(Link to video)

A2600 Princess Rescue in 06:08.47 by Noxxa

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 2.2.1
  • Any%
  • Fastest death%
  • Fastest gameover%
  • Abuses death to save time
  • Abuses gameover to save time
  • Uses glitch warps/stage skipping
  • Manipulates luck (random enemy positioning)

About the game

Princess Rescue is an Atari 2600 homebrew game, programmed by Chris Spry and released in 2013. Princess Not Toadstool has been kidnapped by the evil Not Koopa, and it is up to Not Mario to traverse through the Not Mushroom Kingdom and its networks of overworld settings, underground settings, platforming stages, and castles, as well as breakable blocks containing coins and mushrooms that make Not Mario grow bigger.
The setting of this game is most definitely original design and is most definitely not a retelling of Super Mario Bros.

Gameplay

This game has 16 stages across 4 worlds. Each world consists of an overworld stage, underworld stage, sky/platform stage, and a castle stage.

Tricks

General properties

  • The game polls input, renders, and updates motion at 20FPS. Input is only accepted every third BizHawk frame.
  • The game includes a run button (joypad up), but run speed only applies when the screen is not scrolling. When the screen is scrolling, walking also follows run speed.
  • Only two jump heights are possible - normal jump, and run jump. The difference between both jumps still exists even when the screen is scrolling and non-run speed is identical to run speed. However, jump physics are still very limited overall, making some areas very cumbersome to traverse through quickly.

Game Over skip

Every first level of a world can be skipped by game overing, and then holding up during the game over sequence. This causes the game to erroneously select the second level of the world, even though it is not supposed to be accessible yet. While a game over requires three deaths, it's still faster than clearing the stage normally, so it is done in all applicable situations. Therefore, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1 and 4-1 are all skipped in this run.

Enemy spawning

Enemy spawning is somewhat random and can be influenced in a number of ways. Firstly, only a limited amount of enemies can be on screen at once, so keeping an enemy (or sometimes two) on screen can be used to prevent other enemy spawns that might get in the way.
Secondly, some properties (like vertical spawning place for flying enemies) appear to be randomized, and sometimes a frame delay or two can be used to manipulate a better positioning.

Trampoline spawn

The trampolines in the third stages of every world only spawn once all other sprites are removed from the screen. Therefore, it's important to save time in the areas with trampolines by either removing nearby enemy sprites as soon as possible, or abusing enemy sprite spawning logic to make sure no enemies are spawned around them to begin with.

Walljump

Like in Super Mario Bros., touching the walls at the right horizontal and vertical position can make the player character's foot clip into a floor tile, enabling him to jump from it. Compared to the original game, it's much easier to perform, due to the lack of acceleration, less position options, and the fact that the jump input can be buffered in this game.

Castle ceiling clip

When the player character bumps his head into a ceiling in a castle stage, he shifts backwards by a few pixels. By doing this next to a corner, it's possible to clip into a wall and vertically zip through it. Most notably used in 4-4.

Stage-by-stage comments

1-1

  • Just running into the first Not Goomba until gameover. This makes this run somewhat unique, in that any% also contains both fastest death and fastest game over categories.

1-2

  • The area directly after the pipe is the fastest way to kill yourself up to 2-1, so two more deaths are done here to set up for the 2-1 skip.
  • The second area also contains a vertical moving platform, which locks itself in place when the player character steps on it. Unfortunately, touching it causes some lag and also can kill a lot of momentum. The time loss is minimized as much as possible, but there's still some delay.

1-3

  • Normally, two Not Goombas spawn at the end of the first section which need to be removed before the trampoline appears. However, with some routing of enemies killed/not killed, a Not Koopa prevents the Not Goombas from spawning and causes the trampoline to appear immediately.
  • Another vertical moving platform in the second area here. Stepping on top of it costs the least amount of time.

1-4

  • A Not Koopa is bypassed in a narrow vertical section by clipping into the left wall to give me room to stomp him from above and move on.
  • There's a Not Bowser boss battle in each of these castle stages. Not Bowser is defeated by stomping on him 3 times. There's a slight invincibility period between each jump, but it's brief enough that with some good movement you can bounce off him for repeated hits and defeat him very quickly.

2-1

  • Player dies.

2-2

  • Yet another vertical moving platform, and an annoyingly placed one too.

2-3

  • Again some specific enemy routing is required to get the enemies to show up in the correct places so the trampoline is accessible as soon as possible. At least there's some leeway here.

2-4

  • Those ceiling bumps are really annoying, and still are forced to happen quite a few times even after minimizing them, but it's still optimal to just let them happen. Trying to reverse the player character to negate the pushback doesn't save any frames.
  • Not Bowser is defeated the same way as the previous.

3-1

  • This is the optimal place to kill the player character three times here.

3-2

  • Unfortunately, the vertical platform is just barely impossible to avoid.

3-3

  • I delay movement by a few frames a few times in order to manipulate enemy spawns. With some very specific manipulation, and hitting a Not Koopa at a very specific position, it's possible to avoid having a Not Koopa somewhere in the final screen (typically in the top right) and having the trampoline spawn instantly.

3-4

  • There's now a platform in the middle of the Not Bowser fight, but it doesn't really change the strategy any.

4-1

  • Again the optimal kill position is here, so three deaths are done here.

4-2

  • A small delay was needed in the first section to avoid having a Not Bullet Bill spawn in a bad position. The specific position where the final Not Bullet Bill is located also causes a Not Piranha Plant to not spawn in the final pipe, also saving several frames.
  • Another small delay was needed in the second section to avoid having a Not Koopa Paratroopa in the way of a jump arc, saving some frames.

4-3

  • Yet some more small delays here to manipulate enemies for the trampoline spawn.

4-4

  • A wall clip is done to go through some tricky geometry near the start of the stage.
  • The final Not Bowser fight is optimized for early end of input. Input is ended on the first frame of the second jump - doing a jump on the small wall is the fastest way to end input early and still get three jumps on Not Bowser.

Final comments

Screenshot

Thanks

Thanks to darbian for his real-time WR speedrun video (6:24) which introduced me to the game. (Thanks also to dekutony for posting a game topic for this game, with said WR speedrun).
Also, thanks to EZGames69 for discussing this game with me, and sending me a deathless WIP which made for an useful reference point in many occasions.
And thanks to you for watching!

feos: If 94900 hits on Google for "Princess Rescue" isn't enough for you, a dedicated Wired article will probably help to prove this game's notability. First, the very existence of that article, second, points it makes about what is notable about this game.
This run uses a technique that looked like a debug combination at the first glance - being able to advance the level number after Game Over - but it turns out to be an actual game bug. The manual says that after Game Over you can revisit levels that you've beaten. This is how it works.
After the Game Over screen, you go to the first room of the level you've died in. You press Up or Down, and then B to confirm your choice and enter the room you've chosen. If you press Up after you've reached the last room you're supposed to enter, you get back to 1-1, and vice versa. The glitch here is that if you press Up at the same frame as B, you get access to second room of the level you've died in. And if you press Down in that case, you go back to the title screen.
So that's an example of an actual game bug, erroneous assumption made by the developer, or simply an oversight, doesn't matter how you call it. This run is legitimate and it also got great feedback, accepting to Moons.
fsvgm777: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #5789: Noxxa's A2600 Princess Rescue in 06:08.47
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Wait but this is literally... a... bootleg... Yes vote.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
WST
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Yes
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
nymx
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Yes Vote. If only this homebrew was available back in the day when Atari was active....it would have blown the gamers away.
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
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This is probably the best Not Atari game I've ever not seen! Definitely a Not Yes vote!
Alyosha
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The A2600 homebrewers always impress with what they are able to get out of the that system. yes from me, nice TAS.
EZGames69
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As Moth mentioned, I'm doing a No Death Warps TAS for this game. Was going to submit it around this time but travel got in the way, so it may not come out for awhile. This run definitely came out pretty well. The manipulation to avoid the "bosses" in the X-3 levels is great optimization, especially since some of those enemies cause lag. Going to be studying this run to polish the deathless TAS. Overall a yes vote and I'm glad people here are loving this game.
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't 12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!" Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish [Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
xxezrabxxx
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Voting Yes cause I luke it, and sarbian has the RTA record so i know bout it
I like to comment on submissions and look around the site. You have probably seen me before (if you have been around for a while) either on the site, Discord, or any other social media. I recently took up making temporary encodes for new submissions. Also, I never forget to greet Tompa wherever I find him! "when resyncing stuff sucks it's called Resuccing" - EZGames69 “If an emulator stops being accepted to the site it should be called an emuLAMEr” - EZGames69 "oh no discord, everything I say will now be logged forever, sdfsdf, time to hide" - Masterjun "just had to give therapy to a taxi with daddy issues" - psx Current Projects: Mother 3 (75% complete)
Evan0512
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This movie may be a Super Mario Bros. 1 movie, I don't know, it was starring with Mario. ---- Thanks. This movie may be rejecting because it uses death at the beginning, and it was like Mario. Can I publish or reject the movie?
Planned runs: Marble Madness (Arcade, Genesis J, GG/SMS) Proposed: Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis, GG/SMS, CD: regular, camera freeze) Ecco: The Tides of Time (Genesis, GG/SMS, CD; normal mode) Mario Kart DS (all cups, all missions) In progress: Grand Poo World 3 (all exits hard mode)
EZGames69
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Evan0512 wrote:
This movie may be rejecting because it uses death at the beginning, and it was like Mario.
There's no rule that says you cant take deaths in a TAS, as long as those deaths dont waste time or, in this case, save time, it will be allowed.
Can I publish or reject the movie?
Only judges can decide if a movie gets rejected, and only publishers can publish movies.
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't 12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!" Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish [Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
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Evan0512 wrote:
Thanks. This movie may be rejecting because it uses death at the beginning, and it was like Mario. Can I publish or reject the movie?
Yes.
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.
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Am I the only one who feels like "holding Up while getting a game over warps you to the next world" is a debug combination? If it's a result of an erroneous assumption made by the programmer, there's usually a trace in the code which assumption was made. I don't have problems with digging into game code myself, since I brought this argument. But before I try that, what do you guys think?
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.
Noxxa
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Up (and Down, and the main Button) are the normal buttons used for stage selection in this screen. It's just possible to go to stage 2 of the same world (and no further) if the inputs for Up and Button are buffered - after frame one in the stage select screen, restrictions are applied as normal and further stages beyond where you game-overed cannot be selected. It's comparable to, for example, going to Dr. Doppler's stage immediately in PSX Mega Man X3. The input is already processed before the game realizes it's not valid.
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.
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. ---- [3612] A2600 Princess Rescue by Noxxa in 06:08.47
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The "unofficial game" category is missing in the publication.
Here, my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/dekutony
Dwedit
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I was on the twitch stream when Darbian found that glitch.