(Link to video)
I thought this series was about an alien that also happened to be a Ninja, I had no idea it was about being Eco Friendly and being good to the environment. Today I learned something.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 2.4.1
  • Uses GB Bios
  • Takes damage to save time

Comments

Stage 1

Basically slide as much as possible. I hit some enemies to slide past them as they do not hurt you if they have I frames.
falling in this game takes as long as the screen can scroll, and how much lag is on screen. I kill as many enemies as I can to reduce some lag.
there are also some platforms that you cant do slides on, the ones that do this are ones where you can drop down with the same inputs (Down + A)
For most bosses I do an energy beam which does more damage than the normal swipe. in order to charge it faster I do a swipe while crouched, since it starts charging after you do a swipe (and hold the B button after it), and the crouching swipe has a shorter animation than the standing one
This is the only bonus stage where you can end it early by dying.

Stage 2

This area is extremely laggy (the entire game is, but this one is really laggy). the only thing I can do to reduce lag is kill enemies, but most take more than 2 or 3 hits to kill so I cant do that.
I cant slide while in water so I have to jump most of the time.
I use some damage boosts to get past some rays.
Climbing is weird, there are some spots where I can land on a platform for one frame but then fall, luckily I can jump on that one frame and still make it to the top.
Waterfalls are really annoying since they make you jump lower.
for this boss I stay up to the left platform to reduce some lag and also to shoot the last blast while she is near me.
the bonus stage just has you shooting cans, we just have to make sure we shoot the last one as soon as possible to end the level early.

Stage 3

Probably the closest we will see the game running at full speed, though not as much. there are some spots where I have to kill enemies in order to reduce lag, but also to avoid taking damage, this also includes at least 2 times I use the blast.
the platforms on the rope move faster than zen, especially when he jumps. I also cant slide on these platforms either.
whenever wind is blasting on Zen, he cannot do a slide dash, this also includes the top of the building for some reason.
boss is nothing special, simply crouch as much as possible to lessen lag, then shoot as soon as possible.
for the bonus, I just have to hit the last gas cloud as soon as it spawns to end the level faster.

Stage 4

This stage introduces one hit kill spikes from the ceiling, I have to be carful when I slide under them so the top of my head doesnt hit them, which is why you might see me waiting for a long time for some reason. I cant do much playaround here otherwise lag.
this is the only climbing stage where you can slide on the platforms.
for the boss I try to move away from him during his zombie punching cycle in order to reduce a ton of lag
the bonus stage is really tough to reduce lag in so I just do the best I.......CAN! ha

Stage 5

Oh no! Jeremy is captured, I guess.... I think he's important or something? Zen's best friend or whatever. anyone who knows the lore to this game please explain this to me.
Anyway, there's nothing too special about this stage. just more sliding and stuff, but with fire this time, HOT.
The Final boss involves me shooting my best friend I guess.

Other comments

I think this movie can be improved on if an intense amount of lag reduction was done, but that will be almost impossible to optimize properly, so I just do the best I can.
hope you all enjoyed.

Maru: Judging.
ThunderAxe31: File replaced for a corrected CycleCount value.
Memory: Claiming in light of Maru dropping this submission.
Memory: Setting to delayed per author request in private message.
ThunderAxe31: File replaced with a 75 frames improvement and relative new CycleCount.
Memory: Resuming judgment
Memory: Optimization appears good with the improvements.
The movie is at its best decently entertaining. However with all the lag, and boring bonus games and some slow boss fights, it fails to really capture attention.
Accepting to Vault.
fsvgm777: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #6648: EZGames69's GB Zen: Intergalactic Ninja in 14:15.80
EZGames69
He/They
Expert player, Publisher, Reviewer (3942)
Joined: 5/29/2017
Posts: 2701
Location: Michigan
Something's wrong with the time, it should be 14:17 but is showing 17:15. EDIT: It’s fixed now, thank you ThunderAxe31!
[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
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
Nice job! This isn't as good of a Zen game as the NES version (especially with lag), but I always liked playing this growing up. The platforming is surprisingly finicky, and I mostly liked the boss fights.
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.
Memory
She/Her
Site Admin, Skilled player (1515)
Joined: 3/20/2014
Posts: 1762
Location: Dumpster
While the TAS doesn't appear to be sloppy on the surface, it seems that there is some room for improvement. Midair jump kicks can apparently change things. I've saved time on two spots from quick testing and I imagine a bit more can come off it: Stage 1: User movie #62945789625024192 Stage 2: User movie #62945700662832988
[16:36:31] <Mothrayas> I have to say this argument about robot drug usage is a lot more fun than whatever else we have been doing in the past two+ hours
[16:08:10] <BenLubar> a TAS is just the limit of a segmented speedrun as the segment length approaches zero
EZGames69
He/They
Expert player, Publisher, Reviewer (3942)
Joined: 5/29/2017
Posts: 2701
Location: Michigan
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/63065231112402064 here is the new improvement. I do not know if the cycle count is accurate in this new movie, so a judge will need to check that. I'll be making a new encode and posting soon. EDIT: Encode has been added.
[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
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
How much was this improved? I watched it and it looked solid.
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.
EZGames69
He/They
Expert player, Publisher, Reviewer (3942)
Joined: 5/29/2017
Posts: 2701
Location: Michigan
75 frames. I mostly used the jumping kick that Memory mentioned, which helped reduce some lag frames. It didnt always work though.
[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
Memory
She/Her
Site Admin, Skilled player (1515)
Joined: 3/20/2014
Posts: 1762
Location: Dumpster
Could I get some additional feedback? I felt it was at best decent, but the lag and stuff like the bonus games were a real killer.
[16:36:31] <Mothrayas> I have to say this argument about robot drug usage is a lot more fun than whatever else we have been doing in the past two+ hours
[16:08:10] <BenLubar> a TAS is just the limit of a segmented speedrun as the segment length approaches zero
fsvgm777
She/Her
Player, Senior Publisher (221)
Joined: 5/28/2009
Posts: 1180
Location: Luxembourg
Yeah, I'm a bit on the same ball here. If the game didn't start lagging at every single opportunity, this would probably be a slightly more enjoyable watch....if the bosses and especially the bonus games didn't drag on as well. This gets a low Meh vote on entertainment for me. It's definitely Vaultable, however.
Steam Community page - Cohost profile Oh, I'm just a concerned observer.
EZGames69
He/They
Expert player, Publisher, Reviewer (3942)
Joined: 5/29/2017
Posts: 2701
Location: Michigan
yeah I tried to make the bonus games at bit entertaining by adding playaround, but I quickly realized doing that also causes lag. It's like the game actively wants to be put into vault.
[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
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [4182] GB Zen: Intergalactic Ninja by EZGames69 in 14:15.80