It is time for Jason to Master the Blasting.... And destroy them bosses!
Blaster Master "all bosses" in 25:46.37
This run is 17068 frames (or 4 minutes and 44 seconds) faster than BrotherMojo's current published run of same category. Mainly due to many improvements found over the years, which include reset-warps, Area 7 boss shortcut, as well as better lag reduction and RNG manipulation. Some small optimizations here and there also saved some time.
Run details
Defeats all bosses
Takes damage to save time
Uses a game restart sequence (Reset-warps)
Uses intentional deaths (Death-warps)
Manipulates luck
Comments
For all technical details, I would highly recommend reading BrotherMojo's submission, as it states all common tricks and details used in this run too.
This run restructures the category's strategies thanks to switching to Japanese version. Here are the reasons why:
Reset-warps
Main reason why choosing this version! Resetting in US version makes you lose all your progress and start over. Japanese version however keeps all your upgrades when you reset and start from Area 1. This clearly allows for many shortcuts whenever we try to revisit Area 1 from a very far area. This proved to be useful after Area 3 and Area 6, as we needed to go back to Area 1 after defeating their bosses. Though, you do lose ammo for car's missiles and car's lightning bolt.
Death management was revised too. Death-warps are only used if Reset-warps are not beneficial, thus some of the deaths in current published run were skipped allowing for further time save.
Area 7 shortcut
Another huge difference between US and Japan versions is the ability to skip straight Area 7 boss. In Japanese version, if you stand on the lava while Jason's hitbox also contacts another enemy, you still take damage during the pause and un-pause fading. If Jason was perfectly timed and positioned, he can gain just enough of distance to be able to take damage during un-pause fading and gain enough i-frames to skip to the boss room. ShiningDragoon showcases it very clearly!
Better lag management and easy RNG manipulation
Japanese version has a significantly better lag management system. Around 53 seconds were saved due to lag reduction.
RNG manipulation was also very friendly. You can basically manipulate item drops, boss patterns, and even random enemy spawns, by pressing any directional button or Select button. Though, it is still confusing sometimes as some buttons work on certain situations and don't work on others. It was a lot easier nonetheless!
Special thanks
Goes to BrotherMojo for his awesome and well-made TAS of this game! I recommend watching it before this run to understand how these improvements impact this category. I tried to replicate some of the funny moments in his run xD. I hope I did well :D
And you for watching this run and reading my comments :)
nymx: When I first saw this submission, I had to judge it. I love this game and I loved watching Big Jon run it. Because it was PAL, I thought it was going to end up being the same kind of situation as [5238] SNES Super Metroid "game end glitch" by Sniq & NobodyNada in 06:12.75. In that case, PAL obsoleted the US version. Not because the game was different, but because it behaved differently at 50Hz. This opened up major possibilities that changed many strats and the route. For Blaster Master, the differences in the game are enough to separate it from the US version. The apparent coding differences, allows this game to perform actions that are not possible on the US...thus leaving me with the thought that this should in fact be a separate branch, as indicated by DrD2k9.
So, as Jason boards his "Bayer Aspirin" wheeled vehicle once again, we take off on a new adventure where we see the "Hello Kitty" outfitted Jason search for his frog in a completely different manner. Maneuvering through the game in ways that we haven't seen before. Great job!
Great to see an improvement to the published run. The soundtrack is superb!
Reset warps for less backtracking (exclusive trick in the Japanese version), a completely new shortcut skipping most of second-to-last area of this game, and while the previous run did a great job polishing the gameplay and lag, you did a excellent job bringing several new features that were discovered over the years.
Yes vote.
My homepage
--Currently not much motived for TASing as before...--
But I'm still working.
I feel that the differences between this and the US version should warrant separate branches, and this run should not obsolete the US run.
I've been thinking the same, since most of the time save came straight from switching to Japanese version. But, both runs are still similar in terms of gameplay as a whole, it is just that some backtracking was cut out with resets. The Area 7 trick does cut out a good portion too, but it is done locally, and has no influence on what remains from the game.
The exclusivity of these differences to Japanese version does feel like they should be separated but the core of the run is still the exact same.
On a personal note, I have no objection whether this obsoletes US version or not, so feel free to decide on that part :)
The exclusivity of these differences to Japanese version does feel like they should be separated but the core of the run is still the exact same.
Just to add to what we discussed so far, I think that US version is not optimal at all for TASing, aside from exclusive features of Japanese version, due to the fact that it does not handle lag optimally. This can lead to some suboptimal decision to reduce lag, which are avoided in the Japanese version.
I believe that instead of separating, it would be better to make a new run that simulates US version in Japanese version by either dropping Reset Warps and keeping just Death Warps, or simply dropping both Reset and Death Warps, and (maybe) dropping Area 7 skip. This will still take the advantage of Japanese version's optimal lag management while also achieving a different goal.
I believe that instead of separating, it would be better to make a new run that simulates US version in Japanese version by either dropping Reset Warps and keeping just Death Warps, or simply dropping both Reset and Death Warps, and (maybe) dropping Area 7 skip. This will still take the advantage of Japanese version's optimal lag management while also achieving a different goal.
Separation not an issue of different goals; it’s about separating the runs as a way to acknowledge there are significant differences between the regions.
If the lag issue was the only difference, then i could potentially see preferring Japanese over US for an otherwise identically routed run. But because there are other differences, then just keeping the best possible US run along side the best possible Japanese run seems more appropriate than trying to simulate the US route with the Japanese cart.
Joined: 11/14/2014
Posts: 973
Location: South Pole, True Land Down Under
I wanted to post and inform you that I'm getting close to making a decision. This situation is different than a past one that I was involved with, so I think I've finally figured out what I need to do.
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.
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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?
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Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes?
Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :)
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BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
