Posted: 7/2/2011 10:50 PM
Post subject: Beast Wrestler
Aqfaq
Editor, Expert player (2587)
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Sega TASer of 2008 Lucky TAS of 2008
The quest for finding the best game for TASing has ended! Beast Wrestler is the best game for TASing, because: 1. The players share their hit points, so you need to take hits to defeat the enemy faster. 2. Missing a hit resets the stun counter, so you need to miss hits, so that the enemy doesn't raise up from the ground too early. 3. The first fight in the game is a climatic battle against the mirror image of the player character, usually seen near the end of a game, not in the beginning. 4. Even the plot is awesome: So, here is a serious first attempt at the first fight, but due to the game mechanics it looks like it is played very badly, even though it aims for fastest time: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/556172157/Beast4.gmv Here's a Lua script that monitors player x-position and the shared hit point address, and it also automatically skips frames that don't accept input: 
gens.registerafter(function()
if memory.readbyte(0xfff0c8) == 239 then
gens.emulateframe()
end

--xpos
message1 = string.format("%d", memory.readwordsigned(0xfff0be)) 
gui.text(150, 120, message1, "green", "black") 

--hp
message2 = string.format("%d", memory.readbyte(0xfff2c9)) 
gui.text(200, 120, message2, "red", "black") 

end)
Posted: 2 days ago
AZYblaster
Joined: 5/27/2026
Posts: 3
Beast Wrestler TAS Notes
As someone who's put well over a decade into playing Beast Wrestler and loves it to no end, I was rather surprised on the lack of an optimal TAS for this game (or any kind of discussion for that matter). I'm not very good or experienced at making TAS runs, but if there's anyone out there who plans on making a TAS for Beast Wrestler, hopefully my knowledge of this game will be of some help! This assumes you have some idea on what kind of game Beast Wrestler is like, but I'll try to be as in-depth as possible. It's a ridiculously broken game filled with numerous weird aspects and glitches. Every time I think I've completely figured this game out, I'd end up discovering something new a month or so later. Plenty of these glitches / oddities will make fights go by much faster, but some aren't viable in a standard run due to Opponent RNG, lack of info on screen, and this game not being the smoothest in terms of handling inputs. As confident as I am in calling myself a master of Beast Wrestler, the pure jank of the gameplay guarantees that there's still something new to discover!
Gameplay Overview
It's a 1v1 wrestling / fighting game that's absolutely atrocious (cool ideas, awful gameplay). The Tournament Mode is the main mode that'll have you fight against a total of 15 Monsters. As you progress, your Beast will fuse with other monsters, which will change their attacks and super move. Every two matches, you'll enter a shop that'll have items to buy, and then you'll enter a training screen where you can increase one of three stats by 100 (with certain items adding a bonus to said increase). The highest amount any stat can reach is 990 and they are as follows... PP: Your Power Points determine how strong your attacks are. In terms of speedrunning, it's very important to max out for obvious reasons. It will decrease upon taking damage during battle (relative to health lost from said attack). LP: Your Life Points represent your maximum health. While you don't need to increase it at all, this is a very important stat to understand (I'll go into more detail later). SP: Your Speed Points affect how fast you move around. However, the big sprites and the small arena makes the speed stat unnecessary to prioritize. This should be upgraded after maxing out your power. The following RAM addresses represent the Power and Life stats during battle. P1 PP: F2AE P1 LP: F2B0 P2 PP: F2C6 P2 LP: F2C8 As for the controls, A=Punch, B=Tail Whip, and C=Deathblow/SP. You can move in 8 directions and you can run by pressing a diagonal direction twice. While running, you can attack by pressing A/B or stop running by pressing the opposite direction. The blue orbs at the bottom represent the number of KOs. When you KO the opponent, that monster will cry out. During this, you can move, but you cannot attack or run until the KO animation finishes! You'll know it's done when you see one of their orbs turn red. The fight ends when all 3 of the opponent's orbs are red. The main part of Beast Wrestler's gameplay is that you lower the opponent's health by using strikes, grabs, and then you use your Deathblow to KO them. It sounds simple, but the lack of health bars on screen and the awful hitboxes can make fights take minutes without planning. But with everything I know, a TAS should finish every fight in under 60 seconds.
Grabbing and "Ghosting" Glitch
 Grabs in general are awful for speedrunning. When both sprites make contact while standing, they'll go into a lock for about a second. When both monsters bend their lower half, the grab will go to whoever inputs their desired command first (such as pressing A to perform a Tail Squeeze). The damage is not worth the time it takes to perform grabs, so they're incredibly situational. However, that only applies to grabbing from the front. Even though both monsters constantly face each other, It's possible to grab the opponent from behind. This is done by going behind them during their attack animation, or by picking them up with B while they're down and going behind before they recover. The only grab you can perform from behind is a guaranteed Backdrop. This is the best grab in the game since it can KO much earlier than your other grabs (specifically if the opponent was at 31 LP or less). An optimized run will definitely make use of the Backdrop. Unfortunately, the huge sprites make it difficult to get behind the opponent without triggering a front lock. This is where the "Ghosting" glitch comes into play. By mashing C repeatedly, your monster's animation will come to a halt. During this, you can move right through the opponent without triggering a lock (especially if done right when picking them up). They can still strike you during this, but it's the fastest way to get behind the opponent for a Backdrop (and is also very important for another time saving glitch that I'll mention later)!
Striking and Hit Count
 Punches and Tail Whips will be the bulk of your damage. Punches are best for hitting opponents slightly above you, while Tail Whips usually have better range AND can hit opponents who are knocked down. The fastest way to deal damage is to constantly strike the opponent in place. Due to the awful hitboxes, there is some RNG involved since the opponent can randomly decide to move out of range. Hit the opponent enough times, and they'll eventually be knocked down. This is where the invisible Hit Count comes into play. By striking the opponent multiple times without missing or taking damage, they'll be knocked down. If you strike them again while they're knocked down, they'll instantly get back up and another strike will knock them down again. You can make this happen endlessly as long as you don't miss, OR you can intentionally miss a Tail Whip in order to reset the Hit Count and strike them multiple times before they get up. I haven't fully tested which one is faster, but I think striking without missing is better for TAS at the moment (assuming you can manipulate the CPU to staying in range). The most important part about the Hit Count is that it can carry over to the next match! That means if you defeat an opponent without missing a strike, the next opponent will instantly be knocked down by the first strike you land! I don't think it makes too much of a difference in terms of time, but I could be wrong.
Deathblows & "Negative Health" Glitch
 Deathblows are essentially your super move. Both monsters will gain access to it after 19 seconds have passed and it'll go on a 25 second cooldown upon using it. After naming your beast, you can select one of two deathblows. Magnum Dash: The only one worth using. Your beast will go across the screen with a punch that hits multiple times. Deals a ridiculous amount of damage and should always be used against a downed opponent for maximum damage output. Fling Screw: A grab-based deathblow that has to be done from a front-lock. DON'T USE THIS! Similar to strikes, deathblows can deal damage to the user upon hitting the enemy. This is CRUCIAL to be aware of since there are certain opponents in the second half of the game who deal fixed damage to themselves upon landing their deathblow. If you got their LP low enough before hand, they will enter "Negative Health" upon landing their deathblow. If you can strike them before their LP regens back to the positive, it'll instantly KO them and keep them in the negative. This means that each strike from this point forward will KO the opponent instantly! There are multiple fights where the Negative Health glitch (or oversight if you wanna call it that) is the fastest way to win. I'll make sure to mention them in the Match explanations.
Life Points, Damage Scailing, & KO Conditions
Both monsters will always regen 1 LP per second no matter what is happening on screen. Monsters will also lose 5 LP upon striking the opponent (but not if their current LP is lower than 35). In theory this means that trading attacks can be faster than striking without retaliation, but counter hits have a longer stagger animation so I can't say for sure. The LP regen is very important to keep in mind due to how it affects KOs. When you KO the opponent, they will recover some health back. How much health they get back will depend on the value of their LP (the less LP they had, the less health they'll regain). There are numerous ways to KO the opponent. Here are the ones you'll see in any TAS / Speedrun Strike KO: Done by striking the opponent while their LP is at 11. This method takes the longest because this game has Damage Scailing. The less LP your opponent has, the less damage your strikes and grabs will deal. You'll have to strike nonstop to KO an opponent with strikes alone. Backdrop KO: Done by grabbing the opponent from behind and performing a Backdrop while their LP is at 31 or lower. If the Backdrop damage registers right when the opponent's LP regens to 32 or higher, it won't KO. Deathblow KO: The most common way to score a KO. As for when they'll KO, it depends on the deathblow itself. Slam KO: Done by locking with the opponent from the front, and pressing B to perform a Slam while their LP is at 15 or lower. While I don't think this one is necessary at all, it MIGHT be viable in Match 4.
Path A & B (Beast Fusion)
 Upon winning Match 6, your monster will be able to fuse with either Velvent (Path A), or Diecoon (Path B). Each fusion has their own base stats. Thankfully, any stat that is higher will stay the same and the lower stats will rise to match the base stats of the fusion. No matter how optimized a TAS run can be, I believe that Path A is undeniably faster. Here's a brief overview of both. Path A: Fusing with Velvent gives you a powerful deathblow that's more or less a vertical version of Magnum Dash. After Match 9, it'll fuse with Allowena and gain a deathblow that can only be done while running. While it's not as good as the Velvent fusion, it's not as slow as if you went with Path B. Path B: Fusing with Diecoon gives you a deathblow that's much weaker than Magnum Dash (and has an awful hitbox to boot). Even if there's an angle to be just as fast as Path A, the monster will fuse with Ploguras after Match 11. Now the deathblow becomes a stronger version of Fling Screw. The problem is that Fling Screw is a grab-based deathblow that can only be done from a front lock (giving it 0 chance to be just as fast as Path A). From here, I'm going to briefly explain each fight in my TAS run. I need to reiterate that I am NOT an experienced TAS maker. Most if not all of these fights have room for optimization (or maybe even a new strategy that I'm unaware of). I mostly made this TAS because I love the game a lot and I want others to have an idea of how this game can be optimized.
Tournament Mode Notes
Match 1 (Zenector): After the story intro, name the monster and pick Magnum Dash as the SP Attack (Deathblow). Zenector only has 100 LP so only 1 deathblow is necessary. Strikes to lower its LP 25, then get behind it for a Backdrop KO. Then you have to deathblow it immediately while it's down so that it lowers their LP to 6, meaning they'll have very low LP for the last KO (meaning less strikes needed for another Backdrop KO) Match 2 (Voulsine): Since this monster cannot be grabbed, this is the only fight where getting a KO with a strike is mandatory. In the TAS I lured it to the corner to make use of a glitch where the opponent will get stuck there if the player doesn't move. This allowed me to continuously strike it in place without needing RNG manip to keep it in place (assuming that's possible). KO order is Deathblow > Strikes > Deathblow. Shop 1: Buy the Whip and use it in the training section to raise the PP stat to 270. For now, this is the only item necessary since buying anymore before Match 7 will cost several seconds of time (explained at Shop 3). Match 3 (Airhole): More or less the same as Zenector. The main exception is that Airhole has a smaller hurtbox, so Magnum Dash won't hit as many times. This made the last KO via Backdrop take slightly longer. Match 4 (Velvent): Can only be grabbed from the front, so it's similar to fighting Voulsine (but without the corner glitch). Even though the 2nd KO was done via strikes, I think it might be faster to KO it with a Slam (B when grabbing it from the front). Its LP would have to be at 15 or lower right before it hits, so it might be slower? Shop 2: Don't buy anything and use the Whip again to raise the PP stat to 390. Match 5 & 6 (Dycoon & Driton): Both were dealt with using the first strategy. Strikes to get them in range for Backdrop KO, immediately Deathblow while they're down, then strike them repeatedly again for another Backdrop KO. Shop 3: Buy the Food Gun and Monster Facility Pass. Hovering over the pass will start a cutscene, but buying it is mandatory to proceed with the game and save time. It's possible to get it for much less by not having enough money, but that will cost time as you'll be sent back to the shop upon entering the training screen, and then back to the training screen to start the beast fusion. The TAS fused with Velvent since I believe this is the fastest way to finish the game. Match 7 (Federico): This is where the Negative Health glitch finally comes into play (and is undeniably the fastest way to win). Lower Federico's health to around 25 before deathblow comes available. Once it is, Federico has to immediately hit you with his deathblow and you have to attack it at the same time (or at least the hit should connect a frame after). This should instantly KO Federico since his health is in the negative, with the next two Tail Whips doing the same. Match 8 (Ulvolos): Due to Ulvolos' high LP, two deathblows might be mandatory here. The first deathblow should be done when its LP is around 50, then the second KO is done via strikes into Backdrop without letting Ulvolos use its deathblow. After the 2nd KO, it should have around 130 LP. Strike it once to make it stand, then both monsters must trade deathblows at the same time for a double KO. Even though Negative Health isn't possible in this fight, Ulvolos will still lose a bit of LP from landing its deathblow. Shop 4: Buy the PP Food and use it to raise the PP stat to 690. The food items are one-time use so you'll have to buy this again after Match 10. Match 9 (Allowena): It has a very small hitbox. Maybe the corner glitch used against Voulsine can be helpful here? Otherwise, keep striking it till it has around 15-20 LP. Then you have to lock with it from the front and have Allowena use its grab deathblow (the one where it engulfs your monster). This will knock you down and put Allowena at Negative Health. If Allowena picks you up, it's possible to move around for a brief moment by mashing C during the animation, which might be necessary to lock with Allowena and Slam it with B during a front lock. Ideally, the fastest way would be if Allowena hits the player after the deathblow to make it stand. I wasn't sure how to manipulate Allowena into doing this, so I sticked with making it grab with a front lock immediately. After winning, you'll fuse with Allowena. Now your deathblow is a dive attack that can only be done while running. It's possible to land it while running up-left / up-right, but it's easier to land when running down-left / down-right (meaning less time spent to position yourself). Your new deathblow will always KO if the opponent's LP is less than 110 (or at least around there, haven't fully tested this yet). Match 10 (Octii): Fight was won using the Negative Health glitch, but it's a bit different since Octii's deathblow can only be done if it grabs you from behind. Lower its LP to around 20-30, Tail Whip while its down to make it stand, then use "Ghosting" to go through Octii and stop at the right time to make it grab you from behind. You can also Tail Whip immediately during Ghosting to keep you facing the wrong direction while making you grabbable (which was used in Match 11). Shop 5: Buy the PP Food and increase PP to the maximum amount of 990. Match 11 (Ploguras): Pretty much the exact same as Octii. Since Ploguras' deathblow animation isn't as long, this fight was a bit faster overall. Match 12 (HAX-004): Similar to Ulvolos, HAX-004 and the opponents coming up have a lot of LP. Get its LP as low as possible (at least around 20) and deathblow immediately, use strikes and then KO with a Backdrop for the 2nd, and then finish by landing a strike to make it stand into an immediate deathblow. I THINK because HAX-004 landed an attack during the animation, it guaranteed its LP was low enough for the deathblow to KO. Shop 6: Buy the SP Food and raise the SP stat to 630, Match 13 & 14 (Micaha & Ominos): Same as fighting HAX-004. During the Ominos fight, I realized that landing a few more strikes before the Backdrop for the 2nd KO made it so I didn't have to strike Ominos to put it in deathblow range for the 3rd KO. I think the same can be done with Match 12 & 13. Shop 7: Immediately leave the shop and you'll be given a potion. This increases all stats by 200. Use it and select the SP stat to increase it to 930. Final Boss (Blenadan): Yet again, it's similar to winning the previous match. However, there is something interesting about Blenadan's deathblow. It can only perform it upon grabbing from the front and it can actually put in him negative health if his LP is low enough...IF the deathblow actually dealt damage. For some reason, it won't register any damage when Blenadan performs its deathblow in Path A. But in Path B, you can actually use the Negative Health glitch against Blenadan since its deathblow will hit! This MIGHT possibly give Path B a chance to be faster, but due to the problems I mentioned earlier, I don't think it'll make up for the time lost in previous fights.
Ending & Final Thoughts
Upon defeating the final boss, you still have to press Start during the win screen to start the ending. In any case, I hope my information was helpful. I love this game so much (even if it's one of the worst games on the Sega Genesis) and I'm glad I was able to figure out as much as I could for it over the years. I'd love to put more time into making a proper TAS, but I'd personally rather try to get a better time on my regular speedruns. In any case, thanks a bunch for reading this far! If there's any questions then I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities.
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