I agree with some of what you say: It would be more satisfying not to have the GT code as a prerequisite, and I think a non-GT version of this TAS would be very interesting to see. I definitely think such a TAS should be made.
As far as Plasma Beam before Draygon, I thought Kejardon said back when he was first testing the OOB glitch/X-Ray Climbing that the Plasma Beam doesn't spawn until Draygon is dead. Am I misremembering?
if the run is possible even without the use of the code, why even use it in the first place?
To trigger the glitch, you need to have both Spazer and Plasma beams. You also need to have a large number of super missiles and a certain (lesser) number of power bombs. These are all easily obtainable without using the GT Code; the problem is that then you have a run that doesn't dive into the hardest section of the game with nowhere near enough equipment and yet somehow survives anyway. In fact, you wouldn't even see Lower Norfair (where the GT Code is performed) at all! Instead the game would be played normally up through Draygon (the giant shrimp boss in the underwater area), the Plasma beam would be acquired, and then the glitch would be performed. Well, maybe you can X-ray climb to get the Plasma beam early, but then you're probably talking about doing a Gravity Suit-less underwater section to get there without killing Draygon, which is going to be awfully slow (Samus' movement speed is drastically limited when underwater without the Gravity Suit). And you'd also have a lengthy segment of doing the X-Ray Climb glitch as currently demonstrated in the published any% run. It's interesting from a high-level view but tedious to actually watch.
Super metroid already has seven branches on the site, which is more than any other game on the site. I find it rather dubious to make an eighth branch.
I'm giving this a Yes vote. I don't have any suggestions, though, about what happens to the current any% run if this is published. I recommend keeping that run and this run published as separate categories, but I could see the case for obsoletion as well.
Great job guys!! It is cool to see the game pushed to it's theoretical limit. It will be interesting to see how this one gets judged, and whether it replaces the old x-ray glitch run. Yes vote here. Kudos for saving the animals too!
Submission soon? :D