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Also known as "Cat Mario", Syobon Action is an extremely difficult mario-clone platformer that usually takes many tries to complete. This run aims to do so in the fastest possible time.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Hourglass - r71
  • Fastest Time For Real
  • No Deaths
  • Minor Glitch Abuse

Comments

First of all, I would like to thank the people in the Syobon Action Thread and the japanese TASers in Nicovideo. Without them, I would have been stuck with a time of 1:52. I would also like to thank nitsuja for the hourglass emulator that made this possible.
Secondly, the reason why I used the "4 stage" version instead of an extended one is because the "official" [dead link removed] site only has this version. Also, a source claims that Syobon Action only has 4 stages, implying that the extended version is a fan-game.

Glitches/Tricks

Wall Jumping

With enough horizontal velocity, you can clip slightly into a wall if you turn around for ~1 frame. Then simply hold onto the jump button ("Z" or "UP") to jump again once inside the wall.

Quick Turn

To turn quickly, bump into a wall for 1 frame then immediately turn around. It's faster than turning without bumping into a wall. Used once in stage 1 - 1.

Stage by stage comments

1 - 1

The first stage of the game. I tried very hard to improve this stage, but I couldn't. It seems that the strategy I used in the other run was optimal.

1 - 2

The second stage takes place mostly underground. Somehow, I managed to save 1 frame at the first screen, and ~3 frames underground. Savings maybe due to lag avoidance.

1 - 3

The third stage takes place above ground. The strategy I used to kick the shell may seem sub-optimal, but it's actually 24 frames faster.

1 - 4

The final stage resembles the castle stages in Super Mario Bros. The overall strategy remains the same, but with minor savings from slight optimization.

Other comments

Possible Improvements

  • Lag Reduction (Needs Lag Counter)
  • Speed/Pixel Management (Needs RAM Search)
  • Further optimization (Needs more stable SaveStates)

Suggested Screenshot:

Actual Screenshot:

Frame 3001
adelikat: Claimed for judging
jlun2: Uncancelling to compare it with this run.
adelikat: Reclaiming for judging. You are making it a challenge to claim this one!
adelikat: Ideally I would make a verdict about whether or not to use the speed up (spacebar) option and set some kind of precedent. But in this case I think there was too much confusion to get a consensus and the game had a negative response anyway. So I will dodge that issue completely and reject purely on game choice. See also, #3288: jlun2's Windows Syobon Action "x2 Speed" in 00:56.87.
adelikat: Unrejecting this submission for consideration into the Vault tier.
adelikat: The verdict for this game specifically, random mode and 2x speed mode are considered cheat codes; therefore they are not eligible for fastest completion. That makes this the fastest any% movie and I am accepting it to the Vault due to good tech quality and goal choice, but poor audience support for the Alternative tier.

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Posted: 9/18/2011 11:40 AM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
Tangent wrote:
To build off this, like the recently turned-down Kaizo hack, for the majority of the game, there's only a narrow window of options actually available, so a TAS looks nearly identical to a non-TAS besides running over the top of the last level. The point of the game is discovering all of the things that can kill you and toying with player assumptions. Without that... Also, is there any reason you didn't use the acceleration key? That seems like a strange decision for a TAS.
You mean the space bar? While it'll make the run end faster, I'm not sure if it is considered a cheat, since the other TASes didn't use it. I think I'll ask a mod for their opinion.
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/18/2011 11:42 AM
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moozooh
Senior Moderator
Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5777
Location: Away
What, two minutes aren't short enough for you peeps? :o
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Posted: 9/18/2011 11:46 AM
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Tangent
Joined: 3/9/2009
Posts: 530
It's listed in the controls right next to how to jump. I'm not sure under what standards a button that makes the game faster and more difficult would be considered a cheat.
Posted: 9/18/2011 11:50 AM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
Tangent wrote:
It's listed in the controls right next to how to jump. I'm not sure under what standards a button that makes the game faster and more difficult would be considered a cheat.
I pm'd adelikat. If it's usable, I'll just cancel this (again). If not, I'll try to address some issues regarding the run being too "human - like".
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/18/2011 11:55 AM
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fsvgm777
She/Her
Senior Publisher, Player (226)
Joined: 5/28/2009
Posts: 1213
Location: Luxembourg
From what I can gather, the space bar doubles the frame rate (from 30 to 60). However, the space bar has to remain pressed the entire time, else the frame rate drops back to 30. Plus, it makes the game seem unnaturally fast (as in, the death sound is still playing when a level has already been reloaded, just to give an idea).
Steam Community page - Bluesky profile Oh, I'm just a concerned observer.
Posted: 9/18/2011 1:10 PM
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franpa
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 407
That and I wouldn't like it for the same reason I don't like the Alien Carnage TAS, too fast to follow.
Ryzen 3700X, ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard, 32GB 3600MHz RAM, MSI Geforce 1070Ti 8GB, Windows 10 Pro x64 http://tasvideos.org/Nach/FranpaAlert.html
Posted: 9/18/2011 1:13 PM
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franpa
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 407
I vote "No" as you avoid too much of the last level making it really boring to watch.
Ryzen 3700X, ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard, 32GB 3600MHz RAM, MSI Geforce 1070Ti 8GB, Windows 10 Pro x64 http://tasvideos.org/Nach/FranpaAlert.html
Posted: 9/18/2011 1:16 PM
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adelikat
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Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3573)
Joined: 11/3/2004
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TASer of 2010 NES TASer of 2010 DS TASer of 2010 Arcade TAS of 2010 NES TASer of 2008 NES TAS of 2008 Funny TAS of 2008 TASer of 2007 NES TASer of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
Interesting situation with the spacebar. The button is part of the standard controls and is mentioned in the game. That seems similar to Legend of Zelda where it was deemed appropriate to use controller 2's Up+A. I'd say it is legal, but maybe it might lose entertainment value to the audience? I say make a TAS that uses it and let's see what it looks like.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Posted: 9/18/2011 1:33 PM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
adelikat wrote:
I'd say it is legal, but maybe it might lose entertainment value to the audience? I say make a TAS that uses it and let's see what it looks like.
Ok. But I'll need to hex-edit the file to change the frame rate to 60 FPS, as it seems that while the the frame rate is 30, the space bar won't work properly.
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/18/2011 1:39 PM
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Tangent
Joined: 3/9/2009
Posts: 530
adelikat wrote:
Interesting situation with the spacebar. The button is part of the standard controls and is mentioned in the game. That seems similar to Legend of Zelda where it was deemed appropriate to use controller 2's Up+A. I'd say it is legal, but maybe it might lose entertainment value to the audience? I say make a TAS that uses it and let's see what it looks like.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm15552471
Posted: 9/18/2011 2:01 PM
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Mr._Kelly_R._Flewin
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
This has been one of the WORST games I've ever seen.. and I've played Cheetahmen II happily. [Which is amusing since the first level USES the music from Cheetahmen II] Utterly boring, almost nothing to differ it from a normal player who has skill, unoriginal music [Unlike most hacks with different music, it fails to work here] and the graphics... ugh. All of these things made this an absolutely horrible choice for a game, let alone a TAS. Definite No vote. Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Posted: 9/18/2011 4:07 PM
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nitsuja
Emulator Coder, Skilled player (1310)
Joined: 12/21/2004
Posts: 2687
Computer TASer of 2011 TAS of 2011 First edition TAS of 2011 Computer TAS of 2011 Sega TAS of 2010 Sega TAS of 2008 Sega TAS of 2007 Glitchy TAS of 2007
jlun2 wrote:
Found it. It seems that stages 5 - 8 are part of another game, and that other game doesn't seem to have the first 4 stages.
It has all 8 stages, and it lets you pick which one to start on. I'm not sure how well it runs, but I think that version can be found here.
Posted: 9/18/2011 4:33 PM
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Wyster
Active player (302)
Joined: 9/2/2006
Posts: 504
Personally i think that while this TAS is probably well done, the game itself isn't good enough. It's similar to the argument about hacks, of course they should be allowed but they need to meet certain quality standards(this don't). This game was probably drawn by an amateur in MS paint and everything else about it seems pretty mediocre as well.
Posted: 9/18/2011 4:50 PM
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Tub
Joined: 6/25/2005
Posts: 1377
Running to the right? Walljumping? Running on top of the level? Not finding a princess at the end? There's this other game that already did all that, with superior gfx. The only thing this run offered over the current SMB publications are the traps, but those are barely visible since they're avoided anyway. On the other hand, SMB skillfully dodges koopa, fish and fireballs, which is much more entertaining than a floor disappearing half a screen behind the player. Voted no due to game choice.
m00
Posted: 9/18/2011 4:51 PM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
Done! I redid the entire run, this time with the correct frame rate (to fix the space bar issue), and more "TAS - like" movement. I'm cancelling this (again). Sorry, adelikat!
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/18/2011 4:51 PM
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TASVideosGrue
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om, nom, nom... blech, bitter!
Posted: 9/19/2011 5:04 AM
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franpa
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 407
This would get a Yes vote from me if you didn't run over the top of the last level until it's required. As it is the last level is just too boring and not entertaining. I still say No to speeding up a game for the sake of speeding up the game.
Ryzen 3700X, ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard, 32GB 3600MHz RAM, MSI Geforce 1070Ti 8GB, Windows 10 Pro x64 http://tasvideos.org/Nach/FranpaAlert.html
Posted: 9/19/2011 5:24 PM
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Exonym
Editor, Experienced player (941)
Joined: 7/20/2011
Posts: 345
Gameboy TAS of 2021
Wow this game's graphics make my little experiment game I was making about a year ago look acceptable :p.
Current thoughts: Hachiemon (J) for GBA.
Posted: 9/19/2011 10:49 PM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
franpa wrote:
This would get a Yes vote from me if you didn't run over the top of the last level until it's required. As it is the last level is just too boring and not entertaining. I still say No to speeding up a game for the sake of speeding up the game.
If I didn't jump up there so soon, I would lose time. I tried it already. =/ Also, speeding up the game? This is played at normal speed. =P Edit: I was wondering, if this is a bad-game choice, is it because of the graphics, game controls, or what? Since several people mentioned it as such.
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/20/2011 2:59 AM
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mklip2001
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Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
jlun2, I think franpa means that using the walljump glitch to get onto the ceiling is more boring than getting on the ceiling the way the stage intends. Certainly the intended route is slower, but it shows off more of the ideas behind the game. I don't know whether it's ultimately a good idea to make a run that attempts to show off more of the game's tricks, or even how that could be done as a playaround. (See, for instance, Genisto's original run of "Air" and the controversy surrounding it.) Also, there seem to be three key arguments behind this being a bad game for a TAS: 1) The graphics 2) The design behind the puzzles (similar to complaints about Kaizo Mario and such) 3) The fact that a run aiming for speed ignores most of what makes the level design appealing (the same issue was heavily debated with the run of Air / Air 2)
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.
Posted: 9/21/2011 8:23 AM
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franpa
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 407
mklip2001 wrote:
jlun2, I think franpa means that using the walljump glitch to get onto the ceiling is more boring than getting on the ceiling the way the stage intends. Certainly the intended route is slower, but it shows off more of the ideas behind the game.
This, and my comment about speed was referring to the other run that performs at 2x speed and in that regard I would rather this run be published and not the 2x version. I ultimately feel that the run should show off as many traps as possible, a play around if you will as raw speed as a goal just doesn't suit this game very well.
Ryzen 3700X, ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Motherboard, 32GB 3600MHz RAM, MSI Geforce 1070Ti 8GB, Windows 10 Pro x64 http://tasvideos.org/Nach/FranpaAlert.html
Posted: 9/21/2011 12:22 PM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
nitsuja wrote:
jlun2 wrote:
Found it. It seems that stages 5 - 8 are part of another game, and that other game doesn't seem to have the first 4 stages.
It has all 8 stages, and it lets you pick which one to start on. I'm not sure how well it runs, but I think that version can be found here.
Ok, I tried the game, and I can say, it's annoying. There's no sound, more lag, and some things are changed (landing on the white blob enemy doesn't automatically propel you extremely high, for example). The fact that according to an article, you must modify the mp3 files for sound to work makes it seem like a terrible hack of Syobon Action. =P
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/21/2011 2:09 PM
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jlun2
Skilled player (1741)
Joined: 9/17/2009
Posts: 4981
Location: ̶C̶a̶n̶a̶d̶a̶ "Kanatah"
GBA TASer of 2010
About Syobon Action: While this game naturally runs at 30 FPS, the space bar will fail to work at said frame rate, and instead work at 60 FPS. At 60 FPS, the space bar works fine, but unfortunately, the game executable would load slower. I tested it, and it seems that it's slowed by around 30 frames. If this run (ever) gets accepted, I would like to replace the submission file with one that works at 60 FPS, so the game would function the way it suppose to.
LLCoolDave wrote:
This seems to be competing for the "Worst looking TAS of 2011" Award.
Posted: 9/21/2011 5:08 PM
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fsvgm777
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I guess I have to encode this run again once you've posted said input file. Oh well, doesn't matter much... I guess.
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Posted: 9/21/2011 9:57 PM
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DarkKobold
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Arcade TASer of 2010 PCE TASer of 2010 Arcade TAS of 2010 Lucky TAS of 2009 Lucky TAS of 2007
I can't help but feel like this game is someone's senior project for college, and not an actual sellable game. It is like a ROM hack, but instead a copy. Perhaps I'm wrong, but since PC games are so easy to make, it seems like we need to draw a line, like we do for hacks. Otherwise, I could write a game called "DarkKobold winz thiz TAS" and try and get it published.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
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