(Link to video)
Submission Text Full Submission Page Publication Page

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Gens 11b
  • Uses 2 players
  • Plays on hardest difficulty
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Contains speed/entertainment tradeoffs

Comments

Started this run back in 2005, and after 8 years in limbo, it's finally done. This run uses Zan/Blaze and plays on Hard difficulty on the US version of Streets of Rage 3 (which is quite a bit harder than its Japanese counterpart, Bare Knuckle III). This is 8 minutes faster than my previous 1 player run.
Technically, damage is taken to save time (only a few times, I cancel Blaze's elbow by hitting her with Zan), but due to a bug where you gain extra life beyond your lifebar after exiting a scene, you'll never actually see that damage on the lifebars.
There are many speed/entertainment tradeoffs, especially during long boss battles that would otherwise be very boring (the Yamatos in particular).

Multi-hit bug

The major bug used in this run is the multi-hit bug. This occurs when both players are hitting two or more of the same enemies at the same time, causing hits to stack quickly. Unlike the "Handshake of Death" bug in Streets of Rage 2, this one does not freeze the players, and is slightly less lethal. I only found out about the bug when I reached the Stage 2 nightclub, so it isn't used until then. Redoing the run from that point would have made it more monotonous, as the bug gets used quite a bit from that point onward.

AI manipulation

AI manipulation was the hardest part of this TAS. Enemies' behavior is determined by one (or both) player's position and actions, and not having the ability to dissect their AI routines means a lot of frustrating trial-and-error, especially with the stubborn/annoying enemy types (Goldies, Zacks, Tigers and robots). Because of this, you'll see some unusual solutions to getting the enemies to do what I want, especially in Stage 7.

Robots

These enemies (the jumping robots, not the Robot X clones) have many unique properties. They have a much longer hit stun than other enemies, making the multi-hit bug useless against them. They also have interesting interactions with grabbing flurry attacks (Zan lets go after two flurry hits, and Blaze can repeatedly knee if she has multiple robots in one spot).
Some robots can self-destruct, but only under certain conditions. Here's what I've determined about this behavior:
  • White robots can never self-destruct
  • All other robots can self-destruct, but only when their current lifebar (ignoring the 1x, 2x, etc. on the side) is very low.
Only 4 robots in the game are non-white and have more than 1 lifebar, unfortunately. Otherwise, having robots with less than 1 lifebar self-destruct loses time versus just killing them normally.

Known improvements

Axel/Blaze would probably be faster due to Axel having a more damaging jumping downward attack. Bestiajerules' 1 player run shows a bug where on Robot Y's last hit caused him to skip his death animation, saving a few seconds. Try as I may, I couldn't replicate this bug.
Suggested screenshots: Frame 45715, 83332, 118673
feos: Accepting for Moons and publishing...

Show more

Hide
1 2
Posted: 6/17/2013 11:30 AM
Quote
atro_city
Active player (253)
Joined: 4/24/2005
Posts: 476
Radiant wrote:
atro city wrote:
If Blaze grabs an enemy before her blitz is over, the sword doesn't lose energy.
Interesting. Is that something you can pull off reliably in normal gameplay, or does it require frame-level precision?
You can do it in normal gameplay, but it's tricky and requires accurate timing/spacing. I believe the way it works is Blaze cycles between some non-knockdown frames and a knockdown frame. In order for the knockdown frame to not hit, the enemy needs to still be in hitstun from a previous hit. If Blaze hits the enemy on the very first frame she goes into the blitz (by being close enough), then it works every time on regular enemies. Otherwise it's essentially luck-based in normal gameplay.
Floogal wrote:
By the way, atro city, please don't take my musings on more character variety as whiny complaints. Your video is very entertaining!
I didn't take the discussion as a complaint, don't worry. I'm glad you found it entertaining.
[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcuV2JdaBYY]Streets of Rage 3 (2 players)[/url]
Posted: 6/17/2013 11:54 AM
Quote
GoddessMaria
She/Her
Reviewer, Experienced player (849)
Joined: 5/29/2009
Posts: 514
Location: Hell...
GBA TASer of 2016 GBA TASer of 2014 Lucky TAS of 2014 GBA TAS of 2014
I've been wondering... Isn't Mania the hardest difficulty? If so, why was that not used instead?
Current projects: failing at life
Posted: 6/17/2013 11:57 AM
Quote
atro_city
Active player (253)
Joined: 4/24/2005
Posts: 476
In SOR3, Hard is the hardest difficulty. Mania is only in SOR2.
[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcuV2JdaBYY]Streets of Rage 3 (2 players)[/url]
Posted: 6/17/2013 11:59 AM
Quote
GoddessMaria
She/Her
Reviewer, Experienced player (849)
Joined: 5/29/2009
Posts: 514
Location: Hell...
GBA TASer of 2016 GBA TASer of 2014 Lucky TAS of 2014 GBA TAS of 2014
Ah okay. Thank you for the quick response and the clarification! ^^
Current projects: failing at life
Posted: 6/17/2013 6:09 PM
Post subject: Speaking of Difficulty Settings
Quote
Yoni_Arousement
He/Him
Joined: 5/1/2007
Posts: 294
Location: MD
In case people were wondering, "Very Easy" and "Maniac" difficulty settings in SOR1 don't really exist.
I like Doraemon
Posted: 6/18/2013 9:17 PM
Post subject: Re: Superb, it should be said.
Quote
Truncated
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (969)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
Arcade TAS of 2023 Sega TASer of 2021 Sega TAS of 2021
Floogal wrote:
trivia: I learned that hitting with the somersault hurts more than the headbutt, the opposite of SOR2.
True. I noticed just recently that the last few frames of the somersault before you land give additional damage, so I guess I should update my FAQ... About the movie, it's great! If I could choose I would have a bit less of the downwards attack bug, but that's just a minor complaint. There is so much pit-throwing and robot-juggling and dancing it would be silly not to vote yes. :) Good work, atro city!
Posted: 6/21/2013 4:26 PM
Post subject: Movie published
Quote
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14898
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. ---- [2404] Genesis Streets of Rage 3 "2 players" by atro city in 38:12.55
Posted: 6/22/2013 10:05 PM
Quote
Qlex
He/Him
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 193
Location: Available
Atro city! What a surprise! What a coincidence. To tell you what, my school year got really hectic and I didn't see tasvideos.org for weeks, so I eventually have got time to do random stuff and I'm thinking "yeah, what's new on Tasvideos". And what do I see! You did well on that one, I was entertained, but a lot of the video wasn't such a surprise to me, as I saw the WIPs several times before =) Nice dancing moves and funny moments, of course. I could see how infuriatingly hard the AI manipulation was, especially near the end (right before robot X and so). Even with ridiculously healthy bosses the later parts were entertaining, so congrats for that as well. Well! You've done it now! Congratulations for finishing that long piece of work and a late yes vote! Do you have any other ideas TAS-wise?
Posted: 6/22/2013 10:30 PM
Quote
atro_city
Active player (253)
Joined: 4/24/2005
Posts: 476
No, I think I'm done with TASing. There are quite a few arcade beat-em-ups I'd like to see TASed (The Punisher, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, Alien vs. Predator, etc.) but I remember trying to use FBA-rr and getting nothing but desyncs. Plus, with the rate I finish things nothing would be completed before 2020.
[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcuV2JdaBYY]Streets of Rage 3 (2 players)[/url]
Posted: 6/23/2013 6:54 PM
Quote
Qlex
He/Him
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 193
Location: Available
That's totally understandable. Congrats again for your publication, a job well done. Best of luck for whatever you are willing to do next ;)
1 2