(Link to video)

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: VBA v22
  • Uses a suboptimal character
  • Aims for In-game time instead of Real-time
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Abuses programming errors in the game
  • Uses death as shortcut
  • Uses the hardest difficulty
  • Does not use Ultra-Spindashes

Comments

This is yet another Sonic Advance run and yes, it is with Knuckles again! This is a 576 frame improvement over the previous run. While it doesn't make use of the Ultra Dash, it also uses its fair share of glitches that gives Knuckles a pretty good chance at beating the game in record time.

Stage by stage comments

Neo Green Hill 1 - 0:21:85

Not much to say about this level aside from optimized original strat.

Neo Green Hill 2 - 0:37:85

Same strat as previous run, but more optimized

Secret Base 1 - 0:33:90

Everything is almost exactly the same except for a few little things which helped me gain time.

Secret Base 2 - 0:57:75

Same as the previous run.

Casino Paradise 1 - 0:25:20

Same as previous run except with a few tweaks. A glitch similar to the "No Ultra-Spindash" TAS by Mukki is used near the end of the level.

Casino Paradise 2 - 0:39:90

Not as much changes in this level... just better optimization.

Ice Mountain 1 - 0:43:72

A few tweaks here and there, but the rest is optimizing the same strat.

Ice Mountain 2 - 0:54:47

A slight change in route was made, inspired by the Amy TAS, turned out to be faster than the previous route by 1.3 seconds.

Angel Island 1 - 0:26:53

Angel Island 1 is one of three levels where a glitch had to be exploited for a faster time. It also the only death in the run. There is a change in the beginning of the level which lead to a faster path to the loop where the glitch is used.

Angel Island 2 - 0:53:20

Not much special here. Saved 53 frames before the fight, but lost 6 frames due to the boss pattern so I had sold 47 frames overall in this level.

Egg Rocket 1 - (displayed as 3:26:48 in game)

Ohh Egg Rocket, how I still and forever will hate you so! This run made use of a glitch that pushes Knuckles through the floor and causes the level to lose solidarity. Thus making it possible to complete it in one go.

Cosmic Angel 2 - 0:52:55

This is where I use a glitch that I had found a glitch which causes Knuckles to be pushed above the cannon and eject myself out of the wall and make it into the boss area, thus putting me close to 4 seconds faster than the last attempt.

Final Zone - 0:44:07

Final Boss still a pain. Saved 30 frames over the previous run due to optimization.

Other comments

Major Thanks to:
Mukki - For your help and your lua script. :)
Grincevent - Being a great friend and provided support. <3

Suggested screenshot(s)

Frame 44450, Frame 44480

Spikestuff: GOTTA EAT A MUFFIN! ... Wait that's not it... What was it again?

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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Editor, Experienced player (608)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
Syncs on VBA 23.6 svn480. Also, here are the screenshots suggested in the submission text: 44450 44480 Nice improvement, GoddessMaria! I like all the little optimizations everywhere. Voting Yes!
Active player (356)
Joined: 12/17/2013
Posts: 73
Location: Argentina
Nice improvement !! I like this game and TASing... Voting Yes !! :)
Current Projects: Snic & Knuckles 3 - Knuckles 100% - AIZ2 Future Proyects: Genesis games GBx - GBA games
Experienced player (630)
Joined: 11/23/2013
Posts: 2208
Location: Guatemala
So you are finally submitting this... Cool! I like this. Voting yes.
Here, my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/dekutony
Experienced player (501)
Joined: 3/1/2014
Posts: 76
Location: Paris
offscreen yes vote! wasn't know this port, seems to be fun...i still can see it's an optimize run (longest sonic compt time ever or it's me?) who is the optimal character? (what he got better than knuckles)
ACE is my raison d'etre!
Active player (306)
Joined: 8/21/2012
Posts: 429
Location: France
Knuckles has a very interesting moveset, that's what I like about this run, and the fact that it's yet another improvement. The best part for me is the shortcut to get to Cosmic Angel's boss (really) faster, that was the big surprise for me ^^. Bravo ;)
Joined: 8/21/2012
Posts: 29
Location: Russia, Moscow
That was... Awesome!
mklip2001
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Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
Very good! I don't remember the previous Knuckles run that well, but I liked this. It's fun to see Knuckles punching all the time to keep momentum. (I almost think it would be best to have a screenshot of him punching Mecha Knuckles.) Angel Island 1's crazy route and Egg Rocket 1 were definitely the highlights. Yes vote! One question though: some of the bosses end with Robotnik crashing and burning near the left side of the screen. He seems to take longer leaving the screen that way. Is it possible for any of the "death animations" to take place further to the right, if that would even help?
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.
GoddessMaria
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Joined: 5/29/2009
Posts: 514
Location: Hell...
Thank you so much everyone for your kind words. It means a lot!
mklip2001 wrote:
One question though: some of the bosses end with Robotnik crashing and burning near the left side of the screen. He seems to take longer leaving the screen that way. Is it possible for any of the "death animations" to take place further to the right, if that would even help?
If the boss patterns decides to have them, then perhaps. Neo Green Hill boss can only be defeated at his earliest during the cycle used before hopping offscreen to the left. Casino Paradise and Ice Paradise bosses both have unusual patterns which dictates what will happen next. I have even less control with the behaviors of Ice Mountain boss, while Casino Paradise boss is weird with where he appears from next. Changing anything beforehand throws the whole thing off.
Current projects: failing at life
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2573] GBA Sonic Advance "Knuckles, No Ultraspindash" by GoddessMaria in 13:51.76
Joined: 5/9/2005
Posts: 748
Nice work GoddessMaria, I'm really glad you were able to finish this. And the effort was not wasted, it was a great run.