In Spelunker 2, there are 3 characters to pick from, each has different weapons and ability. In TAS, the character Esper is used to complete the game in 15 minutes 12 seconds using ESP (set and warp to teleport point).

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 1.9.1
  • Aim for Fastest Time
  • Takes damage to save time

Comments

Spelunker II: Yūsha e no Chōsen, translation in English would be something called "Spelunker II: Challenge to the Brave", there are 3 characters to choose from, Explorer, Priest, and Esper. I used Esper, that character is fastest because of ability to use ESP which I can set teleport point, then use ESP to teleport back to where I set it to.
I'm going to explain a few game mechanics, normally when character gets hit, character gets knock back far, but it can be worked around is upon exact frame before getting hit, turn around, or press up or down to get knock back other way around or be hit still. When character jump, character always jump exact height, no way to control jumping height. When character touch ceiling, character falls straight down, no way to control falling left or right. Same for rope, moving off rope makes character fall straight down. Also when messages comes up (getting healing deer, getting bomb, getting thunder power up, and talking to final boss) holding direction up button speeds up message. The "TOKU" below Life bar is "VIT" or "HOLY" or whatever translation is, if character loses too much of it, character won't get LIFE healed up after stage and won't be able to use Rosary to kill undeads.

Stage by stage comments

Stage 1

I had choice to start game with 1 bomb or 1 ration, I had to go with ration because I can give it to injured deer in exchange for gold key. Bomb is useless in this stage. Using thunder weapon is stronger than sword (about twice damage) just in case if you're wonder. If you're seeing bags and crate lying around, bags usually contains ration which heals character a few (I think 3 to 4 bars, useless in TAS) and crate usually contains bomb. One of crate contains Rosary which can be used to kill undeads and bats, useless in first stage because I can just take hits and walk thru them. On the final part of stage 1 where I swim in water with flames in it, for odd reason, ceiling flame hurts at bottom part, but not top part, I swim thru top part to avoid damage. At end of stage, fairy message screen, there's no way to skip it, none of button skips it.

Stage 2

First time you would noticed me jumping up the rope rather than normally climbing up, it is a few frames faster this way. You would also noticed me using ESP to get pass silver key door, this trick seem to only work for this room because of standing on right side and the area has horizontal scrolling. After 2nd stage boss, you would noticed me pausing game - pausing game adds missed Rosary to inventory, which I can obtain upgraded thunder weapon, and helps me avoid few more damages from zombies and ghost. Also pausing at that point allows me manage RNG of enemies position and behavior (timing they move and jump). Jumping over cross is to avoid losing TOKU. If you had noticed me skipping that last gold key, all the keys get wiped away on next stage so I skip it.

Stage 3

On the 3rd silver key door, I cannot use ESP teleport trick, probably because area don't horizontal scroll. The apple I collected from Stage 2 is used to keep final boss stunned and keep still, which makes it easy to kill quicker.

For publisher / encoder

Suggested screenshot is 8364 or 11046
For encoder, at end of game, there is no other input to get pass Esper cheering and Fairy princess screen so stopping AVI movie at around frame 62500 would be good enough.

Noxxa: Judging.
Noxxa: The run looks decent overall, but the game is just a bit too slow and because of that, the run feels like it drags on at times. Viewer response also appeared tepid. Accepting for the Vault.
feos: Pub.


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15626
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #4599: ventuz's NES Spelunker II: Yūsha e no Chōsen in 15:12.05
Techokami
He/Him
Joined: 6/23/2008
Posts: 160
So... a human version of Sonic the Hedgehog with psychic powers and a lightning gun runs through green hills, underground caverns, and Castlevania to kill some evil jerk, so he could return to Angel Island and save human Amy Rose. That's what happens in the game, right? Good glitching, I like that out of bounds trick in level 2. Yes vote!
ventuz
He/Him
Player (126)
Joined: 10/4/2004
Posts: 940
Temp video Link to video
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
Strange game. I finally got some time to watch it, and it reminds me more of The Goonies 2 than the first Spelunker game. This character is pretty fast, but it still feels like it takes him a long time to get through stages. He doesn't get much chance to attack enemies without losing time. The stage design starts to feel monotonous after some time. It's a good run for the game, but I came to this expecting to see something as frantic as the original Spelunker. By those standards, it was disappointing. I had to go with Meh on entertainment.
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.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15626
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. ---- [2811] NES Spelunker II: Yūsha e no Chōsen by ventuz in 15:12.05