Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is an adventure game from the game series Mortal Kombat. Its genre differs from standard for games of this series and represents not a fighting, but a platform which main character is Sub-Zero. Actions of game happen prior to the events of the first part of Mortal Kombat.
Although the game is not particularly popular with the fans of the series, I find it pretty good.
This is an improvement of an
existing run. Besides a set of small improvements, the main differences of this run are a new shortcut in the sixth level and much more qualitative score management. All of this in total allowed to reduce a time of the run by nearly 3 minutes.
Emulator: PSXjin v2.0.2 svn0
BIOS file: Sony PSone BIOS (U)(v4.5)(2000-05-25)[SCPH-101].bin
Run specifics
- Aims for fastest time
- Uses death as a shortcut
- Takes damage to save time
- Heavy luck manipulation
- Abuses programming errors
- Uses hardest difficulty
Glitches used
- Pillar glitch: in the first level, if you jump under pillar at the right time, then instead of crush Sub-Zero it will push him out.
- Third level shortcut: it consists in involving the first press, having a little gone down on a rope, and then to jump out from under it back. Thus pass opens immediately and doesn't require the killing of the Earth God. To complete the cut, it is necessary to activate checkpoint, killing a monk on the second floor and jumping down into the opened hole, and then wait for the end of the movement of a press after which pass over a spring on the first floor will open.
- Glitched monks: another glitch in third level. After a jump on a spring it is required to take a key and kill meditating monk to pass on. Usually in this place a hole is closed. However, all holes at the level open and close at the same time and if you have time to get upward before closing holes (it can be done by jumping on the spring at the right time) it is possible to have time to take a key and jump off without killing a monk. In result loading sprites of monk with staff does not occur and further they'll use sprites of a meditating monk. Because of incorrect hitboxes which are calculated from the size of sprites, you can use a slide and get points from roundhouse kicks.
- Sixth level shortcut: there are two places.
- At the beginning of the second part of the level you need to get a prison guard to shoot right. Then get a prison guard from the bottom to throw Sub-Zero platform above using the uppercut, and then have to jump on a flying fireball, increasing the height of the jump with an ice clone. This eliminates the need to take the first key.
- Being at the top, you need to get a prison guard to throw Sub-Zero platform with the urn. Then you have to die in order to skip the battle with the boss. And instead of lifting the last lift that needs a third key from the boss, you must use a prison guard, who will have to spend up to this point.
- Jataaka instant kill: such glitch works with some bosses: if you do a special combo (jump kick + roundhouse kick + slide + low kick), then a character falls through the floor. Most of them come back later, but Jataaka dies, saving a huge amount of time.
- Air walking: in the eighth level after killing an assassin you need to run to the door and then stop to open it. However, instead of stopping, you can jump and press low punch button in the air in any moment. Right after pressing loading will go, and after it Sub-Zero will stand in the place, where he was at the time of loading. Number of actions that Sub-Zero can do in such situation is very limited, and most useful of them is running.
Note: this bug also can be reproduced in third level after killing Earth God and using a key.
Tricks used
- Rope climbing: you can use jumps for rope climbing by holding move back button right after jumping off. Such way is much faster than the default.
- Flash jump strikes: if you hit an enemy right before landing, then the delay after strike won't be.
- Jumps from hanging position: if you press the attack button after jumping, then Sub-Zero will land with animation as after side jump, that is a little faster.
- Keeping speed in air: falling from the platform after a run or slide, you need to press the attack at the moment when the character gets control. In this case, Sub-Zero will not reduce speed and continue to fly with the speed of the run or slide.
- Animation cancel: in most cases, animations of various actions can be interrupted by doing a slide. A special case is interrupting an ending animation of the slide that allows multiple slides which is faster than run.
- Ice clone tricks: use of an ice clone after a jump can increase height or length of a jump. And the clone placed early enough can reduce the time spent in air. Use of these options in the right places allows to save time.
- Manipulates luck: RNG is influenced literally by each action here. Thus, making the seemingly useless button presses, you can force opponents to jump over Sub-Zero, run after him or stay in place. In fight with enemies, it is possible to force them to do actions which can be interrupted by Sub-Zero's attacks. And you can influence the appearance of the wind in the second level.
- Enemies appearing: at the same time near Sub-Zero can be only one enemy (two in some places). If an enemy is far enough away from the screen position, it will be removed from memory and the next enemy might appear if it does not interfere with other circumstances. Thus, forcing the enemy behind to run after Sub-Zero, you guarantee the absence of opponents ahead. To the contrary, if an enemy behind stands still, after a while ahead there can be a new opponent.
- Enemies respawning: the enemy is considered as killed if there was his corpse. If the enemy fall into the abyss, it will appear in place of its appearance, if it does not interfere with the position of the screen. So you can get points on the same enemy, throwing him into the abyss every time.
Note: the guards in the eighth level will always respawn, allowing the player to farm points to complete the game.
- Score management: because at the end of the eighth level you need to have at least 5100 experience points, you have to take care of them throughout the whole game. To do this you need to know a few facts:
- Registered combo gives extra points for each hit. Combo will not be registered if the final strike kills the enemy, and if the enemy blocks a hit (this can happen if you hit an enemy by punching near a wall).
- For killing the enemy is also given extra points. As described above, death is registered if the enemy leaves a corpse. However, if the final strike is a flash jump kick, extra points for the death won't be.
- Jump kick at an enemy standing on the ground reduces the damage of all subsequent combo strikes twice. It allows to do to the enemy to do more hits and therefore get more points.
- Sometimes it is worth spending a few extra frames to additional strike, but to get extra points. So in some places in this run flash jump kick is used instead of simple jumping over the enemy. It is often worth 2 frames, but gives more points than is possible to gather for the same time on enemies at the end of the game.
Run description by levels
L1: As soon as I get control over the character immediately rush forward. Unarmed monks I force to jump over Sub-Zero, armed monks can't jump, so I have to jump over them. With all pillars I apply the glitch described above. On a balcony I jump on the right from below as the running speed is higher than jumping speed, and immediately turn around as not to waste time from below. To Scorpion I come with a jump not to go to him with a slow walk. Scorpion is killed in the standard way for killing the boss: some beginning (close punch), then the repeating 3 high punches. After killing him I accurately calculate the moment of opening of the door and leave the room, and then went up the rope jumping, complete the level.
L2: Perhaps the most difficult level in the game both when usual passing and when TASing. The difficulty for TAS is to select the optimal method of scoring, since the rotating platforms do not allow to save time.
I reach the first platforms using at any opportunity a trick with keeping the speed in air. Rotating platforms give very limited to get the points, so that there are no special options. After these platforms I use the help of a monk who sends Sub-Zero upward by an uppercut, and then kill the next monk, getting enough points to learn the slide. Subsequently slide will save so much time that even allows to overtake the previous TAS by one lap of platforms. Then a long way to these platforms, in which it is necessary to exchange ~200 frames on the stock for the largest amount of points. In this way, you can identify things like:
- Work with inventory from which in the first entry disappears almost all foods, to further reduce the time spent in the inventory to a minimum.
- The killing of a monk near the top key. It may seem that there can't be delayed, however, if you take the key ahead of time, then the door just won't open.
- Unusual jumps on rocking platforms. Slide to the first platform makes it possible to collect extra points, last slide saves few frames. Other moves are made just for appearance.
Wind God is killed in the standard way, from the previous Scorpion differs only in final strike.
L3: Thanks to described above glitches this level is much faster than it should. In addition, it was possible to earn a lot of points on the monks. With regard to the last of them, because of incorrect hitboxes, roundhouse kick can reach both the monks, despite the fact that both were far away from me. Moreover, these strikes were registered as a combo (you can reveal that fact by stopping a demo after the first or second roundhouse kick and doing some other attack), but unfortunately, time didn't allow to benefit from this.
L4: Big shortcuts aren't present here so the only thing what was worth working here is a gathering points. In particular the monk near a door to the second key required to spend 28 frames on his appearance, but gave a lot of points, so it was profitable.
Killing Water God in the standard way is not profitable due to the longer animation of getting hit, so here a little changed option is used.
L5: At this level, there is a place with a vertically moving platforms, which don't give much time to save, so that additional time should be used to get additional points. So I get the ice clone that soon use. Because of the abundance of fire at the level it is necessary to heal, and though in the inventory already there is one healer, I need to take another one, because without these items inventory works slower.
In the course of passing a level widely used manipulation of enemies, in particular the appearance or non-appearance of these.
Fire God is killed in the standard way, but without beginning strike due to its move towards which allow me to catch him in the punches.
L6: At the beginning of the level, I hit a guard and then make him run after me, to later not to attack a new guard with full health. Also in the first part of the level, such trick is used: the corpse of a key enemy is far enough behind the screen to open a door immediately, instead of waiting for the complete disappearance of the corpse.
In the second part is used shortcut described above, which allows to save a lot of time.
L7: Perhaps the most boring level. Shortcuts aren't present here, and there are bosses who are killed monotonously and long. T-Rex is killed by jump punches and robots with a repetition of a combination of roundhouse kick, 3 punches and jump kick. Also uses of an ice clone in some places saves a good amount of time.
L8: Because it is the last level, it is a place where I get the award for gathering points during the game as a huge amount of saved time. There is also used a few tricks to save time. First, Jataaka instant kill described above. Secondly, the use of an ice clone when jumping to the elevator. Third, the use of super slide instead of running. Fourthly, air walking after Sareena killing, allowing the elevator to run on, not to jump over.
Quan Chi and Shinnok:
Quan Chi is killed in the standard way and gives a lot of points so that they have enough to learn the freeze on contact move. Shinnok is required to freeze and take his medallion. Freezing happens just learned freeze run, then without turning around I take the medallion and interrupt the animation with slide. There is an end of the player's actions, further the game will complete itself.
ars4326: Taking over and judging...(also, replaced file with 13-frame improvement).
ars4326: Hello, Fly. Nice optimizations made, throughout (e.g. the skips in the Prison of Souls stage)! Experience management was also much tighter in this run, especially in the final stage where you made use of Sub-Zero's ultra slide. An overall, well-done effort and enjoyable watch.
Accepting as an improvement to the published run
feos: I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I already have all the encodes, and
said so long ago. If you know a way to inform other publishers one's already working on something not yet accepted, that's better than posting publicly, let me know.
