Passing Breeze is a 2022 Genesis choose-your-own-adventure homebrew submitted for the 5th Retro Platform Jam in which the player must build up enough cash to play OutRun in the arcade. This TAS effortlessly chooses all the correct options and speeding through the humourous text and games at superhuman speeds.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 2.8
  • Aims for fastest completion

Comments

For a 'choose-your-own-adventure', there's a lot of 'choose' and 'adventure' but not much 'you-own'. There is, of course, some flexibility with your choices and not every incorrect option will result in a game over, though one wrong option while playing a game can lead you to a dead end. The TAS thankfully doesn't struggle with finding correct answers and it also means we don't have to deal with results being changed after a game over which is designed to make the game more challenging. Despite the limited freedom, there are numerous different routes and I believe I've managed to find this by going over all possible ones.
I also wasn't entirely sure where to end so the submission file ends on the point where there's no new text but it might be more appropriate to end on the 'You Won' text instead which would make the movie 77 frames shorter. To fill the submission text and also because barley any of it is seen and because it made me chuckle every now and then, here's the entire game 'shown' in the TAS (chosen options are highlighted in bold):

Entering the arcade

  • It's a beautiful sunny day, so all you want to do is sit indoors, play Outrun and listen to Passing Breeze.
  • One problem.. you have no money. Why can't you do what you want. It's so unfair
  • Maybe you can find some coins?
  • A. Search for money. B. Visit the music test options.
  • You're outside the arcade.
  • You start rooting around in the road. There are two grates. You see a glimpse of something shiny.
  • A. Try the left grate. B. try the right grate. C. Keep away, they look scary.
  • There's a clown down there. He looks friendly.
  • A. Approach the clown. B. Run away.
  • What a lovely clown. He gives you one pence.
  • You need to find a little more money to get in to the arcade.
  • You start rooting around in the road. There are two grates. You see a glimpse of something shiny.
  • A. Try the left grate. B. Try the right grate C. Keep away, they look scary
  • Faint heart never won fair money! But wait, what's that? Something shinng in the road.
  • A. Quick, run and get it! B. Wait for cars to go by.
  • Dodging cars, you run and find a grimy 1p piece. You run back across the road.
  • You found enough money to try to enter the arcade.
  • You enter the arcade and exchange your two pennies for a 2p piece
  • 2p isn't enough to play Outrun, but it's all you have. Time to try the 2p falls
  • You head over to the gambling area dodging still-glowing cigarette ends on the floor.

2p falls

  • There are two machines. One has old looking sweets in it, and the other has some folded five pound notes.
  • You head to the machine with sweets. The other one looks fishy.
  • A. Drop the coin NOW! B. Wait for it... NOW!
  • Your 2p finds a nice slot on the moving platform. and pushes another couple of coins on to the lower platform.
  • No more coins fall out, but something else drops out and on to the floor.
  • You have no money, but you do have a manky looking Cola Bottle sweet.
  • A. Eat it B. Throw it away.
  • You eat a sweet which has been sitting in a filthy machine for seven years. You fall over and die.
  • After a minute or so you realise you didn't die, but you do feel a bit queasy. Lying next to you under a machine is another 2p piece.
  • You walk over to the Fiver falls. There are a couple of older kids there eyeing you suspiciously.
  • A. Drop the coin NOW! B. Wait for it... NOW!
  • Your 2p finds a nice slot on the moving platform.. and pushes another couple of coins on to the lower platform.
  • No more coins fall out, but something else drops out and on to the floor
  • You are now holding a folded 5 pound note. You realise this could be a tricky situation with those scary looking boys nearby
  • A. Sidle away nonchalantly. B. RUN!
  • The boys notice you and force you to hand over the money. But They're not terrible people. They five you 10p in return for it!
  • 10p! But Outrun costs 50p a play.
  • Wandering around, feeling a little despondent, you start to think you may not get to play Outrun today.
  • Maybe you should even have taken that paper round like your Mom told you!
  • Oh look, there's your rival playing Paperboy. You've never beaten his score, but maybe now's the time. You bet him 20p that you can beat him!
  • He takes your bet, looking pretty smug.

Paperboy

  • Off you go. Choose Easy Street, Middle Road (2x score) or Hard Way (3x score)
  • A. Easy Street B. Middle Road C. Hard Way
  • Off we go.
  • Going along nicely. Watch out for that lawnmower.
  • A. Steer Right B. Brake!
  • Good.. Watch out for the Fire Hydrant
  • A. Steer Right B. Steer Left
  • Nearly at end ! Watch out for the drunk man!
  • A. Steer Right B. Steer Left
  • Reached the end. Well done.
  • Fantastic. You beat him, and he gave you 20p. Only 30p more to go! One step closer to Outrun.
  • However.. there's a new machine! What's that? Only 20p as well. Let's play Afterburner instead.

After Burner

  • You're in a fighter jet screaming through blue skies above the sea.
  • Incoming enemy planes close and in the distance!
  • A. Shoot ear planes with your cannon. B. Lock onto the far ones with missiles.
  • Incoming missiles from the enemy planes in the distance!
  • A. Do a barrel roll. B. Eject!
  • You successfully roll the jet and avoid the hazards!
  • Your playing skills attract the crowd's attention!
  • A refuelling plane approaches. Also more enemy planes!
  • A. Shoot more enemies! B. Connect to the refuelling plane.
  • You connect to the refuelling plane and get refuelled.
  • An enemy plane is close on your tail, shooting cannons at you!
  • A. Go fast! B. Go slow!
  • You scream away from the enemy at incredible speed!
  • Your playing skills attract the crowd's attention!
  • Now an enemy missile is tailing you getting closer and closer...
  • A. Go fast B. Do a barrel roll!
  • You scream away from the enemy at incredible speed!
  • Your playing skills attract the crowd's attention!
  • A canyon approaches. You must fly through it to escape the barrage of enemies.
  • A. Take is slow and low B. Go fast and high!
  • You successfully navigate through the canyon.
  • Enemy planes approaching!
  • A. Go fast cannons blazing! B. Do a barrel roll! C. Lock on to the enemy with missiles!
  • You blow up the enemy planes. It's just like Top Gun this isn't it?
  • You land on the aircraft carrier! Mission accomplished! The crowd is amazed at your skills! Nice one!
  • Another step closer to Outrun!
  • The owner was so impressed with your play that he takes pity on you and gives you a free credit on Golden Axe

Golden Axe

  • You are Tyris = Flare. An Amazonian women inappropriately dressed for battle.
  • You see your friend Alex. He looks messed up bad.
  • A. Say hello to Alex. B. Pretend you haven't seen him.
  • "His Majesty and the Princess have been taken by Death = Adder. Revenge them for me my friend..."
  • Alex collapses and dies. Now you're angry.
  • You see a couple of Orcs kicking the crap out of some local peasants.
  • A. Attack with button 1. B. Keep going. C. Attack with button 2.
  • You batter the Orcs with your sword and the peasants run free.
  • More Orcs! And they look pissed!
  • A. Adopt heroic pose. B. Run and barge into the Orcs.
  • You dash and barge into the Orcs, knocking them dead.
  • You wonder how these Orcs got so old, when they're this easily killed.
  • An Elf scurries around stealing stuff that has dropped in the battle.
  • A. Wait and kick the Elf. B. Chase the Elf
  • You kick the Elf. He drops a magic potion! You pick it up!
  • "What did you do THAT for?" the Elf cries.
  • A. "I don't like Elves." B. "You looked a bit threatening."
  • "Really? Little old me? Threatening? Well I never!" replies the Elf.
  • You arrive at a camp fire. Two massive twin Brothers with Hammers are laughing at you.
  • A. Stab the Hammer Brothers in the knees. B. Barge into the Hammer Brothers. C. Ask "What's so funny?"
  • You dash and barge into one of the Brothers, knocking him dead.
  • This barging is a pretty good tactic eh?
  • The remaining Brother is reduced to tears at the lost of his lifelong sibling.
  • A. Stab him in the head. B. Console him.
  • You stab and kill him. You are mean! But I guess you have to be in this game!
  • You set up camp for the night. As you drift off to sleep, an Elf appears!
  • You wait for the Elf to come close then kick him. He drops a magic potion which you take. Then he vanishes into the night.
  • You awake and arrive at the Turtle Head Village.
  • You really need the bathroom. Nit Tyris, YOU!
  • A. Leave the game and run to the toilet! B. Drop a deadly smell and keep going.
  • Players around you move away from the smell.
  • Back in the game, you see a Warrior Woman riding a Dragon, burning down the village!
  • A. And attack the enemy from above! B. Run and barge into the enemy! C. Wait until they're close then attack!
  • You leap into the air, striking down the Warrior Woman and knocking her off her perch!
  • A. Attack the Warror Woman! B. Steal the Dragon
  • You take down the Warrior Woman! The Dragon runs off!
  • Skeletons! OMG!
  • A. Run away!!! B. Face the Skeletons. Maybe you'll live.
  • You smash the Skeletons with your sword and boots! You win the battle!
  • You realise the Village is on the back of a Giant Turtle, and you are now across the sea.
  • You have lots of battles in the Mainland as you head up into Fiend's Pass. You know the drift now.
  • You arrive at Death = Adder's Castle. It's time for the final battle!
  • A. Run and barge into Death = Adder! B. Hack and slash at Death = Adder! C. Use you magic potions!
  • You launch your magic potions into the air! A huge Dragon roasts Death = Adder!
  • You have beaten the game! You are amazing!
  • The arcade machine starts glowing and rumbling! Enemies appear around it in real life!
  • The enemies chase you out of the arcade! You hide behind some trashcans...
  • You find Death = Adder has dropped his Golden Axe. Now you have the Golden Axe!
  • Turns out that you go a bit carried away there. The Golden Axe is actually a screwdriver
  • Outrun is getting ever closer.
  • But you know some tricks with old arcade machines.. you can get yourself a free play on Frogger by carefully jamming a screwdriver in to the coin slot

Frogger

  • Right. FROGGER. Such a classic.
  • You're a frog! At the side of the road! Oh god look at the time! You must get home!
  • A. Hop forward B. Look left and right
  • You look left. You see traffic. You look right. You see traffic. It's quite a way away.
  • Tim is running out...
  • A. Hop forward B. Look left and right
  • The road is really busy!
  • A. Hop inbetween the slow moving trucks. B. Hop into the empty lane?
  • You deftly hop between the trucks. You reach the middle path. It looks safe.
  • back in real life, a spotty kid nudges you and says "I know a tip! Wanna know it?"
  • A. Ignore the kid B. Listen to the kid's tip.
  • A rapidly running river rages before you. You hop forward toward a small log...
  • On a small log. Now what?
  • A. Jump onto the big green log. B. Jump onto the big brown log C. Jump onto the turtle
  • You're on the back of a turtle! Possibly not the first time today! But it's diving
  • A. Stay with the turtle! B. Hop toward that shiny thing on a log! C. Hop back!
  • You hop onto the log and meet a beautiful shiny Lady Frog! She jumps on your back and you make your way back to safety!
  • Time is running out...
  • On a small log. Now what?
  • A. Jump onto the big green log. B. Jump onto the big brown log C. Jump onto the turtle
  • There's a big snake on this log! It slithers toward you...
  • A. Hop back! B. Stay and chat!
  • Lady luck is with you! The snake can't possible fit both of you in my mouth!
  • You hop forward to the safety of home! Nice!
  • Out of money again. Well, you decide to wander over to Outrun anyway and just watch it.
  • But, what's this. It's on FREE PLAY mode! They must have messed up the dip switches.

OutRun

  • FINALLY! You sit down to play your favourite arcade experience.
  • Most important thing.. what music to choose
  • A. Passing Breeze B. Splash Wave C. Magical Sound Shower
  • Passing Breeze selected. Now we can say that the game jam theme made some sense!
  • Gentlemen, start your engines. Starting COCONUT BEACH
  • A wonderful feat of driving. Reached the junction with 10 seconds remaining. Perfect
  • A. Go Left B. Go Right
  • Entering GATEWAY. Marvel at those crazy scaled sprite tunnels
  • Lost a bit of time there on he tight bend. Should have slowed down instead of running off the side
  • A. Go Left B. Go Right
  • Entering THE ALPS
  • A perfect drive. Finished with 7 seconds remaining
  • A. Go Left B. Go Right
  • Entering the OLD CAPITAL
  • A wonderful feat of driving. Reached the junction with 10 seconds remaining
  • A. Go Left B. Go Right
  • Entering the DESOLATION HILL
  • Great drifting. Perfect once again.
  • You Won
  • You did well, but not perfect. Could do better!
  • As the game is on free play, you can sit here all day! Would you like to try again?
  • A. Yes B. No

ThunderAxe31: Claiming for judging.
ThunderAxe31: File replaced with one that reaches the ending dialogue, at the cost of 2 extra frames.
Well, there isn't much to say. This seems to be decent quality for a homebrew game, for which is pretty uncommon to be a storybook genre. Accepting.

despoa: Processing...


TASVideoAgent
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Darkman425
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Weird how I could recognize the Quartet Theme at the 8 second mark near immediately. Also weird is how this game is mostly about Sega arcade games but has Paperboy (Atari & Midway) and Frogger (Konami) rather than other Sega games. Where's Pengo and other deep Sega cuts? Also worth noting that the game is available from here at a "name your price" deal from the developer: https://spacepantsgames.itch.io/passing-breeze-an-arcade-adventure
Switch friend code: SW-2632-3851-3712
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I think that a more appropriate ending would be after selecting "No" on the last question, in order to display a more ending-ful dialogue: Do you agree?
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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Yep, that does look more like a 'congrats, you beat the game' sort of end text.
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. ---- [5008] Genesis Passing Breeze: An Arcade Adventure by Cephla in 00:44.64