This TAS is an improvement over my previous one (ID is 638112882259303939, for some reason I can't embed a link to it) by 10.26 seconds. It uses a much faster route, especially by purchasing an additional item, and tricks pulled off better.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is the prime example of how short Osomatsu-kun on Mega Drive is... The lamest piece of shit Sega ever brought to us on their blast-processing console, and I don't even need to watch the actual show to see why. The object of this TAS is to reach the ending of the game as fast as possible by taking the fastest paths, using tricks and thwarting every boss and enemy on Osomatsu's way.

ROM SHA-1 checksum: bf82cb1c4d2144bd0e0d45629f346988cc4cc5b2

Made with BizHawk 2.8, running Genesis Plus GX. 4:50.23 from first to last input (17,414 frames at 60FPS).

I don't know if this applies to most games, but when an input gets registered, the latency until the game responds to it is very slightly off. For example, it takes 3 frames for jumping, firing and moving horizontally, or 4 frames for pausing to happen after pressing the corresponding buttons.

For better understanding, if C is tapped while Osomatsu is on the floor, the hardware will respond immediately by changing the value of his Y position, but the game will take 2 frames to respond to it. This is why, to jump again after landing, I press C 2 frames before Osomatsu lands on the floor, as a reference to see when I can do it again.

During the making of this TAS, I've experienced multiple cases of de-sync when attempting to edit other segments of it, forcing me to rework every de-synced input after that segment. This process isn't really tedious overall, but there were a few times where it ruined my TAS and forced me to reload a back-up of it.

I don't have much information on how Osomatsu's horizontal velocity changes while walking, due to only being a beginner in TASes. I tried using RAM watch to check how that value changes, but it did not provide me any clear information on it.

When holding left or right on the D-pad, Osomatsu accelerates before reaching a constant speed, and after releasing the input, decelerate before stopping moving. Holding the opposite side of the D-pad does not seem to affect the deceleration much, but by crouching for even a single frame, all momentum is stopped, making it particularly useful to instantly stop at specific points which may stop Osomatsu from progressing faster, such as a high HP enemy or some bosses.

By tapping C for one frame, Osomatsu jumps 26 pixels from the floor. By holding it for 23 frames maximum, he can jump at the highest point possible without holding Up, at 58 pixels. If Up is held simultaneously, he can propel himself upwards even further, at 84. I gathered all the information using a RAM watch on the D014 address of the 68K RAM. Holding Up does not increase his Y velocity whatsoever, assuming he jumps to the same height with Up held compared to when it is not held.

To fall into a hole in the fastest way possible, I jump as high as I can depending on the distance from each hole, causing his falling speed to increase gradually after finishing to propel himself upwards. Jumping does not affect horizontal axis at all, so Osomatsu will not slow down at all by doing so.

Slingshot: When pressing B, Osomatsu immediately borrows his slingshot and takes a short moment before launching his projectile, so the timing has to be correct to hit enemies, especially while jumping. If used on the floor, all momentum is instantly stopped just like when he ducks. If used in mid-air, no speed is lost at all, but if done too late before Osomatsu lands on the floor, the attack will be cancelled. These two positions have their own pros and cons; firing on the floor gives more vertical accuracy to hit some enemies and allows to shoot lower while ducking, while in the air, the slingshot reloads faster, in 16 frames compared to 19 on the floor. Osomatsu cannot turn during his attack, but can still move backwards while maintaining his direction in the air.

The slingshot upgrades itself automatically for each round beaten. More info noted in the "Gameplay" section.

Items: Can be bought from the shop, and equipped by opening the inventory, then scrolling to the desired item with Up, and pressing start to confirm. Tap A to use the item.

The only two of which I used in this TAS are a bomb item that I used twice to one-shot bosses, and an octopus I used to run through one section of a level. Those items cost 15 and 25 ribbons respectively.

The game is very short, only having 3 rounds in total, each having 2 acts with a sub-boss for the first one, then a major boss for the second one. Sega made the level design maze-like to compensate for its length, which does not work, as there is still a fastest path to beat each round. In the case of this TAS, I took the fastest paths of each round to complete the game as fast as possible. None of the rounds or bosses can be skipped, even with glitches. The maps of each round can be seen here.

Looking into the rounds, each of them consist of five segments; the main area, sky area, water area, underground area (where sub-bosses are fought), and boss area, only at the end of each second act.

When booting the game, it will take you to the title screen with no options to change at all. Just press Start and that's it.

I simply walk through the main area defeating enemies to collect their ribbons for later. Approaching the giant enemy (I don't know what to call it) and letting it jump over me (while I spam projectiles on it just for fun), I duck for 3 frames with a perfect timing, where the boss is just about to hit me to avoid getting stunned. By falling down the last hole, I enter the water zone, jumping on the platforms above the crabs and gathering even more ribbons.

Before I knew I had to simply go under the platform to exit the area a little bit faster, I could not find any way to get past the enemy right next to the turtle without taking damage. Before I could jump on the turtle, the enemy already starts throwing umbrellas backwards, which are too close to each other to jump between. A true success for me indeed.

After heading to the cave and meeting another giant enemy that only jumps in place this time, I simply jump over it and stop the projectile thrown behind me by hopping, turning backwards then pressing B on the next frame as I hold Right again (these movements cause almost no speed loss according to my research). This gives me enough time to hit the sub-boss, Momotarou Chibita, early enough to end the level early by running to the right side of the screen.

The things I do after the level starts are pretty much the same as before for the first area. After falling down in the sky area before going back to the main one, I go inside a hut and go to the shop to buy a bomb (I skip all mini-games because they are not needed), which I'll use to defeat the boss ahead.

In the middle of the level, I jump on a turtle and walk on its edge while doing that SM64 glitch, building up momentum before jumping off of it the earliest I can without getting hit. I then equip the bomb and throw it at the correct timing to kill the boss, Enma Iyami, that spawns thereafter.

Here, Osomatsu's projectile has a considerably increased range, making it far easier to touch more enemies. I stop a plenty of projectiles and flying enemies on my way by shooting them down each, and continue collecting enough ribbons until I can afford an octopus and another bomb, which I buy at the shop right ahead. This is also the last time I buy items in this run, and I will use the bomb later for the final boss. In the sky, after landing on the cloud, I hop out of it immediately since it allows me to fall down to the bottom and advance to the next area faster.

Going underwater, I use the octopus to run very fast to the exit. After many tests, I can conclude that using this item in this one area saves the most time compared to all the other ones I tried. That literally took me hours...

After going to the second part of the underground where the next boss, Witch Dekapan is, I kill the enemy in front of me since I can't jump over it without damage, which meant I had to slow down. Just a few frames after Dekapan spawns, I repeatedly fire at him while also triggering a bug causing him to be unable to attack during its first phase. If I stopped earlier, my projectiles would not be able to hit him due to them being too far from it. After hitting him enough times to make him go to his second phase and run towards me, I continue shooting, then finally jump and run into him a moment before he jumps, defeating him in the process.

Nothing is particularly special about the first area. Just run to point B after killing enemies to meet the boss and that's it.

I then fight Snow White Iyami by hitting him fast whilst avoiding his apples being thrown at me, even blocking one of them. I continue jumping correctly before defeating him again.

Now, before I start explaining why I've done anything in this level, I have to say that this round looks even less interesting than the last two ones. Yes, the slingshot is even more powerful as the projectile now penetrates through enemies and can one-shot them if hit at the correct spot, but it's mostly about dodging enemies either by jumping over or shooting them. The moves I pull off here are also less impressive. There are still some funny parts of it, though.

In the first part of the underground, after jumping onto the cloud at the supposed earliest time possible, I also get hit just at the moment I land into the platform. Decreased HP, but still fine.

The other parts of the underground are not worth explaining, so I'll skip straight to the sub-boss, Smilodon Iyami. I duck to stop my momentum and start firing immediately when he appears, taking him down in two seconds by finishing off with a jump. Unlike the previous sub-boss, it is entirely activated once it spawns.

This level, is just...

...lame.

And it's the last of 'em.

Just kill flying and jumping enemies and head into the pit. Walk straight to the boss past bouncing enemies that can't hit you, and use the bomb against Dinosaur Iyami at the correct timing. Again, this is a matter of using an item in the correct part of the game like I mentioned before, and I found out that insta-killing Enma then Dinosaur Iyami saves the most frames together. It's possible to get hit by him just at the moment you kill him, but this somehow wastes a few frames, so don't do it.

There you go, you've beaten Osomatsu-kun in less than five minutes! What a shame that even the final boss can get one-shot, not to mention that it's far easier than the first boss since you can run behind him without getting hit...

This TAS might look rushed, but at least I'm probably done with my job, since it's the best I can do for now. While I believe there are segments of the game that are impossible to improve, I (or others) could still be able to do better in other ones, for example to reduce slow downs or optimize times.

Overall, this has been a fun game to TAS. I had to do so much research on the TAS to improve it as much as possible, which only took days before I entirely finished it. Thank you for watching, and reading the notes I wrote on it!

Darkman425: Claiming for judging.

Darkman425: Replacing file with an 89 frame improvement skipping the Sega logo at the start. Also unclaiming since that's my edit but I don't want co-authorship for such a minor adjustment.

ThunderAxe31: Claiming for judging.

ThunderAxe31: Hello and welcome to TASVideos, LaddyPlays!

This movie seems good to me. Good usage of TASing tools, routing, etc. I have to note that the input sequence has some extra frames at the end for performing some entra playaround, but it's not a problem because we can consider it a stylistic choice. Additionally, while it's not a requirement, this doesn't reach the ending later, but only affects the displayed movie length. Accepting.

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