A new version of a Sonic Classic Heroes TAS is finally here. Optimized to the best of our abilities, I decided to obsolete The Previous Run and make this any% run!
Game Objectives
• Contains speed/entertainment tradeoffs
• Aims for in-game time instead of real-time
• Takes Damage to save time
• Forgoes time-saving glitches
• Genre: Platform
About the Game
About the Hack: Sonic Classic Heroes is a ROM hack for the Sega Mega Drive that is the result of a collaboration between flamewing and ColinC10, combining their respective hacks Sonic 2 Heroes and Sonic 1 and 2. It therefore is a single ROM that offers the entire campaigns of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, either alone or together; and enables the player to play as many characters such as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The hack is named due to the ability to control a team of characters, which is reminiscent of the more recent 3D game Sonic Heroes. The hack is built on Sonic 2’s engine, which has been enhanced by both flamewing and ColinC10 to have new features. These include: multiple gameplay elements from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, such as element shields and character-specific abilities; the ability to save progress, scores, etc. to SRAM (something rarely implemented in Sonic 2, with the other notable example being Esrael’s Sonic 2 Delta); various bug-fixes and improvements to the mechanics of the original games; and many more features, both implemented and planned.
I aimed to beat the game as fast as possible. This means optimized inputs and breaks, forgoing chaos emeralds, and taking damage.
nymx: It didn't take me long to see the power of this new TAS. WST was right about the previous submission being improvable. What I didn't expect, was the improvements being so shocking. Yes, the previous submission was rightly accepted...seeing that it still is a strong effort over human ability, but this one really put the heat on. Comparing between the two...each level just pulled away, leaving the other TAS behind in absolute clarity.
Congratulations to the two of you on a job well done!
Inititally voted yes, however, have a few comments surrounding objectives etc.
• Aims for in-game time instead of real-time
Given time bonuses can be skipped surely there is no difference in the goal? Unless I'm missing something, there isn't a case where taking longer IGT comes at a faster RTA/frame time? Even single-segment runs are timed RTA.
• Forgoes time-saving glitches
I'm not well versed in SCH and what's patched or not, but what time-saving glitches weren't taken and why?
I did notice that one of the flippers in CN2 wasn't skipped that single segment runners of Sonic 2 do skip, but other flippers are skipped, so I don't think it's that.
Upon further review, it seems like this is unnecessarily slower than #8924: MightyRainbow100's Genesis Sonic Classic Heroes "100%" in 45:54.93 in the Sonic 2 portion.
EH1 0:15:32 vs 0:15:38
EH2 0:26:13 vs 0:26:60
CP1 0:16:30 vs 0:17:05
CP2 0:24:20 vs 0:24:52
AR1 0:16:47 vs 0:17:27
AR2 0:26:82 vs 0:28:70
CN1 0:21:40 vs 0:21:88
CN2 0:38:87 vs 0:48:78 (there's a glitch here in 100%, but should be explained as to why it wasn't used).
HT1 Can't compare whole level as Super used but at the point 100% turns super it's at 0:19:43 and this is at 0:20:60
HT2 Can't compare whole level as Super used but at the point 100% turns super it's at 0:22:02 and this is at 0:23:65
MC1 0:23:15 vs 0:25:08
MC2 100% turns super at 0:18:48, this gets there at 0:19:38
OO1 0:18:63 vs 0:21:62
OO2 Different routes and uses super but reaches a comparable point at 0:20:72 and 0:21:83
ME1 Doesn't compare as 100% is getting rings to turn super.
ME2 Comparable point reached at 0:12:38 and 0:14:17
ME3 Comparable point reached at 0:26:92 and 0:29:83
SC 2:05:90 vs 2:05:92
WF Comparable point reached at 0:13:13 and 0:14:27
DE 0:35:88 vs 0:35.97
EH1 0:15:32 vs 0:15:38
EH2 0:26:13 vs 0:26:60
CP1 0:16:30 vs 0:17:05
CP2 0:24:20 vs 0:24:52
AR1 0:16:47 vs 0:17:27
AR2 0:26:82 vs 0:28:70
CN1 0:21:40 vs 0:21:88
CN2 0:38:87 vs 0:48:78 (there's a glitch here in 100%, but should be explained as to why it wasn't used).
HT1 Can't compare whole level as Super used but at the point 100% turns super it's at 0:19:43 and this is at 0:20:60
HT2 Can't compare whole level as Super used but at the point 100% turns super it's at 0:22:02 and this is at 0:23:65
MC1 0:23:15 vs 0:25:08
MC2 100% turns super at 0:18:48, this gets there at 0:19:38
OO1 0:18:63 vs 0:21:62
OO2 Different routes and uses super but reaches a comparable point at 0:20:72 and 0:21:83
ME1 Doesn't compare as 100% is getting rings to turn super.
ME2 Comparable point reached at 0:12:38 and 0:14:17
ME3 Comparable point reached at 0:26:92 and 0:29:83
SC 2:05:90 vs 2:05:92
WF Comparable point reached at 0:13:13 and 0:14:27
DE 0:35:88 vs 0:35.97
Thanks for the yes vote. Upon further review, it is my mistake as I only reviewed [https://tasvideos.org/8593S|The Previous any% run] and not [https://tasvideos.org/8924S|The 100% record run.] And from that, I’m probably gonna leave it to someone else (probably MightyRainbow100) to further improve my run! Thanks for the input!
