Game Description

"They tried to put new things into this game to make it better than the NES version, but it only sucks even more because it's on Game Boy. I mean - look at this! Would you want to play this? If you do, you probably like playing with dog turds. Alright, I'm done with this. I'd rather lick the sh*t skid off the inside of a toilet bowl." -The Angry Video Game Nerd on Crazy Castle 2

Highlights

  • Heavy lag reduction

The TASing Process

Aran_Jaeger made a test TAS of this game back in 2018 that had a final time of 1:05:16. This improves upon that effort by 4 minutes and 58 seconds thanks to a new glitch discovery, improvements in routing, and lots of lag reduction. This TAS would not have been possible without Aran_Jaeger's initial effort. Here are his comments on that original test TAS: Forum/Topics/20409

Ladder Glitch

Holding Up+Down at the base of the ladder will cause you to climb straight through the floor! This sometimes lets you access areas much quicker than you would be able to otherwise. The shortcuts allowed by this glitch alone saved several minutes over the previous run. Notable levels where this saved time include Levels 6, 12, 14, 16, 17, 21, and 23.

Lag Reduction

There is so much lag in this game (the worst of any I have TASed, in fact) that it is a real pain to minimize in ways that make sense and are predictable. One change I made from the test TAS that shaved off a few lag frames in most levels though, was not holding right/left while Bugs is in midair. Holding left/right will cause Bugs to walk in place in midair, and I think not holding anything reduces lag because the game would not have to constantly cycle through those animation frames.
The lag is primarily caused by all the enemies moving around the stage. Luckily, there is a clock item we can collect to temporarily freeze all enemies and their lag to save time. And MAN is this thing good at reducing lag! Definitely worth going out of your way for. If I'm not mistaken, every clock in the game except for one in Level 25 was collected in this TAS.
The lag in this game is so bad that it is often worth it to go out of your way to collect a weapon you don't need and use it to kill a random enemy for the lag that it'll reduce. I'm not kidding, sometimes it means literally going through an extra door to pick up the item, which takes a lot of time. Oh and of course, you'll have to hit the enemies at point-blank range so the weapon sprite is on-screen for as little time as possible lol. Notable places where this saved time were in levels 3, 7, 11, 17, 21, 22, 23, and 28.

Other Routing Improvements

Other routing improvements outside the influence of ladders or lag—from changing which enemies are killed to just plain old getting from point A to point B—were found. The most notable example was Level 26 where I ascended the long column of pipes in the middle of the level only once as opposed to twice in the test TAS. The funniest improvement was on Level 22. Midway through the level I decided to go up a ladder to get a key from this door guarded by Yosemite Sam straight away instead of dropping down after collecting the shield. This change gave me enough time to bypass the last ghost in the level before the shield ran out, allowing me to use the bomb on the Magic Mouse instead. Because a lot of time was spent manipulating Yosemite Sam, this clever rerouting only ended up saving a measly FOUR frames lol. Other notable levels that saw such routing improvements were Levels 8, 15, 21, and 25.

Summary of Improvements (in frames)


eien86: Claiming for judging.

eien86: A seemingly well routed and executed solution to the second release of this puzzle platformer. The solution is faster than both the previous submission (#9407: Aran_Jaeger's GB The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 in 1:05:46.09) and current RTA WR.
Although Aran_Jaeger is a banned user, this fact cannot preclude a normal user from creating and submtting a TAS based on his work. Furthermore, it is correct that proper credit is given to the latter for his contributions to this movie.
Accepting to Standard

eien86: Holding on for new improvements found by the author.

eien86: Updating movie with this brutal improvement provided by the author

eien86: A seemingly well routed and executed solution to the second release of this puzzle platformer. The solution is way faster than both the previous submission (#9407: Aran_Jaeger's GB The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 in 1:05:46.09) and current RTA WR.
Although Aran_Jaeger is a banned user, this fact cannot preclude a normal user from creating and submtting a TAS based on his work. Furthermore, it is correct that proper credit is given to the latter for his contributions to this movie.
Accepting to Standard

feos: Publishing (with r3gamerz's encodes)...


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 16287
Location: 127.0.0.1
Skilled player (1198)
Joined: 7/18/2016
Posts: 117
Location: United States
Thank you for accepting, eien! And thank you for mentioning the current world record run, as I did not realize there was a new speedrun record that dropped since I started working on the TAS. Upon quick review, I found at least one strat in that run that I overlooked when making this. Would it be alright to hold off on publishing until I thoroughly review that run for anything I may have missed?
eien86
He/Him
Judge, Expert player (3360)
Joined: 3/21/2021
Posts: 328
Location: Switzerland
Winslinator wrote:
Thank you for accepting, eien! And thank you for mentioning the current world record run, as I did not realize there was a new speedrun record that dropped since I started working on the TAS.
Happy to help
Winslinator wrote:
Upon quick review, I found at least one strat in that run that I overlooked when making this. Would it be alright to hold off on publishing until I thoroughly review that run for anything I may have missed?
Sure thing
Post subject: Improved Movie
Skilled player (1198)
Joined: 7/18/2016
Posts: 117
Location: United States
Well, I knocked this one out pretty quick! I saved 1,949 frames in Stages 18, 22, and 24, pushing the final time to below 1 hour! Please replace the movie file in this submission with the one linked below and proceed with publication,. Thanks! User movie #638853030576844977
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 16287
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. ---- [6610] GB The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 by Winslinator & Aran_Jaeger in 59:45.21

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