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Essentials

  • Emulator used: SNES9x 1.43 v9
Note: Due to an input display bug in SNES9x v9, it is recommended, but not required, to view the run with this bug-fixed SNES9x located here. However, the run will sync correctly on the standard SNES9x v9, and v7 as well.
  • Genre: Platform
  • Items: 100%
  • Aims for fastest time
    • Takes damage to save time
    • Abuses programming errors
    • Manipulates luck
  • Suggested screenshot:
This is an improvement of 2 minutes and 25 seconds to my previous run. I never expected to get anywhere close to this much improvement.
I aimed for real time instead of game time - this means that I took efforts to reduce lag, pause screens, and door transitions, even at the cost of in-game time.
The in-game timer for this run ended at 37 minutes, 54 seconds, an improvement of 2 minutes and 1 second over my previous version.

Breakdown of improvement (rough estimates)

Ceres & Crateria (Introduction and Bomb Torizo)
  • 2 seconds saved, mostly from tiny optimizations.
Brinstar (Kraid)
  • 2 seconds saved, again just little improvements here and there throughout.
Norfair (Crocomire and item collection)
  • 2 seconds saved by optimizations in earlier item collection.
  • 6 seconds saved on Crocomire.
  • 3 seconds saved in Crocomire's area.
Wrecked Ship & Crateria (Phantoon and item collection)
  • 3 seconds saved on the way to the ship.
  • 1 second saved not getting Phantoon's refills.
  • 7 seconds saved during item collection by better strategies and better robot manipulation.
  • Changing the route to do the Gauntlet area (to the upper-left of Samus's ship) at this point to save time later.
Brinstar (item collection)
  • 19 seconds saved directly and indirectly by removal of the crystal flash.
  • 6 seconds gained by better strategies during item collection.
  • The missile in the green tube is obtained now to save time later.
Maridia (Botwoon, Draygon, and item collection)
  • 6 seconds saved on item collection before Botwoon by better strategy and more optimized play.
  • 5 seconds saved from Botwoon to Draygon from better technique and not collecting refills.
  • 11 seconds saved on item collection after Draygon by better strategy and speed management.
Norfair (Gold Torizo, Ridley, and item collection)
  • 5 seconds saved from better speed management on the way to Gold Torizo.
  • 6 seconds saved on Gold Torizo from less strict manipulation and better shooting.
  • 3 seconds saved on the route to Ridley from better strategy.
  • 1 second saved on Ridley from better manipulation and avoiding refills.
  • 10 seconds saved on remaining item collection in Norfair.
Brinstar & Crateria (Item collection)
  • 6 seconds gained from better strategies up to and skipping the green tube missile.
  • 3 seconds gained in old Brinstar from better speed management.
  • 16 seconds gained due to changing the route for the Gauntlet.
Tourian & Crateria (Mother Brain and escape)
  • 21 seconds gained from skipping the baby Metroid.
  • 2 seconds gained from various other small optimizations.

Additional Information

The basis for techniques used in this run are explained on the Super Metroid Tricks page.
Controller input animation was added with an Input Animator utility I wrote. (This utility can also be used to remove the player 2-5 input, if desired.)
As mentioned above: Due to an input display bug in SNES9x v9, it is recommended, but not required, to view the run with the bugfixed SNES9x located here. The run will sync correctly on the standard SNES9x v9, and v7 as well.
For those interested in a more detailed breakdown of the time saved, you can check the spreadsheet (HTML) I used for comparisons during the making of the run. This spreadsheet will probably answer many specific questions, so I recommend taking a look at it if you are wondering about part of the run.
If anyone is interested in improving this run, contact me if you would like either (1) a 1-player SMV with no extraneous input, or (2) a spreadsheet similar in style to this one, set up to compare a new version.

Thank You

I would like to give thanks to those involved in helping Super Metroid TASing become what it is today. This includes:
  • Michael Flatley
  • Terimakasih
  • Saturn
  • catnap
  • hero of the day
  • moozooh
  • Kejardon
  • Graveworm
  • Frenom
Though I don't know them by name, thanks also to the many people who have done and researched console speedruns for the game, as they have found many strategies which were the basis for a tool-assisted speedrun.
Thanks to Gocha for his memory watcher utility for SNES9x which saved me a lot of time.
Thanks to Upthorn, nitsuja, and Fabianx for their help in removing the input display bug from SNES9x.
Thanks to Fabian for help with ideas for controller input.
Thanks to Bisqwit for a very handy HTML conversion of the spreadsheet.
Thanks to you for watching this run!
DeHackEd: Wow, that's a lot of votes.

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Posted: 3/15/2007 4:15 AM
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TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14873
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #1483: JXQ's SNES Super Metroid "all items" in 1:10:45.02
Posted: 3/15/2007 4:40 AM
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Aqfaq
Editor, Expert player (2459)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Sega TASer of 2008 Lucky TAS of 2008
I've watched 2000 frames and it's already my favorite TAS.
Posted: 3/15/2007 5:05 AM
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laughing_gas
Former player
Joined: 10/1/2006
Posts: 1102
Location: boot_camp
Nice improvements to an already great run. Voting yes.
Borg Collective wrote:
Negotiation is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You will be assimilated.
Posted: 3/15/2007 5:19 AM
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kwinse
Joined: 5/13/2006
Posts: 283
Aqfaq wrote:
I've watched 2000 frames and it's already my favorite TAS.
I didn't even get that far. Wow that tool of yours is amazing! (assuming you didn't do all that manually...)
<Zurreco> if so called professional players cant adapt to every playing field, theyre obviously not that great
Posted: 3/15/2007 6:24 AM
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Dromiceius
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
Call me crazy, but I was sure #55 would read ASS instead. Great movie, both for sheer excellence, and charming novelty.
Posted: 3/15/2007 6:32 AM
(Edited: 3/15/2007 3:03 PM)
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jaysmad
Other
Experienced player (834)
Joined: 12/1/2006
Posts: 629
Location: Mom's
Playing tetris, now that is cool :D 69 LOL... You are so damn funny JXQ, it's no joke. The metroid animation was also a nice touch. This was the first time i watched the full intro without fast forward. Defeating Torizo without blowing his head off... Priceless! So much perfection in this run that i don't know what to say... I'll start by saying HELL YEAH, without a doubt, it's star time!!! :D
Posted: 3/15/2007 6:56 AM
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hero_of_the_day
Player (88)
Joined: 11/14/2005
Posts: 1057
Location: United States
This is an epic masterpiece. I've already watched this thing twice, and my jaw is still on the floor. So many tiny things have been improved here, it really is astonishing. The flow of this run is totally uncanny, it felt like the whole thing lasted about 15 minutes. The added input animations really add to the wonder of this run too, kudos for making such a cool program. Points of awesomeness: ~Freezing the enemies in lower norfair to form platforms after collecting the energy tank. ~Calculating the exact amount of energy Samus needed to lose in order to perform the stop animation for the shinespark in the grapple beam area. Yes x 100 Congratulations JXQ, and thank you for making such a wonderful run.
They're off to find the hero of the day...
Posted: 3/15/2007 6:56 AM
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CtrlAltDestroy
Active player (325)
Joined: 2/23/2005
Posts: 786
I wanted to punch Samus through my computer screen for all that dancing and boss mocking.
Posted: 3/15/2007 7:08 AM
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Twelvepack
Joined: 5/2/2006
Posts: 1020
Location: Boulder, CO
Awsome video, love the input display crazyness... now lets jsut hope that people dont attach that crap to every run they make.
Has never colored a dinosaur.
Posted: 3/15/2007 7:11 AM
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Xkeeper
Banned User, Former player
Joined: 12/23/2004
Posts: 1850
Okay, now I really wish we had a "Very Yes" option. I'm not even 3000 frames into this and I'm already laughing!
Perma-banned
Posted: 3/15/2007 7:31 AM
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DK64_MASTER
Joined: 10/24/2005
Posts: 1080
Location: San Jose
I'm normally not a metroid game fan, so I'd refrain from voting. But the input is so crazy, I just have to vote yes, soley based on that fact. Yes, I know it's probably not the best way to vote. But I don't care.
<agill> banana banana banana terracotta pie! <Shinryuu> ho-la terracotta barba-ra anal-o~
Posted: 3/15/2007 7:53 AM
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TorZelan
He/Him
Joined: 8/11/2006
Posts: 33
Location: Northern Sweden
Woh. "Would-if-I-could" yes vote! That's quite some time saved. Release with audio commentary!?
Gamer, musician, bonesword wielder.
Posted: 3/15/2007 9:23 AM
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Rising_Tempest
Player (166)
Joined: 4/27/2006
Posts: 304
Location: Eastern Canada
That was fucking cool.
Posted: 3/15/2007 9:27 AM
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Fabian
Former player
Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
One of the best runs ever, for sure. I bet the doubters are feeling like idiots at the moment. I know I would.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 3/15/2007 9:47 AM
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Alter
Former player
Joined: 1/29/2007
Posts: 116
My face is on fire! Awesome run.
Posted: 3/15/2007 10:04 AM
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moozooh
Senior Moderator
Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5770
Location: Away
Holy shit, you've sparked through a frozen enemy! That's some ninja stuff right there. =D Seriously, this is damn awesome. The run will get 10/9 from me. Also, I demand subtitles for the AVI! Wrecked Ship animations are too great to miss.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Posted: 3/15/2007 10:25 AM
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Cardboard
Skilled player (1670)
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
NES TAS of 2008 Rookie of 2007 GBx TASer of 2007
You sick bastard. Hell yes.
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Posted: 3/15/2007 10:33 AM
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KDR_11k
Joined: 1/23/2006
Posts: 352
Location: Germany
What's the advantage you get from disabling the spazer?
Posted: 3/15/2007 12:22 PM
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Maximus
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 563
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Wow. I did NOT expect the kind of input animation you ended up providing. That is quite possibly one of the coolest things I've seen in a run in a long time. Granted, it could be over-used, but you seem to have balanced it out nicely by providing supplemental information during the run vs just doing crazy tetris shit at every possible opportunity. The run itself was just awesome. Three thumbs up from me (I grafted an extra hand onto my back just so I could give you the extra props :P).
TAS Movie Editor v0-12-1 http://sourceforge.net/projects/tas-editor
Posted: 3/15/2007 1:04 PM
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Bisqwit
Editor, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
JXQ's table of numbers also shown here for more convenient online access. http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jutut/jxq-smetroidv2.html File size around 280 kB, but the transfer is only around 40 kB due to transparent gzip compression. Less than the ZIP containing the xls file :)
Posted: 3/15/2007 1:17 PM
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JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
NES TAS of 2008 Speedy TAS of 2008 SNES TASer of 2007 TAS of 2007 SNES TAS of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
Wow, this HTML conversion is much better than mine :) Thanks! I will link to it in the submission text instead of the one I'm currently using.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Posted: 3/15/2007 3:03 PM
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KRocketneo
Former player
Joined: 2/12/2007
Posts: 105
Nice improvement on your own run, you got over 125000 rerecords. That the large rerecords. You skipped the baby metroid that take away the energy into 01 saving some time. So, you changed the route that will save some time. I don't know the in-game clear time?
Posted: 3/15/2007 3:10 PM
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Bag_of_Magic_Food
He/Him
Active player (277)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
Wow, that many people like to turn the input display on just for watching a movie? I only have it on when I'm making a movie, or I'll find it too annoying.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Posted: 3/15/2007 3:10 PM
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Tub
Joined: 6/25/2005
Posts: 1377
voting yes just to state the obvious. I found those subtitles hard to read at times, but it's a cute idea anyways. +1 creativity point.
KDR_11k wrote:
What's the advantage you get from disabling the spazer?
you need to disable all beams but one + charge beam to do the power bomb charged shot that is used to kill botwoon quickly. Disabling the spazer that early is probably just a way to say "I don't need no stinking beams, I got a truckload of missiles!"
m00
Posted: 3/15/2007 3:16 PM
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KDR_11k
Joined: 1/23/2006
Posts: 352
Location: Germany
Ah, I figured he did that because the wave beam's movement is more desirable (faster or hitting more stuff or something).
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