Emulator used: FCEU 0.98.12 blip-win, NTSC, no weird settings.
Uses warps, but not passwords. I might consider doing a warpless version if there's enough interest, but it would almost certainly be well over an hour so I'm not sure it's worth doing.
I take hits to save time in a handful of places, by bouncing off of walls for momentum. Not all that much, though. Also at one point I destroy my pod to go through a wormhole in the spacesuit, which saves a lot of time. This isn't really a case of using death as a shortcut, in my opinion, but others might see it differently. No use of glitches.
Aims for fastest time.
This is a pretty anticipated movie so I assume most people are at least somewhat familiar with Solar Jetman. I'm one of what must be a fairly small number of people to beat this game on the actual console, and it's a favorite of mine. Briefly, it's a space exploration game where the main struggle is dealing with the game's physics and flying your pod accurately. You fly around collecting fuel for your ship, as well as pieces of the Golden Warpship, which is eventually used in the final scene. It's also a game that's a little bit weird to timeattack, because the action is just inherently less crisp than some other games, so even when something is done really, really well it doesn't always have a look that screams perfection. In addition, there are some areas that just aren't that exciting. That said, I think that my piloting in this run is excellent. I use some nice tricks with the tow line in a few spots, take corners quite well throughout, and deal very well with enemies.
Oh, one other thing to note: the bonus stages. I get all the diamonds in the first (using the pod without boosters, which is very hard) and then don't collect any in the remaining bonus stages. I don't need the money, and avoiding the diamonds counting up saves a bit of time. Actually, it's just a few frames, since it hangs on that screen for a while no matter what, but time is time. As a result I kind of fly around like an idiot in the other bonus stages. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing thing, but whatever.
My route through the game is 1 -> 2 -> 3 -warp-> 7 -> 8 -warp-> 13 -> 12 -> End.
I'll briefly describe what to watch for in each level.
1: Short, but because I don't have the boosters yet the pod is very difficult to control and when I'm dragging the fuel I'm largely at the mercy of my own momentum. My flying is nowhere near as smooth on this level as it is the rest of the way, but it can't really be helped.
2: Once I grab the boosters I'm in good shape. A nice tow line trick on the last fuel cell too. I also get past the gravity orbs rather nicely at the end.
3: Nothing really here, I'm just going to the warp point.
7: If you've seen the WIP of this game that was posted in the forums by someone else, you'll be very impressed with how well I rip through this level. Those green things take a lot of damage -- a time bomb plus a few regular shots, but they don't slow me down. The trick is to release a time bomb such that it makes contact with the enemy, this makes the bomb explode immediately. It works like a charm, as you can see.
8: Again just flying to a warp. Dullsville.
13: The planet name (Urownd) tells you everything you need to know about this level. It's a secret level that bypasses a great deal of the game. I use a nice trick with the tow line to drop the fuel in the wormholes here. The item pushes behind me as I pass it if I time it right, so I don't have to fly as high and hit the wall. I use the time bomb trick again here in a few places. The armored green thing can't be hit from the front, so that's why I squeeze past and bump the wall there.
12: A very long level, with ridiculous gravity. I buy the smart bombs in order to get past a barrier later on. You can barely see them explode on the right side of the screen as I'm carrying the second fuel cell. I kind of regret not waiting longer to hit this so it would be clearer what's going on. After the final cell, I ditch the pod because when in the spacesuit the wormhole drops me back at the main ship, which saves a lot of time. After that, it gets tedious for a while as I fly through the very lengthy water section and maze. The ship part room is fun though.
End: The first part is an autoscrolling section, there's nothing I can do to speed it up. I try to keep it somewhat interesting but there's not really much to be done. The last boss goes down smooth and easy. The second eye from the bottom is the toughest because you can't get in as close, but I still take care of it quite efficiently.

Bisqwit: Processing.
Oh and regarding the bonus stages - I support your decision on how you played them.


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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Editor, Active player (297)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
It's an anticipated movie, and in brief analysis, it doesn't seem to have any glaring mistakes or untaken advantages that would bother me. Voting yes. Edit: Nice to see you found use for the trick I described, as seen in level 13.
JXQ
Experienced player (761)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
It is an innovative idea for a time attack, but it got very repetitive to me. There just isn't much interesting to look at in this game. Although the moves you did were planned well, as you said, it just doesn't have that "look that screams perfection." However, to someone who has played the game more than I have, it would probably be more enjoyable. Since I haven't played this game too much, I won't be voting.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Former player
Joined: 6/6/2005
Posts: 384
To this day, I suck at Solar Jetman. Usually, when renting the game when I was younger, my friends and I would simply try and find the most interesting way to get blown up. c.c; We never got anywhere NEAR the final stage, though maps in... some gaming magazine from back in the day... made them look weird as hell and quite fun. Definitely voting yes. And though I'm probably in the minority here, I'd love seeing a full game run. I'm a big fan of those.
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Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway
hehe, where is the 100% run :D
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. ---- [388] NES Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship by Slotermeyer in 24:09.23
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (978)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
This is obviously improvable, but it's very hard to get perfect because it's such a complex game. I wonder if someone will have the guts to take it up another notch because it seems many have tried and failed... In any case, I can agree with publishing this anyway.
Joined: 2/16/2005
Posts: 462
This game completely killed me when I was young. Really I had no idea what I wa doing and never got more than the first fuel. It's nice to see how it is supposed to be played but looking at it now the game doesnt look that fun.
This signature is much better than its previous version.
Joined: 11/17/2004
Posts: 42
I voted yes. Glad you finished what I didn't.
Fihlvein
He/Him
Joined: 7/28/2004
Posts: 135
Location: Finland Realms
asteron wrote:
looking at it now the game doesnt look that fun.
It actually is really fun. Little by little explore new planets, kill enemies and go deeper and find new items. There are enchancements to your pod which wasn't required in this movie. And most importantly there are a few new pods as well which not just look a lot cooler, but they work so much better. These are the things which makes me want to see a warpless or even 100% run. But this movie already is really nice. I hope it brings some competition!
Joined: 11/17/2004
Posts: 42
A video of 100% or warpless would be too boring to make. I made 2/3 of a speedrun for this game, and realized that doing the same thing every planet would be horribly boring. I think its good left as is. There is a REASON no one had done this game up until now.
Player (98)
Joined: 7/16/2005
Posts: 34
I don't think 100% would be all that fun, but warpless as fast as possible might be. I don't know how interesting it would be to watch, but it would be interesting to plan. You'd clearly want to get the Italian pod, in order to warp through wormholes in the later levels, and I think the process of getting that much money as efficiently as possible would be interesting and probably non-obvious. But it would also be a very long video, and probably the last several levels would be pretty dull.
Joined: 1/13/2006
Posts: 109
Because it would get too repetitive, any longer run would be too boring for the average viewer. Even this run will likely only be enjoyed the most by those of us who have tackled this game heavily. Now if somebody could do a warpless run using different glitches, it might get a bit more fun, but there still wouldn't be a whole lot to do, and some glitches will leave you trapped.
Life is like a box of chocolates-when you want peanut butter, all you get is coconut.