Submission #2328: xenos's GB Super Mario Land in 12:13.68

After having spedrun this game in real time for some time previously, I inevitably decided to put all that valuable experience to work in some frame optimisation and the result; a 74 frame improvement over its predecessor. Most of the comments of the other run apply here so I'll attempt to exercise my skills in brevity.

Emulator - Visual Boy Advance 1.7.2 re-recording v19.2

Objectives-

After having stumbled upon a way to decrease the transition time between different worlds via some sort of frame rule, it became apparent that there were indeed improvements to be had over the run that had once seemed so close to perfection. By the end of the run, 23 frames were saved by manipulating the length of the transitions while the rest were saved through specific tricks in the levels themselves. Additionally, I found an extra 2200 acquirable points at the expense of another 2200 points in choosing some faster level routes; the end result, as if by some cosmic coincidence, is that this run finishes with the same score as the other. Most points gained were done so through the use of abnorally high enemy jumping; a sporadically occurring, situation specific ability that is activated by holding down A before landing on an enemy. Now to break it down (level by level)...

1-1: 100 points were gained here by slowing down a frame on the tall stack of coins. Wasting a frame here proves inconsequential as a total of 4 frames must by wasted across 1-1 and 1-2 to optimise the transition luck. Another 100 points were saved by jumping off a goomba into a coin block.

1-2: 300 points were gained here, all by enemy hopping where there was none before.

1-3: There isn't much to do here so this level is mostly the same as TheAxeMan's. The person known as mmbossman found another 100 points by optimising the jumps prior to eliminating the first of our fireball spitting adversaries.

2-1: 6 frames were saved in this level by finding a better way to negotiate the seahorse though some momentary slowdown was still required. This new path unfortunately avoided 1800 points in aquatic assassinations. The land going goombas again prove their use by looting the box at the 9564th frame.

2-2: Another coin was taken in the tall stack yield a further 100 points.

2-3: The first auto scroller provides the chance to show off some sharp shooting. I took some inspiration from the screensaver on my DVD player with which my simple mind could be entertained for longer than would be strictly sane to be so. In particular, I await the golden moment that the logo's haphazard wall bouncing causes it to wander into a corner but alas, it was not to be this time. As for the first set of block destructions, no good TAS is complete without first encoding some subliminal satanic messages therein. The second set gives me a chance to shamelessly "borrow" an idea from the former run; an idea too awesome to pass up. Unfortunately, the lack of time moments before reaching the boss cuts short any further puerile antics.

3-1: 200 points were gained here by jumping off a koopa-like creature and picking up a coin in the process. Another coin could be slyly stolen before jumping off the first boulder but time did not permit the gain of any more. There was also an opportunity here to briefly show off the crouch slide and the about face freeze by auto firing the down key.

3-2: Acquiring the mushroom later in this level, gave me a nice opportunity to go coining. Apparently, the second mushroom locale saves a frame over the first else I mysteriously saved a frame elsewhere in this level.

3-3: There isn't anything interest to say for this level, unless the lack of interest qualifies as interesting.

4-1: 700 points could be had here by giving the jumping critter their just deserts. Two frames were saved here by reducing the influence of the indomitable lag demon while committing some hasty herbicide.

4-2: I gain two frames here; one I believe from lag reduction and the other from auto firing down while riding the final elevator; yes, I have no idea why that works either. The elevator here also gave a chance to display some nice mid air hovering, albeit momentarily.

4-3: 40 frames were saved here on the bosses by using ABABABA... to shoot rather than A-A-A-A-...; an oversight, it seems.

TheAxeMan, whose run not only served as a guide to many opportunites in timesaving, pointscoring and other assorted other tricks, but also remains one of my favourite TASes and was one of the reasons I entered this whole business in the first place.

Thus ends my lacklustre discussion; your forgiveness for my idle ramblings I implore. The level times were all the same save the last which was 208 over the 207 previously.

mmbossman: Accepting as an improvement to the published movie.