Hey all, this is my first run through the first game I tried to tool assist. My main goal for the run was to learn how to use Gens and get a feel for some of it's features. I'd also like to learn what exactly a perfect run is, so any help for me getting better would be greatly appreciated.
http://www.savefile.com/files/346401
I aimed for 100% kills and no damage in this run. The ROM is Phelios_(J)_[c][!]
The reason I chose Phelios is it's a game that I played a lot as a kid. It features some good looking graphics as well as varied gameplay. In it you play Apollo who is on a quest to rescue the (rather buxom) Artemis from Typhon. He does this by riding Pegasus and shooting enemies with a sword.
After playing through this game, I'm not sure if it will ever be submission worthy. Though I find it entertaining, there's not a lot you can do. The game basically has five buttons (A, B, and C all do the same thing) and wait times are a problem since this is a scroller.
What's important? The falling rocks at the beginning of the level 5 boss are invincible for all practical purposes as are the rolling rocks in level 7.
In level 3, the tear-drop shaped enemies follow you until they die, so even though they sometimes leave the bottom of the screen, they come back into the screen in a short time.
If you tap the button, you fire a quick burst that does small damage. If you hold it, you charge the weapon and fire a much stronger burst. However, every time you push a button, it fires a quick burst whether you hold it or not, so some shots miss because I'm getting ready to charge the weapon.
Every time you get an upgrade such as the beam and the homing bombs, they are limitted ammo, not limitted time, which means if you conserve ammo, you can make them last a very long time.
I know the battle with Typhon is not optimized. I need to go into the system to see exactly what does damage and when or if he's invulnerable. I tried a ROM search, but I couldn't make sense of it. Is there a way to make searching through ROM values easier? Like certain values are usually enemy strength or sprite values?
One of the things that made this run hard was I couldn't find any FAQs for it anywhere, although I did find a few reviews online that provided a little help.
Favorite levels: 5 and 7. 5 because there are so many hidden kills and close calls throughout the entire thing. 7 for the sheer insanity of it.
Least favorite: 4 and 6. 4 just has too much waiting. In level 6 you barely get to see any enemies. That was the best way to do it though, otherwise the screen would become so cluttered with targets it would be impossible even for a person with perfect reflexes to kill everything.
The game only has a passing knowledge of Greek mythology. The fact that Apollo(n) is rescuing Artemis seems to imply incest. Also, there's a lot of engrish in the text.
