<Marvel Land, USA version, highest difficulty, no level-to-level warps, in-level warps and item gathering to a minimum>

Marvel Land

Marvel Land 100%. Complete the game on the highest difficulty, using no level-to-level warps whatsoever, keeping in-level warps to a minimum, and using/gathering items only when necessary
  • Emulator used: Gens Movie 9.5b
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Plays at hardest difficulty
  • Takes no damage
  • Abuses programming errors in the game

Comments

Marvel Land is a platformer. It was originally an arcade game but was remade on the Genesis/Megadrive. King Mole has captured the four protectors of a park named Marvel Land. Prince Talmit must race through Marvel Land in the fastest time, defeating four bosses and rescuing the protectors.
This run plays the hardest difficulty, Game Master, which makes the enemies stronger and more numerous. In addition, Game Master (as opposed to the easiest difficulty, Digest) plays through all the levels available in the game. All difficulties, however, are such that one hit will kill the player, so taking no damage is a must.

Stage comments

World 1-1

At the very end of most early levels there is a giant "target" which Talmit can fly through at different heights and earn various points, the best being 7650 in the center. In the first level, I go for the 7650-point marker, for the entertainment factor.

World 1-2

The orange NAMCO "teeter-totter" and slopes can cause Talmit to run faster if the slope is downward. I attempt to retain the speed gained from these slopes as much as possible.
I also bounce off enemies, even if they’re not necessary to interact with.
1:10 – At this point, I’m using the speed gained from the slopes. In order to pass this area, I need to slow down a bit so I can fit between the red platform above me and the flower enemy. It was not possible to bounce off an enemy and over the red platform.
1:16 – I use the speed gained from the forward momentum of the swing to propel myself. I jump while on the swing in order to not have to slow down as much.

World 1-4

2:17 - Riding the Jet Mogle (the enemy with a rocket on its back) can be tricky, so I either have to jump on it constantly like this…
2:40:30 – …or glitch into its rocket like this. When glitched into the rocket, you can only jump out of the very left or the very right of the rocket and not be harmed.

World 1-5

3:16 – It is required to slow down here to use the upper path. Any other path takes more time.

World 1-6

I attempt to take the lower path as much as possible on these types of levels, because the upper path (on top of the grey blocks) is much more boring.

World 1-7

4:38 – The spike platform and Talmit have large hitboxes and require me to stay crouched down for longer than it seems I should be.

World 1-Bonus

  • Big orange star = 3000 points
  • Big yellow star = 1000 points
  • Small orange star = 300 points
  • Small yellow star = 100 points

World 2-1

6:28:45 – Slowing down here is a must to clear Tsukinowaguma (the bear)

World 2-3

7:41:30 – An obstacle later in the level requires the use of one of two items: Dragons Wings, or Clones. I choose the Dragon Wings because of the faster route you can take with them, and because of the entertainment. The time taken by backtracking to the Dragon Wings is about made up by using the Clones and having to take a longer route.
7:47 – The spout of water from the whale is deadly, but the whale itself isn’t and it can be used as a platform.
8:01:30 – Bouncing off this enemy might seem easy, but it requires frame-precise movements.
8:22 – I decide to fly over the target for something different.

World 2-4

9:29 – Car "II" comes into "the station" sooner than Car "I", allowing me to end the stage earlier

World 2-5

9:58:15 – The ducking was actually caused by the platform above me, not my input

World 2-6

10:45 – I don’t have the Clone item and thus cannot use the swing that is above me. I wait for the whale to come closer so I can use it. This time is about made up for the time it would have taken to use the swing

World 2-7

11:37 – Again, the hitbox for the spikes combined with my changed hitbox when standing up makes me crawl for longer than it seems necessary

World 3-2

15:07 – Another impassable obstacle without an item. I backtrack using a quick warp collect the Clone so I can use the swing.

World 3-3

16:40 – The Jet Mogle without an arrow attached is much faster than one with an arrow in the level…
16:52 - …as seen here.

World 3-4

17:23 – I decide to use the swing here because of item placement
17:51 – This jump required me to hit the very end of this guy’s sprite and was a little difficult to get perfect
17:59 – I slow down here for item placement reasons

World 3-6

19:13 – I slow down and grab the Clone because I have to wait for the stones to become solid (they have faces when they’re solid) before I can go across

World 3-7

19:42 – I jump in the middle of the Medusa Heads instead of using the cannonball for something different and amusing
20:15 – The height gained by default when jumping with the Dragon Wings forces me to the ceiling here; you cannot flap the wings when jumping, only when falling
20:25 – This was one spot that took quite a few tries to get just right.

World 3-Bonus

With my single Clone left, I can grab stars more quickly than normal.

World 4-1

22:02 – It is not possible to retain my speed here.

World 4-2

22:56 – A little trick/glitch in the game. If I had not used my Clone to swipe this guy before I hit him, I would have taken damage. However, his momentary "hit" state allows me to jump off him like any other enemy.
22:59 – The same concept with this guy. However, his momentary hit state allows me to fly right through his hitbox.
23:02 – Same concept as above for this guy. This one is particularly glaring…
23:10 – I had to grab that Clone item a few seconds earlier so I could use this swing correctly. Having only one Clone would not work.

World 4-3

24:02 – Taking this warp to the beginning of the level and back again allows me to reset the platform and gives me invincibility so I can land on the spikes unharmed.

World 4-6

I grab the Dragon Wings at the beginning of this level because obstacles further in the level would require me to waste time if I didn’t have them.

World 5-2

29:35 – I’ve jumped off at this point so that I can land on the platforms below sooner. What is supposed to happen is that the cars run out of rail, then "fall down" to where you see me land. The cars that fell off go off your screen while falling. There are actually two sets of cars, one that falls off, and one that sits in waiting at the bottom.

Other comments

Suggested screenshot: Around frame 82938.

NesVideoAgent: Hi! I am a robot. I took a few screenshots of this movie and placed them here. I'm not sure I got the right ROM though. (I tried Marvel Land (U) [!].gen, which was the closest match to what you wrote.) Well, here goes! Feel free to clean up the list.
adelikat: Removed desynced screenshots.

Truncated: I will reject this movie for reasons mostly stated in the topic (too long and not enough interesting tricks to gain speed). A 7-minute warp run though, might very well be publishable.

adelikat: Unrejecting this submission for consideration into the Vault

adelikat: Accepting for publication to the Vault

Ilari: Filling the form...


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #1948: RattleMan's Genesis Marvel Land "100%" in 30:01.43
Editor, Expert player (2480)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Nice first submission, RattleMan! The game is a bit repetitive, but the music is funny and some of your stylistical choices entertained me to some extent. The rollercoaster levels were funny, despite their autoscrolling nature. The bad hit detection and lag makes it look sloppy sometimes, but I know the game and I think your movements were rather precise, so my vote is getting towards the "yes". One question, though. You mention that the "hardest difficulty plays through all levels". What does that mean? Does that mean that the warps are not available in the hardest difficulty? Or did you just decide to not use them? I think the levels offer very little new content as the game progresses, so if the hardest difficulty allows warping, it might make the movie more tight without significant loss in content. Overall, this may be an average TAS, but still quite good for a first submission.
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
That was more entertaining than the average platformer. The submission text answered most of the questions I had while watching the movie, though I still have my doubts about optimization. Just one question: did you watch any memory addresses?
Joined: 4/29/2005
Posts: 1212
I myself voted Yes on this. :3 This game brings back a fond memory of watching Nickelodeon Arcade back when it was on television. This game was actually played once. :3 And it was very entertaining, that 30 minutes just flew by. :3
Player (68)
Joined: 5/5/2007
Posts: 65
Aqfaq wrote:
Nice first submission, RattleMan! The game is a bit repetitive, but the music is funny and some of your stylistical choices entertained me to some extent. The rollercoaster levels were funny, despite their autoscrolling nature. The bad hit detection and lag makes it look sloppy sometimes, but I know the game and I think your movements were rather precise, so my vote is getting towards the "yes". One question, though. You mention that the "hardest difficulty plays through all levels". What does that mean? Does that mean that the warps are not available in the hardest difficulty? Or did you just decide to not use them? I think the levels offer very little new content as the game progresses, so if the hardest difficulty allows warping, it might make the movie more tight without significant loss in content. Overall, this may be an average TAS, but still quite good for a first submission.
Thanks for the vote. Playing the hardest difficulty ("Game Master") goes through all the levels available in the game, as you see in the movie. When playing "Digest" mode, you skip levels as you progress. Digest plays a fraction of the levels "Game Master" does; 1-1 -> 1-3 -> 1-4 -> 1-7 -> 2-1 -> 2-5 -> 2-6 -> 3-2 -> 4-6. Warps are available at every difficulty, but I decided not to take any level-to-level warps (example: 4-2 to 4-4) because I wanted to do an "all levels completed" run.
Dromiceius wrote:
That was more entertaining than the average platformer. The submission text answered most of the questions I had while watching the movie, though I still have my doubts about optimization. Just one question: did you watch any memory addresses?
Where do your doubts lie? Regarding memory addresses, I could not determine what memory addresses deserved to be watched. If Marvel Land were something like King's Bounty where an hidden item's coordinates could be found, I would probably do it, but again I couldn't determine what needed watching. Sorry if this isn't the answer you're looking for.
Kitsune wrote:
I myself voted Yes on this. :3 This game brings back a fond memory of watching Nickelodeon Arcade back when it was on television. This game was actually played once. :3 And it was very entertaining, that 30 minutes just flew by. :3
Thank you for your vote!
Joined: 6/5/2005
Posts: 64
I haven't watched it, but usually what they mean by memeory watching would talk about character's movement speed, air speed, boss invincibility frames, etc.
Phear my uber gimpyness!
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
rattleman wrote:
Where do your doubts lie? Regarding memory addresses, I could not determine what memory addresses deserved to be watched. If Marvel Land were something like King's Bounty where an hidden item's coordinates could be found, I would probably do it, but again I couldn't determine what needed watching. Sorry if this isn't the answer you're looking for.
You mentioned in the submission text that you were careful about maintaining high speeds, but without watching the character's x position and speed, you can decelerate imperceptibly. From what I saw poking around in the memory, the character's coordinates may be stored with sub-pixel precision in this game, so there's likely to be room for improvement to some degree. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching it, and I don't know that it's improvable, so I'm going to vote Yes.
Joined: 10/19/2007
Posts: 39
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Not a visually impressive game but the level design and quirky characters made it a decent watch. And some of your cool tricks of course.
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (980)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
This didn't do it for me... too long and repetitive. The slopes seems like the only interesting way to gain speed. You mentioned that there are warps that skip some levels. How much time would that save approximately?
Player (68)
Joined: 5/5/2007
Posts: 65
Dromiceius wrote:
Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching it, and I don't know that it's improvable, so I'm going to vote Yes.
Thanks for your vote.
Truncated wrote:
This didn't do it for me... too long and repetitive. The slopes seems like the only interesting way to gain speed. You mentioned that there are warps that skip some levels. How much time would that save approximately?
The best warp I know of is in 1-1; it takes you to 4-4, skipping 23 levels. It would save around 23 minutes (oddly). I wanted this run to be a 100% run before doing a warped run.
Editor, Expert player (2480)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
RattleMan wrote:
I wanted this run to be a 100% run before doing a warped run.
So, are you planning to do the warped run anytime soon, RattleMan? Maybe the status of this submission could/should be set to "waiting" until the warped run is made for comparison.
Joined: 2/1/2007
Posts: 245
Location: Israel
From what I understood from watching a let's play of this game, you need to beat bosses 1-3 if you want to be able to beat the final boss. So the 1-1 to 4-4 warp might not be that useful..
Player (68)
Joined: 5/5/2007
Posts: 65
Mechuyael wrote:
From what I understood from watching a let's play of this game, you need to beat bosses 1-3 if you want to be able to beat the final boss. So the 1-1 to 4-4 warp might not be that useful..
The orbs you receive from beating the bosses are needed, yes, but you don't need all three of them. One will suffice, but you have to watch out or King Mole will destroy the orb with his magic shot. It is, however, possible to harm King Mole using only your Clones, but I'm pretty sure you can't hold enough Clones to defeat him (you lose Clones as you swipe).
Editor, Expert player (2480)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Mechuyael wrote:
From what I understood from watching a let's play of this game, you need to beat bosses 1-3 if you want to be able to beat the final boss.
I think those "let's play" kind of videos are often misleading and inaccurate.
Joined: 2/1/2007
Posts: 245
Location: Israel
Aqfaq wrote:
I think those "let's play" kind of videos are often misleading and inaccurate.
That's part of the charm.
adelikat
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I voted no. The slope boosting thing was about the only interesting thing TAS-wise. But that can't carry a 30+ minute movie. I might be a lot more receptive to a any% run since it would be shorter. Since I (and most people) don't know the game, there isn't much value is seeing all these levels. As far as tech quality, it is adequate for publication. Your entertainment choices in wait times were generally pretty good as well. I bet monitoring speed & subpixel addresses would help optimize slope boosting. You will be suprised how much is going on that is hard to notice visually.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
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om, nom, nom... blech, stale!
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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. ---- [2311] Genesis Marvel Land "100%" by RattleMan in 30:01.43