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Introduction

WARNING! THIS VIDEO CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN!
Now that I have your attention, this is my run of the GBA game Spider-man 3, completed in 15 minutes and 39 seconds. It is a game that loosely follows the plot of the hit 2007 movie, and I play through it really, really fast.
This is part 1 of 3 of my Spider-man three-peat, ménage à trois, triple play, etc. The other two parts can be found here and here
Uses VBA 19.3, because last I heard, 20 still has sync problems.

Goals

  • Aims for fastest time
  • Entertainment added to boss battles at the expense of some lag

Game objectives

This game has a pretty simple plot. Save people from danger, disable bombs, collect keys to go through doors, and throw some beatdown on bosses. Since the movie ‘’only’’ had three villains (Green Goblin, Sandman, and Venom), two new bosses are added into the game. Electro makes an appearance, as does some Ted Kazinski wannabe named the Mad Bomber.

Game Mechanics

Spider-man is able to achieve very quick speed using his web like a grappling hook. When spider-man gets launched to the left or right, he is in midair for a short amount of time. If an attack (arm swipe or leg sweep) is used during that time, he slides just above the ground, with the same velocity as before. He is then able to jump again, maintaining his momentum. Repeat this ‘bunny hop’ as needed. This is the main technique used to give this run its speed. Other movements, such as dashing, are available when there isn’t a wall (or enemy) regularly available to grapple off of, but all other movements are much slower, so they are used less often.
Another trick I discovered is a rather spastic way of maintaining high vertical velocity even when there isn’t a ceiling handy. By pressing ‘away’ and ‘jump’ one frame after latching onto a wall, Spider-man will jump upwards at a speed that is even greater than grappling. However, this speed quickly diminishes (within 3 or 4 frames it is slower than grappling). This loss of velocity is avoided by shooting a diagonal web almost immediately after losing contact with the wall.

Plot

A lot of the plot of the game is left out of this TAS, due to the ability to skip the cutscenes (thank you programmers!). However, I decided to do something never before seen here at TASvideos.org, and recreate the cutscenes in a manner very similar to a comic book. Since the submission form does not support thumbnails, I have provided a list of levels, with a link to each comic book "page" where the corresponding cut scenes occurred. I recommend watching the run through once without pausing, and then again if you want to see why so many people seem to get trapped in burning buildings, and why bombs seem to be more prevalent than ATMs.

Special Thanks

  • Comicalflop, for working on a WIP up to level 6, which provided me a great framework.
  • PJBoy, for velocity RAM addresses for each level
  • Stickyman05, adelikat, and the above two mentioned for being WIP watchers.

The comics!

  • Not embedded in consideration of those with slow connections
  1. Search and Rescue http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/1SeachandRescue.png
  2. Goblin Hunt http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/2GoblinHunt.png
  3. Spidey Saves http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/3SpideySaves.png
  4. Sandstorm http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/4Sandstorm.png
  5. The Dark Side http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/5TheDarkSide.png
  6. Court Disorder http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/6CourtDisorder1.png
  7. Follow That Limo http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/7FollowThatLimo.png
  8. Kingpin’s Mansion http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/8KingpinsMansion.png
  9. Totally Amped
  10. Subway Rumble http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/10SubwayRumble.png
  11. Toxic Shock http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/11ToxicShock.png
  12. Bombs Away
  13. Copter Chase http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/13CopterChase.png
  14. Sand Hassles http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/14SandHassles.png
  15. Quicksand http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/15QuickSand.png
  16. Final Fight http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/16FinalFight.png
  17. The End? http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/mmbossman/Spiderman/17TheEnd.png
To see what a run looks like when it’s played normally, check out these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJc7WCq53r8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDqBN3b1Qxo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHCU-YjmBZo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa8_q4YMpa4
Enjoy!
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 Spider-Man 2 (U).gba, which was the closest match to what you wrote.) Well, here goes! Feel free to clean up the list.
mmbossman: Sorry, NVA, but you chose Spider-Man 2, and this is Spider-Man 3. We learned in school that 3 is one more than 2 (or, more constructively, it's time to upgrade to GoodGBA 3.12).
Truncated: Everyone seems to agree with me that this is a cool run. Accepting.

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Posted: 8/16/2008 11:01 PM
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TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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Posts: 15628
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2062: mmbossman's GBA Spider-Man 3 in 15:38.73
Posted: 8/16/2008 11:07 PM
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Comicalflop
Editor, Experienced player (735)
Joined: 6/13/2006
Posts: 3300
Location: Massachussetts, USA
Speedy TAS of 2009
Look out Sonic, you have a new competitor in the field of fast! "Spiderman, Spiderman, goes faster than Sonic can... Can he sling, from a web? Yes he can, and very fast. Loooooooooooookout, here comes the Spiderman...." Glad to see this blisteringly fast run submitted. The occasional lag is a bit of a letdown, but Spiderman is just zipping along at such a fast rate that seeing it laggy is sometimes helpful to see what he looks like in a slowed down matter. You crush bosses and enemies with ease, and show off what I always envision Spiderman to look like in action from the comic books. Thwip! Thwip! THWIPTHWIPTHWIPTHWIPTHWIPTHWIP! Well done, Bossy. well done. Yes vote, and THIS should be in contention to bring back those shiny stars.
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Posted: 8/16/2008 11:13 PM
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adelikat
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3576)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4754
Location: Tennessee
TASer of 2010 NES TASer of 2010 DS TASer of 2010 Arcade TAS of 2010 NES TASer of 2008 NES TAS of 2008 Funny TAS of 2008 TASer of 2007 NES TASer of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
HIGHLY entertaining movie. This is the epitome of what a good platforming TAS should be. It also portrays how I imagine such a superhero would look like. If/when published this movie will get a 9 in entertainment from me.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Posted: 8/17/2008 12:46 AM
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Baxter
Skilled player (1410)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
TAS of 2013 SNES TAS of 2013 Speedy TAS of 2007 Innovative TAS of 2007
Very, very nice... good job on this :)
http://tasvideos.org/Baxter.html
Posted: 8/17/2008 1:04 AM
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Raiscan
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
Whatever it was that was going on in this movie, it was fast and action-packed. Yes vote. Well done.
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs
Posted: 8/17/2008 9:41 AM
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VANDAL
Experienced player (614)
Joined: 4/24/2005
Posts: 612
Looks at how crazy spider-man moves Wow, man... just wow. This whole run was one funny bit. You also handled this game all too well, in every aspect. Yes vote.
Posted: 8/17/2008 9:45 AM
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P.JBoy
Any
Editor
Joined: 3/25/2006
Posts: 850
Location: stuck in Pandora's box HELLPP!!!
Damn it mmbossman, I said I wanted to be on IRC when you submitted it! and it's Speed, not Velocity
Posted: 8/17/2008 9:46 AM
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Cardboard
Skilled player (1606)
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
NES TAS of 2008 Rookie of 2007 GBx TASer of 2007
This was one velocitied TAS!
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Posted: 8/17/2008 10:12 AM
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Randil
Skilled player (1828)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Wow, that was really, really fast! Easy yes vote, great job and great game choise.
My own page on this site.
Posted: 8/17/2008 3:12 PM
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mmbossman
Experienced player (829)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
GBx TAS of 2008
P.JBoy wrote:
it's Speed, not Velocity
It has both a magnitude (usually 1792) and direction (right or left, up or down, or any combination thereof), so I continue to think it's velocity. But it really doesn't matter. Glad everyone has liked the run.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Posted: 8/18/2008 6:48 AM
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Sticky
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota
Bossy made me say this! I swear!
PM to mmbossman wrote:
I never said this, but this game is crazier than any Batman game on this site.
Voted in the positive region and am currently searching for the balls that have been blown away by awesome...
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Posted: 8/18/2008 7:17 AM
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Bloobiebla
Player (156)
Joined: 4/7/2008
Posts: 217
Nintendo 3D TAS of 2014 N64 TASer of 2010 N64 TAS of 2010 TAS of 2008 N64 TAS of 2008
........Holy crap... that was sexy A definite yes vote from me for being the most entertaining run I've seen, despite never seeing this game in my life
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Posted: 8/18/2008 8:59 AM
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Mitjitsu
He/Him
Banned User
Joined: 4/24/2006
Posts: 2997
TAS of 2007 N64 TAS of 2007
In recent times I feel this run is genuinely special compared to other submissions. I'm sure that if starred runs still existed or if someone was just about to make a video showing off TASes then excerts from this run would be used.
Posted: 8/24/2008 4:56 PM
Post subject: Movie published
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TASVideoAgent
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Joined: 8/3/2004
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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. ---- [1182] GBA Spider-Man 3 by mmbossman in 15:38.73
Posted: 8/24/2008 9:41 PM
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Warp
Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
Why do all GBA games look the same? This game looks amazingly identical in style to a bunch of other GBA games for which TASes have been published recently. One would think that the more advanced a game platform is, the more variation there could be to the games, but apparently this is not so.
Posted: 8/25/2008 12:31 AM
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eternaljwh
Joined: 3/11/2008
Posts: 583
Location: USA
Why did you grapple up to grab the dark spidey powerup at end of Court Disorder? It looked strictly bad there, and you lose the effect a few seconds later at end of level. And, since I can't seem to locate a FAQ on the game, what do those powerups do (aside from the ones that max out your ragemeter and turn you to dark spidey, that's obvious)? edit: Golden spidey action all the way. fist and web damage boosts? and you do more damage when dark-spidey?
Posted: 8/25/2008 12:43 AM
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mmbossman
Experienced player (829)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
GBx TAS of 2008
eternaljwh wrote:
Why did you grapple up to grab the dark spidey powerup at end of Court Disorder? It looked strictly bad there, and you lose the effect a few seconds later at end of level. And, since I can't seem to locate a FAQ on the game, what do those powerups do (aside from the ones that max out your ragemeter and turn you to dark spidey, that's obvious)?
It is impossible to break through walls that have yellow and black stripes on them without being Dark Spidey. Most of the other instances of this in the run are nearly unnoticeable, but I'm glad you caught it, good eye. As for the power-ups, the one with the first increases your attack power by 50% per powerup (max of 3). As for the web powerup, I'm really not sure. At first I thought it increased max web length, but my tests don't seem to back that up. If you find out, let me know.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Posted: 12/19/2014 4:38 PM
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dekutony
Experienced player (691)
Joined: 11/23/2013
Posts: 2239
Location: Guatemala
Hey guys, I think the current encode has the wrong aspect ratio... Can someone please fix this?
Here, my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/dekutony