Well, this was unexpected. I had a lot of complaints on the old run, so I was planning to make my own attempt for it (any year now...)
To me 4601 rerecords sounds a bit low, but perhaps it's good anyway. The 00 shuriken thing was discussed last time and there was no real conclusion on it's be or not to be (I still think it's unneccesary). For comparison, the old run was 26:53 - almost 2 minutes longer.
EDIT:
It's a lot better than the last one, that's for sure.
One thing that stood out was the miniboss on level 2, and the robot miniboss on the fire level. I'm pretty sure they can both be killed before they go off screen for the first time.
Another was the double jumps after the wall jumps. Those slow you down a good deal, and at least in the first level you didn't need the extra height.
In the trap house I didn't understand why you didn't use the high-jump jutsu one room earlier. Did you try both ways?
On the first boss, I think you can move right after he races left, and he will appear on the screen earlier. But I'm not 100% sure.
Still, this had a lot of nice ideas. The double jutsu at third boss for example. I liked how you spent your time during the auto-scrolling sequences.
I'm not sure how to vote.
remember back when low rerecords = higher skill? now its low rerecords = unoptimized. funny that isn't it? anyways watching the movie now. will update with my verdict
EDIT - ok i liked this. having never played it before i thought it was fun to watch. good stuff
Joined: 11/20/2004
Posts: 236
Location: United States
Nooope-nope-nope. . . If you're going to start with 00 Shurikens, you should stay with 00 Shurikens. I'm sorry, but you've failed my expectations. In my eyes, this is an automatic No.
. . .is what I would be saying if that were truly fair. I'm sure this is a fine speed-run, but if I were to vote, I would have to vote No. Why am I not voting? Because. . .
1. I didn't watch the speed-run.
2. Even if I had, I wouldn't've liked it because he picked up and used Shurikens despite the fact he started out with none at all.
I've been slapped on the wrist before for voting No for such anal reasons(see 2.), thus, I am not voting. However, I will reinforce my point a third time in saying that if I were to vote, it would be a No-vote.
Sorry.
I don't understand your logic. If shurikens are a part of the game, why should they be avoided? Sure, the starting number could be set to 0 as a "hardest level" requirement, but I don't see why that dictates whether you can get them in the game.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Joined: 11/20/2004
Posts: 236
Location: United States
Alright, if you want me to be completely anal about it, then let's make it 00 Shurikens, Expert Difficulty, and no power-up collectiing. Oh, and no Ninjitsu usage. =P
Truth be told, if you don't collect any Shurikens but do collect a Power Up, the game becomes way too easy. Being able to use just the katana really takes a lot of the challenge out of the game. However, I've never tried just sticking with the kunai and charge-slash moves.(IE, avoiding all power-ups in the game.) As for why this would be considered adding to the difficulty, it's simple. No projectiles. Period. You have no long-range attacks to work with, and thus, are limited to striking only those within your sweep and slash ranges. I can't explain it any better than that, Magi.
Joined: 11/20/2004
Posts: 236
Location: United States
Of course it could work. The main question, however, is "Would it be entertaining for everyone, or just the so-called 'hardcore gamers' out there?" This coming from a guy who's actually gone to the trouble to beat the game using only the Dragon Sword and melee moves, I can't honestly say. I found playing the game like this tremendously fun, but for a speed-run? I dunno. If anyone wants to pick this up, they're more than welcome to, of course...
On another note, I'll watch this speed-run later and cast my official vote, instead of being anal about the "00 Shuriken" thing. As a critic of all things speed-run, I should really be more open to all types of speed-runs. Just that turning the Shurikens to 00 seems a little pointless when there's a 5 Shuriken power-up right there at the start. But that's just my opinion...
I watched this movie on google videos and it was pretty good, but it's only 13 minutes and 21 seconds long (despite having the correct title and everything). Obviously a whole lot of the game was cut off.
The movie claims no damage was taken. However...you started with two lives (well, three), and it looked like you lost one for each of those specials on one of the earlier bosses.
Does death = damage?
He uses the self-destruction again on a later boss. I think the no damage taken claim is upheld because he never takes damage from any source but his own abilities.
There had been several requests for a run of this game, but the reception has been quite chilly (only 4 votes). It is because people think the playing quality is low, or because it's not interesting enough for anyone to take the time to watch it?
Lives are used as ammo in this game, so I don't think there's any contradiction between "doesn't take damage" and using that jutsu.
The game seems pretty fast and action packed, and the playing is good, but I don't feel very familiar with this game. If there were a mistake I don't think I'd see it.
In any case, I enjoyed watching it and it seemed well done from what I know. I suppose that's fair grounds to vote yes.
I'd call it a meh. The game has some potential but your playing wasn't that great. I noticed the following:
11:16 - missed shot
13:15, 13:18, 13:28 no prejumps through platforms
falling stage - couldn't be faster but could have been much more creative and entertaining
I liked the bug with the Godzilla boss, but overall the tas wasn't very special.
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
(3576)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4754
Location: Tennessee
Just watched it:
It is a little long, but this game is certainly interesting enough for a publishable run, so I don't think that it the reason for the "chilliness"
The run LOOKS a little unpolished, like double-jump after wall jump that Truncated already mentioned. The 1st boss fight was dissapointing & clearly sloppy looking, but its possible that it is the game itself (maybe you can't defeat him before he runs off the screen). Either way it was a let down.
I will vote no, though I wouldn't mind seeing an improved version.
EDIT:
on my 2nd watch, I notice a lot more things that I liked. This is by far the most entetaining of the shinobi games. Also, I like Neofix's style during idle times. The movie is improvable but it is good quality and very entertaining. I am leaning towards accepting this movie, unless someone has an objection.
I love this game. I have the cart version and I'm always impressed with how much I suck at it. While I give NeoFix's run only a 7 for substance, I give it a 9 for style. He really does have some breezey, styling moments, including a fantastic and creative bullet dodge in the military base right before an exit door.
Could I have voted, I would have voted Yes due to the sheer entertainment value of this run. While it's not 100% with the "purist" values purported by the site, it's close enough and darn near enjoyable enough to watch.
NeoFix, I've noticed you seem to be tackling Genesis games exclusively. Keep up the good work. I wonder if you'll pick up some unusual ones for us. With your penchant for style you might want to consider some that are hard to TAS because of fixed scrolling or challenges and go mainly for impressive maneuvers.
Joined: 4/21/2004
Posts: 3517
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Quick question, correct me if Im wrong but whenever you jump and kick down, you land faster right? If so, why didnt you do this almost whenever you jumped? Also noticed that when you jump and kick down 2-3 times, you land even faster so kicking down as many times possible for each time jump should be noticeably faster.
It seemed to me like kicking down prompted a tiny delay before dropping from the air. In fact, it looked like every additional "move" or action prompted a 1 or 2 frame delay.