Emulator used: Gens 9F NitsujaMod (Gens 9F compatible)
Emulator settings:
- Controller 1: 6 button
- Controller 2: 6 button
- Allow Up+Down: Yes
- Sound: Enabled, 44100KhZ Stereo, YM2612 High Quality enabled
Categories
- Does not use warps or passwords
- Abuses programming errors in the game
- Manipulates luck
- Takes damage to save time
- Aims to entertain
- Ignores semi-important goals in the game
About the Game
Ristar - The Shooting Star is a game in which you control a shooting star who has been wished upon. Ristar's gameplay actually derives from a prototype version of Sonic--initially Sega's mascot was going to be a rabbit whose ears stretched to grab enemies and items. In Ristar, you control a star with similarly stretchy arms, who grabs enemies and bonks them with his rock-hard head.
About the Movie
This movie uses the Japanese version of Ristar, because it has a faster menu, harder hard mode, and fewer cut-scenes.
This movie makes extensive use of programming glitches to regain control faster than is normally possible, and help maintain full speed as much as possible. This movie manipulates luck to prevent bosses from using their longer attacks. This movie takes damage to save time, and ignores bonus-stages. This movie takes a small amount of time in several places to perform additional tricks, most notably, getting the maximum height bonus at the end of every round. This costs some time, but makes for a much more entertaining run.
This movie does not challenge "Super Mode" for two reasons.
1) Super mode requires a password, and the password entry screen is slow, even done frame-advance.
2) The only relevant difference between hard mode and super mode is that in Super Mode, it is impossible to have more than one hit point. Taking damage once saves multiple seconds of standing and waiting in some places, so Super Mode makes for a longer less entertaining movie.
Suggested Screenshot
If this movie is published, I would suggest the shot at 19:42:22 or frame 70942 be used as the screenshot.
Notes and Explanations
- In many places, Ristar performs a grab with no target. This is the Grab-cancel trick.
- In many places, Ristar grabs and bounces off an object diagonally behind him. This is the Bounce-boost trick.
- On Leatow/Undertow's boss, the second hit does not connect the frame he enters the screen. I manipulated to get the boss to appear nearly two seconds faster, but this left me in a position where there were about six frames where he could be grabbed, but I was unable to reach him.
- On the Planet Onaclove/Scorch miniboss, I take a hit. I'm not quite sure why, but when I tested versus not taking the hit, it allowed me to reach the exit pole 2 frames faster.
- More explanations to come as people ask or I recall them
- Bounce
- Grabbing an object for a minimal number of frames and bonking it.
- Bounce-boost
- When bouncing diagonally off an object, if the angle is correct, it propels Ristar faster than he can normally walk, this speed will be maintained until the ground is hit, or a grab connects with another grabbable object
- The Bounce Glitch
- When Ristar bounces, because the player has no control during the bounce-recovery animation, he becomes invincible for a very short period which is not visibly noted. When bouncing off enemies, this is only about as long as the recovery animation itself. But, for some reason it lasts about 50% longer when bouncing off of walls.
- Grab-cancel
- There are several animations during which directional input has no effect (IE, I can't accellerate). However, each of these animations (except the swimming bounce-recovery animation) has a point prior to its completion where you can cancel it by performing a grab. This allows me to regain control at least six, and often 12 frames faster, in each animation.
- Swim
- While in water, the jump button makes Ristar perform a stroke, and increases his speed greatly.
- Extended-Swim
- After the swimming animation has completed, the speed can be maintained for about 10 frames by continuing to hold the direction Ristar was swimming.
- Swim-Cancel
- The swimming animation can be ended 16 frames early by pressing in a different direction from the swim angle for at least one fram. This will lead to rapid deceleration, but can also be used for the following purposes
- Swim-Grab-Cancel
- By grabbing the frame after performing a swim-cancel, Ristar will, in most situations, instantly change direction and grab, while maintaining swimming speed. Very useful on the hammerhead boss
- Swim-Swim-Cancel
- By swimming the frame after performing a swim-cancel Ristar can change directions instantly underwater without losing any speed. Alternately, he can simply start his next swim stroke in the same direction 16 frames early.
- Pole-Swinging
- In many places there are poles positioned for Ristar to grab and swing around for additional speed.
- Hyper mode
- If Ristar continually accelerates while pole-swinging, he enters hyper mode after six and a half revolutions. During Hyper mode, Ristar glows blue, and becomes invincible. He will automatically kill any enemies he touches, and will also bounce off of any walls/terrain that he touches without losing speed. In Normal mode, Ristar can be steered while in hyper mode. In Hard Mode, he must perform a Hyper-cancel to regain control
- Hyper-cancel
- During hyper mode, hitting the jump button causes Ristar to jump in mid-air. This ends the bouncing of Hyper mode, the invincibility effect, and allows gravity to affect Ristar, but it returns control of Ristar to the player and does not cause deceleration otherwise.
- Pole-Dancing
- A punny name for when Ristar grabs a pole, swings around, lets go, and grabs it again. This is my favorite sport.
- Zipping
- Zipping is the effect that is initiated when a player character enters an impassible area. In Ristar, zipping works by ejecting the player from the area, to the nearest same-height free area, in a single frame and removing all momentum. It plays a very small role in Ristar, as it seems impossible to enter walls. However, there are many objects on the ground which have solid sides, but do not have solid tops. This allows for a quick 30-40 pixel boost which only requires 3-4 frames to accelerate back up to full speed.
Truncated: Everyone seems like it and think that it should be published (26 yes votes). So therefore I'm setting this to accepted. I have been told that the AVI is already encoded also.
