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I used Gens Movie 9f, I haven't changed any emulator settings. I take damage to save time.
Shadow of the Beast is a game with gorgeous graphics and awesome music. The gameplay is a little harsh, not giving you a lot of time to attack enemies before being attacked yourself, and having many different paths you could follow, most of them being the wrong ones.
I recorded this TAS over 2 years ago, and there still isn't a SotB run on here, so here it is. I don't know of any glitches in this game, so this is a straightforward speed run. This was fairly straightforward to make after looking at guides to plan the route, the main challenge was finding out where to save time by trading damage.
Here are a few notes I made when I recorded this, with time stamps for reference:
  • 1:10:50 Of course, jumping off the ledge is faster than just falling
  • 1:25 The amazing disappearing horseman!
  • 1:27:10 I punch the horseman here because a flying kick would put me too far from the ladder
  • 1:46:10 I'm careful for the first part of this fight (not much of a fight though) but I deliberately take some damage to save time
  • 2:05 This is a fairly simple boss, but if it touches you, you die instantly. Since you can't just run and gun (only one shot can be on the screen at the same time) I try to get as close to it as possible and keep firing shots when I can.
  • 2:25 Our hero vanquishes some more horsemen then decides to ride his invisible pogo-stick
  • 2:38 The switch releases the force field on the power punch later on in the dungeon
  • 2:49:48 You are supposed to stop between the bouncing eyes, but who has that kind of time?
  • 3:08 Of course, taking all this damage means a slight detour for some health, between this and the next health potion, I could have just charged through all the enemies. But I decided to take as little damage as possible to make it more entertaining
  • 4:01 Then after getting the health potion, I run into these blasted green things. Either I punch them and lose 2 HP or I lose 4 HP.
  • 4:14 I did intend to kick this guy, but I think it looks funnier doing a flying kick over him
  • 4:26:45 And here's the power punch. Without it, I'd take too much damage trying to kill the next boss.
  • 5:11 Unfortunately you have to stop to pick up these health potions. I spent quite a bit of time trying to do a flying kick and then land on them
  • 6:29 Try as hard as I could, some of these green guys just wouldn't die before they managed to hurt me.
  • 7:56 These chicken leg like things took massive amounts of health off me no matter what I did. So I just charge through them.
  • 8:10 A red demon surprised our hero from behind and our hero hops with furious anger
  • 9:08 And now I have a GUN! HAHAHA! Naturally I only shoot things when they're right up close to me. Long range? What does that mean?
  • 10:02 This three headed boss has its weak point far back on its body. So I have to get in close so that my bullets reach it. Then I have to pull back to get out of range of the downward fireball. Fortunately the difference between these two positions is only 2-3 frames. Near the end of the fight I jump out and then run back in with the last shot. This actually saves time. Retreating before the fireball and then moving back in actually takes more frames to kill this guy.
  • 11:22 Another boss with a weak point far back on its body. Anybody would think the game designers hated their audience
  • 11:35 I don't collect the middle pick-up because it's actually a HP down
  • 11:48 And I don't collect the last health potion because I don't need it
  • 12:17 The final boss seems to not like the air in front of his toes being punched. Talk about Achilles heel!
  • 12:29 After defeating the boss, our hero does his happy dance
All in all, a satisfying and entertaining run. A fun game, especially when played with save states.
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 Shadow of the Beast (UE) [!].gen, which was the closest match to what you wrote.) Well, here goes! Feel free to clean up the list.
mmbossman: Several comments in the discussion thread mention possible improvements to this run; I especially noticed the possibility for improved health management. However, the game itself is interesting, and a more optimized version would likely make a good addition to the TASvideos collection. Rejecting this, and good luck on your next try!

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Posted: 8/14/2008 4:45 PM
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TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2055: Uintathere's Genesis Shadow of the Beast in 12:30.23
Posted: 8/14/2008 5:34 PM
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Aqfaq
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Sega TASer of 2008 Lucky TAS of 2008
Hello, Uintathere! This is funny run, but I'm voting "no" for these reasons: - You missed some shots in the boss fights. The RAM address for viewing boss HP is 00FF04B3. - You prolonged the input unnecessarily in the end. - Overall, it looks improvable here and there. My estimate is that at least 20 seconds can be saved.
Posted: 8/14/2008 5:45 PM
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Uintathere
Joined: 8/13/2008
Posts: 3
There possibly is chance for improvement, but this is so far my first and only TAS for any game, and since nobody had tackled this game before I wanted to see it represented on this site. The submitted movie is my forth run through, with various notes for optimizations made from previous attempts.
Posted: 8/14/2008 5:46 PM
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Cardboard
Skilled player (1605)
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
NES TAS of 2008 Rookie of 2007 GBx TASer of 2007
Is this the same game as Super Shadow Of The Beast for the SNES? Also I am a bit on the same line as Aqfaq, it looks a bit unoptimized. The HP-planning seems to be bad, seeing how you can jump and kick and kill stuff so you won't have to run through them and take damage. Also there are tombstones/etc that you stop and punch rather than jump and kick them to break them. However the game is good for TASing in my opinion so yeah I'd like to see an improved version of this run.
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Posted: 8/14/2008 5:59 PM
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Uintathere
Joined: 8/13/2008
Posts: 3
Aqfaq - I'll also add a note I made that I didn't put into my submission text: "some shots may look like stray shots. without them being fired, the boss doesn't actually flash when it's struck by the shot in front. whether the shots register or not i don't know, but it doesn't waste any time to fire them anyway." I didn't know the memory address for the boss HP, so thank you for pointing that out. And I know the input lasts longer than it should, but that's his happy dance! (though I suppose it could be easily edited out) Cardboard - a couple of your points are addressed at 5:11 and 6:29 in the submission notes. And I don't know if it's the same game or not, I'm not familiar with that version Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure I'll give it another go myself for a while, but please feel free to beat this time. It's a great game and people should be able to enjoy it.
Posted: 8/14/2008 6:14 PM
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Sticky
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota
Heh, I was actually working on this run... about a year ago ;P I may actually work on it now, knowing that someone else has an interest in it. Your movie looked good, but it needs some optimizing and searching for the RAM address for the boss' life.
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Posted: 8/14/2008 8:23 PM
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upthorn
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Joined: 3/24/2006
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I found this run fairly entertaining, but at one point it looks like you go out of your way to pick up a health potion you don't need, and that three headed dragon fight really looks unoptimized. Your bullets really have that short of a range that they won't hit his weak point if you stand a couple pixels further away so you won't get hit by his fire breath?
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Posted: 8/15/2008 1:36 AM
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adelikat
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Joined: 11/3/2004
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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
At the start you take a LOT of time to hit enemies when you could have just kept walking to the left without losing time. You take damage later, so it isn't a no damge run. The same thing in a few spots in the beginning of level 2. Looks like you started out thinking of doing a no damage run and then changed your mind. No way that first boss fight can be optimal. (around 7500). The whole thing looks like a rough draft and needs better planning. Also, this game is horrid for making a fluent looking TAS. It takes forever to turn around, you can't jump onto or off ladders, ducking takes forever, if you jump off a platform, about mid jump the game saps all your x velocity and you drop straight down! These elements are not TAS friendly at all. they make it look sloppy even when it is not. I have to vote no for the TAS, and a most likely no for the game. Oops, I voted yes by accident (note to whomever judges)
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Posted: 8/15/2008 1:43 AM
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nifboy
Former player
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 375
Boy, did I hate this game as a kid. Couldn't beat it even with infinite health cheats. Voted yes because it's a Psygnosis game getting utterly demolished.
Posted: 8/15/2008 1:48 AM
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upthorn
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After a lot of thought, I've given this a weak yes vote. It's a pretty game, it sounds good, there's a good bit of action. And while a little on the unoptimized side, it's not appalingly slow, or difficult to watch at all (except for the three headed dragon fight).
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Posted: 8/15/2008 5:46 PM
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Uintathere
Joined: 8/13/2008
Posts: 3
With some of the bosses, their weak point is so far back on their body it's unbelievable. It's not that the ammo has a short range, it's that if you stand even one pixel back, the weak spot is off the screen. This is a really hard game to play if you don't use slowdown or savestates. To anybody who thinks any boss fight or anything else looks unoptimized, I'd say have a go at it yourself. Maybe it could be faster, but this is a nasty game to actually play.
Posted: 8/15/2008 5:53 PM
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Brushy
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Joined: 11/13/2005
Posts: 1587
Uintathere wrote:
Maybe it could be faster, but this is a nasty game to actually play.
Well, you should just "actually play" while making a TAS.
Posted: 12/7/2011 7:46 PM
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TASVideosGrue
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Joined: 10/1/2008
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om, nom, nom... blech, stale!