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Ristar (ntscj) (genesis) [Any %] [Single Segment]

Decision: Accept

Congratulations to 'Chubbus'!
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Run Information


Verification Files

Please refer to the Verification Guidelines before posting.

Edit history:
Chubbus: 2017-08-22 02:20:01 pm
Hey guys. I just want to be as up front as possible with all the information so this goes smoothly.

2 years ago I got my previous world record of Any% Ristar but had captured it in a sub par way. I have since fixed that and now use an Elgato Game Capture HD card with retro adapter using S-Video. I have modded my model 1 genesis to output S-video (looks clean except the jailbars) and is also region unlocked.

I made a quality test thread here where Uraniumanchor told me the way I'm capturing now looks good. Here are my specs from that thread, only thing changing being my OS, which is windows 10 HE 64-bit.

Type of quality test: source file
Your operating system: Windows 7 Home Edition 64-bit
Capture hardware: Elgato Game Capture HD
Capture software: Game Capture HD
Capture video resolution: 720x480 at 59.94 fps
Region: NTSC-J
Ristar (Sega Genesis)

I used YUA to encode that file presented in this thread with the following settings: Interlaced, Top Field first, Standard, D4 (1-pixel shift), F1 framerate, 2D decimation, HQ

If you're not extremely familiar with this game it has very high variance. Luck factors in hugely and the worst luck can lose you a little over a minute in total (just an estimation). I found one new strat that I used in the run (scorch 2: everything after you climb the rungs from the second pole swing) and that saved about 7 seconds. My sum of best is 27:46 and while I didn't get perfect RNG it was extremely good. Most of the time difference to my sum of best were just silly execution mistakes. I pretty much nailed all the hard execution stuff and even got a 3 second time save I didn't know was possible (flora 2: flying from the pole all the way to the top of the tree you normally have to climb up).

If you guys have any more questions I didn't cover let me know Grin .
The Loony Bin
A/V Quality - Good
No cheating here.

Undertow 2 seemed to be a bit dodgy with some missed grabs and generally bad luck.

The strat in Scorch 2 was really nice and definitely a surprise.

Sonata 1 also seems to have some flubbed grabs, nothing too major though since you did manage to get the metronome-swing trick first try, which more than makes up for any mistakes. Sonata 2 on the other hand was incredibly sharp and probably my favorite part of the run for how good the execution is.

I didn't have any in depth thoughts on any of the other stages that didn't extend beyond "That was a good level".


Some runs are flashy with loads of glitches while others are ridiculously fast paced. But this was just a damn good run. Aside from some of the missed grabs and some bad RNG in certain parts, this seems like a fine improvement over the currently published run. I have no complaints here.

Formerly known as Skullboy
I'm going to verify this but before I do I need to know if there are any gameplay differences (differences in boss energy, level length,etc) from the American version. Cosmetic changes don't make a difference. Thanks.
The Japanese version is strictly 2 seconds faster. There is an animation in Automaton 1 that only happens in the American version where Ristar puts on some anti-gravity shoes. This is absent in the Japanese version. There is however a cosmetic difference that doesn't change anything time wise but makes the fight substantially more predictable and less reliant on luck. The mini boss in Sonata 1 has 3 bird heads drop in random patterns but in the Japanese version there are musical notes on the heads of the one about to drop.
Formerly known as Skullboy
I was aware of those. I wanted to make sure there was nothing significant that would warrant a separate category. Thank you.
Nope that's it. Np
Formerly known as Skullboy
A/V is fine. No cheating is detected. My timing (from Ristar's feet hitting the ground to last hit on Greedy) is 28:03. That's not official of course.

Gameplay is very solid. While there are some ugly spots (missing the grab on Adahan during the second fall in 3-3 <and anyone can miss that grab>, the metronome tussle in 4-1, and some weird orb groupings in 7-3) everything keeps moving in the right direction. 6-1 and 4-2 were fun to watch. Those level aren't always easy.

I accept this run for publication. I don't know if it will obsolete Breakdown's run or will be its own category but it's a great addition to the archive.

A/V: A huge improvement over the current SDA-run (which was recorded on VHS).

Gameplay: I compared the new run with the Breakdown's run side-by-side to see where time was lost/gained.

1-1: A little back and forth between the runs (worth maybe a second), but they finish almost in sync.
1-2: A major mistake at the first swing costs 7 seconds in the current run. The new run gets the timing and angle down perfectly for the optimal swing. Shortly after a mistake in the new run because of a mistimed grab leading to a "bonk". The two runs keep roughly the same pace from there on and the new run finishes the level 5 seconds ahead.
1-3: I can't exactly pinpoint the difference, but the new run is about a second faster from what looks like generally more aggressive playing.

2-1: The water flooding started slightly earlier in the current run (random?). The new run also had a minor execution mistake in the first swimming section and arrived a little over a second slower at the boss. The new was however slightly more efficient fighting the boss and regained a little of the lost time.
2-2: This looks like a pretty tricky level to get done quickly and both runs have problems with dispatching enemies in a few places. The new is still more efficient though and finishes the level 2.5 seconds faster. There is definitely more time to save though.
2-3: Not good RNG with the boss. 5 seconds lost to the current run.

3-1: Grab mistake early on in the current run. The new makes no mistake and gets through this tricky part quickly. From there, both runs appear to keep the same pace. The new run arrives at the boss 2.5 seconds faster. The boss fight was 1.5 seconds faster in the new run. It seemed like it was better played, but RNG might have played a role as well.
3-2: Two big swings in this level. The new run gets them both quickly and as intended, while the current run missed the first one and was slow on the second one. The new run finished the level 6 seconds faster.
3-3: Both runs have roughly the same luck with the boss. According to the run comments of the current run, that means great luck, but not perfect. The new run still loses 4 seconds due to missing to grab the boss during the last fall.

4-1: The new run gets a lead of around one second early on through tighter execution, but then loses two seconds due to a missed grab. Shortly after 5 more seconds lost to another missed grab. Most of it is caught up right after from a missed swing in the current run, ending up costing 5 seconds.
Right before the boss, the new collects a health power-up for a cost of one second. I don't really see the rationale for that? You were almost at full health and neither this nor the current SDA-run lost any health against the boss.
Better boss RNG in the new run saved 2.5 seconds.
There is definitely quite a bit of room for improvement here, but the level also looks quite technical (which is backed up by Breakdown's run comments).
4-2: Several minor improvements and some tighter play in the first half of the level result in 6 seconds saved in the new run.
4-3: Better luck in the current run with only one feather attack and the boss maybe staying a bit less out of reach. It also looks like there were some more whiffed attacks in the new run. 5 seconds lost to the current run.

5-1: Fairly straight-forward level. None of the runs make any significant mistakes, but the new run is overall slightly better played and enters the boss fight with a small lead. A missed snowball attack on the boss meant that the current run was overall half a second faster though.
5-2: The swimming section wasn't stellar in the new run and it got stuck on some ledges and got knocked back by some enemies. A vastly improved "ice skate climb" ended with the new run being almost 5 seconds faster in the end though.
5-3: Seems to be a more or less a scripted fight. Both runs finish the boss in the roughly the same amount of time.

6-1: Huge time save by clipping through the wall on the first try. 14 seconds saved over the current run. Both runs have minor execution mistakes in the rest of the level, but lose approximately the same amount of time. The boss appears to have given a slightly better pattern in the current run though, which resulted in a 2.5 seconds faster boss fight.
6-2: Yet again, the new run executes the swings quickly and accurately, while the current runs takes a bit longer to align and doesn't always get the angle correctly. The new run gains 6.5 seconds.
6-3: The new run is around 2 seconds faster. It looks like mainly due to being more aggressive and attacking at the first possible opportunity.

7-1: More better executed swings. The new run gains another 3 seconds.
Final boss: Both runs employ a similar strategy by spending time to take care of the minions instead of always focusing on the boss. I'm not familiar enough with the game to know if more aggressiveness towards the boss would be feasible without risking ending up in a low-health situation. It doesn't look like a huge time loss though. More time is comparatively lost to the boss's quick teleporting and sometimes being out of range. I'm guessing it's the type of boss where you just have to accept what you get and hope that it evens out in the end. The new run finishes the boss 4 seconds faster than the current run. There is more time to save though, but as already mentioned there is so much randomness involved that it's likely to more or less even out in the end.

Overall, this is clearly a pretty technical game, so it's understandable that there are some mistakes spread out in the run. With maybe the exception of the mistake in 4-1, they can probably all be considered as minor though. The luck in this run appears to be roughly on par with the current run, which according to Breakdown's run comments was great. Most of the time saved over the current run seems to be related to better control of the swings (both faster setup and better accuracy) and nailing a few important tricks faster. I can't see any major route changes, but maybe some of the setups have been improved a bit? Far from all of the levels/sections are faster in the new run though, but it's generally better played down in the details, so a second here and there is gained as well by tighter execution. For an already respectable run (the current SDA-run), the huge overall time save without any major route changes is impressive and gives testimony to the work that has gone into this improvement. A "congratulations" is definitely in order to the runner. At the same time, I have a feeling that this game will see the time come down further some time in the future. Hardly by another 40 seconds though...

If it wasn't already obvious,

Decision posted.