Greenalink reviews: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)

Developer & Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: 28/04/2017

Average Price: £45

Filesize: 6.2gb

Website: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/Mario-Kart-8-Deluxe-1173281.html

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an enhanced port to one of the best selling games for Wii U.

Nearly 3 years after the original release back in 2014, Nintendo decided to release the definitive version to the new console, including all of the extra DLC content with 16 courses and 6 characters, plus some new content exclusive to Deluxe.

Features:
48 Racing Tracks
41 Playable Characters (excluding Miis)
8 Battle mode maps
5 Types of Battle modes
Deluxe version is exclusive to Nintendo Switch

Boo hoo to you Diddy Kong.

Nearly every mode in the game has a gameplay tweak to enhance the experience. Two the of the biggest changes from the Wii U Original to Deluxe are double item support and ultra mini-turbo.

Double item support: This is the first game since Mario Kart Double Dash to support double items without holding your primary weapon behind the player. In Mario Kart DS, Wii and 7 you had to hold the first item such as Shells or Bananas in order to pick-up the second item. Initial problems with this system mean that you are more likely to get hit by a Blue Shell and even Lightning. Though after playing through the 200cc Grand Prix and some online races, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as in Mario Kart Wii. The player at 1st place does have an extra chance of getting a useful recovery item, including a Mushroom, Superhorn and even Red Shells to take out any new leaders.

"YEAH, THE FINAL LAP!"

Inkling-Girl is half kid and half squid.

Ultra mini-turbo is a level 3 turbo, and the duration of the boost lasts 1 second longer than a Super mini-turbo. This could be useful for 150cc and lower engine classes, but for 200cc it's situational because of the higher top speeds. Ultra mini-turbo can be a hindrance at certain parts of the tracks and should only be used when the path is a straight road.

Minor additions include 2 more items: Boo and Feather.
Boo (as an item) makes its long return from Mario Kart DS, no major changes since its last appearance but it another way to mess up the opponent's strategy though not as reliable because it tends to steal items from racers nearest to the user.
Feather finally returns as an item in Mario Kart after being absent for over 24 years, restricted to only Battle mode this time round (because it would be too good in VS Races). It can be used to jump over obstacles (SNES Battle Course 1) or if the player is close to another opponent, steal a balloon from them. One thing to note is that it cannot super jump as high as it did back in the first Mario Kart.

Time Trial now supports 200cc which is a neat addition for speedrunners who want to be the very best on a single track. The difficulty varies from track to track, GBA Mario Circuit's 200cc Staff Ghost is pretty challenging while GCN Yoshi's Circuit is a piece of cake.

VS Race now supports 48 track marathon which is the best way to play an All-Cup tour similar to Mario Kart Double Dash. The Wii U original can only play up to 32 tracks at once, even with the DLC tracks installed.

Link's dream during his 100-year sleep.

Local Multiplayer has a lot more options now, the original only supported up to 4 players on a single TV. The Switch Deluxe version now adds up to 8 players in Handheld Wireless mode and an outstanding 12 players by using Docked Mode's Wired Lan feature. The minimum approach to 12 players requires at least 6 Switch systems and 6 TVs. 2 players per Switch & TV, the main reason why it cannot be done with 4 players per Switch is because the gameplay framerate drops from 60 to 30 when there are 3 or more players on a single console.

One of the biggest complaints in the original was the lacklustre Battle mode. Back then, the courses were re-used tracks from the Grand Prix and the main intention was to encourage players to keep on moving because of the Item box will not respawn until that player had moved away by a couple of meters. Those reused courses are now gone and have been replaced with 8 new stages, some of them are from previous games. In fact, this mode is one of the main reasons for Wii U veterans to get the Deluxe Switch version.

The balloon mode went back to Mario Kart Wii's formula where losing all of your balloons now halves the player's score and can carry on playing the game until time is up.

Respect my Koopauthoritah.

Four other modes have been added to the game as well, one of them is brand new to the series: Renegade Roundup, a team battle only mode with a focus on Cops & Robbers. 6 cops have to take out the 6 robbers, any robber who gets captured will be locked inside a cage, the surviving robbers can help out by pressing a switch underneath the cage. Cops can only win by capturing all 6 robbers. The robbers only need at least 1 surviving player to win. I can see this as a great mode with possible voice communication support sometime in the future, right now it's best to chat with your good friends over Discord for clan style matches and most importantly communication.

Bob-omb Battle is a returning game mode from Mario Kart Double Dash, but the main difference is that it uses the same scoring system from balloon battle; instead of a 3-star scoring system where players can fill up the meter by scoring points and losing a fraction of the meter by getting hit. Players can carry up to 10 Bob-ombs at once and the forward throwing distance has been adjusted in this mode. The final minute gets frantic as the game spawns more double item boxes allowing players to fill up their ammo up to 10 much sooner, a bit more skill is involved mainly because there are no homing weapons.

Shine Thief is an old school 'hold the flag' style game. The player who holds the Shine for a certain amount of time wins. The shine carrier has a slightly reduced top speed. This is a mode where karts with good acceleration can get the Shine early but karts with good top speed can chase the player holding the Shine without problems. It definitely gets more frantic when there are a couple of players who need to hold the Shine for at least 5 seconds remaining.

Coin Runners focuses less on hit confirm for points and more on survival when collecting a lot of coins. A single hit against the leader can make a huge difference. 

Outside of revised Battle Mode there are 5 new playable characters and there's 1 extra variant for an old character, which is unlocked after winning 1st place in all 12 cups of 200cc Grand Prix. 1 new kart and 2 new ATVs have been added to the game. New kart body piece is based on the Mario universe and new ATVs are based on the Splatoon universe. 

Inexperienced/first-time players can try out handicap options including Smart Steering which allows players to sharply turn tight corners and Auto Acceleration simply means not having to hold the A/Y button to accelerate. There are also motion controls for steering as well which is compatible with a single joy-con, joy-con grip combo and pro controllers as well.

200cc, Mushrooms Only, Big Blue.

Online play is very simple, two of the quickest options are both Global and Regional, then you can choose either race or battle. The engine class in races is usually 100cc until after obtaining over 4000 VR points, the engine class increases to 150cc.

One issue I had was trying to get friends and join a server against other random players. For example, Player A was in a room with random players, I could join in the fun with Player A but only when the room has some spare player slots left. It would be nice to have an option to jump both you and a few friends from a private room to a random room against other players.

A few features have been removed from the game due to various reasons including Miiverse Stamps, Youtube upload support from Mario Kart TV and Mii characters are less expressive.

Overall:

This is the first game since New Super Mario Bros U + Super Luigi U pack to include a re-release plus DLC content in one, on a different platform. If you've never played the original, what are you waiting for?! This has the biggest amount of racing content since Mario Kart Super Circuit's 40 track count.

+ 48 tracks with a few based on other franchises.       

+ Decent visuals 3 years after release thanks to native 1080p support.

+ Double items makes a huge difference and sometimes frantic, something missing in the original.

+ Better Battle Mode with more modes than ever.

+ Accessible options to inexperienced gamers.

+ Wii U veterans no longer need to grind to unlock the other cups again, just pick-up loads of coins to unlock vehicle parts.

- On the flip side there isn't a lot of stuff to unlock other than vehicle parts and a character skin.

- Extra custom options such as lap count would be great, especially when playing 200cc.

- Online features can be improved.

- Still no mission mode.
- In-game timer only appears in Time Trial mode, not Grand Prix nor VS Race.

- N64 Rainbow Road needs the classic 3 lap system, not a point to point system = 1 lap.

Recommended: A-*

* If you haven't played the original, then give this score an A because there is a lot more value for money.

Version played: Nintendo Switch
No review copy was provided.

Greenalink reviews: Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap (2017 Lizardcube)

Developer: Lizardcube

Publisher: Dotemu

Price: Roughly £16/$16, different platforms and regions may vary on exact price.

Website: http://www.thedragonstrap.com/

Back in 1989, Sega & Westone released one of the best video games that were not released for a Nintendo platform.
Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap, also known as Monster World 2 in Japan, is the 3rd entry in the series and a first that was aimed exclusively to a home console. 28 years later, 5 console generations have passed and 2 minor ports were released in the early 90s. In 2017, a new version was released for modern consoles and is by far the most important re-release since the original.


Features:
5 Dungeons
6 Dragons to defeat
NAND save (3 slots per account)
Password save feature which can be used to continue playing through the game by using the original Master System/Game Gear copies and vice versa.
Available for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.
PC Steam will be released later sometime around June.
Note: The newest version out in 2017 will be dubbed as Lizardcube.

Story:
If you've played any of the previous releases, this needs no introduction, but if you haven't I will tell you that the game starts off inside The Last Dungeon. Based on the last level from the prequels Wonder Boy: In Monster Land, you defeat a dragon and suddenly a plot twist occurs, it curses the hero by transforming them into a lizard, and then the hero has to find an antidote known as the Salamander Cross to regain his true human form.

A nod to a prequel: Wonder Boy in Monster Land

Graphics:
One of the biggest changes is the art style, Ben Fiquet from Lizardcube used traditional animation and increased the number of animation frames for each action from 2 to roughly 10+. There's new hand drawn animation on frames where the original release used stock animation, in the 8-bit style when jumping and changing direction. The only oddity I've noticed with this new style is that the left side designs are literally a mirrored version of the right side. Now usually this is completely normal to save development time, but in the original 8-bit style, the left side sprites were actually unique and not mirrored versions to the right side sprites, therefore, it is a bit unfortunate that this little touch wasn't used in the new version, however good animation takes a lot longer to produce and there's a good chance this game wouldn't be out until late 2017 if left side drawings were taken into account.

Background scenery art is a big improvement as it gave me a bigger impression of the area the hero was at, the early game is notable for adding sunshine related effects if the hero goes underneath a palm tree- it adds a layer of darkness due to the shadows next to the tree and going above the pyramid, to the point that when the hero is in front of the sun, it shines immensely. The visuals were so good that I didn't want to use retro 8-bit mode at all. It's possible to change visual styles on the fly with a simple button, mash it many times to slow down the slider's speed and freeze it to the point where 50% is modern art and 50% is 8-bit pixels.

Spec wise it is a massive jump from:
256x192 (4:3) to 1920x1080 (16:9) and doubling the visual frame rate from 30 (or 25 for PAL users back in the day) to silky smooth 60 frames.

Retro fans will be happy to know that there are 3 extra options besides the 8-bit style that will recreate the 1989 experience including:
scanlines effect,
retro monitor effect and
gamma correction.

Gamma correction only takes effect when either retro monitor and/or scanlines (at 10% minimum) is turned on, it does nothing when both features are set to off.

Top: 2017 modern style

Bottom: 1989 retro 8-bit style

Sound:
Similar to graphics, the audio had a huge overhaul on almost everything. New sound effects have been added to simple actions that were originally silent such as walking, background environment and enemies grunting when initiating an attack.

Shinichi Sakamoto's original BGM work didn't have a lot of tracks as some were reused in various parts, Michael Geyre who is responsible for re-imagining the original tracks had a smart idea by making variations of the same track to make it sound less stale throughout the entire game. So instead of 1 variant of the dungeon theme, there's now 6 variants of the dungeon theme. The arranged soundtrack incorporates elements from several world music traditions, including classical, tango, Middle-Eastern and Japanese music.

Retro fans do not worry; there is an option to use the original PSG 8-bit sound and the FM sound which originally was exclusive to the Japanese Master System/Sega MARK III, the only problem was that the original Master System wasn't released in Japan and only in the West. It took less than 20 years for players to experience FM sound on a legal console through either Wii's Virtual Console or PS2's Sega AGES 2500 series.

Gameplay:
One thing that hasn't changed is the gameplay. Just like the first ever release, it is a fun game to play even today, the controls are simple and tight at the same time, the level design progression is clear and straightforward, you don't even need to speak to NPCs to know what to do next. Magic spells are easy to use once you know how each one works.

New players who probably played through modern 2D platformer classics such as Shovel Knight and Gunvolt may complain that some of the maps (especially some of the dungeons) are a bit too uninspiring with long corridors and basic platforming- but this is a game from 1989 and the engine itself didn't support vertical scrolling. If the tweak was made to enable vertical scrolling it could lead to more creative level design but at the same time losing a bit of charm as it's no longer faithful to the original game.

When remaking a game, faithfulness plays a very important part.
Sometimes it's ok to make major changes, sometimes it's not.

Omar - technical director & programmer did a lot of research by dumping the original Master System cartridge and then reverse engineering to decipher the code. This lengthy process took many weeks and months until he could understand what causes the what item to drop, attack damage RNG and many other things. I recommend you all check out the development blog after reading this review.

After playing through the game, most of the changes I've witnessed were for the better and nowhere near as controversial such as the tweaks seen in Majora's Mask 3D.
Buying new gear gets equipped automatically, you can use shoulder buttons to quickly select a magic spell, the magic command itself is no longer Down + Jump as it uses its own button. You can grab heart containers in any order, a simple yet important change to new players because it can be a very brutal experience if you don't have the right gear and (unintentionally) skip some of the heart containers before certain points of the playthrough.
Anything that is considered notably new is added after completing the game. I won't say much but the new challenges are pretty cool to try out.

It is also possible to play as Wonder Girl by selecting the Girl option, this simple addition reminds me of Pokémon Crystal which was the first game of a popular franchise to introduce a female playable character. Asha, a protagonist from a later released game: Monster World 4 wasn't used because Mr Nishizawa (the creator of Wonder Boy) was against it as the world of those two games doesn't overlap.

Value:
One issue the original game had back in 1989 was post game content, as there wasn't much to do after completing the game. Lizardcube added some extra content to encourage players to play the game even more after completing it for the first time. There is an unlockable gallery containing concept artwork, including various revisions of the new design for all 6 hero forms/enemies in the game, and backstage recording of recreating the music. Another addition being that instead of 1 difficulty there are now 3 difficulties.

Easy (as mentioned in the game) is aimed towards newer/younger gamers who want to enjoy the game, and this is done by reducing the number of hits to defeat an enemy. It is still pretty punishing if the hero dies because it will take him/her back to The Village and not to the entrance of a dungeon/room before the boss fight.

For experienced gamers who have never played The Dragon's Trap before, I would suggest Normal as you will get to experience the same difficulty as the original 1989 release.

For the hardcore gamers, Hard raises the difficulty even higher by giving enemies more HP. In some of the rooms, blue class enemies were replaced with even tougher gold class enemies and an hourglass that will slowly drain the player's HP for playing through the level too slowly. There are some safe spots that will reset and/or freeze the timer, such as The Village, picking up hearts or staying inside a treasure room. If you want a really good challenge, try out this difficulty.

I wonder what's in here?

Overall:

Despite a few aged elements from a 1989 classic, it is a fantastic remake of the original game and I dare to say that it is one of the best 2D remake treatment since Super Mario All-Stars. This is the definitive edition of a 2D platformer classic.

+ New difficulties for everyone.
+ Beautiful Visuals
+ Post ending content
+ Unlockable gallery.
+ Improved controls and mechanics over the original

- Some of the level layouts are a bit dated due to 1989's design
- Lack of extra checkpoints that would have been ok on Easy.

Recommended: A-

Version played: Nintendo Switch
Review copy provided by DotEmu.

Ideal links to check out!

Reverse Engineering the original Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap

New recording equipment, Wii 480p and 720p Xbox 360.

I've been playing Shadow Complex a lot lately thanks to the new glitches that I actually bought some new recording equipment to enhance the playback experience. For starters, I got my Xbox to record in 720p with the AverMedia Game Capture while before it was blurry 480i.

This capture device biggest niche is that you can record console games that support component cables without having to use the computer to record it. Meaning recording 480p Wii (and non-PAL Gamecube) and 720p Xbox360/PS3 is possible, 2 notable weaknesses includes:

* A separate External/Internal hard drive is required - unlike some DVD recorders that may include a HDD, this one requires buying a  NTFS or FAT32 hard drive. It has a hard time trying to record properly on 2GB Memory sticks. So it's a wise idea to simply buy a USB 2.0 320gb+ Harddrive. You'll get a good amount of hours of 720p recording. Roughly 2 hours of 10GB footage.

* No Livestream support. Unfortunately there isn't a way for the actual capture device to connect to a PC, there is a way to work around it which is what I am going to put down below this page.


----- Warning highly technical stuff here-------

Since my room doesn't have any component source TVs, I had to buy a converter, a Component to VGA converter.

http://www.joyfay.com/us/component-video-ypbpr-to-vga-video-audio-converter.html


Thankfully, it worked like a charm enabling me to record 480p/720p runs while playing it on a ~23 inch monitor. The best thing about this is that playing Wii games through this converter gave virtually no notable input lag unlike connecting it to a Component TV, which is a huge bonus. Luckily there are 2 VGA ports from the Component to VGA converter.  It has the VGA in and VGA out. I'll be using the VGA out and connect that to the monitor via VGA port and hey presto it works! I also bought a reverse variant of the converter which is VGA to Component. I bought that first after watching a lagless 720p recording setup with the popular Hauppauge PVR. Unfortunately it didn't work too well when I tried a similar way but using AverMedia Game Capture HD, as the signal kept on disappearing. But I kept it because I still noticed it has a use for a possible 720p Avermedia recording and livestream with a new internal capture card I just ordered.

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-Video-Capture-1080p/dp/tech-data/B007U5MGBE

AnubisGI has been a very useful video technician lately on the SDA forums, even having a sticky topic on how to use EZcap (the easiest, cheapest way of recording any console with basic composite cables). He posted a page of a discovery by Tranquilite who has found a cheaper clone that functions exactly the same as Micomsoft's SC-500N1 card.  It can capture component, HDMI, DVI and VGA. which is pretty cool actually.

Through a series of converters. I can do this


Xbox 360/Wii ->Component cable into > Avermedia Game Capture -> Component Cable into  - > Component to VGA converter box  -> VGA cable into a > VGA to Component converter box

From VGA to Component converter box, it splits into 2 paths
The VGA output to the Monitor
The Component output to the StarTech com Express Video Capture card.

So now I should be able to record a run (via AverMedia Game Capture HD) while live streaming (via Startech Com Express Video Capture card) at the same time without worrying too much on my computer hiccups.


I am hoping something good to happen sometime before or after the release of New Super Mario Brothers 2 in mid August, so stay tuned.

I also started buying some downloadable games on the 3DS thanks to the Anniversary Sale, yep Nintendo are doing something right. Encouraging buyers to pay download only games at a cheaper price. One of the games I've got is Mighty Switch Force, the soundtrack is amazing with headphones and listen to "Track 8 - Woah I'm In Space Cuba" it heavily reminds me of Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.

E3 2012 Nintendo

So it's been a few days since the Nintendo Conference on Tuesday (UK Night). The big talk was about Wii U and the presentation was a hit and miss most of the time.

What went well:

Pikmin 3: This game was in the talks since 2008 and Shigeru only said last year that Pikmin 3 seems to function much better on Nintendo's new console. This year we finally get to see gameplay footage and there are a good amount of features that makes it different enough from Pikmin 2 such as:

- The introduction of Rock Pikmin,
- Controlling up to 4 leaders
- New camera angles when using the Wii U Gamepad
- Runs at 60 frames per second.
- And many more.

Support from Ubisoft: Unlike the other 3rd Party developers releasing games already out on XBox 360/PS3 such as Batman: Arkham City & Mass Effect 3. Ubisoft had the courage to create new games to take advantage of Wii U's features and put them into good use.
The video below is Rayman Legends coming out on XBox 360, PS3 and Wii U.



New games (timed) exclusive to Wii U includes ZombiiU which also takes advantage of the Wii U Gamepad to simulate how players use survival kit to equip weapons and tools (looking at the Wii U Gamepad screen and not the main TV). Ubisoft's conference received much better reception than the big gaming developers.

Reggie mentions his infamous quote:It's a bit of an insider but back in Summer 2007 where Wii Fit was revealed the first time, he said "My body, my body is ready." which only took off by storm only sometime in June 2010. This year Wii Fit U was revealed (for Wii U of course) and Reggies teases the audience to remember back in 2007 and mentions "My body was ready". Also he mentioned "Speed Run" on New Super Mario Bros U which made the IRC chat on #SDA wild.

New Mario Game for launch:
In the past history when Nintendo launches a new console without Mario, sales figures are not as high during the first six months. 3DS was a famous example as the launch line-up was lacklustre that it had an official price cut in less than 6 months worldwide. So a new Mario game on day one could give Wii U a good start.
However I am not putting this game as high as Pikmin 3 mainly because:
* Nintendo will release 2 New Super Mario Bros games this year:
 New Super Mario Bros 2 for 3DS [August 19th]
 New Super Mario Bros U for Wii U [Nov/Dec 2012]
* NSMB 2 theme is collecting gold coins.... 1 million of them.
* NSMB U notable features involves Flying Squirrels, playable Miis, Boost mode and Miiverse Messages.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What went wrong:

Fitness, dancing and singing games:
Should be banned to be shown during an E3 conference, pointless, boring, filler material.

The lack of first party franchises not relying on the plumber:This year's conference had 4 games featuring Mario/Luigi including:
* New Super Mario Bros 2
* New Super Mario Bros U
* Paper Mario: Sticker Star
* Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

The others includes:
* Pikmin 3
* Game & Wario
* Nintendo Land

Notice the lack of Star Fox, F-Zero and Metroid. F-Zero especially never had a chance to shine during Wii/DS days as its last (Worldwide) appearance was back in 2004. There was also a trend on Twitter saying "No Zelda". Shigeru said that Zelda on Wii U is still researching/experimenting and Skyward Sword took 5 years to develop and was one of Nintendo's biggest projects ever.

But sometimes bad things can lead to good things.... imagine these underused franchises getting a chance revive and shine in E3 2013 like Kid Icarus did back in E3 2010.

Nintendo Land presentation was weak:Nintendo Land is meant to be the 'Wii Sports of Wii U' showing off simple demonstration of the new technology. One mini-game involves 4 players (using Wiimotes) finding an invisible ghost (using Wii U gamepad). The players will win if they nab the ghost and drain the life points to 00 and the ghost will win if it manages to faint all of the human players. While it was a clever idea, the execution was slow paced which tends to bore the audience a bit. I remember the #SDA chat were spamming typical espeak negativity it managed to harden the blow as it was the last game to be shown during the Wii U conference. So basically, the E3 hype meter started off high with Pikmin 3 and it went lower and lower to rock bottom during Nintendo Land.

Death of Wii/DS:Not really a weak point but there was a lack of announcements for Wii/DS, it looks like they will be out of use by 2014, the end of two of the most important consoles in the early years of the 21st century.

Some good games wern't shown during the conference:
There was a few games missing that were shown after the conference where the fans/journalists gets to try out the 'work in progress' version of the newest games available in the booth. One of them was Project P-100 developed by Platinum Games, responsible for the amazing Bayonetta and decent Vanquish, the style seems to resemble Pikmin (controlling loads of mini players) but gameplay and objective is completely different!

Nintendo Meme Moments:
Even if this year was one of Nintendo weaker years it did have memorable moments.

After E3, there was a series of videos on Nintendo's E3 website where Iwata reveals the games in more detail. This is a simple clip that is shown right after Donkey Kong Crash Course minigame on Nintendo Land.



Non Specific Action Figure stole the show as it gained a huge fanbase since the Miiverse feature video was revealed on Monday. Even Iwata approves on Nintendo's Official Youtube page

That's all for now: Greenalink OUT.

Shadow Complex

Well I haven't been posting any new blog entries for a while but this week I haven't been recording any Phantom Hourglass segmented attempts at all... A month ago I was playing Shadow Complex casually as it all started off when a speed runner named TheEnglishMan asked me if it was possible to go through this specific shaft without the double jump for his Freshfile* any%** run. I gave it a go and it took a while to know (location wise) where it was because, back when I recorded a SDA Published run in 2009 I was playing nothing but New Game+*** Any% which only uses less than 20 percent of the entire map. I had no visual idea on the other 80 percent. So as I was live streaming my attempt, I managed to perform what TheEnglishMan thought was impossible (look at the first video player near the bottom of this post). So a few days later after nailing that trick consistently, I decided to record an attempt and I got a time of 50 something minutes, the attempt was rough but I got better and better, heck at one point I even found a new shortcut through some creative thinking, it enabled me to skip 2 more items, saving a whooping 7 minutes (look at the second video player near the bottom of this post). I finished that run in roughly 35 minutes!


Then in early may I was messing around to see if one of the Foam pickups could be obtained before rescuing Claire, there was one spot in particular that looked like it was possible. Unfortunately it wasn't but I did learn something in that session that changed the speed running meta of Shadow Complex completely.

The kind of exploit is unique that you don't get to see in other games, it wasn't a damage boost or corrupting a save file, it's pretty much unique for 2D gameplay with 3D graphics (aka 2.5D) I'll reveal more of it once I receive my HD recording equipment and break some new records of this game!

EDIT: The flash players were messed up (2 very similar videos) so I added a link for one of my videos. I'll update the text later when I have time.

Notes for readers not familiar with speed running terms:

*Fresh file means starting a run with absolutely 0 on every related stat as if you started a new file.

** Any% means completing the game as fast as possible with optional powerups (like the Jet Pack) to complete it even faster.

*** New Game + means starting an new run with your stats brought over from previous playthroughs, in this case having infinite ammo when the player acquire new weapons (Grenade, Foam & Missile) and a room that contain special golden guns to enable the player to use the most powerful weapon much earlier on in the game.



My creative time saver!
http://www.twitch.tv/greenalinksda/b/315004872

The shaft TheEnglishMan asked me to solve.

My very first Japanese import and other stuff.

I rarely buy products from Ebay because of the possible chance that the product ends up a cheap counterfeit.

However on Sunday I decided to have a look on Modded Consoles and imports and this is what I eventually bought in the end.



This product is a refurbished SNES that is modified to support not only 60HZ but also the ability to play American and Japanese games! It had a paint job too with a mixture of blue and golden brown colours. It features LED which happens when you turn on the system. Speaking of which I still need to order a power supply, controller and a SNES game!!




Now this is interesting. This is considered to be my first official Japanese import, the first official US import goes to Wario Ware Twisted on Gameboy Advance I got back in 2006. Now Bare Knuckle 3 is basically the Japanese version of Streets of Rage 3. Unlike the previous 2 entries of the series, this game has some notable differences including:
Extended cutscenes,
female thugs showing a lot more skin,
Easier difficulty overall (Japanese 'Hardest' is way less challenging than American 'Normal').

Click here to find out the full comparison between Japanese's Bare Knuckle 3 and Western's Streets of Rage 3

Now this product is pretty hard to find online and I got it at a reasonable price too, it also came with this product (look at the image below).



The Honeybee adapter, this nifty accessory enables me to play my Megadrive games from Japan (Bare Knuckle 3) to be played on my European Megadrive console. It came with Bare Knuckle 3 and buying both of them individually would cost me ~£20 more.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2012

What a marathon!

I've been following the Speed Demos Archive Charity Marathons since January 2010 and they have come a long way, if you don't believe me look below:
These major marathons took place during January each year.

Classic Games Done Quick
2010 Target: $5,000
2010 Final result : $10,000

Awesome Games Done Quick
2011 Target: $30,000
2011 Final result: $52,000

Awesome Games Done Quick 2012
2012 Target: $50,000
2012 Final result: $147,000

All of these marathons were raising charity for The Prevent Cancer Foundation, The overall earnings from these marathons alone is enough for nearly 10 years of cancer research.

I donated $8.55 this year, $3 was part of the Serious Time T-shirt I purchased online at theyetee.com and $5.55 was part of a chipin donation followed by a comment.

Here is a sample of a live speed run done by Cosmo, a very well known Zelda: Ocarina of Time player. This run had 12,000 viewers watching it live.



Expect another blog post soon.