Super Mario Bros. Any%

A draft I found from August 2017:

It's time.


I have taken a break from any% long enough, and it's time to revisit my old friend. It's time to destroy this game once and for all. Super Mario Bros any% has been by far the project I have spent the most time on. It's been quite a journey thus far, and has brought me many opportunities that I'm grateful for. I'm happy with what I've accomplished in gaming up to this point, and if I achieved nothing else I would still be satisfied. Everything at this point is icing on the cake.


I look back at my gaming over the years, and sometimes it feels like I accomplished very little given how long I've been in the competitive gaming scene. I'll be honest in that I compare myself to others and wonder why I don't have nearly as many speedruns or variety in my gaming. However, on second thought, I've accomplished most every goal I've seriously sought after.

-----

It's been nearly NINE years since this thought. I did in fact go back to Any% and play periodically up until 2020. My best time still stands at 4:56.695 done on January 11th, 2019, which was somehow over 7 years ago.

Time has been flying by. The draft from 2017 is still how I feel about Super Mario Bros and my gaming. I have finally started to make an effort to improve my time again, but I'm indecisive about what i want to do going forward. Heck, that's partially why I'm finding myself back writing on this blog. Writing a healthier way to express my thoughts in a more concise way than the long rants I tend to do on discord and otherwise.

Looking at my blog and thinking about how I'd like to create more videos, maybe I will translate my blog posts into video form with more up to date information.

March Toward Victory!

Hey again! I thought I would write a quick update on what's been going on with me.

I have been trying to find more time to stream on Twitch. I have not been streaming nearly as often as I would like to. With our fiscal year end going on at work, I have had to work more late shifts than I expected. Thankfully, we just finished with inventory and my schedule should return to normal. It's been an exhausting few weeks. My time management has been pretty poor the past few months and I'd like that to change. Primarily, I need to fix my sleep schedule. It's been hard to find time for all my gaming projects. I have huge goals for this year, and I'm seriously frustrated with my lack of progress lately.

I'm currently focused on my Super Mario Bros warpless (all stages) speedrun. My goal has been to beat the 19:04 world record time darbian achieved just a few months ago. I managed 19:10 on the category last month, but haven't improved since. While I'm still 6 seconds off the world record, I am definitely closer than it appears. My consistency has improved dramatically this month. It seems like I have a serious shot at the world record a few times each stream. I am consistently tied or ahead of darbian's pace, but I have had trouble keeping that momentum. It's discouraging to have so many good runs fall apart near the end, but it means I'm getting closer to what I want.

My goal with warpless was to break the world record by the end of March. I only have one full week to meet that goal, but I'm still going to try my best to make it happen. In the end, I never really know when the run is going to happen. However, what I do know is that the run WILL happen. I won't give up until it happens.

Stream Announcements

1) I can no longer stream on Wednesdays.

I am volunteering my time every Wednesday night, and it the timing makes it impossible to do a good stream unless I decide to stream very late those days (but this is unlikely).

2) WedNESdays is changing because of the above.

I think the goal with it now is to get a speedrun time on a large portion of the NES titles. It's not happening on Wednesdays, but I think these projects will pop up from time to time. They're fun!

3) My new schedule times: (All EST)

Mon: 4:30-7

Tues: 4:30-7

Wed: Off

Thurs: 4:30-7

Fri: Might stream after 4:30

Sat: Might stream any time

Sun: Likely not streaming, but you never know

This is my general schedule, but sometimes things pop up that allow me to stream more or less often.

I am trying extremely hard to maintain a consistent stream schedule. I should always be streaming Mon, Tues, and Thurs unless I say otherwise. I am also trying to find time to stream at some point during the day every Saturday.

4) Warpless Super Mario Bros continues strong. 

This is my main project until I break darbian's world record time. I've got a good game plan to beat it by the end of March, so I'm hoping that happens. I also have a few ideas I need to test out still regarding the speedrun route.

5) Next Project is Super Mario Bros 2 (USA) Warpless

I am in the process of routing the game.

March 2017

Another post I guess?

I haven't put as much time as I usually do into my posts, but right now I just wanted to post some more information.

March:

My stream for March is going to be all about world records! Every stream I do will be some world record attempt (high score, speedrun, etc). My main concentration is going to be reclaiming the Super Mario Bros warpless speedrun world record. I am going to be spending the majority of March on that project. However, March also has 5 WedNESdays! Which means 5 streams of world record attempts on 5 NES games I haven't touched yet this year.

I want to open an arcade...

This might be a bit of a rant, but I wanted to just get this off my chest. It's about where I am now as far as gaming is concerned and what I am planning for the future:

I have always been a very competitive person. I don't think I exactly come across that way, but I guess it's more that I am just interested in seeing how I compare with "The Bests" when it comes to just about everything. How do I stack up against the competition on X? Sometimes it's fun to try and compete on something you have no business competing on. Participating in speedrun competitions has given me a real appreciation for how good the top players are on a given game. I can't tell you how many times I have said "I wish I could do that!"

I love competing for speedrun/high score world records, and I wish I had the time to try my hand at more games. I have been playing for quite a few years now, and the majority of my world records have been broken. I used to think that was a bad thing, but I am actually glad to see these games pushed further than I expected. I obviously can't be the best in the world at 20 games and expect that none of those records will ever be broken. Whenever I hear about one of my records being broken now, I immediately want to pick the game up and reclaim my title. Of course I'm not happy about losing a record, but it doesn't really bother me like it used to.

I realized that I don't have anything to prove, and that I never really did. I like competing on games whether I'm the best or the worst. I like playing games, and I love being able to connect with the people who share that interest. That's what is important to me now, the people in this community. Setting records is definitely great, but it's nothing compared to the friendships and impacts that I've made while gaming. I hope that things only get better from here.


With all that said, I have really been thinking about how I want to spend my time. I want to do more for the gaming community. I am considering opening up an "arcade" or sorts. I need to sort out the details of what this would mean. I am trying to work this all out, but I think in the next few years, I may try and open up a "speedrun arcade." I don't want to say exactly what I have in mind, but just that it would definitely be unique. I will be researching many things in regard to this, and I hope that this idea becomes a reality.

My Blog

Not a real post. Just wanted to say that I'm going to update the other sections because they are incomplete and outdated.

My Schedule and Such

So here's what I wanted to do:
Tentative Stream Schedule: Dec 26 - Jan 31
Super Mario Bros. - Warpless
Super Mario Bros. - Any%
The Lost Levels (FDS) - Any% 8-4
Super Mario Bros. - High Score Attempts
The Lost Levels (SNES) - Any% D-4 (Mario)
The Lost Levels (SNES) - Warpless D-4 (Mario)

That didn't really pan out exactly. I do want to get personal bests on all of these categories this year.

This year is already flying by, and there are a ton of gaming projects I want to do still!

The first WedNESday game in my weekly series was Kung Fu, and I have grown an appreciation for the speedrun. I was planning to do a high score run as well, but got wrapped up trying to see if I could get under 4 minutes (and I did!). I spent last night trying to improve that even further and lowered my time to 3:52. I decided that I want to get the any% speedrun world record for Kung Fu. This will be my next dedicated project following SMB warpless.

February Schedule:
Feb 6 - SMB Warpless
Feb 7 - SMB Warpless
Feb 8 - WedNESday- Slalom
Feb 9 - SMB Warpless
Feb 10-12 = Ninja Gaiden Any% (12 hour challenge)
Feb 13 - SMB Warpless
Feb 14 - SMB Warpless
Feb 15 - WedNESday - Urban Champion
Feb 16 - SMB Warpless
Feb 17-19 = Mystery Box
Feb 20 - SMB Warpless
Feb 21 - SMB Warpless
Feb 22 - WedNESday - Golf
Feb 23 - SMB Warpless
Feb 24-26 = Mystery Box
Feb 27 - SMB Warpless
Feb 28 - SMB Warpless

My Twitch Stream

Hey again! It's my birthday today, and I'm honestly I'm feeling pretty great!

This is going to be a very short post (I think). I just wanted to give you guys a quick update as to what my Twitch stream is going to look like over the next few months. 

So first off, here's the schedule plan (EST):

Monday - 4:30-7pm

Tuesday - 4:30-7pm

Wednesday - 4:30-7pm

Thursday - 4:30-7pm

Friday - Off

Saturday - Occasional streaming

Sunday - Rarely streaming

These are rough time estimates, but I may start earlier or potentially stream later.

I'm also starting a new series: Black Box WedNESdays. I will be playing through the initially released NES titles every Wednesday (when possible), and will likely move to the later released black box titles afterward. The first game on my list is Kung Fu! I'm not exactly sure how I want to handle this series, but I would like to pull out some world records if I can. 

Take care everyone, and see you on my stream.

Merry Christmas!!!

John 3:17 (ESV) "God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." Christ, the savior of the world was born today! Rejoice!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I am trying to get myself really organized for 2017. The main reason being that I want 2017 to be my best year yet. Despite what happens in 2017, I am super motivated to improve my life, and set some new goals (including gaming goals).

With that said, if I really want things to change for the better, this is going to be an extremely difficult year ahead of me. I am not going to get discouraged though. I want to see big changes and I'm ready for it. Much of this has to do with the fact that I recently got engaged to my girlfriend of 12 years, and I am tired of being stuck in a hole. I need a better job, I need a place I can call mine, and I need a more healthy lifestyle. I want to handle this whole being an adult thing, and just be better at life overall.

So that's my story right now. Even though I have a busy year ahead of me, I plan to significantly improve my gaming life as well. At this point, my hands have almost completely healed from my work injuries! Awesome Games Done Quick is just around the corner and I am in need of some serious practice.

I am currently scheduled to play Super Mario Bros and The Lost Levels for the AGDQ charity marathon. I am tentatively playing Tuesday night, January 10th: AGDQ 2017 Schedule

I will be racing darbian and Kosmic in Super Mario Bros warpless (All Stages) and very likely Any% (warps) as well. I will also be racing them for The Lost Levels Any% 8-4 (warps). Nowadays, it's a pretty big deal to get a spot in the marathon, so I am very grateful for that.


I said that I would be starting a series: Black Box NES Gaming. I am, and it seems I'm kicking it off with Super Mario Bros! I NEED to practice for AGDQ, so my SMB addiction will commence once again. My plan is to play SMB/LL until the end of January, and switch to the other black box games February 1st.

Tentative Stream Schedule: Dec 26 - Jan 31
Super Mario Bros. - Warpless
Super Mario Bros. - Any%
The Lost Levels (FDS) - Any% 8-4
Super Mario Bros. - High Score Attempts
The Lost Levels (SNES) - Any% D-4 (Mario)
The Lost Levels (SNES) - Warpless D-4 (Mario)

Feb 1:
Kung Fu - High Score Attempts

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for more gaming updates...

Schedule

Every year, I am made out to be a liar after not following through with the games I say I will play. My plans change over the course of a year, so I'm sorry I can't stick to my original game plan.

So what am I doing!?

My left thumb is healing well I think. My hands have gotten very beat up over the past few weeks, so I've opted not to play any video games since I cut my thumb. I want to play games again! However, I still don't want to use my thumb...

Since I have been meaning to tackle games in the black box NES games, I decided a light gun game is the way to go until my left hand it healed. So let's see what I can do with Duck Hunt!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello and happy Thanksgiving!

Today there are many things to be thankful for, and I am very grateful for what I have been given.

Yesterday, I nearly cut off the tip of my left thumb. While I am sad that it happened, I am thankful that it wasn't worse. It is definitely disappointing, especially because I was planning to start working on the Super Mario Bros warpless (complete all stages) category again. So now my plans have changed, and maybe this will give me some time to collect my thoughts. I have had a series of events happen recently that are making me think, re-examine my life, and my goals. I was almost involved in two head-on car collisions on the same day: one with a man being chased by the police, and one on my way to work that morning where I had to swerve toward a side road when they veered straight towards me.

I am thankful I'm alive.

As for gaming, I need to practice for Awesome Games Done Quick, but I'm sure I could manage even without practice. I mean, it's Super Mario Bros (I think I've played it before)? I think it will be a few weeks (or months) before I can actually use my thumb, especially given how rough I am on it when I play NES.  In the meantime, I'm going to use this time to figure out a game plan.

I also started a "black box" NES gaming series. The black box NES games are the 30 initially released titles by Nintendo. I realized that I really enjoy the way these games play, and I have experience with the majority of them already. The list is this image below.

I already did 10-Yard Fight last week. It's not exactly the most interesting title to watch, but it was definitely a worthy challenge. It's a world record! 77-0. I've never managed to crack 70 until now. :)

The black box series will consist of both high score and speedrun world records, and will likely also include miscellaneous videos showcasing oddities of specific titles.

Impossible!

In my last post, I wrote about the craziness surrounding both the Donkey Kong high score and Super Mario Bros any% (fastest completion) world records. In the last 6 months, the impossible has been achieved on both titles. Both world records have been pushed even further than I thought was possible.

Donkey Kong:

The original arcade version of Donkey Kong has seen a surge in competition since the release of the movie, "The King of Kong," in 2007. The movie is based on the true story of the Donkey Kong high score competition between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, the former top 2 players in the world. Fast forward to 2016, and their top scores are in 19th and 20th place, respectively. We are overdue for a new King of Kong movie between the top 2 players: current world record holder, Wes Copeland and former champion, Robbie Lakeman.

So here's what has happened!

May 5th, 2016: 
Wes Copeland put up a score that may very well never be beaten. His score bested Robbie Lakeman's 1,190,200 score that was achieved just weeks earlier. He also bested Dean Saglio who had held the DK record uninterrupted for roughly 7 years (2009-2016). Dean doesn't get too much publicity due to the fact that his scores were achieved on his home computer instead of an actual arcade cabinet. The only actual difference between the computer and arcade version is the control set itself, and thus the scores are listed on the same leaderboard, but labeled for said differences.

Front Row, Left to Right: Robbie Lakeman, Billy Mitchell, Wes Copeland
(bonus points if you can name the 2nd row of gamers)

Wes Copeland's score is at very edge of Donkey Kong high score potential. He scored 1,218,000; He became the 2nd ever 1.2 million point player, the 1st to do it on an actual cabinet, and the 1st to ever best Dean Saglio. Donkey Kong gives you 4 lives to score as high as possible before reaching an impassible screen (the kill screen), and Wes took his 1st life to the end of the game. He was able to use those 3 extra lives to gain enough points to surpass Dean Saglio's 1,206,800 game by a fair margin! A huge congratulation is due to Wes for what I would call a "perfect" game of Donkey Kong.

June 21st, 2016:
Just when you thought it was over Robbie Lakeman put up a massive 2nd place score of 1,206,900. His score was also achieved on a cabinet and bested Dean Saglio by a mere 100 points (one barrel jump)! This is no minor accomplishment, and a huge congratulation is due to Robbie as well.

Current Standings

Super Mario Bros.:

In terms of speedrunning, Super Mario Bros is the equivalent of the 100 meter dash. Any time the any% (fastest completion) world record is broken, it is a big deal. Now, the times are lower than I ever thought possible!

It's me, andrewg

February 14th, 2016:
'Blubbler' set a world record warpless time of 19:05.89! I always had put my limit for this run at around 19:05, so a a big congrats to blubbler on his run through all stages. I enjoy this category quite a bit, and would like to do a run again in the near future.

July 3rd, 2016: 
Bryan Niskanen breaks my world record Twin Galaxies score of 1,435,100 with 1,441,150 points! It was an impressive run to watch.

August 11th, 2016:
Darbian sets a world record time of 4:57.244 for any% beating his personal best by a single frame.

darbian

September 29th, 2016: 
Kosmicd12 ties darbian's world record time of 4:57.244 for any% using a NEW, yes a new, speedrun technique. This technique is referred to as FPG or the flagpole glitch, which involves clipping inside the base of the flagpole to skip the flag's animation. It saves a frame rule, or simply, it saves 0.35 seconds per use, and there are at least 3 spots it can be utilized. That's at least 1.05 seconds that can be gained, which might not seem like much, but it is. Before the discovery of the FPG, the last improvement to the world record was a single frame or 1/60th of a second or .016 seconds. This discovery opened up a can of worms.

kosmicd

October 3rd, 2016:
Kosmicd12 breaks the tied world record with a time of 4:57.194. This run included the fastest ever last stage completion of 8-4 seen in a world record. This is the first time kosmicd12 has held the world record time.

October 5th, 2016:
Darbian reclaims the world record with a time of 4:56.878. This time is lower than the fastest possible just weeks earlier and is the first 4:56 time ever!

Current Standings

For years, I said that 4:57 was impossible and was proven wrong, and now 4:56 has happened. The time savings of the FPG blew my mind to say the least. I am currently tied for 3rd place with 4:57.69 with blubbler. I imagine it won't be long before we start seeing more 4:56 times now. It is only a matter of time. And maybe, just maybe, we'll even see a 4:55.

Crazy Stuff...

Hello people!

So I've been thinking quite a bit lately about my schedule, my goals, and what I want to do with my time. There really isn't enough time in a day! I feel I have been neglecting some things, and that this aspect of my life needs to change. However, I would still love to continue in my gaming pursuits, continue in my various hobbies, continue in working toward a new career path, and remember to do all that general life stuff that we all should be doing.

OK, so now let's talk about what's new with me since my last post and what has happened.

First of all, one really cool thing that happened is that I got partner on Twitch.tv. It's a really exciting opportunity because in my mind it's sort of like I have my own TV show. What partner means is that I can get paid to live stream video games on Twitch. Let me clarify: Me getting paid to play video games is based on support from my viewers. I wouldn't call it a job, and I wouldn't want to do it if it was work. It's not income I can rely on to always be there.

For me, getting partner is a bonus to what I am already doing. I love to live stream my gaming performances anyway, and now I might make money doing what I love to do. I don't think partner is going to really change what I've been doing. I play some popular games, but I've always also played a lot of "nonsense games," games that are complete garbage or games that no one even cares about. I get enjoyment out of gaming for various reasons, and I can understand why someone might not want to watch me play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I'm still going to do it! At the end of the day, it's about fun for me. I enjoy playing, and if people want to watch, great! But I am not going to go out of my way to get more viewers, and I am not going to be upset if people don't watch me. I love to entertain, but I'm not going to do so at the cost of my own enjoyment. I am almost always attempting a gaming challenge. 99% of my streams involve me trying to either break a world record or get closer to doing so. Even when playing a game like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I don't think many people realize that it's actually serious in that, I actually do speedrun that game. As silly as it may be, it actually is challenging to beat quickly! Once you can appreciate the challenge, you can appreciate the quest. Of course, that still doesn't mean you will want to watch it! ;)

Before I move onto a subject I NEED to talk about, I just want to say that Donkey Kong (arcade) is similar to what I just described of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The above image is the current (and new) world record score for Donkey Kong. It was achieved April 19th by player Wes Copeland. Score is 1,195,100 for those who aren't realizing that the score is so high that it looped back to 0. This is an amazing achievement, and yet not many people actually WANT to watch a Donkey Kong score attempt. Donkey Kong is one of the most popular games, yet one of the most under-watched performances.

Donkey Kong (arcade) is the perfect example of gaming for the challenge itself. Despite the game's popularity: it doesn't bring a whole lot of viewers to streams, the attempts might not be the most exciting thing to watch, but the challenge is why they play. It should come to no surprise that I am also a Donkey Kong player.




Alright, so now... let's talk about darbian!

Who is darbian you may ask? Well, darbian just blew my mind. He recently topped the speedrun world record for Super Mario Bros (again). It is a self improvement for him as he already held the world record before he achieved his new time. However, this new time is very significant. For me, it is significant on a personal level. He reached my goal time of under 4:57.30 with a 4:57.26 time. Why is this significant? This might take me a minute to explain.

Actually, let me have someone else explain:
This is the backstory

These are the more specific details:

Back in 2011, when I was striving for the elusive 4:57 time, I stopped just short of my goal. The reason I stopped was because it seemed pointless for me to continue. I thought "Well, my current world record time is safe. I don't think anyone will beat it for a VERY long time" Well, of course, I was wrong in that assumption. In mid-2014, a player named 'blubbler' managed to best my time. I had held the world record consecutively since early 2007, and had previously "tied" (milliseconds weren't counted back then) the record in 2005.

Using the 'Bullet Bill Glitch' or BBG for short, blubbler saved 0.70 seconds, he skipped a trick I did and lost 0.35 seconds, and he beat the last stage .05 seconds faster than me. Even if blubbler used the same methods I did, skill-wise, he still would have bested me by .05 seconds. This was very significant, because finally someone managed to achieve the elusive 4:57 time. The time I had been striving to get for so long. However, I couldn't help but feel that despite the run being 4:57, it felt sub-optimal. The reason for this thinking is because I always have pushed the run down to "all frames rules," which basically means 'absolute perfection up until level 8-4'.

The Bullet Bill Glitch

My time was 4:58.09, and the limit I put on the run was around ~4:57.85.
Blubbler's time was 4:57.69 and now the limit time moved to ~4:57.15.
So the record went from being improvable by 0.2 seconds to being improvable by 0.5 seconds.


The day my record was beaten, my goal jumped from 'under 4:58' to 'under 4:57.30.' Literally accounting for the 0.7 seconds that the new BBG saved. Darbian's new time is 4:57.260. Without the BBG, darbian's time would be 4:57.96 (the 4:57 time I always wanted, but never achieved). Someone finally managed the level of perfection I tried for, and with a new trick no less!!!!!! At the moment, darbian's run has all frame rules and a nearly flawless 8-4 run, meaning his run is hardly beatable.


I know that I have the ability to best darbian's run, but he reached my goal before I did. It is definitely an arbitrary time, but it was what I tried to do for so long and couldn't. Finally someone managed to do it, and it wasn't me.


I guess that's it. Hopefully you understand what I'm trying to convey here. I have a great deal of respect for all my competitors, but darbian really impressed me by achieving what I couldn't.

I am still going to try and beat the new world record, but I'm satisfied with how optimized the run is, despite it not being me who did it. :) Hopefully some day I can reclaim this record.

And for those who haven't seen darbian's run, here it is! Watch it, it's less than 5 minutes!

Super Mario Bros and the Elusive 4:57

Hello all, and Merry Christmas!

I have been trying to reorganize a bit and maintain a consistent schedule lately. I haven't had much time, but relaxing tonight, I felt like doing a small write-up. Just a few days ago, I managed to achieve my personal best time for completing Super Mario Bros. The end time for that run was 4 minutes and 57.993 seconds. It is actually personally significant for me, and I'm going to explain why below.


For a very long time, a time under 4:58 was my ultimate end goal. The kind of optimization needed to achieve a 4:57 time was a very worthy challenge, and I was determined to be the one to do it. It was the dream time, and many people would ask me whether I really thought I could achieve the perfect time, a nearly unbeatable time, and something that would possibly stand forever.

The Bowser Axe Jump

With my best efforts, I got my time down to 4:58.09 roughly 2 years ago. Shortly after, I took a break, and the 4:57 remained elusive. However, a few months later, a 4:57 time was achieved (by Blubbler) with the help of a technique I foolishly considered unreasonable. This trick (bullet bill glitch) saved 0.7 seconds, which is a huge amount of time for the run. It was still an amazing feat, but the game now has plenty of room for optimization.

The Bullet Bill Glitch

The human limit time for the game is around 4:57 flat. Achieving a time under 4:57 is now within the realm of possibility, something I previously deemed absolutely impossible. With that in mind, in addition to my recent efforts on the game, I am convinced I will reach a low 4:57 (if not the "impossible" time of 4:56). The 4:56 time still remains outside of the limit we have established, but only by mere frames. Because of this, I am determined to find a way to realistically achieve a 4:56 time. With the optimization of this game seemingly approaching its definite limits, it will certainly be tough to find any further savings to the game, but I am not deterred...

And I will one day have total mastery of Super Mario Bros.

Twitch and Speedruns!

Alright, so I'm officially back to doing speedrun attempts. I'm now actively doing attempts for Super Mario Bros. any% (that is, fastest possible completion).

My current time stands at just under 5 minutes at 4:58.09. The current world record time is 4:57.62 by a runner named Darbian. So my time is a little under half a second (0.47) slower than the record. Since I am one of the top competitors, I feel the need to give a little background info regarding how the game itself works. Technical details in bold, ignore if you'd like!


From when you turn on the NES, there are these 21 frame cycles that continuously run. Due to this, one can only save time in 21 frame (0.35 second) intervals

From Scott Kessler: "Think of it like a window at the end of a level that is only open every 21 frames  Say you have two separate runs where you reach the window on the 50th time it opens. If you arrive just after it closes the 49th time then you have to wait 20 frames for it to open the 50th time. If you get there just as it opens the 50th time then you can enter without waiting even though you arrived up to 20 frames later. Generally speaking, you can only save time in multiples of 21 frames (0.35 seconds)."

The above is true with the exception of the final stage because we obviously stop the timer immediately upon hitting the axe and beating the game. 


Summary: The current world record can only be improved by 21 frames (0.35 seconds) in 4-2 + ~12 frames (0.2 seconds) in 8-4. Realistically, and as far as we know, there's only a little over half a second worth of improvement left in the game.



My goal is to achieve a "perfect" run. I would like to beat every stage with perfect in-game times in addition to getting every single frame rule. I guess I'd say my ultimate goal is a time of 4:56, but as of now, that is very unrealistic. However, that won't stop me from trying!

Andrewg, Are You Still Speedrunning?

After a hiatus from speedrunning, I am finally back at it! So here's what's up!

1) I just purchased a new laptop and capture card

I don't usually make large purchases. What this basically means is that I'm going to try to stream speedruns regularly on Twitch again. I am going to be spending the next few weeks trying to improve my stream and make sure things work properly. I am sick of having many stream issues, and my hope is that these purchases will bring an end to my many streaming problems.

2) I got a full time job

I'm finally making a little bit of income, and have a consistent schedule. I am currently working a second part time job, but plan to leave it in January 2016. Once I leave that job, my schedule will be open for more gaming, etc.

3) I moved a few towns over

While this isn't a big change, it means that I'll have a bit more flexibility in my life. The area is much nicer, and I'm really happy to have moved out of my home town finally. 

So my announcement is that starting January 2016, I plan to be streaming speedruns regularly and on a consistent schedule!

First order of business? Well, reclaim the Super Mario Bros. any% world record of course!

2016 Speedrun Line-Up:

1) Super Mario Bros. (NES) - Any%

2) Super Castlevania 4 (SNES-J) - Any%
3) Kirby Super Star - (SNES-J) - Any%

4) Mega Man (NES) - All Stages

5) Super Metroid (SNES) - Any%
6) Mario, Mario, Mario, Mario, Mario

Watch out!

Various Video Game Achievements

I just got back from a very enjoyable vacation to New Hampshire. I have not had a chance to post on here because I have had a pretty busy schedule lately. I realized the other day that I never did post many of the video game achievements I have done this year. I have primarily been working on some more non-serious gaming projects, which is unusual for me. However, I'm always trying for and setting world records because that's really where I get a lot of enjoyment out of gaming.

My Lake Winnipesaukee View

So this post is going to be a recap of my gaming for this year (video links at the end). I'm also doing this just to keep a record of my personal bests. From now on, I think I will always include my recent gaming personal bests at the end of my posts.


January: 

Donkey Kong (Arcade version)

I started the year out strong setting a personal best on the original arcade Donkey Kong with a score of 946,900. This was achieved via MAME (emulator) during a Donkey Kong tournament hosted by donkeykongforum.com. Among the best players in the world, I got 10th place (it's surprising I didn't place higher, considering I reached the kill screen). The DK arcade community keeps growing, and among the community, my scores are actually pretty average at this point. At the same time, I rarely practice, but continue to beat my personal high scores for this game. I still hope that one day I will top the world record on this title.


February:

Excitebike (NES)

Earlier this year, I decided to reclaim the world records for Excitebike. I have held the records for Track 1 for at least 5 years, and Track 5 for about a year. The records for Tracks 2, 3, and 4 were held by a player named 'FlyHec' up until late February. His times bested mine only by a few milliseconds on each, and I finally managed to reclaim all the individual track world records for Excitebike. These times are extremely challenging to achieve, and I suggest viewing the videos posted at the end of this post.


March:

Track & Field (NES)

Track & Field games are basically just a test of how fast one can mash buttons. There's slide, vibrate, claw, multi-handed, multi-finger, electric toothbrush, and even methods involving spoons and pens for fast button mashing. Everyone has their own technique, and obviously for competition, no external devices can be used to obtain a record.  Sorry spoon players! 

'FlyHec' is ridiculously good at button mashing. He holds nearly every button mashing record out there, including the prestigious Track & Field arcade world record. Using his technique for the NES version, I was able to come close to, and tie some of the world records. I also managed to tie the archery high score listed on Twin Galaxies.

Track & Field II (NES)

More Track & Field... well, kind of. After striving for the button mashing records in the original, I decided to avoid them in the sequel. Why? Well, my arm and fingers were hurting a bit, and I don't plan on tackling any more button mashing records...period. So I managed to tie the record for Fencing, and best the world record for Taekwondo. They both require some luck, and I still don't fully understand the Taekwondo one. 

Super Street Fighter II

I wish I could say something amazing about the time I set here, but I can't. For the time attack mode, I managed to get 8.567 seconds. It doesn't even beat the staff record! For the time attack, one can choose any character and any opponent to fight against. The staff record used Ken vs Dhalsim, and I copied. The staff record is 6.874 seconds, and I imagine it can be beaten, but I won't be the one to do it.


April:

Baseball (NES)

This one was funny, but really stupid to do. Biggest Blowout: 29 - 0. The whole time, you just score runs by stealing bases. If you get a hit, you practically get a free run home. Not too exciting, but I think it is a world record score.


May:

NWC 2015 Best Buy Line (New York)

That's me in front.

May was certainly an interesting month. Upon the announcement of the 2015 Nintendo World Championships, I decided to practice for the chance to compete in the main event. I was 15th in line and was in the first round of competitors to play. The game Nintendo chose to use was Ultimate NES Remix for the 3DS, the championship mode.

The championship mode consists of 3 games with a time limit of 6 minutes and 21 seconds to score the highest score possible. This is the exact setup of the original 1990 Nintendo World Championships in which players played Super Mario Bros, Rad Racer, and Tetris to rack up a score. In this competition, the games were Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, and Dr. Mario.

Dr. Mario is a pretty unforgiving title, and quite a bit of luck is needed to score big. For this competition, the best way to score was obvious. Dr. Mario has a x100 (times 100) bonus. Meaning that whatever your score in Dr. Mario was, they would multiply it by 100 to get the final tally for the game. So the goal was to reach Dr. Mario as fast as possible, and create massive combo chains.

I felt I had a real shot of winning. In practice, I managed to score 4,904,500 which at the time put me in the top 10 for North America. Checking the leaderboard now, I'm ranked 22nd, which is still respectable. Luck wasn't on my side that day. I managed to score a little over 1 million, and left the moment I knew someone beat my score (only the top winner would be invited to the main competition). I was happy with my performance. I played very well, but just didn't get the right pieces when I needed them. It was a fun event, and I'm glad I participated.


June/July:

After getting my butt kicked in the Nintendo World Championship, I decided to explore the other modes for Ultimate NES Remix. One was Speed Mario Bros, which is the full game of Super Mario Bros, at I think 1.5x speed. I managed to beat the game in 3:47.8 in this sped-up version.

The other mode has me hooked. Even still, I'm working on the challenges in this game. Ultimate NES Remix consists of 15 different NES titles with online time attack leaderboards. This game was made for me! I love NES games, I love speedrunning, and I love leaderboards. Not only that, but the game also saves your replays automatically (and even shows a player's inputs on the controller).

In total, there are 258 challenges among the 15 games (and 3 bonus categories). At this point, I have roughly half of the world records: http://www.cyberscore.me.uk/game/1505
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It is now August, and I am still working on these challenges. I would like to have the records for every single challenge in the game, but given the competition, I doubt that will ever happen. There are a lot of tied world records, but even those require quite a bit of dedication to achieve. I'm 133/258 right now, and counting. These are mostly Mario challenges, so I have quite a bit of work ahead of me if I continue toward mastering all 258 challenges. :)

As for Super Mario Bros and my quest to regain the record: progress is slow, but steady. I have a lot of things I need to focus on in my life right now, but I still think I can put in some time to get that elusive 4:57 time.  Once I do reach it, it may be the end of my Super Mario Bros adventure.

Donkey Kong (MAME):
High Score - 946,900

Excitebike (NES):
Track 2 - 46.04
Track 3 - 48.68
Track 4 - 44.51

Track & Field (NES):
100M Dash - 8.39
110M Hurdles - 11.23
Long Jump - 11.87M
Javelin - 118.09M
Archery - 5750

Track & Field II (NES):
Fencing - 0:29
Taekwondo - 0:20

Super Street Fighter II (SNES):
Time Challenge - 8.567

Baseball (NES):
Biggest Blowout: 29 - 0

Ultimate NES Remix (3DS):
Championship Mode - 4,904,500 (no replay)
Speed Mario Bros. - 3:47.8 (no replay)
Playlist of Challenges

Return to Competitive Gaming

Hello!

 I haven't really been consistent on updates, and have been taking a bit of a break from serious competitive gaming. However, I hope I can continue to improve my blog from this point on. While I have still been gaming to some degree, the past year, I haven't had any serious projects in the works. This is a bit unusual for me, but I needed to take a break from major, difficult, gaming goals I have set for myself. I was burnt out, but now I'm back in full action! Well, at least, I'm back on this blog.

My channel on Twitch (andrewg1990) is still having many issues streaming successfully. Unfortunately, I'm essentially starting from scratch to rebuild my stream. I am having lots of internet issues, as well as issues with hardware, and I need a new computer. It has been extremely frustrating, but I hope to get my channel up and running (smoothly) again within the next few months.


Alright, so... GAMING!

While I can't stream my attempts, I am now doing speedrun attempts again. As of July 10th, I've got a serious project again.

What am I speedrunning? You guessed it! Super Mario Bros!

First, I do want to say sorry to those who watch my speedrun attempts on Twitch. Once I do manage to break the current world record time of 4 minutes and 57.69 seconds, you won't witness it live, and I really am sorry for that.

Here is a run from my latest attempts:

I promise I will keep playing until I regain the world record. :) It is only a matter of time.

Excitebike: Track 4 - New World Record

After many resets I've managed to top the world record for Track 4 in Excitebike... This one is very frustrating and the run is bitter-sweet. Wow, just a very frustrating track, but still not the hardest!

Next up, the hardest track in the game! Track 5 is absolutely horrific to speedrun.

Excitebike - Track #3 World Record

Today I managed to top the best time for Track #3 in Excitebike! Getting these times is extremely frustrating and is the result of many resets. I finally managed to get the fast bike speed on both laps. I can't help feeling that with a little luck it might be possible to shave a few seconds off this, but I'm not entirely sure. Anyhow, I'm definitely satisfied with this result and hope to improve more tracks this week.

Excitebike: Track #3 - 48.84