Yep.

[Bean]

(16) Finally, The Final Battle / (Viddler #16)
(17) Ending - A Fond Farewell / (Viddler #17)

I changed my mind and decided to upload both parts of this final level tonight. I have to say that this is one of the most difficult challenges I've gone through since the very last level of Mega Man 7. At least this time, there wasn't a single savestate made in level.

Mission accomplished, gang. That one was a lot of fun in spite all the trouble some outside forces were causing during this playthrough. Hope you all enjoyed it.

[Paragraph]

Haven't seen it yet, waiting for annotations. But I'm sure it will be awesome as always :).

So...are you planning on doing something new, or taking a break? I realize a lot of people are going to ask you this, I never wanted to be one of those, but I'm just curious, not trying to push you or anything ^^.

Someone commented on a video that he wondered if you would do MM9 next or Megaman & Bass. I don't know how I would feel about the latter one (wouldn't watch MM9, I could well play it some day and don't want it spoiled)...on the one hand, it would be nice to have a really good LP of the game. On the other hand, it sucks so much balls that I'd fear for you sanity in a case like that.

Simon

[Bean]

I'll probably be avoiding going for any type of no damage or health loss thing again. It was good for the last two games, but I'd go crazy trying it for any other Mega Man game out there at this point. I think I'll fall back into the no-fail runs again since that makes things go a lot faster. I don't know if you've watched it yet, but the Game Boy series I did last year is proof of that.

In general, I'm going to be on a gaming break for awhile like usual. It's usually a month or two. I was actually going to be done for six months back after Mega Man 7 finished, but that didn't happen. This time around, I think I'll be back pretty quickly. It will probably be something non-Mega Man related when I do since I like switching out lately.

I just finished the annotations for both videos a little while ago, so have at it.

[Paragraph]

Just watched it, yay :D. The pictured close call at the end was hilarious.

I'd say no fail works really well. While no-hit is very impressive, it's really too hard on yourself and normal players don't gain anything from it. Just a way if saying "yes, I can", really. And for some games (MM ones, I don't know what else you're planning ;)), it's just stupid. You know Hideofbeast's MMX speed runs? CRAZY.

Glad you'll be back soon :).

Simon


EDIT: Oh yeah, I watched your Game Boy series...

...about 3 times each .

[Bean]

(Sonic Advance 2 Practice Run video deleted)

I can't say I'm starting a new series just yet, but what I am doing is using this post to say that the Mega Man 8 run has been up in its entirety on Viddler now for the last few weeks. I didn't want to make a completely empty bump, so I took the time to show you what I'm thinking of doing next. Anyway, here that is. Peace.

Edit: By deleting that video, this post is now a completely empty bump. Oopsie.

[megamario]

If all else fails you can always Cheese your way to victory

[Bean]

(1) Leaf Forest / (Viddler #1)

It's funny that when I say I'll take a long break, I take a short one, and then when I say I'll be right back, I don't do this for three and a half months. Anyhoo, Sonic Advance 2 starts out fast and furious. It's going to be staying like that for a good portion of the game, too!

[Paragraph]

Yaay, more Bean.

You know, that game actually looks fun. I've never considered playing a Sonic game, because something about them just rubs me the wrong way. It always feels like the developers don't want the player to SEE the stage they've built, as you're just speeding along most of the time, and multiple paths guarantee that you'll never see it all. Which always bugged me.
Also, sometimes it seems the games can't decide if they want to be extremely speedy or have precision platforming. Those just seem so diametrically opposite (or produce annoyingly hard timing-based puzzles) that it shouldn't work...

This game, however, has decided how it wants to go about things...obviously you have to explore a bit at first to find all the big rings, then you want to take them in a good route as speedily as possible. Works for me! It also always bugged me how you could collect all of the Chaos Emeralds in the earliest stages, then never have to worry about them later. The method in this game is so logical, why didn't they do it before?

Simon

[megamario]

Sonic Advance 2!!!

I got this game ages ago, getting it confused with the first game. iirc, I never beat the game as Sonic, though I got close. At some point I switched over to Cream the Broken. I know got to at least the Ice stage with everyone, though. Maybe the mountain zone.

Ugh those Special Zones. I never ever got to one of them because getting all 7 rings in an act is an absolutely awful condition. And it seems the stages themselves are ALSO awful, so I have no qualms for downloading a full save some time later (mostly for the chao garden~).

Still, I really enjoyed this game despite some of the bullshit spikes and pits (SPITS) later on.

[Bean]

(2) Hot Crater / (Viddler #2)

Today's video might just be too hot for our heroes to handle... Oy. Anyhoo, instead of just making this a Sonic only run, I decided to let the rest of the cast get one chance to shine. In this video, Cream and Cheese show what they can do, and boy, can they do a lot to make this game a breeze.

Also, I guess I have to give you credit for the description I used on the video, MegaMario. Thanks for helping out with the punishment.

[megamario]

I've never been so proud


But seriously it is ridiculous how broken Cream is. She has less flight time but her flight is so floaty that she can cover way more distance then Tails could dream of, and Cheese makes all enemies and bosses a total joke. She also has like the perfect speed so you don't go speeding off but aren't just trodding along like a knuckle dragger so you can generally see what's coming up easy enough.

iirc, she's just as broken in Sonic Battle. Covering distance with the flight is important and she has quick damaging combos, the easiest one-hi kill move, and the best heal in the game.

[Bean]

(3) Music Plant / (Viddler #3)

Here's an interesting little zone. Place Sonic into the part of the game that fans have thought to be the best part of his most recent adventures... his music! I always liked these kind of aesthetically different levels. It helps when they turn out to be as fun as this one.

[megamario]

Something I'm surprised you haven't talked about yet is that the bosses are on a track. You will eventually "loop" around, meaning rings are in a finite amount.

[Bean]

They are? I never noticed that during this run, and a couple of these bosses wind up taking awhile for me. I know the layout repeats, but I always saw rings to snag. I'll keep an eye on it in these later videos to see if that truly is the case.

[megamario]

They are? I never noticed that during this run, and a couple of these bosses wind up taking awhile for me. I know the layout repeats, but I always saw rings to snag. I'll keep an eye on it in these later videos to see if that truly is the case.

It definitely is, if you pay attention you can see rings you didn't get before loop by you. I don't remember how long the loop goes, but I definitely recall at least one boss taking so long I saw a few rings loop by a couple of times before I finally grabbed them. And then no rings anywhere on the course.

I think it was the Ice Boss, thinking on it.
God damn I hate the Ice Boss

[Bean]

(4) Ice Paradise / (Viddler #4)

I hate the Ice Boss

Funny you should bring that up... Before we get to that, I'll have to take Tails through this chilly city's two acts and the toughest special stage to date. That special stage, and not the winter wonderland, was what caused me to slip up more than anything else in this one.

Edit: Well, it looks like Viddler unfroze my account in the end. That's nice of them, but I think I won't be making as many timely uploads on that site... not that I had been all that much recently.

[Bean]

(5) Sky Canyon / (Viddler #5)


And now, here's a boss that I'm not a fan of. Still, the two acts prior to that skyward showdown are pretty fun to go through. I love the music for both stages... even if you don't get to hear the best part of the second act's track.

Anyway, here it is... The level that I had only gotten past once on the original GBA cartridge. I can say right now that if I had been playing on that, I would have had a game over. That is how badly (and expected) that boss battle went. Yeah...

[megamario]

Oh god this stage
THAT BOSS

I had partially blocked it from memory but this stage gave me the most trouble. If it wasn't the stage, it was the boss. If it wasn't the boss it was the stage. MORE OFTEN BOTH. Seriously, the hand has ridiculous range, even without the laser.
Meanwhile the stage has numerous pits, spikes, and spikey pits, all of which you need to jump around in and with wind. So many deaths.
I think this was the stage that had me go to Cream. I think I eventually did beat this as Sonic later on, can't remember.I believe Cream can take out the hand, too?


I like the little "rescue" animations in this game. It would have been easy to just not show them, or have them running, but everyone has their own animation and everything.

[Bean]

(6) Techno Base / (Viddler #6)

There's a lot going on in both the back and foreground of this stage. That makes sense due to being inside of a computer-themed zone like this! The level design also has you going up, down, and all around to grab everything here. It's a good thing we're playing as Knuckles as his abilities make it easier to get around having to deal with some of these obstacles.

[megamario]

Bean I am revoking your right to pun

[Paragraph]

Goddamn it that was painful to watch.

You're playing surpremely like usual, but what the hell were they thinking with that background? And the "music"? And the stage design?

Simon

[Bean]

(7) Egg Utopia / (Viddler #7)

Gravity shifting gimmicks have been around in this series dating all the way back to the Death Egg Zone from Sonic & Knuckles. This has always been one of my favorite gimmicks, no matter what series it's in. It's fast, it's fun, it's the last regular zone of the game. Welcome to the Egg Utopia.

[Bean]

(8) XX & Normal Ending / (Viddler #8)

We've gone through all the main zones of the game only to find ourselves revisiting them in rapid succession thanks to this zone. Yes, XX is a boss rush stage with a final foe waiting for us to smash at the very end. It's a stage that would have been a heck of a lot easier if I wasn't doing the whole no failed attempts allowed thing. There's still some more work to be done before we can put this playthrough to rest though, so I'll see you next time.

[Bean]

(9) Unlockables & Extras / (Viddler #9)
(10) True Area 53 & Good Ending / (Viddler #10)

I promised a double feature for the finale, and that's what we're delivering. There were quite a few things I wasn't able to showcase in the main run. That's what this first video is for. That one took a good long while to edit like all montage videos usually do for me.

As for the second, you knew it wasn't over... mainly because I told you it wasn't going to be over way earlier in the series. Dr. Eggman returns with one last machine, and it's up to Sonic to step in, go super, and save the day once again. I think we can do that. Ah, man. 10 videos in 20 days total. It's been a long year, but it was nice to end with some semblance of a schedule. Thanks for watching and happy holidays.

[megamario]

Fantastic job all around and all over!


A note about the Chao garden: mini-chao garden doesn't keep track of time, so you could put your favorite GCN chao into it and it will never die.
I also believe there's a mini-game that's dependant on if you're playing Advance 1 or Advance 2. One of them has you use Tikal (Sonic Adventure 1) to find Chao, I think.