Another Challenge Approaches!

[Del Murder]

Last Sunday, three warriors from different corners of the globe embarked on an epic battle that would shake the very foundation of the world and determine the ultimate champion. Well, not really, but we did play a speed run of Mega Man 3 and have a lot of fun. As the victor, I get to choose the next game. So, I choose...

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Sega Genesis!

The rules are simple. All of us get on Skype and start playing Sonic 2 at the same time. The first one to beat the game is the winner. Bust out your favorite Genesis emulator or, if you're a super nerd like me, play your Sonic Collection for PS2. Here are some ground rules:

-No cheat codes
-No save states
-Single player only. No getting someone to play as invincible Tails as you hide in the corner.
-No Super Sonic (would take too much time to collect emeralds anyway)
-No turbo controllers (though I doubt that would help in this game)

Let me know if any other rules should apply.

Game time starts at 1:00AM GMT+1 time on Monday, October 17 (Sunday for other time zones). For other time zones this is:

Los Angeles - 4PM, Sunday
New York - 7PM, Sunday
UK - 12AM, Monday
Australia - 9AM, Monday

See you there!

[Agent Proto]

Sonic 2 is one of my favorite games to play, so I would be inclined to join this if I still had access to the game in some way which I unfortunately do not. That is a shame so I won't be playing along. :(

Um, I'm wondering what date this is going to take place?

[Levian]

As long as you have access to a computer you have access to this game. :p Sonic 2 rom and Gens emulator. :)

I'm in

[Del Murder]

Added date for you Prot. The date is weird due to time zones but for you it's this Sunday.

[Agent Proto]

Okay, thanks Del! I figured it would be this weekend though I was hoping for next weekend anyway. :p I don't have Skype so not only do I need to get a Genesis emulator along with a Rom of Sonic 2, I also need to get Skype. Aaahh, too many things to download for me! (not really) ;O

[NorthernChaosGod]

I remember I used to get all the emeralds pretty quick back in the day. :(

[Del Murder]

Well here's some good news for those who do not want to use an emulator. Sonic 2 is available on Wii Virtual Console, PS3 Network, and XBox 360 Live.

I'm wondering if Sonic 2 was one of those games that had a true 'game over' in which you run out of continues have to start over from level 1. Not that the game is that difficult, but some of the later levels are challenging and if this is true we may have a long night on our hands!

[Agent Proto]

Alrighty! I'm good to go for this. Just finished downloading a Genesis emulator, Sonic 2 (also Sonic 3), and Skype on my laptop.

[Levian]

Awesomeness :D

and I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there, Del! I'm going to practice a bit today by playing Sonic 1.

[Pike]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is also available on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/71163/). That's how I've been playing it. :}

I farking love this game but I would lose this contest. :( Like, I would destroy you all in Chemical Plant Zone but then it would be all downhill. :(


I'm wondering if Sonic 2 was one of those games that had a true 'game over' in which you run out of continues have to start over from level 1. Not that the game is that difficult, but some of the later levels are challenging and if this is true we may have a long night on our hands!

This is, in fact, the case! :kakapo:

[Levian]

Starting in a little less than an hour then?

my skype handle is still gulpestyggen

[Agent Proto]

My skype handle is j3parkr, w00t w00t.

[Del Murder]

Is this on? I think it's on. Is it on?

[Levian]

The three of us are in at least! I'll send a PM to DK as well to see if he's in. he's online anyway.

[Pike]

Yeah I'm having serious issues getting my computer to cooperate with me right now so I'm gonna have to pass on this one, I'm afraid!

[Jessweeee♪]

Sonic 2 was my first game! Unfortunately I can not participate :<

[Agent Proto]

I'm at Aqautic Zone Act 2 at this very moment. Almost drowned a few times.

[Del Murder]

Progress

Emerald Hill Zone COMPLETE
Chemical Plant Zone COMPLETE
Aquatic Ruin Zone COMPLETE - 4:26
Casino Night Zone COMPLETE - 4:34
Hill Top Zone COMPLETE - 4:40
Mystic Cave Zone COMPLETE - 4:46
Oil Ocean Zone COMPLETE - 4:58
Metropolis Zone COMPLETE - 5:23
Sky Chase Zone COMPLETE - 5:28
Sky Fortress Zone

[Levian]

Emerald Hill Zone COMPLETE
Chemical Plant Zone COMPLETE
Aquatic Ruin Zone Complete. - 28 minutes in.
Casino Night Zone Complete. - 36 minutes in.
Hill Top Zone Complete. - 42 minutes in.
Mystic Cave Complete - 49 minutes in
Oil Ocean Complete - 1 hour and 2 minutes in.
Metropolis Zone Complete - 1 hour and 31 minutes in.
Sky Chase Zone Complete - 1 hour and 38 minutes in.

... and game over :|

[Del Murder]

DAMN YOU MOLE DRILL THINGS

[Agent Proto]

Now at Mystic Cave Act 1. Let's go go go!

[Agent Proto]

Oil Ocean Act 1 now!

[Del Murder]

Oil Ocean boss takes FOREVER

[Agent Proto]

Goddammit, I ran out of continues. I will have to start over!

[Del Murder]

Metropolis zone is IMPOSSIBLE

[NorthernChaosGod]

Didn't you already pass that one? o_O

[Del Murder]

Game over. :( Starting over.

[Levian]

gawd :| game smurfing over.

Emerald Hill Zone Complete - 1 hour and 46 minutes in.
Chemical Plant Zone Complete - 1 hour and 53 minutes in.
Aquatic Ruin Zone Complete - 1 hour and 58 minutes in.
Casino Night Zone Complete - 2 hours and 9 minutes in.
Hill Top Zone Complete - 2 hours and 19 minutes in.
Mystic Cave Zone Complete - 2 hours and 28 minutes in.
Oil Ocean Complete - 2 hours and 42 minutes in.
Metropolis Zone Complete - 3 hours and 13 minutes in.
Sky Chase Complete - 3 hours and 16 minutes in.
Wing Fortress- Aaaaaaaargh

[Agent Proto]

Called it quits because my arm is starting to cramp up. Second time today. It's annoying. Good luck to Levian and Del though! It was a fun run for me!

[Levian]

aaaaaaand I got my second game over! same stage too although I got a little further the second time despite two continues less. Oh well. Good luck Del, beat this game for all of us. :p

[Del Murder]

Got to Metal Sonic this time. Having no rings for the last two battles is just sadistic. I'm done with this game.

Nice chatting with you guys though!

[Jiro]

I had appointments to get to today :( Only because I missed them last time because of these shenanigans :monster:

I guess Del Murder is the champ again? Impressive, two from two! Next time won't be so easy, I'll be back.

with a vengence

[Del Murder]

This is an empty victory.

We need to pick a game that doesn't have a true start from the beginning 'game over', like Mega Man.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Battletoads.

[VeloZer0]

Too bad I couldn't join in. Busy in a barn building a haunted house.

...so Mega Man X4 next week?

[Jiro]

I think I'm free next week.

[Levian]

Pick again, Del. I'll play pretty much anything.

[Del Murder]

Too bad I couldn't join in. Busy in a barn building a haunted house.

...so Mega Man X4 next week?
How long is MMX4?

[Madame Adequate]

Well uh I guess it would have been easier for me to do this if I had got the dates right huh :shobon:

Oh well I'm going to just go play Sonic 2 now.

[Slothy]

Too bad I couldn't join in. Busy in a barn building a haunted house.

...so Mega Man X4 next week?
How long is MMX4?

It's a Mega Man X game so not super long, but I would have thought doing the original might be easier, at least for those who would have to emulate. Either way, I'll probably be down for this, and may even try playing through as Zero if you do X4. Haven't played it as him in years.

[VeloZer0]

It's a Mega Man X game so not super long, but I would have thought doing the original might be easier, at least for those who would have to emulate. Either way, I'll probably be down for this, and may even try playing through as Zero if you do X4. Haven't played it as him in years.
The original would be easier to emulate (or any one of X-X3), I just suggested X4 because it was brought up in the original challenge. It's all the same to me, as long as it isn't any game X5+.

Not that this is a hint for Del to make a choice and get this weeks up already...

[Levian]

Eh, seems things aren't too well prepared for this Sunday. Let's try next Sunday and agree on a game soon-ish?

[VeloZer0]

Or we get our act together in the next 76 minutes. :D Come on guys, I haven't been able to make the last two, I was really looking forward to this!

[NorthernChaosGod]

How about a Mario game? We can see who knows the shortcuts the best or something.

[Del Murder]

Sorry, I got to sit this week out. Feel free to bust out MMX4 without me. ;)

[Skyblade]

I know I'm late, but I just have to ask: Can we use Knuckles? Via the S&K add-on ability?

[Jiro]

I forgot about it completely. We do need to organise ourselves better :p Next week at this time I have work though! :(

[NorthernChaosGod]

I know I'm late, but I just have to ask: Can we use Knuckles? Via the S&K add-on ability?
Haha, the challenge passed already. A new game will be picked... soonish.

[Loony BoB]

Man, I would have been up for this had I seen it and had it not been on Monday morning. :p You guys should plan for the Saturday/Sunday times instead of Sunday/Monday.

On a sidenote, this would be even more awesome if we could somehow watch each other's games while playing our own, so we could laugh at each other's cockups. I wonder if there are many cheap/free games that allow for that kind of thing.

[Jiro]

Saturday/Sunday times work, generally, for me :p

[Levian]

I'm pretty much always busy on Saturdays, for different social or weekendial reasons, so I can't promise myself away like I could do with a Sunday. I'm definitely a fan of majority rules though, so we can definitely continue discussing Saturday/Sunday for future gatherings.

Let's do a roll call though, how many of you are up to playing one of these games on Sunday/Monday?

Megaman X4
Megaman X
Super Mario World

I think those games are the ones that were mentioned. Only people who are actually going to join in are allowed to pitch in. ;)

I'm down for any of them.

[VeloZer0]

Super Mario world might be a bit long for one of these, especially since most of us probably haven't played it in quite a while. I mean you can always blast through star road, but that is an incredibly boring way to play. Unless you split the game in half and did it on two different weeks. On week do World 1-4 and 5-7 the next.

My vote:
Oct 30 - Mega Man X
Nov 5 - Super Mario World 1
Nov 12 - Super Mario World 2

And I would like to play X4 after, but we could probably give some other series a chance.

Sunday evening is one of the few times that I have a high probability of being free.

[Pike]

I agree with the assessment that Super Mario World is a really long one unless you're going to go the cheap route by way of Star Road. Perhaps Super Mario Bros 3, no whistles? It'd still be long, and the later stages are TOUGH, but it'd be quicker than SMW.

I have both and am up for either, although I work most weekends. Still, in the rare event that I'm actually not working when you do it, I might give it a shot!

[Levian]

So you are both joining in tomorrow?

I don't think it's much longer than any Megaman X game, especially considering the difficulty of Megaman as well. Most levels can be beaten in few minutes and if you subtract secret levels there's not really all that many levels in each world. Super Mario Bros 3 is easily much longer and also a bit harder though.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Hmm, I might be able to actually join this one tomorrow; I don't really have a lot of homework to do. :monster:

My favorite ideas are of Super Mario World and Mario 3. :)

[VeloZer0]

I've been looking forward to it and plan on being there, though with my life as it is I can never guarantee 100%. :(

[Pike]

So you are both joining in tomorrow?

I am not; I'm working all day (and night) tomorrow. :(

[Del Murder]

I'll be on a safari tomorrow. My vote would be for Mario 3, but allowing warps. That would be the only feasible way to do it.

[Levian]

Isn't it possible to get from World 1 to World 7 with warps?

Anyway, since neither of you are actually playing today I'm going to disregard your picks for today's challenge. That means Velozer0 (maybe), Northernchaosgod and I are playing, and perhaps Jiro?

So might as well pick a game all of us enjoys. SMW is the only one all of us have given a green light, not sure how Northernchaosgod feels about playing Megaman X. Like I said earlier, I'm down for just about anything.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I'm not too familiar with MMX, so I would prefer Mario. :p

Anyone else plan on doing this? Isn't it almost time?

[VeloZer0]

The thing I don't like about picking SMW for a challenge is that I always liked to explore and find all the secret exits. Blasting through it as quickly as possible ruins all the fun. That said, I haven't played it forever and would love to give it another spin. I just plan on taking my leisurely sweet time.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I usually do that too, but I'm down for a race. Lord knows I've beaten it enough already.

[Levian]

Blasting through it as quickly as possible is a different kind of fun! Besides, it would be the same with Megaman and Sonic, you wouldn't have the time to pick up all the upgrades or chaos emeralds.

Still, it's just the three of us playing it seems, so we can definitely pick another game if you'd like. :mog:

NCG ain't too keen on Megaman X and you're not too keen on SMW, that puts us kinda on a standstill. What to do?

[VeloZer0]

I'll play SMW with you guys, but I'm just taking my sweet time and enjoying it. :D
I would race, but I haven't played it for probably a decade so I want to savor the experience again.

(And I don't think you can compare the extra stuff to do in SMW to Sonic or Mega Man. It's like an order of magnitude different.)

[Levian]

Allright cool. B)

I've played it so many times that I'll just go for a speed run this time. See you both on skype in 70 minutes or so?

[VeloZer0]

70? I thought it was 10? I have to go in 70 minutes :D.

Whatever NCG decides. I wasn't competing anyways so I can always kick back and enjoy the game on my own time.

[NorthernChaosGod]

You only have an hour before you have to leave? That just leaves Levian and myself to play. I'm down for the speed run, but maybe it would be best to postpone if Velo is leaving?

I'm down to do it now (or in an hour) though.

[VeloZer0]

Eh, as time ticks on I have less and less time to do this. You might as well either do it with the two of you or postpone it until next week. (Or use today to practice and then announce a big formal challenge for next week ;))

[NorthernChaosGod]

Well I guess we'll just wait and see if Levian wants to wait and maybe we can all rush SMW.

[Levian]

Eh might as well wait then, I guess! last time we talked on skype Del Murder and Jiro were also keen on Super Mario World, so it'd be fun to have them along as well.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Okay, awesome. I'll get some practice in! Or at least just do my homework ahead of time to make sure I have adequate time to kick your butts. /smug

[Levian]

Allrightio! I'll practice by playing super mario sunshine instead. ;) Looking forward to the match!

[Jiro]

So Super Mario World, the original? Can do dawgs. I think I'm pretty well free from here on in, apart from NaNo hovering over me. BUT YOU GUYS ARE WORTH IT.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Hell yeah we are! And yes, the SNES version is the best. I remember the remake being easier.

[Levian]

Humm, there's just one version of Super Mario World, and outside a GBA port it was never remade for any other system. Maybe you're thinking of Super Mario Bros 3? That one had a SNES remake.

Anyhow, we still going for sunday or what? I'm free pretty any day this week besides Friday.

[Slothy]

I can probably participate this weekend. Saturday would be easier, but I might be able to make Sunday.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Well, I meant the port. But there were differences that made it easier.

[Slothy]

It seems I might not be able to participate this weekend after all. My computer decided working is for suckers and quit on me. Hopefully I'll be able to find out what's broken tomorrow. I think it's either my graphics card (bad, but at least it'll be usable until I replace it) or my motherboard (which would mean I'm loyally fucked for a while).

[Jiro]

I am free as a kite so whatever time suits the most people!

[Levian]

Well, I meant the port. But there were differences that made it easier.

Oh! I didn't know there were any differences. What are they, anyway?

[Slothy]

My graphics card is toast. Ordered a new one from newegg so count me in for this weekend if it arrives in time.

[Levian]

Coolies, let us know how it goes

[NorthernChaosGod]

Well, I meant the port. But there were differences that made it easier.

Oh! I didn't know there were any differences. What are they, anyway?
From what I remember:
If you get hit with a power up in GBA version, you just revert to Super Mario instead of tiny Mario (extra hit)
You can play as Luigi on the GBA and he plays like Luigi in SMB2 (floaty)
You don't need to go to Star World to get special Yoshis
The game saves your lives, power ups and Yoshi

[Pike]

All I remember is that in the GBA version you can't get through Cheese Bridge by bouncing off of all the saws (like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgSQJFsYB_k)). They changed it so you can't do that anymore and I was SO DISAPPOINTED. :colbert:

[NorthernChaosGod]

Lol. What happens now when you try it?

[Pike]

Lol. What happens now when you try it?

You miss the saws completely and fall to your death. :(

[NorthernChaosGod]

Lol. What happens now when you try it?

You miss the saws completely and fall to your death. :(
:(

[Jiro]

Need a NaNo break. Guys we need to be organised. Pick a date time game and let's rawk

[NorthernChaosGod]

I totally forgot about this. I only practiced for like an hour too. xD

We should just play to celebrate Veteran's Day.

[Slothy]

Been sick as a dog most of the week and completely forgot about this as well. I can be free to play just about any night next weekend.

[Levian]

Sorry for bailing, you guys. Got a job interview on the other side of the country, so had to split. But yeah, Jiro is right, I think we basically just need to set a date, time and game.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Sunday. 3PM Pacific. Super Mario World. Go.

[Levian]

:up:

[Del Murder]

I will try and be there. We can take Star Road right? Otherwise we're in for a long day.

Don't forget the difference in daylight savings time for you international folks.

[Levian]

With star road allowed I'm not sure we'd even be playing 30 minutes. There's about 30+ levels in this game if you ignore the ones you don't have to finish to get to the end, and each level just lasts a few minutes, I don't think it's gonna be such a killer long time to finish this game?

[Del Murder]

True. It's been a while so I don't really remember.

[Levian]

I googled around and it seems the game is beaten in ~30 minutes with star road, and the main game can be beaten in 2 hours, but averagely 4 hours. (not sure if that's with all exits or not) If we don't bother doing unecessary levels or secret exits we'll definitely shave down on both those times.

[VeloZer0]

Speed demos archive has ~0:11:00 for star road and ~1:30:00 for 100%. Typical times are usually x2-x3 times speed run records, so probably 20-30 min for star road, 3-4.5 hrs for the whole deal. I would imagine if you knew what you were doing it would be about an hour and a half to go speed-running through without star road.

You should make a new thread now, so people who haven't been following this one get the message.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I'm sure it could be done to finish without star road in less than 2 hours, maybe 2 1/2. As long as we're not going for 100%

[Jiro]

That will be Monday 10am AEST then. Okay. I think so.

[Levian]

Yeah, we're not going for 100%, more like 40%.

I just checked a map and the shortest route through the game is 38 exits/levels, and to beat the game 100% there's 96 exits. So I'm guessing NCG's time estimate of 2 to 2.5 hours is going to be pretty accurate.