Contra III: The Alien Wars speedrun [14:42] hard difficulty no deaths
Here's a 2-player run I did together with Mr. K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE_gw2j1mtc
Current world record for this category is 14:22 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vLr_fSs2Yg) by Mr. K.
If you are wondering why the fireballs in stage 1 don't kill me, I made a gif showing how close you can get to them without being damaged. The first two images show the closest possible position. The second two show what happens when I move one pixel to the left. The blue rectangle and the red square are graphical representations of how the game handles hit detection.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1106239/Contra3hitbox.gif
The emulator script that enables the graphics you see in the gif is explained here: https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/contra_3_hitbox_viewer.html
Please read the description before posting comments.
First of all, thank you for watching this video! It took a lot of hard work to finish it.
This run was verified and accepted by Speed Demos Archive.
Watch it in high quality here:
[http://www.speeddemosarchive.com/Contra3.html#hard].
So this is a speed run of Contra III: The Alien Wars for SNES.
I aim to complete the game as fast as possible, using all weapons available.
Done on hard difficulty, without dying.
Timing starts when I gain control of the character, which is fade in on stage 1.
Timing stops when I lose control of the character, which is when the character moves to the left on the helicopter after killing the last boss.
I had to cut the credits to fit the video within the 15 minutes available.
History of SDA speedruns for Contra III:
17:00 - Mike Uyama, 2005.
16:07 - Josh Styger, 2007.
14:59 - Mike Uyama, 2009.
14:42 - Jonas Martinsson, 2011.
Done on an NTSC SNES console, with standard PAL controller and no cheats.
Recorded using a Dazzle DVC 100.
Thanks to the following:
- All of SDA for keeping the speedrunning scene alive, and maintaining high standards.
- Mike Uyama for running SDA, and for his 14:59 run which inspired me to try my hand at Contra III.
- Kyle "Mr. K" Halversen for motivation, inspiration and tips.
- Friends and family for support.
FAQ
Q1: How many attempts did it take to finish this run?
A1: Hard to say as I only kept track of the number of attempts during the last stretch. A wild guess would be somewhere around 2000-3000. An average attempt is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 minutes.
Q2: How long did it take?
A2: I started playing Super Probotector (before I had an NTSC console and a Contra III cartridge) in March 2010. By that time I was kind of bad at it, and was nowhere near being able to beat the game on hard difficulty. This run was recorded on February 4th 2011.
Q3: Why this choice of weapons?
A3: C does, by far, the most damage of all weapons in this game. As long as you stay within range of the enemies,
it's undisputedly the best choice.
Q4: Why do you switch between the weapons all the time?
A4: There is a maximum number of shots (from yourself, not enemies) that can be on the screen at any given time.
This number varies between weapons (it also applies to the peashooter, but only on very long range).
By switching weapons you can fire one gun while the other "reloads", effectively doubling the output for some
weapons, C being one of them.
Q5: Why did you use S and C, instead of L and C, on the tank miniboss in stage 1?
A5: S actually does more damage than L if all bullets hit. As I hit the tank point-blank, S is the better choice.
Q6: How come you don't die when standing on the stage 5 boss?
A6: Everytime you spawn or the screen fades in, there is a couple of seconds of invulnerability. I take advantage of this
fact to deal as much damage as possible on point-blank range.
Q7: What happened on the first miniboss in stage 6?
A7: That is a glitch that has happened to me maybe twice before. I have no idea what triggers it.
Q8: How come you don't get hit by the grey rocks at the last boss?
A8: When you lie down, your hitbox gets really small. I take advantage of this fact on the first wall in stage 1 too.
Current world record for this category is 14:22 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vLr_fSs2Yg) by Mr. K.
If you are wondering why the fireballs in stage 1 don't kill me, I made a gif showing how close you can get to them without being damaged. The first two images show the closest possible position. The second two show what happens when I move one pixel to the left. The blue rectangle and the red square are graphical representations of how the game handles hit detection.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1106239/Contra3hitbox.gif
The emulator script that enables the graphics you see in the gif is explained here: https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/contra_3_hitbox_viewer.html
Please read the description before posting comments.
First of all, thank you for watching this video! It took a lot of hard work to finish it.
This run was verified and accepted by Speed Demos Archive.
Watch it in high quality here:
[http://www.speeddemosarchive.com/Contra3.html#hard].
So this is a speed run of Contra III: The Alien Wars for SNES.
I aim to complete the game as fast as possible, using all weapons available.
Done on hard difficulty, without dying.
Timing starts when I gain control of the character, which is fade in on stage 1.
Timing stops when I lose control of the character, which is when the character moves to the left on the helicopter after killing the last boss.
I had to cut the credits to fit the video within the 15 minutes available.
History of SDA speedruns for Contra III:
17:00 - Mike Uyama, 2005.
16:07 - Josh Styger, 2007.
14:59 - Mike Uyama, 2009.
14:42 - Jonas Martinsson, 2011.
Done on an NTSC SNES console, with standard PAL controller and no cheats.
Recorded using a Dazzle DVC 100.
Thanks to the following:
- All of SDA for keeping the speedrunning scene alive, and maintaining high standards.
- Mike Uyama for running SDA, and for his 14:59 run which inspired me to try my hand at Contra III.
- Kyle "Mr. K" Halversen for motivation, inspiration and tips.
- Friends and family for support.
FAQ
Q1: How many attempts did it take to finish this run?
A1: Hard to say as I only kept track of the number of attempts during the last stretch. A wild guess would be somewhere around 2000-3000. An average attempt is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 minutes.
Q2: How long did it take?
A2: I started playing Super Probotector (before I had an NTSC console and a Contra III cartridge) in March 2010. By that time I was kind of bad at it, and was nowhere near being able to beat the game on hard difficulty. This run was recorded on February 4th 2011.
Q3: Why this choice of weapons?
A3: C does, by far, the most damage of all weapons in this game. As long as you stay within range of the enemies,
it's undisputedly the best choice.
Q4: Why do you switch between the weapons all the time?
A4: There is a maximum number of shots (from yourself, not enemies) that can be on the screen at any given time.
This number varies between weapons (it also applies to the peashooter, but only on very long range).
By switching weapons you can fire one gun while the other "reloads", effectively doubling the output for some
weapons, C being one of them.
Q5: Why did you use S and C, instead of L and C, on the tank miniboss in stage 1?
A5: S actually does more damage than L if all bullets hit. As I hit the tank point-blank, S is the better choice.
Q6: How come you don't die when standing on the stage 5 boss?
A6: Everytime you spawn or the screen fades in, there is a couple of seconds of invulnerability. I take advantage of this
fact to deal as much damage as possible on point-blank range.
Q7: What happened on the first miniboss in stage 6?
A7: That is a glitch that has happened to me maybe twice before. I have no idea what triggers it.
Q8: How come you don't get hit by the grey rocks at the last boss?
A8: When you lie down, your hitbox gets really small. I take advantage of this fact on the first wall in stage 1 too.
