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Big news from my side. I finally achieved one of my long time goals in this game. To perform a unassisted, 100% console like, RBO/Suitless speedrun, which is one of the hardest, craziest and most entertaining/variative run forms ever in Super Metroid. To be honest, I didn't expect I could do it with my average realtime-skill. But the hard training and alot of patience made it possible nevertheless. At first, I started the run just out of curiousity to see how far I could get in it, without much hope to finish it at all. Despite that I recorded a Suitless (but not RBO) speedrun before, it couldn't be compared to this run, since you could face the biggest obstacle in this run, Ridley, with much more energy tanks and Plasma to ease the fight immensely.

The funny thing in this RBO run is, I reached Lower Norfair without much trouble, having the 30 Super Missiles (most important key to increase your chances against Ridley) collected as usual. After many attempts, and realizing that it seems kind of hopeless to even try passing Ridley with this equipment, I decided to collect the last theoretically available Super Missile at the Golden Torizo room. Although it slowed the run down a bit, the GT fight turned out to be pretty cool and entertaining, so it was worth it in the end. Now I tried to beat Ridley again, this time with the 35 Super Missiles. My success chances increased alot with the 5 additional Supers, but it still seemed not enough, and I was on the borderline to give the run up due to no more possibilities to collect any more Supers. But then Kejardon made another great discoverey just in time, the Early Blue Suit that would allow me to get the Snail Supers in Maridia, giving me further hope to still beat Ridley. I was about to use that trick, but since it would require to redo the run and the entire LN segment because of that, and the downside that obtaining the Snail Supers would slow my completion time down alot, I decided to give Ridley a couple more tries with the 35 Super Missiles I already had at this point. After analyzing his moves with every failed attempt, I got more and more experience how to abuse his weakpoints, and sooner or later finally managed to beat him with admittedly a bit of luck as well. :-)

The rest of the run was pretty easy except of Draygon and the X-Ray climb that is very tricky to perform without making a single mistake in a unassisted/console run, but shortly after getting it done, I finally managed to beat the game in a solid completion time of only 1:15 in the end.

Obviously recorded in multiple segments done through the save stations in the game just like on a console run, I herewith present it to everybody who is interested to see a truly unassisted RBO run by a average player. Maybe this will encourage some of you to try this run by yourself, giving pretty useful tricks and techs for unassisted conditions.

Recorded on Snes9x v1.51 in 9 segments on the NTSC / (JU) version of the game, packed in one .zip-file. Enjoy the run!
Thread title: 
Edit history:
Gaius_4: 2008-11-30 11:24:46 am
I'll check it out.  & Thanks for the SMV.  extra_smug

Edit:  The room with the 3 big (ceiling) side hoppers...  I always roll past them (enough to where they follow me) with the PB armed.  Up until the last square/block of the end of the room I lay a PB down.  Is it actually faster taking them out with missiles?

edited for clarity.

Edit2: Woah!
Ridley fight...  Too close!
Quote from Gaius_4:
The room with the 3 big (ceiling) side hoppers...  I always roll past them (enough to where they follow me) with the PB armed.  Up until the last square/block of the end of the room I lay a PB down.  Is it actually faster taking them out with missiles?

It might be slightly faster, yes, but the ammo wasted on them would for sure result in a loss in the end result, due to more forced refills later, so it's not worth it.
Edit history:
horscht(i): 2008-11-30 03:06:09 pm
defrag in progress
I just watched the first part.
While collecting the early Super, you forgot the missile pack behind the reserve tank.
Jagger ftw
can youupload to youtube?
Dude holy crap! That rocks Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation But how long did it take Question
Shifty Leader
That M2k2 guy
Doesn't one charged shot let you miss six super missiles, making it slightly easier? Basically, you count your missed shots from six to zero (6...5...4...3...), and once you have that many supers, you can try to make him grab you for a quicker finish, pausing if necessary right before you reach zero to use your reserve tanks.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it sounds like the kind of strategy I might use if I cared to do this.
Devonodev: Other D
this is... wow!
Applause
Quote from horscht(i):
I just watched the first part.
While collecting the early Super, you forgot the missile pack behind the reserve tank.


If you mean the part where he mockballs past the gates...  No.  He did get the missiles, both of them.  Confused

It's around 55,000 frames.
Thanks everyone.

Quote from Gu3st:
can youupload to youtube?

Maybe somewhere in the future.

Quote from Gaius_4:
Quote from horscht(i):
I just watched the first part.
While collecting the early Super, you forgot the missile pack behind the reserve tank.


If you mean the part where he mockballs past the gates...  No.  He did get the missiles, both of them.  Confused

It's around 55,000 frames.

I think he meant the ones hidden behind the Reserve Tank to the right. The answer is, I didn't require that many Missile anyway. In fact, I could have skipped at least 4 more Missile packs in this run without causing any difference. But since the detours to them were very minimal, I don't think it would delay the completion time by more than a few seconds anyway, so I didn't bother to redo the run after realizing my Missile overload.

Quote from JesusG:
Doesn't one charged shot let you miss six super missiles, making it slightly easier? Basically, you count your missed shots from six to zero (6...5...4...3...), and once you have that many supers, you can try to make him grab you for a quicker finish, pausing if necessary right before you reach zero to use your reserve tanks.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it sounds like the kind of strategy I might use if I cared to do this.

No, due to the weak Spazer, charged shots were out of question here. The damage is just to small for the time required to charge the beam. This is different if you'd have Plasma here, but it's not available in a RBO, making it a major and very decisive factor compared to a Suitless run. Many many Supers are the one and only way to survive this boss in unassisted RBO conditions.

Quote from mr.payne:
Dude holy crap! That rocks Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation But how long did it take Question

1 day to reach Lower Norfair, another day to change the route plan and go for Golden Torizo to get 5 more Supers than planned, 3 days to just beat Ridley, and a few hours to finish the rest of the game after him. So it's 5 days in total.
Shifty Leader
That M2k2 guy
Quote from Saturn:
No, due to the weak Spazer

d'oh! I totally forgot you need to beat draygon for plasma. My bad.

Quote from Saturn:
3 days to just beat Ridley


...Yeah, I'm not surprised. -_- I still remember Impossible....
defrag in progress
Quote from Saturn:
I think he meant the ones hidden behind the Reserve Tank to the right. The answer is, I didn't require that many Missile anyway. In fact, I could have skipped at least 4 more Missile packs in this run without causing any difference. But since the detours to them were very minimal, I don't think it would delay the completion time by more than a few seconds anyway, so I didn't bother to redo the run after realizing my Missile overload.


Hmm, I see. I thought a couple more missiles would ease the urge for supers a bit.
Wow, amazing run! 
Edit history:
DDRKirby(ISQ): 2008-12-04 11:13:05 pm
35 supers??? oh man, i have to watch this.

I'm actually currently trying for completion on a console condition RBO run.  I'm on the dreaded LN section #2 where I have to fight Ridley.  My gear right now is 25 supers, 135 missiles, 9 energy tanks, and 2 reserves.  I know this is possible because OmegaSneaky did a console condition RBO too and he got far less equipment than that.

In my frustration with the Ridley fight I'm actually attempting a new strategy--instead of attempting to CF right before the fight, I'm CFing and then getting back 10 supers from the little flying bug enemies.  I get about 2-3 etanks worth of energy drained in the process, but imho 10 extra supers against Ridley is HUGE.  So far it -seems- like it could work but obviously I haven't gotten a successful ridley fight yet.

35 supers though...o_o...I know you mentioned the glitch new early blue suit one but I guess i'm missing something else here.  Will watch and recomment.


=====

ah yes, the two in maridia...i had actually thought about those but considered it too much of a detour to go after.  I might just change my route now though.  i really do need all the help i can get against ridley xD

-i personally just used the "safe spot" trick for GT.  you can still shoot supers at him and it works out just fine.  you can even CF if things get hectic o_o...

-for getting to the last energy tank before ridley in LN (where the fireflies are), you can just get hit by one of the fireflies and get boosted back, and the invincibility will save you from having to suffer spike damage.  you can do this after you grab the energy tank as well.

-ah, i see you used the strategy i thought up of refilling before ridley as well. ;)



to be honest the way I was attempting to get the supers in maridia was a lot more painful than what you did (i'm just not very knowledgeable about maridia without gravity) so seeing this encourages me to just redo that segment and i should have a much easier time with ridley.  (b^^)b

====

edit: yep, just beat ridley today.  whooooooooo~
IMO the HARDEST part is getting that shine spark trick to work after fighting Draygon.  I've tried this a couple times in the past.  Here just recently after watching Saturn's run....  It's beyond my abilities.  Embarassed
Edit history:
ducknerd: 2008-12-04 10:53:37 pm
Eschews avatars
You should have tried the Draygon fight without xray climb :P (EDIT: I was referring to Gaius, not Saturn). I still have vague hopes that's still somehow faster, just cuz it was so much more elegant...

This run is superb, Saturn. I wouldn't have thought you could get sub-1:20 going into Maridia for the supers. *wonders if sub-hour RBO will ever be possible*
Jagger ftw
Can you do it on console?
Quote from horscht(i):
Hmm, I see. I thought a couple more missiles would ease the urge for supers a bit.

I'd have enough Missiles, even then. But since they do very little damage and on top of that require a pretty fast shot frequency, they would be worthless against Ridley anyway, at least on my skill level. The only purpose Missiles have in this run is to Crystal Flash, and destroy Mother Brains glass cage form.

Quote from DDRKirby(ISQ):
In my frustration with the Ridley fight I'm actually attempting a new strategy--instead of attempting to CF right before the fight, I'm CFing and then getting back 10 supers from the little flying bug enemies.  I get about 2-3 etanks worth of energy drained in the process, but imho 10 extra supers against Ridley is HUGE.  So far it -seems- like it could work but obviously I haven't gotten a successful ridley fight yet.

Yeah, recollecting a couple Supers after the final CF is definitely worth it, despite the energy loss. Well noticed. :-)

Are you recording your run btw? If so, do you plan to post it somewhere when it's done? Would be a interesting comparison to the few other RBO runs.

Quote from Gaius_4:
IMO the HARDEST part is getting that shine spark trick to work after fighting Draygon.  I've tried this a couple times in the past.  Here just recently after watching Saturn's run....  It's beyond my abilities.  Embarassed

It's really simple. You just have to start the CF early enough so that you won't kill all the gunk with the PB of it. Once it gets cancelled by Draygon grabbing you, you're done. Just be careful to not do normal standing jumps after that, as it would trigger the shinespark immediately.

Quote from ducknerd:
You should have tried the Draygon fight without xray climb :P (EDIT: I was referring to Gaius, not Saturn). I still have vague hopes that's still somehow faster, just cuz it was so much more elegant...

This run is superb, Saturn. I wouldn't have thought you could get sub-1:20 going into Maridia for the supers. *wonders if sub-hour RBO will ever be possible*

Thanks. I'm pretty sure that collecting the Space Jump and use the X-Ray climb will be faster nevertheless, at least in unassisted conditions. Main reason is (along the faster navigation in many rooms), that you can take the grey door shortcut room to Plasma, by abusing it to get high enough out of the water to walljump into the dry area. This is definitely not possible without Space Jump there, so you would be forced to use the pretty long detour through the long door elevator near the Spring Ball area instead.

The unassisted RBO record is 0:54 btw, achieved by no other than hotarubi. The run is available here. It actually was the one that motivated me to start my attempt, and it gave me a couple useful strategies to use in my run as well.

Quote from Gu3st:
Can you do it on console?

Sure, but it would be pointless, since I wouldn't reach the record anyway. I just wanted to finish a console condition RBO on my own, regardless of the time, and I prefered the emulator because the run is much easier to share afterwards. And since I use a SNES controller through a USB adapter on my PC, the original feeling when playing the game is still 100% the same.
Quote from Saturn:

Quote from DDRKirby(ISQ):
In my frustration with the Ridley fight I'm actually attempting a new strategy--instead of attempting to CF right before the fight, I'm CFing and then getting back 10 supers from the little flying bug enemies.  I get about 2-3 etanks worth of energy drained in the process, but imho 10 extra supers against Ridley is HUGE.  So far it -seems- like it could work but obviously I haven't gotten a successful ridley fight yet.

Yeah, recollecting a couple Supers after the final CF is definitely worth it, despite the energy loss. Well noticed. :-)

Are you recording your run btw? If so, do you plan to post it somewhere when it's done? Would be a interesting comparison to the few other RBO runs.


I actually finished my run a few days ago ;).  It'd be almost embarassing to post it, since I aimed 100% for completion's sake and not for speed or elegance, so there's sloppy mistakes everywhere, the route is not very optimized, etc.  The final time turned out to be 1:35 (70% items).  I've got everything in avi format, but I probably won't upload it.  After all, I did take 31 segments! =P
It's even longer because I screwed up in the middle of the first LN section on the shinespark (going right) so I spent a long time refilling on pbombs, doing the green gate trick AGAIN, restocking on supers, etc.

Quote:
It's really simple. You just have to start the CF early enough so that you won't kill all the gunk with the PB of it. Once it gets cancelled by Draygon grabbing you, you're done. Just be careful to not do normal standing jumps after that, as it would trigger the shinespark immediately.

yep.  I think I got the draygon fight on my first or second try.  I was actually more worried about messing up the x-ray climb and getting stuck in the wall  laugh new
Can I ask that someone uploads this onto youtube? I'm interested in watching it, but always have problems with watching smv.s files with snes9X. :/
How do you watch .smv files? I put them in my zsnes rom folder and they dont show up in the emu.
You have to get Snes9x. Load the rom then play the movie file.
Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!
Yes, ZSNES's movie files are .zmv, and SNES9X movie files are .smv.

You may also want to check the version of SNES9X that was used, as this varies from movie to movie, but usually the latest one is a good bet.
I dont use snes9x, zsnes is better, so nevermind.
Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!
You don't need to use SNES9X.

All you need to do is open it, load the ROM, and then replay the movie.

Whenever you're playing games, you can just use ZSNES, which is what I do more often than not, simply because it's what I'm used to.  Very Happy