LogFAQs > #966718829

Bubble Bobble Part 2

I didn't even know there was a Bubble Bobble Part 2. There's Rainbow Islands, which I thought was like a Bubble Bobble Part 2 of sorts, but this isn't that. It's just a Bubble Bobble sequel. It has way better graphics than the first, which is nice. It's a very strange speed game, since it has probably the most intentional waiting I've ever seen in a speedrun, and the commentators don't do the best of jobs explaining what's going on here. Something about getting shoes and umbrellas and seven crystals to skip a bunch of levels? It's all a little confusing, but the game is cute, so I enjoyed it.

- I fucking wish I could get transformed into a cute dinosaur by an evil wizard and all Bub does is spend the entire game trying to get turned back. Dude just does not appreciate the gift he's been given here.

- Ah yes, we need to bounce on a bubble six times, collect two shoes (that is the normal number of shoes to collect I guess), and spawn an umbrella to skip several levels. No, yeah, I'm totally following this Super Bonk-esque logic.

- They're going to count crystals like The Count, and it "won't be cringe at all, they promise." (They're right, of course, it's not cringe. Stop thinking everything innocent and fun is cringe, ya weirdos!)

- Bub's walk cycle is hypnotizing to look at. This game is cuter than the original!

- I like how there's just sports minigames in the middle of this game that function as unskippable cutscenes. Just have to take some time off to play volleyball. It's like Top Gun.

- Bub's real curse wasn't being turned into a tiny bubble dragon, but rather, having to end every level just sadly watching delicious melons and shaved ice disappear off the screen because it's not optimal to collect them. We don't even get to eat the giant burger. It's agonizing!

- The adorable truck with horrifying monster tires is the most hilarious enemy in this game.

- I will never get over the fact that the final boss's name is Super Drunk.

Blaster Master

It's Blaster Master! Just a run that we kind of have to have every three years or so. It's a tradition. This is like, the first 'classic' speedrun game of the marathon, which is nice. It's a race, but Blaster Master makes for a really good race because it tends to stay really close. And it's a glitchless race! A glitchless race where they decided to allow one kind-of glitch. Cue the endless debates from people who don't know what they're talking about!

- The intro remains the best part of this game. I love when he falls down a pit next to this cool tank, and it just immediately cuts next to him wearing the suit, with no explanation of how he found it or decided to put it on or anything. He's just like, yeah, I guess I pilot this tank now.

- "Is that a glitch?" "Sprite overloading? That just HAPPENS."

- I appreciate that they have so many gentlemans' agreements about someone pausing their run if the other player runs into some really bad luck beyond their control. That might be controversial, but I think it's kind of nice to agree to not let unlikely bad luck RNG outcomes decide the race.

- A lot of the donation comments pertain to the Blaster Master novelization and the game sequels that partially spun off the plot of the book, which is funny. I had no idea there was so much Blaster Master lore. There's even one donation comment that said they only read the book and never played the game!

- "Oh god this green is SO BRIGHT on this tv." The tvs' contrasts are so different that it looks like they're in two different levels.

- They are the top two and the bottom two runners of this category, since other categories are run far more often. I do like to see this glitchless category, though, since it shows off some parts of the game that are otherwise skipped.

- It's interesting that the japanese manual details the maps in this game up to area 7 but the north american manual only goes to 4.

- I love the glitch where the boss theme turns into the first area theme somehow.

- This race ends close, which boosts it a little bit in my watchability rankings.

Ninja Gaiden

Another classic speedrun game! I think it's really a shame that The Retro Runner, the current WR holder of this game, got shunted into a weird late night slot running one of the canonical speedrun games. Ninja Gaiden has a SummoningSalt video detailing its history, for pete's sake! This run is a must watch - it's rare to see the best runner of a game with a storied history run a game and destroy it this cleanly.

- I hate this game, by the way. I tried to learn how to speedrun it back in 2020 for the Big 20 race and I ultimately failed at even being able to beat the game. Absolutely infuriating. Even watching this game now brings back some trauma for me.

- Bzzt

- It's cool to see even the most minor of time saves in this game. This is one of the most optimized speedruns this side of Super Mario Bros, and it's cool to see even a fraction of a second get shaved off of this run.

- (singing) "We're gonna get the timer, stop the time, get the star, we got the star, throw the star now, grab the other fire wheel, kill the guy, disarm the gun, we jump and slash and now we go bouncy bouncy. Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce." Beautiful.

- "This is the newest tech we have. We call it the Spicy Pickle." Add it to the list of stupid techs!

- This run is really short so I don't have a lot else to add, but please watch it, it's 11 minutes of sheer perfection.