Pokemon Stadium: R-2 Prime Cup Master Ball...buts its randomized to the 7U tier birby100 2022-11-16 | Sometimes you have to deal with the lowest power levels to reach the top.While the Prime Cup is known as the format where only the strongest of monsters can thrive, at least in the Master Ball classes, you can also run the weakest and still get away with it. This was accomplished through a randomization, but for every Pokemon picked that wasn't in Pokemon Perfect's RBY 7U tier I changed them to a species somewhat similar to them. DVs and EVs were also randomized, and to make things not so bland I gave each Pokemon competent movesets akin to their actual competitive analyses for the tier, although I kind of improvised with ones the randomizer picked that didn't have one. The only requisite was that each team needed to have a Meowth, since every serious 7U team needs one and it's the best Pokemon in the tier.Even with the good movesets, DVs, and EVs though, the AI clearly doesn't know the best strategies and move choices behind some of the 7U mons. :/
40 Winks (N64 alpha build) Part 3 birby100 2022-11-13 | I finally end this off by going through the rest of the characters in the character viewer while showing off the primitive two player mode, including very early mechanics from the N64 version's scrapped battle mode, and what happens when you lose all of your health.Yes, the prototype actually crashed at one point which required a restart.
Pokemon Stadium 2: R-2 Randomized Gym Leader Castle (450 BST or higher)(Part 5) birby100 2022-11-10 | So the AI can have multiples of the same item while I can't. As if I needed MORE restrictions to hinder my progress!*insert another lengthy comment about how I'm stilling seeing Celebis on nearly every team here*
40 Winks (N64 alpha build) Part 2 birby100 2022-11-07 | I wasn't kidding when I said I needed to split this into parts. The early levels are THAT huge. I can understand if these sheer sizes were one of the reasons why they were heavily reworked in the final game!One of the biggest surprises though is a completely scrapped level! Called "Armada" in the alpha's level select, it consists of some ships where you would have to platform across to rescue two winks. According to some unused text in a Playstation demo disc listed by TCRF:tcrf.net/Proto:40_Winks_(PlayStation)#Stage_Intros"NITEKAP HAS CAPTURED 2 WINKS AND STOWED THEM AWAY SOMEWHERE ON HIS FLEET OF PIRATE SHIPS. BRRRRRR THAT WATER SURE LOOKS COLD."Because the unused text takes the space of the introductory text reserved for the Pirate Island level in the demo, it seems like that level replaced it in the end.I'll get through the rest of the character viewer in the final part along with some final extras just to keep the length down.
PenPen TriIcelon: Sweets Course in 2:16:04 birby100 2022-11-04 | Sub 2:17...and I didn't even use Sparky!I just started to get back into this obscure game thanks to a more accurate Dreamcast emulator, and after a LOT of grinding I finally managed to get this. Some slightly sloppy execution with the water skimming trick at the Ice Cream Lighthouse cost me a bit of time, which caused me to sync up with my previous record with +0.00, but thanks to a much better Frappe Forest I managed to barely squeeze out a new PB. I will attempt a sub 2:16 at some point since I know it's possible, but I think I'll shift my focus to other venues.Of course my records will never be legal since I'm running on an emulator instead of on actual console. I like the unofficial widescreen support option though!
Pokemon Stadium 2: R-2 Randomized Gym Leader Castle (450 BST or higher)(Part 4) birby100 2022-11-04 | I was saved by the moveset choices the randomizer picked and Electabuzz's coverage. I bet if anything else was different this part would have been disastrous.WHY AM I STILL SEEING CELEBIS EVERYWHERE?!...although Tyranitar is a close second. Looks like it loves to accompany Celebi at times. :/
Glover 2 (N64 Prototype): Collapsing a podium a second time breaks the game birby100 2022-11-03 | Just make it fall over, collect the rune, leave the room, come back in, then make it fall over again for the magic to happen!
40 Winks (N64 alpha build) Part 1 birby100 2022-11-02 | This particular early version of the once unreleased N64 version was found in a promotional Eurocom asset dump from Forest of Illusion. It requires a few hex edits to boot, and once you finally get the chance to play it...Wow, there's SO many changes here.I don't know if the game somehow went through a massive overhaul in levels, but it sure feels like it. Levels that maintained some type of linearity in the final were once huge landscapes, and some even had their concepts completely changed. Even some of the hub areas originally had drastically different appearances, while some didn't even exist yet! Due to the sheer sizes of these original landscapes it's going to require multiple parts, and while I tried to explore most of what they have to offer, I know there's some portions I may have missed. They're just THAT huge compared to the final's levels.One final note. This prototype is so early that it's completely mute. No music or sounds to speak of in this alpha, so to fill in all of the emptiness I put in some of the music from the final release.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Clutch Finish 10 birby100 2022-10-29 | "Okay, the finish line is in sight. If everything goes well I shouldn't encounter any-""OH SHOOT, WHERE THE HECK DID THAT BULLET BILL COME FROM?!
Pokemon Stadium 2: R-2 Randomized Gym Leader Castle (450 BST or higher)(Part 3) birby100 2022-10-24 | Seriously, there's about 100 or so mons in Gen 2 with 450 BST or higher, and yet the randomizer seemed to have set Celebi as the one mon that a majority of opponents must have.Joe must have sent his army after me again.This part is shorter than the others because I wanted to handle the Team Rocket portion separately, especially with their interesting lineup. ;)
Glover 2 (N64 Prototype): The three earliest prototypes birby100 2022-10-23 | The Glover PC port provided more than just the game under the hood! At least it gave SOMETHING of interest that might warrant a purchase.Whether intentional or not, although Piko Interactive have released early prototypes of Glover in the past, hidden within the files of the Steam release are three early builds of Glover 2...and I mean EARLY. These might be the earliest builds that the current rights holders managed to obtain from developer backups, similar to the earliest they had of the original Glover. There's SO many differences between these builds and the later two that are already known and documented about. The debug controls and C button cheats of the other known prototypes don't even exist yet, so messing around in these betas might not be as easy as those. While I tried my best to go through as much as I could record, I missed a few minor changes like the health meter and didn't figure that out until after everything.Extreme thanks goes to Quote Balrog for providing the files!0:00 Jan 29, 199913:22 Feb 8, 199928:40 Feb 15, 1999
Mario Kart XXL (GBA Tech Demo) birby100 2022-10-16 | Now this is something that I didn't expect to see the light of day.For a while now I've heard musings about some type of Mario Kart tech demo for the GBA thanks to a certain eBay auction. While nobody is quite sure if it's the same person to won the auction, since they'd rather stay anonymous, whatever the case the tech demo managed to recently find its way online!There's two modes. One automatically plays a sequence that seems to show off the capabilities of the demo's engine, while the other allows you to actually play it yourself. The course is a directly ripped Peach Circuit from Mario Kart: Super Circuit without the obstacles while Shy Guy Beach looms underneath. The controls are only the basics between steering, accelerating, braking, and backing up. There's no drifting whatsoever, but you can zoom the camera in and out so you can see Mario's sprites up close. He looks...pretty uncanny.Despite being just a tech demo, I'm happy this was finally preserved!...probably won't take long before someone makes a custom track out of this for Mario Kart Wii.
Pokemon Stadium 2: R-2 Randomized Gym Leader Castle (450 BST or higher)(Part 2) birby100 2022-10-12 | With all of the higher base stats, battles really drag on to longer amounts to where one shots basically don't exist. Add to the fact that I'm going into this completely blind and can't predict movesets...Yeah, I'm in for it.I pretty much learned the hard way when I saw that every single opponent in this part had a Celebi on their team.
Glover 2 (N64 Prototype): Oracle is broken birby100 2022-10-08 | From dislodging security guards off path to hovering across the whole area just to get back to a lever, you can truly mess with things just by goofing off. ;)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Whoops! Wrong position there! birby100 2022-10-07 | Yeah, what a great way to waste time in the boss rush!If there wasn't a function where Chaos Elfilis automatically gets back up after a certain amount of time, I would have had to quit out and start from the beginning!
Pokemon Stadium 2: R-2 Randomized Gym Leader Castle (450 BST or higher)(Part 1) birby100 2022-10-01 | I wanted to get a run in where it only involved fully evolved mons, and while the option isn't available on the randomizer yet this will work to a similar extent...and possibly make things even harder. R-2 was used over R-1 because I wasn't sure if it meant that the AI was better, so I went with that over the other.Meganium and Jumpluff are from my Crystal version save file, Gengar, Umbreon, and Slowking are from my German Silver demo playthrough, and Electrabuzz is from my Crystal Clear playthrough. I would have used my Suicune from my Crystal version, since I used it before in a previous randomizer run, but in my testing it made the battles WAY too easy.
Pokemon Stadium Fusion (Stadium hack): Randomized Cup (Part 2) birby100 2022-09-30 | So this hack apparently has a bug where suspending a game glitches out your fusions and makes them unusable, so I had to replay the first four matches all over again until I reached the same spot. I used the same six fusions from Part 1 to remain consistent, so other than their different order and the lack of continues, it's as if I never lost progress in the first place.Other than that one issue, I kind of wish there's a way in game to figure out all of the new and changed mechanics, because this probably would have gone by at a MUCH different pace if I knew them beforehand. So many new terrains, weathers, and abilities with no explanations whatsoever left me guessing on multiple occasions about certain plays that sometimes backfired immensely.
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): Early Island Museum birby100 2022-09-28 | Looks like there was still some work to be done with this final "level" so to speak.Only a couple of portions seemed to have been finished. The main hub, aquatic, and Shy Guy exhibits don't exist yet and load into the debug level select when accessed. Ironically, the main hub's absence makes accessing the hidden menu way easier! Just hack the pointer over to the Album option and once you select it, instant level debug menu!For the rooms that do exist in the demo, probably the most obvious is the fact that everything can still hurt you. This was changed for obvious reasons and caused some changes in layout for some of the enemies on display (Ex: Bungee Piranha). Aren't exhibits supposed to NOT hurt onlookers after all?The biggest change though is in the Giant Enemy exhibit. Looks like the bosses were going to be on display at one point! While another video showed them off in the final version after they were reinserted into the data, now we can see them without any external hacking! The Japanese apparently just spells out the names of each boss, although there's a symbol for "temporary" next to Six-Face Sal's name that I can't unsee. The early Giant Enemy room along with Gilbert the Gooey's display are still referenced in the final version, but their files have been emptied out at that point.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: That long distance fireball snipe! birby100 2022-09-25 | I'd very much prefer a Red Shell over the Fire Flower any day....except for this moment.If only the highlight reel provided a better camera angle...
Pokemon Stadium Fusion (Stadium hack): Randomized Cup (Part 1) birby100 2022-09-24 | For the only cup available so far, because you're forced to use rentals it gets difficult rather quickly. I still have no idea how certain stuff functions in this hack, but I think I picked some decent fusions to get through this. Because these are 6v6 battles go on for much longer, so I have to split this into parts so it doesn't go on for TOO long.I actually went through the first four fights before but forgot to record, so I'm somewhat familiar with what I was up against. The last four I'm going in completely blind.
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): Secret 5 and Extra 5 birby100 2022-09-22 | Being the last few levels to go through, they sure don't have any differences from what I can see. If you couldn't tell, I died A LOT.I'm not completely done with this demo though, for there's still one more thing I want to go over...
Pokemon Snap Station (Kiosk Demo): Completion beyond the normal boundaries birby100 2022-09-18 | For such a marvel in the series and a spectacular spin off, to my surprise there were several demo versions of the game that limited you to certain areas. While one of them still remains to be discovered, another was dumped and released a while back. Even though it starts normally like the final game, it fails to progress after you cause the Electrode to explode and uncover the next area. After that, the demo acts as if you've never done such an action, so you're pretty much bound to the first two levels.So I broke out of the loop.Unfortunately, it seems as though there's nothing particularly of note beyond where the demo normally ends. However, once you hack to the Volcano area and complete it, no further hacks are necessary! As one of the few demos I've seen where you can save your progress, it basically becomes a regular game of Pokemon Snap and even progresses the same way that you can't typically see.For the few things that I do know that are different from the final, the gallery feature is missing because the demo comes preloaded with some already and there's extra text on the title screen to indicate that you can print images out. Apparently this particular demo came pre-attached to one of those printing stations, so you can either print pictures you've taken from the first two levels the demo boxes you into or one of the preloaded ones from its gallery. Other than that, I don't really see anything noteworthy.I guess this also makes me the first one to ever fully complete this enigma of a demo beyond the boundaries.
Pokemon Stadium Fusion (Stadium hack): Tuber Gym birby100 2022-09-15 | Well, you don't see these everyday.This hack basically combined lots of Gen 1 Pokemon with future species to make new combinations and expand viability. Almost every Pokemon has a unique combination in some way, and there's even mechanics from future generations implemented, such as abilities and types, with more coming in future updates.This early version only contains one gym and cup to pick from, and I would have gone with the rentals in the Gym Leader Castle if I didn't accidentally have my Blue save file in the configuration files. The one cup didn't have this certain oversight, so it confused me for a moment. Because it got me curious, I decided to see what would happen if I used my own mons instead, and surprisingly most of them worked! The mons that don't have a fusion currently in the hack either use the wrong model or crash the game, so I went with ones I knew worked. In another surprise, the alternate color changes for nicknamed Pokemon still works and really helps distinguish fusions apart from another! My Poison/Steel Beedrill fusion looks pretty nice in that alternate color scheme, huh?Gameboy imports also have a messed up stat screen, but they get corrected when in battle. Their moves also revert to the new ones depending on what they knew before being brought over, and they also get different abilities! This actually screwed me up a few times, because the rental Fearow fusion had Aerialate so I also assumed mine had it as well...which turned out to be completely wrong. Because the opponents' fusions also have movesets and abilities different from the rentals, it almost seems like Gameboy transfers WERE intended all along just to see what would come out when brought over to this hack.Even so, this hack looks promising and even in this early stage I can see the effort put into it. Can't wait to see what other fusions will arrive in the future!The Gengar fusion with Moongeist Beam is too OP.
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): Secret 4 and Extra 4 birby100 2022-09-12 | For being one of the main selling points, you don't really get to use Baby Bowser that much....or Baby Wario for that matter too.
Pokemon Shining Pearl: SHINY SHAYMIN! birby100 2022-09-07 | This was on my todo list since its one of the few shinies that doesn't require resetting for each encounter.I actually got a shiny Shaymin from my original Pearl after lots of soft resetting, but because those aren't considered fateful encounters they can't go through Poke Transporter. This easily remedies that!
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Piranha Plant save on 200cc Rainbow Road birby100 2022-09-05 | When an uncommon item helps recover from a Blue Shell and prevents everyone else from passing.I don't know what to expect anymore.
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): Secret 3 and Extra 3 birby100 2022-08-30 | One half I'm fumbling in the dark, and the other I'm helplessly lost in a mass of numbered balls.The skiing section is also a nightmare to complete with the demo's less focused camera. I'm SO glad it was fixed in the final.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Clutch Finish 8 birby100 2022-08-24 | That last second Red Shell nearly forced a loss on my end!
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): Secret 2 and Extra 2 birby100 2022-08-17 | I'm pretty sure those last few platforms in Secret 2 aren't supposed to look like that.Also, the mouse cursor makes its debut unintentionally!
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: That last second shot! birby100 2022-08-10 | I'm not one for accuracy, but I'll gladly take it!
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): Secret 1 and Extra 1 birby100 2022-08-03 | Man, it feels so good to no longer have any eaten inputs anymore! While it caused the sound to slightly desync at points, I'll try to fix them by the time the next part comes out. I'll guess I'll have to practice continuous flutter jumps now, even though I tend to accidentally press the inputs early...which usually results in death.Here we go, for it's time to finally tackle the early Secret and Extra levels. Let me just say that I wasn't looking forward to this, because even in the final version one mistake in these levels basically equals one death. Even so, there's quite a few differences from layout changes to... layering issues with coins. Extra 1 alone pretty much has both and some remnants of the old parts still exist in the final version!Also shoutouts to the one floating Piranha Plant.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Clutch Finish 7 birby100 2022-07-29 | These are getting ridiculous at this point. o_O
Pokemon LeafGreen (December 16th 2003 beta) Bonus Part 4: The Elite Four rematches birby100 2022-07-23 | I did a bit of level grinding off screen for this final challenge after the Sevii Islands. Even though their new teams seem to have been finalized at this point, it's still pretty weird to hear the normal trainer battle theme this beta has over the final's Gym Leader theme. I know it matches the original Gen 1 games more, but still!
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Clutch Finish 6 birby100 2022-07-17 | When you see an upcoming Blue Shell and make a last ditch effort with a Bob-omb you have on hand.You can't make this up.
Kirby Super Star: So...this happened. birby100 2022-07-11 | I was only trying to get my ability back before my helper died, and then the next thing I knew he goes crazy before he darkens the whole room.The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Pokemon LeafGreen (December 16th 2003 beta) Bonus Part 3: The burdens of HM slaves birby100 2022-07-05 | Don't you just hate those moments where you have to lug around multiple underleveled mons just so certain moves won't clutter your main attackers?That's one thing I appreciate later games for removing.
Pokemon LeafGreen (December 16th 2003 beta) Bonus Part 2: Lost Cave shenanigans birby100 2022-06-28 | Watch me as I completely forget the correct path through for minutes on end!Also, I know that there's supposed to be a Rocket Grunt outside of Altering Cave, but can't remember if he leaves after everything on Five Island or not.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Wi-Fi Insanity 3 birby100 2022-06-22 | I keep hold of two Mushrooms for a majority of the race, take the shortcut shroomless, dodge a Blue Shell in midair while taking the shortcut at the same time, and avoid a Lightning strike because someone hit me with a Red Shell while gliding....and all of it happened in one race.My only gripe is that it didn't capture the Lightning dodge while I was respawning.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Blind Blue Shell dodge birby100 2022-06-17 | When you have to make a wild guess about when to dodge after getting hit with a Blooper you better know what you're doing.I really wish it would have captured a better camera angle though.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Blue Shell fall out fail birby100 2022-06-11 | For those moments when you obtain a Mushroom from an item box right as the one in front of you bails out from the incoming Blue Shell.
Denpa Men 3: The Loud House vs. Best Malignus birby100 2022-06-10 | Lincoln Loud just wanted a good night sleep, but when a demon from the underworld interrupts his beauty rest he rounds up some of his sisters to put it to eternal slumber. Just another day in the lives of the Louds...In all seriousness though, thanks to a save editor where you can edit your party members I thought it would be a fun experiment to see the true final boss of this game pummeled by the infamous family from Royal Woods. I did my best to recreate most of the family of thirteen and their personalities with the limited options each Denpa Men can have, including special abilities, because you can only have a maximum of eight party members some siblings had to be cut out. Sorry to those that wanted to see Lola, Lana, and Lily in true Denpa Men greatness!This battle actually took a couple of attempts, for the final boss can completely destroy you in only a couple of moves, but on this one attempt he decided to become a pacifist and continuously buffed himself up endlessly. I had all of those Revives for a reason, and in the end I never had to use too much.At least this makes for a better plot than the The Loud House Movie, right?
Pokemon LeafGreen (December 16th 2003 beta) Bonus Part 1: Rocket Cleanup birby100 2022-06-05 | Oh right, I still have to handle this side plot after the credits roll. It's got a leg up over the E3 demo in that regard.Again, I'm not expecting too much from this other than a couple of bug fixes at best. I've come to expect that from how close this beta is to the final release.
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): World 5-5, 5-6, 5-7, and 5-8 birby100 2022-05-30 | After all of these last few levels, I'm switching to a different recording method for the Secret and Extra ones. While the software automatically makes it so everything comes out smoothly, in reality it constantly stutters which completely eats inputs. This left me dying more times than I can count, especially in one particular section.A few things to note about 5-8 though. Because the cutscene where Baby Bowser betrays you isn't implemented in this demo, it automatically kicks you back to the stage select when you enter the boss room. Even so, the fight against him is present in the demo but inaccessible unless you use the debug level select (which is still in the final game).As for the final battles against adult Bowser...they don't exist! Everything ends after Baby Bowser's defeat and they're not even listed in the demo's debug level select! Considering the fact that the demo is only about three weeks away from the final release, either the devs used a much earlier version to build the demo or were under massive crunch to get the last few Bowser fights implemented before release.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Unexpected Red Shell save birby100 2022-05-24 | I will never doubt invincibility periods again.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: When a Boo Lightning dodge equals victory birby100 2022-05-18 | You know those moments when you set your expectations somewhere else completely? Well...
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Why saving a Triple Mushroom saves lives birby100 2022-05-12 | Leave it to the new Booster Pass DLC to get me back into this game.While I don't usually go for full length highlights, it's needed to understand the full context behind what I went through...and the fact that the points picked from the other categories didn't capture the moments I wanted. In the end though, I've pretty much learned that Blue Shells are out for blood. X_XIgnore the slight stutters in small skips, for I had to stitch together multiple recordings of thirty seconds to get this. I really wish the Switch offered longer recording lengths at times.
Yoshis Island DS (Demo version): World 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, and 5-4 birby100 2022-05-06 | I forgot how difficult some of these latter stages get, and I didn't even reach the Secret and Extra stages yet. Combine that with stutters when recording that can eat up your inputs...Yeah, I'm definitely in for it.The 5-4 boss seems like it didn't change from what I can see. Even so, I wish they would have fixed the issue where any mistimed ground pound or accidental down input equals death.
Pokemon Shining Pearl: SHINY HEATRAN! birby100 2022-05-04 | I've been after this thing for weeks now, and RIGHT when I was about to go to bed it suddenly showed up.The nickname was after the one I named in my original Pearl game. Yeah, my young mind wasn't the most creative. XD
Fossil Fighters Champions: Japanese exclusive Treasure Lake dig site birby100 2022-05-01 | Thank you AltWFC for making this accessible for the international releases! Wiimmfi still doesn't have it yet, let alone any of the bonus data on their servers for this game, so it's nice to have another option when needed.Back when this game had bonus data unlockables, I always thought we had three of them. From Igno and Frigi, the Dunarians, and finally the Saladasaur that was it. However, as it turns out, there was one more piece of bonus data still waiting to be unlocked by going online...and it was only available in the Japanese version!While the data received labels it as a "Bone" fossil, which is shared with the Saladasaur event, it's correctly labeled as a "Lake" fossil when you pick it up. Surprisingly, everything about the event, despite never getting released overseas, is fully translated and functional!One has to wonder WHY this was never made available in the international releases and remained exclusive to Japan. It would have made finding Igua parts SO MUCH easier without relying on transfers from the first game.
