How Speedrunners Control Luck (RNG) SBDWolf 2025-05-14 | Controlling luck-based events, known as an RNG Manipulation, is a technique that's sometimes encountered in Speedruns, particularly of older games. But how do they work?This video will cover a bit of general theory as well as cover a few concrete examples of how a few Speedruns manage to control their luck (RNG).Document about seed-searching for Whirlo: docs.google.com/document/d/1QrAd1dkGcye2jyIIzEy5zGsOs-mtvItgIsAMwYhZXkA/edit?usp=sharingFurther information about the "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky" Quiz Manip: pmdspeedruns.miraheze.org/wiki/EoS_Quiz_ManipulationFurther information about RNG in the 3DS Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games: pmdspeedruns.miraheze.org/wiki/3DS_RNG_InformationMusic used:OneShot - My Burden is LightOneShot - On Little Cat FeetOneShot - On Little Cat Feet (ground)Cuphead - Forest FolliesWhirlo - Sunny SkiesPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Treasure TownPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Time GearPokémon Super Mystery Dungeon - School ForestCuphead - Rugged RidgeKirby's Dream Land 2 - Rick's ThemeKirby's Dream Land 2 - Coo's ThemeKirby's Dream Land 2 - Red CanyonPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Welcome to the World of Pokémon!Cuphead - Treetop TroubleCuphead - Carnival KerfufflePokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Top Menu ThemeGames featured:Cuphead, Castlevania: Dracula X, The Messenger, Pokémon Red, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, The Lion King (SNES), Monopoly (NES), Castlevania (NES), Whirlo (SNES), Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Gimmick!, Gimmick! 2Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
First-Ever Cuphead TAS in 23:39 (Any% 1.1+) (Flashing Lights warning) SBDWolf 2025-09-19 | It's finally here! I have been fantasizing about Cuphead TAS for quite a long time, and I am happy to finally be able to deliver a completed, full-game TAS.This TAS was made possible by libTAS. It makes use of the unofficial Linux build (ported by DemoJameson using the MacOS version as a base), with an additional mod to the code responsible to load new scenes to make sure libTAS can intercept those calls and make loads instant and sync-proof.It also uses mods to guarantee a bunch of luck elements on bosses, and guarantee triple-damage Lobber EXs. There's so much randomness in this game that this felt like the only way to complete this TAS in a reasonable amount of time.On that topic, this TAS was quite a lot of work. I estimate about 200 hours went into it, over the course of a little over a month.This is for the Any% 1.1+ category, which has cemented itself as Cuphead's most popular category over recent years. It bans version Legacy 1.0 and its iconic Weapon Swap Glitch while keeping most other glitches fair game. This results in a run where each boss is a significant challenge and has to generally be approached close to the intended ways, while still being very technical and offering a bunch of cool tricks.You can watch a fully clean encode with no overlays over here: youtu.be/Rqs3hd7Q07EAnd you can watch an encode with hitbox view and some debug information over here: youtu.be/uyLWEeF3VZoTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) Gimmick! Best Ending Speedrun in 8:37 SBDWolf 2025-02-03 | Level 1 Skip implemented in Best Ending! This run could go down by another ~10 seconds or so, but right now I feel like I've achieved by goals with this game of implementing the new skip in both Best Ending and Any% and getting decent runs along the way.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Gimmick! Any% Speedrun in 5:09 SBDWolf 2025-01-26 | Achieved this run in 8 days of attempts. Very happy with the results!Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
[TAS] Gimmick Any% Theory TAS in 4:47.69 SBDWolf 2025-01-16 | This a "Human Theory TAS", which is what I call a TAS that tries to do everything optimally while sticking to RTA viable strategies. I made this TAS primarily as a study, but also to have an idea of what the limits of this category are with current strategies.Input file: github.com/SBDWolf/TAS-input-files/blob/main/Gimmick!%20any%25%20theory%20tas%202025-01-15.bk2Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Lag in Speedruns SBDWolf 2024-12-19 | When speedrunning games for older gaming consoles with more limited processing power, one concept that you'll often end up dealing with is Slowdown, more commonly referred to as Lag. Knowing how to reduce Lag can help save a significant of time in some games, despite the fact that Lag reduction techniques may be difficult to notice.Games featured are: Cuphead, Dragon's Lair (NES), Donkey Kong Country 2, Kid Icarus, Metroid, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Magical Pop'n, Castlevania (NES), Goldeneye 007, Mega Man 3, Drakkhen (SNES), The Lion King (SNES), Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Super PitfallBackground Music: Kid Icarus - UnderworldSources for console framerates:forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/important_analog_capture_frame_rates_and_mysterious_gained_seconds.htmltasvideos.org/PlatformFrameratesCredits to Mister Mike for the Kid Icarus sprites.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Cuphead Any% (1.1) Speedrun in 27:35 SBDWolf 2024-11-20 | I wasn't expecting this kind of time this soon. This is only 2 seconds behind the current WR held by Grondious of 27:33. Going to continue focusing on this category for a while :)Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Cuphead Any% (1.1) Speedrun in 27:51 SBDWolf 2024-11-19 | Got a 27! Going to keep going, aiming to work towards WR.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Cuphead Any% (1.1) Speedrun in 28:03 SBDWolf 2024-10-24 | Started running this game and category again earlier this October. Looking to continue improving my time for a while still!Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Gimmick! 2 True Ending Speedrun in 38:08 SBDWolf 2024-10-04 | Gimmick! 2 is a modern-day sequel to the 1992 Gimmick! for the NES. This came out last month and it's a great game and honestly one of the best speedgames I've ever tried my hand at.What makes me like this run so much boils down to the extremely high skill ceiling and non-stop fast-paced action. This makes it extremely rewarding to get good at.This run was fairly good for current standards outside of Fishy Factory (Level 4). Yet, I have barely scratched the surface in terms of what's possible to pull off in this game. I believe eventually this record will be lowered by several minutes.The True Ending is achieved by collecting all 9 hidden stickers across each level. This unlocks the true final boss in the last level, which is a very difficult 4-phase fight.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) Castlevania Any% Speedrun in 10:38.950 SBDWolf 2024-07-18 | ...Man, I should really just be happy about this run, but I'm mostly filled with disappointment.Most of this run is pretty good. But I missed the damage boost at the start of Level 5, followed by accidentally picking up a Long Whip, costing around 4 seconds total. The early game wasn't great either, but these two mistakes are particularly ugly and makes me feel like this is not the run I was looking for.This is a really hard run to continue trying to improve, but I can feel the potential and so I will attempt to pursue it. EDIT: I have decided to postpone improving this run until some other day while I focus on running other games. Good luck to anyone who may decide to attempt beating this record in the meantime! It's a tough one.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/w1riGuj8Gameplay Only version: youtu.be/pmrGF8FklNwTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) The Lion King NES Speedrun in 5:35 SBDWolf 2024-06-18 | Yes, this game is real. No, this is not a bootleg. This is the official port of The Lion King for the NES. As a matter of fact, this game is notable for being the last officially licensed game to ever come out on the NES, in May of 1995! (Only in the EU).I learned how to run this game in a few hours of time and got this record in 3 days. It's actually a decently fun run, if you can get used to some jank with the controls. Though improving the run past this point is mostly an RNG grind, between getting good Hyena patterns, and a good waterfall in Hakuna Matata (log positions are random).(Bronkel got this record back in 2 days lol)Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) Castlevania Any% Credits Warp Speedrun in 5:49.733 w/o loads (6:35 RTA) SBDWolf 2024-05-28 | Time without loads because Famicom Disk Systems have variable loading times.Played on an original FDS with an original disk. Not a bad run. Can still go a few seconds lower.Explanation on how this Credits Warp works can be found here, however bear in mind that the actual save data used in this route (and thus the payload that gets executed) is different from the one explained in the pastebin: pastebin.com/75tbpnLJIf you'd like to perform this yourself, I've made a quick tutorial over here: youtu.be/JQP9zWLu1G0?si=u-VOCO97REICeSOOTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania Any% Speedrun in 10:41.267 SBDWolf 2024-05-22 | 14 months after I had started this grind, and 12 months since my last PB, I have finally reclaimed the WR in Any%. This run has some major time losses still that I am keen to improve upon, but I am very very happy to have a breakthrough in this run after so many unsuccessful attempts.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/w1riGuj8Gameplay Only version: youtu.be/aOduoVOS0mQTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania Any% Credits Warp Speedrun in 6:47 SBDWolf 2024-05-16 | I found a Credits Warp!I discovered that the glitch screen in Stage 11, on v1.0 of the Famicom Disk System version, jumps to RAM. This allowed preparing a payload in the form of Save File Data that executes the routine to start the Credits Sequence.Explanation on how this works can be found here, however bear in mind that the actual save data used in this route (and thus the payload that gets executed) is different from the one explained in the pastebin: pastebin.com/75tbpnLJIf you'd like to perform this yourself, I've made a quick tutorial over here: youtu.be/JQP9zWLu1G0?si=u-VOCO97REICeSOOTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
How the Scroll Glitch revolutionized Castlevania SBDWolf 2024-03-22 | In April of 2021, Castlevania's Speedrunning scene witnessed a stunning discovery that shook the game to its core. This is the story of that discovery, how the technique evolved over time, and what the future holds for the Any% category.Credits for video footage and music: docs.google.com/document/d/1Kuklsnjdeb8TvQqmXYELD83DB_FfDuEg5yZn5LoU86U/edit?usp=sharingTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) Castlevania Any% No Scroll Glitch in 11:17.967 SBDWolf 2024-03-14 | This might be the most satisfied I've been with a run, ever. Time losses are few and small:- Top Bat Boss pattern (+0.5s)- Missed framerule in Stage 07 (+0.3s)- Slow hunchback pattern in Level 6 (+0.2s)- Slow Dracula pattern (+0.3s)- Missed whip on Cookie Monster (+0.3s)The run looks very clean overall if I do say so myself.Microphone audio has been edited to add a limiter.The thing I knocked over at the end was a small plastic figure. It was fine.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/ZdiBeBGyGameplay Only version: youtu.be/oVE_18-8wZ0Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
SMB3 Any% No WW Speedrun in 10:56 SBDWolf 2023-09-22 | I ran this category for 7 days and eventually got myself a sub 11!This run warps pretty quickly to World 8, and then beats the game from there. Inside of World 8, there exists the infamous hands section. Here you have to go over 3 "hand" tiles and have a 50% chance of getting grabbed on each one, which forces you to play an extra level. For a sub 11 time, it is pretty much mandatory to avoid getting grabbed by any hands at all, which is only a 12.5% chance.This is a pretty fun game overall, but the hands section's existence definitely makes this much less enjoyable to run for an extended period of time :/ I'm happy to move on from this category now.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) PMD Gates To Infinity - Any% WM Speedrun in 7:06:45 (+ Worldcore in 7:44:39) SBDWolf 2023-03-16 | It took a while, but I finally got a run that I am happy with in this game! Most segments went very well, with just a handful going poorly or below average.A few months ago I found a substantial re-route, involving using Oshawott partner and putting him on the Wait There tactic for most of the run. This allows you to Dragon Dance much more aggressively with Axew to skip more fights. If you find a Reunion Cape throughout the game, it can also be used to quickly warp back to your partner, for example after finding a long dead end.This is the Any% WM category, which allows the use of Wondermails to get useful items for the run. The main point of interest here is all the Joy Seeds and Golden Seeds, which allows for Axew to reach level 32 super early and get Dragon Dance, and for Oshawott to reach level 23 towards the middle of the run and get Water Pulse, which allows him to defend himself fairly well against enemies.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former DS WR) PMD Explorers of Sky - Any% WM Speedrun in 4:56:42 SBDWolf 2022-12-23 | This run was at an amazing pace for the first half, but fell off considerably in the second half. It was still enough to net me a one and a half minute PB though.This is the Any% WM category, which allows the use of Wonder Mail to generate arbitrary missions to speed up mission days and also select custom rewards. The most notable items that this run makes use of are the Fight Gem and the Mobile Scarf.The Fight Gem is an exclusive item that doubles the movement speed of all fighting type pokémon in your party. This means that (usually) for every turn that an enemy takes, you can move two steps. Riolu is the only hero pokémon who can make use of it, since he's the only fighting type.The Mobile Scarf is an item that allows the player to go on any tile the want, at the cost of 5 units of hunger for every step that is taken inside a solid wall.The combination of these two allows for most fights to be entirely skipped once obtained. Hence, this makes for a fairly movement centric run.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former DS WR) PMD Explorers of Sky - Cutsceneless Any% WM Speedrun in 1:24:37 SBDWolf 2022-12-17 | This was a random run I did one night that resulted in a huge PB. Since this was streamed on my alt channel on twitch without any commentary, I have decided to add some post-commentary to it.This run was performed on a cutsceneless hack I made. This game normally has about 3h30m of unskippable cutscenes. I like playing on this hack when I want quicker testing/routing, or when I don't have time for a full run on the original game. If you're interested in this hack, you can get it from here - github.com/SBDWolf/PMD-Sky-Cutsceneless-Hack/releasesThere are also leaderboards for this hack here: speedrun.com/pmdskyextTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Cuphead Any% Legacy Speedrun in 22:58 SBDWolf 2022-12-15 | First Sub-23! Still a good 10-15 feasible seconds that this category can go down by with current strats. Very good run before not getting the 1/3 bee rng (+7s), and Inkwell Hell in particular was a pretty slow point (another potential 10s or so collectively between King Dice and The Devil).This category had a lot of smaller strategy improvements, mainly from just being able to better manipulate EX moves in more circumstances, but the biggest new thing was the Phase 1 Devil Early Kill (nicknamed "The Devil's Kiss") which only works on specific patterns and is generally pretty difficult to pull off, but I was able to get it here to top this run off.My controls:Jump: Right BumperShoot: Left TriggerEx Shoot: ASwitch Weapon: XLock: Left BumperDash: YThe controller skin in the top left is that of an Xbox One controller, but I actually used an 8bitdo SN30 pro+ controller.Run FAQs: pastebin.com/wTfFq6sKTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(DS WR) PMD Explorers of Sky - Bidoofs Wish Any% Speedrun in 24:40 SBDWolf 2022-11-17 | This is a speedrun of a Special Episode in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Special Episodes are short stories that follow some of the side characters in the game.Pokémon Mystery Dungeon speedruns are already fairly RNG heavy, and the short nature of Special Episodes makes for a speedrun that is particularly reliant on good luck for a good time. I've been running this special episode on the side while grinding out Any% WM and got what feels like a pretty good time.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Cuphead DLC 100% Speedrun in 18:40 SBDWolf 2022-07-25 | Finally got the deathless run that I was looking for. Very happy with this run, done with this category.DLC 100% is a fantastic run that I've been enjoying a lot. Part of getting 100% includes obtaining the Divine Relic, and the fastest way of doing that in this run is to fight 5 DLC bosses on Expert mode with the Cursed Relic, one of which has to be Saltbaker.The Cursed/Divine Relic is essentially a weapon randomizer. Every time you stop and restart shooting (like after releasing and repressing the Shoot button, dashing, or using an EX move), your current weapon gets rerolled to potentially any weapon in the game, even ones you don't possess.It also sort of randomizes your charm (in a more predictable way), meaning that every X parries or dashes, you can expect Heart Ring, Whetstone and Smoke bomb to kick in (where X varies depending on the current level of your Relic).Cursed Relic also brings Cuphead down to 1HP.The way upgrading the Cursed Relic works is, it has an internal scoring system to it, and every time you beat a boss with the charm equipped, it will add points to the Relic. Once you get to 16 points, your Relic will become Divine. Different bosses give different values. For example, all the DLC bosses give 3 points, except for Saltbaker which gives 4 points. If you do the math, all 5 regular DLC bosses are barely not enough to get the Divine Relic, which is why Saltbaker is a required Cursed Relic boss with this route.Needless to say, this run is incredibly difficult and chaotic, and I love it. I love the King's leap too, despite how inconsistent it can be. This might honestly be my favorite run to come out of the DLC.To play on Expert mode on a new file, I used what's called the Fresh Expert Glitch. All you need is to go to a completed file, hover over Expert difficulty on any boss, and then quit to title screen. Once you start a new file, Expert mode will be selected by default, even though it is not supposed to be unlocked yet.My controls:Jump: Right BumperShoot: Left TriggerEx Shoot: ASwitch Weapon: XLock: Left BumperDash: YGameplay Only version: youtu.be/Y7ZFao_30igTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Cuphead DLC 100% Speedrun in 19:50 SBDWolf 2022-07-14 | DLC 100% is a fantastic run that I've been enjoying a lot. Part of getting 100% includes obtaining the Divine Relic, and the fastest way of doing that in this run is to fight 5 DLC bosses on Expert mode with the Cursed Relic, one of which has to be Saltbaker.The Cursed/Divine Relic is essentially a weapon randomizer. Every time you stop and restart shooting (like after releasing and repressing the Shoot button, dashing, or using an EX move), your current weapon gets rerolled to potentially any weapon in the game, even ones you don't possess.It also sort of randomizes your charm (in a more predictable way), meaning that every X parries or dashes, you can expect Heart Ring, Whetstone and Smoke bomb to kick in (where X varies depending on the current level of your Relic).Cursed Relic also brings Cuphead down to 1HP.The way upgrading the Cursed Relic works is, it has an internal scoring system to it, and every time you beat a boss with the charm equipped, it will add points to the Relic. Once you get to 16 points, your Relic will become Divine. Different bosses give different values. For example, all the DLC bosses give 3 points, except for Saltbaker which gives 4 points. If you do the math, all 5 regular DLC bosses are barely not enough to get the Divine Relic, which is why Saltbaker is a required Cursed Relic boss with this route.Needless to say, this run is incredibly difficult and chaotic, and I love it. I love the King's leap too, despite how inconsistent it can be. This might honestly be my favorite run to come out of the DLC.About this time itself, I still died twice, even if those deaths weren't too costly. The run in general was pretty good, aside from that. I will continue to try to improve this run. My goal at the moment is to get a solid deathless run, which will probably mean improving this time by 20 to 40 seconds.Either way, this is definitely a lower time than I thought 100% would ever get!My controls:Jump: Right BumperShoot: Left TriggerEx Shoot: ASwitch Weapon: XLock: Left BumperDash: YTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Cuphead - DLC Any% in 13:21 (RTA, roughly) SBDWolf 2022-07-03 | A few disclaimers:The load remover and autosplitter aren't currently working on the new DLC patch, so runs during this early launch period are currently having to be timed with loading times included.In addition, I used start and end times that are not what they're going to be once said utilities get developed. Time normally starts AFTER the fadeout upon file select, and ends immediately upon the final hit of Chef Saltbaker. Since I was having to manually split, I chose slightly different start and end times for my own convenience. If I was using those timing points, this run would be closer to a 13:12 I guess.Anyway, this is an Any% Speedrun of the new Cuphead DLC! I've been loving everything about it so far and it has been incredibly fun to route and practice everything it has to offer, as well. I decided I would start by running some Any% to get more comfortable with the new bosses.A lot of the DLC bosses are very, very mobile, especially compared to the base game's bosses. For that reason, I believe using Charge and Spread is one of the best weapon combos. Spreadshot is still the weapon with the highest DPS in the game by far, but there are many scenarios where it's simply not possible to keep close distance with a boss constantly. Charge can cover for that.Getting this weapon combo requires 12 coins, which takes some time to collect, but luckily the DLC offers a few more easily accessible coins that make it possible get it before having to fight a single boss.An alternative route seems to be to buy a DLC weapon (like Twist-Up) and Charge, and using that. This makes for much slower bosses, but takes less time to collect. It's still a bit up in the air as for what's going to end up being faster for this category, but my hunch is that Charge/Spread is still going to win out in the end.There are a few glitches that have been found that would save time in a speedrun, but I have not managed to replicate them or understand them yet. I have seen phase freezes on Esther Winchester and on Chef Saltbaker. The latter one would be particularly huge (although I have to say, I don't like how it looks. Chef Saltbaker is such an epic, climactic fight that it just feels wrong to glitch him out completely in phase 1). I have a hunch they might work similarly to how the Hilda Glitch works in version 1.0, where you have to deal a specific amount of damage within a tight time frame, but as I said, I have not managed to replicate them yet, not even on accident.This run is surely gonna be beaten in no time, but I will probably wait on pushing this time down until there's a working load remover. I am going to start routing DLC 100% now!My controls:Jump: Right BumperShoot: Left TriggerEx Shoot: ASwitch Weapon: XLock: Left BumperDash: YTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania: Dracula X Any% Speedrun in 13:26 [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2022-02-14 | There were a couple of serious setbacks in this run (terrible werewolf rng in level 5, second try spear knight boost in level 7) but most of this run is pretty darn solid otherwise. Happy with the improvement in this game since 2020.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/pki5bEUMFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/X6Oewwmp5LYTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow Any% Speedrun in 12:55 (PC, Practice) [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2022-01-29 | Got sub 13 on PC! I recently found a setup for Mud Slider Skip in 3-2 that works on PC, and that made this time feasible.The PC version lacks a few tricks from the Genesis version and has some slightly different mechanics, but compensates by running roughly 10% faster. Overall I enjoy running the Genesis version more, but the increased fast paced nature of the PC version is pretty neat. And the CD quality OST is fantastic.This run was broadcast live on my Twitch channel.Run FAQ (This is for the Genesis version, but most information applies here too): pastebin.com/Lfk2ER1zFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/ASEObY0OrL4Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) Donald in Maui Mallard Any% Speedrun in 13:25 (Gen, Practice) [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-12-11 | This is one of the most difficult speedruns I've ever attempted so far. There's still a bunch of mistakes in this run and I think it could be optimized to a 12:xx. But, I don't mean to downplay this run. I think it's pretty solid.This run was broadcast live on my Twitch channel.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/Lfk2ER1zFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/maEyCt3XFZcTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) The Lion King Any% Speedrun in 11:55 (Easy, SNES) [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-11-11 | This was a pretty clean run, happy with it! The major issue was getting the worst possible geyser luck in level 8 (losing 7 seconds or so), but what was in my control overall went really well.This run was broadcast live on my Twitch channel.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/GUhxe3TsFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/K2OptiYPogwTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) The Lion King Any% (Easy, SNES) Speedrun in 12:08 [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-09-21 | Apologies for the doubled audio in the first half of the run, check further down into the description for a gameplay only version if it's too bothersome. Or for any other reasons. It's there.Good run overall, but had some bad stages both in the early and late game. I will keep running this game to attempt a Sub 12 minutes time!This run was broadcast live on my Twitch channel.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/GUhxe3TsFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/GSoJl_PGJG8Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(WR) NES Dragons Lair Speedrun in 7:16 (Any% US) [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-09-12 | Oooh boy, this game. Where do I even begin? It's quite the experience. I first played it last year, and it was... quite an interesting playthrough. The game is full of, intentional or not, troll moments that end up defining the game. Highlights include: most enemies killing you in one hit even though you have a health bar, moving platforms that don't actually move you automatically and instead make you manually walk with them (else they move without you and you fall off), a random dark area that you have to brighten up by pressing start (the candle button! isn't it so obvious?), moving platforms in level 3 that work by completely different rules out of nowhere and that force you to take a death if you freeze them at the wrong spots, and a very, very difficult and random final boss to top it all off. Did I mention there's no continues in this game? After running out of lives (you start with 5), it's back to the title screen.I ended up beating Singe with save states back then because it got a little too ridiculous in the end. But then, I thought it would've been a pretty funny idea to speedrun the game for April Fools 2021, and so I ended up doing just that for... 11 hours on my twitch channel, and I got a 7:54 by the end of it.And then, months later, I decided to shoot for this world record, because that's an idea that makes sense. And it was torture. Honestly most of the run is pretty simple (and actually kinda fun), but level 4 and most importantly Singe are very random and very tough. This meant that I was essentially getting a run on world record pace to Singe very regularly (as much as every hour of attempts or even less), but most would just die to bad rng or a mistake. Some runs managed to kill Singe, but then a baby dragon would still be on screen, and when I'd try to kill it, a fireball would block one of my axe throws (yes, that's a thing, a presumably metal axe getting completely nullified by a fireball) and it'd manage to hit me and kill the run.It took a couple weeks to get this run, and I'm definitely done with the game now. Until I decide to come back for another rodeo, of course.Let my story be a lesson: taking a joke too far is risky business.And before anyone asks, yes, my attempt counter is totally, 100%, legit. I definitely did not tamper with it.This may or may not be another joke. But who even knows at this point.And also, yes, the game naturally runs at 12fps. And I set up my webcam to run at a similar framerate. To help give that cinematic impression, you know.For a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/6ErvBjYE7bMTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania III Any% (Glitched) Speedrun in 14:59 [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-06-30 | I ran this category for a couple weeks' worth of time and ended with barely a sub 15 (A frame count after the run revealed this to clock in at a 14:59.950, 3 frames below the 15 minute mark). This run has some mistakes in it, but I'm happy to break a major minute barrier in this category and I'm probably done for a good while.This run makes use of a wrong warp from block 4 to block A (final level) found by Producks. It can only be done with Grant and it involves swapping from Trevor to Grant within a 5 frame window before going down some stairs to another screen, which provides a misalignement and allows to go back up and beyond the top of the stairs to access a glitch world. With careful navigation, it's then possible to corrupt certain ram addresses and warp to the final level. For more information about the setup and for anyone who wants to learn this wrong warp I've made a detailed tutorial here: youtu.be/83x3j7htTFsThe "Grant launches" are a (often) frame perfect trick involving left-facing walls. If Grant is in the middle of the stab animation, starts to grab the wall and "dpad-right" is released at the same time it's grabbed, for some reason he'll be teleported half a screen above or below, depending on whether the trick is done in the lower half or the upper half of the screen. I went for this trick in three separate spots in this run.For a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/sUY20lDr-cATwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania Any% Speedrun in 11:05.717 (New Scroll Glitch) [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-06-08 | This is, at the time of upload, a bit of an old run, set on May 5th 2021. As it often happens in Speedrunning, I intended to beat this run, and sort of expected to do it relatively soon, but I couldn't manage to come up with an improvement after a few weeks of attempts, and decided to let this run stand as the Current World Record for now.This run makes use of a newly found "Scroll Glitch", which manipulates the game's loading mechanism for off-screen tileset, essentially allowing Real Time runners to manipulate the level layout in their favor. The way it works is pretty complex, but to simplify, by turning around on certain frames right before a certain set of blocks attempts to load, the game "misses" loading that tileset for a while, and by doing enough of those turnarounds it's possible to permanently get a glitched tileset, which can lead to skips. In this run, I went for this glitch in two instances, both in Level 5 (Stages 13 & 14).Run FAQ: pastebin.com/xMvXvqpdFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/VP8SV9WRdacTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania Any% Speedrun in 11:19.43 (First sub 11:20!) [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-03-31 | ***Volume Warning at 11:32***This run was behind my PB by over a second coming into the final level, but then I procedeed to play my best Level 6 yet, improving my previous best split by about 0.8 seconds and clutching out the 11:19!I was definitely caught by surprise when I saw the final time. I'm really proud to have achieved this milestone of 11:1x, but that being said, the overall run is still not clean enough for me to call myself satisfied with this time. I will be attempting 11:18 now.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/xMvXvqpdFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/x6HjwYFf-9kSome assests in the thumbnail from MisterMike on spriters-resource.com.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Castlevania Any% Speedrun in 11:20.150 [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-03-27 | Level 6 was pretty slow, but then again so it is on most of my attempts lately. It's a pretty good run outside of that! I'm still not done with this game though, I'm close to the big milestone of 11:19 (most likely the last 10-second barrier that's ever going to be broken for this game) and even after that I might go for one or two more PB's. We'll see what this game has in store for me!Since my last WR of 11:24.567 there's been a significant development in strats that made shaving off all this time possible. Most notably, easier crits on Medusa, Frankenstein's monster, and Dracula, making them as big as a 7 frame window, a 3 frame window, and a 4 frame window respectively and making it possible to attempt all of them in one run (although the Dracula one is a little more complicated than that still and much harder than the other two due to other reasons).Full FAQs here: pastebin.com/xMvXvqpdFor a gameplay only version click here: youtu.be/fu0_rqaPQ4ITwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Donkey Kong Country 2 Any% Speedrun in 38:14 [Commentated] SBDWolf 2021-01-19 | After spending about 10 months running this game and category fairly actively, I finally got a WR time that I'm happy with. This has been by far the run that I've put the most amount of time and effort into thus far, so the satisfaction that comes from this is particularly high. In addition, this was the first World Record run to ever implement the mega difficult Gusty Glade Wrong Warp, which killed so many of my attempts before this one. I am not going to be attempting another PB in this category in the near future, although I have a feeling I will try to beat this time some day. I'll be moving on to other games and other categories before then.This video features a commentary on my part going over the run.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/KVa4XXKRFor the live recording version click here: youtu.be/d0dm2V7EHkkFor a gameplay only, no commentary version click here: youtu.be/YYzcnmg1-NcTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
(Former WR) Donkey Kong Country 2 Any% Speedrun in 38:14 [Live Recording] SBDWolf 2021-01-19 | After spending about 10 months running this game and category fairly actively, I finally got a WR time that I'm happy with. This has been by far the run that I've put the most amount of time and effort into thus far, so the satisfaction that comes from this is particularly high. In addition, this was the first World Record run to ever implement the mega difficult Gusty Glade Wrong Warp, which killed so many of my attempts before this one. I am not going to be attempting another PB in this category in the near future, although I have a feeling I will try to beat this time some day. I'll be moving on to other games and other categories before then.This video is the run as it happened in real time, broadcasted live on my Twitch channel.Run FAQ: pastebin.com/KVa4XXKRFor a version with post-commentary click here: youtu.be/nMczRVfQ1FQFor a gameplay only, no commentary version click here: youtu.be/YYzcnmg1-NcTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Donkey Kong Country 2 Any% Speedrun in 38:28 SBDWolf 2020-10-26 | I've been working on this game very actively for the past 8 months. I'm not done quite yet, but I'm pretty happy with this time! Decent early game, mediocre rest of the run. The biggest single mistake of the run was getting caught by a Cat O' Nine Tails in Mudhole Marsh which resulted in getting hit as well (+ 7 seconds). I will be attempting WR going forth.I apologize for the stutters here and there, I hope I can get them sorted out soon. CPU issues.- How are you ending some levels early?Certain levels have Wrong Warps that allow the player to get ejected out of the stage and proceed to the next one. There are two ways to do this.One way involves getting an invisible object through one of the many glitches to get one, which clears the item you're holding from memory and allows you to hold whichever object ends up getting loaded to the memory address where the old object used to exist. If you happen to throw a bonus barrel, a warp barrel or a bonus cannon while facing left, and then enter it, the game executes a piece of code that ends the stage early.The second way involves Kutlasses and Blast Barrels or Animal Buddy Barrels. A piece of Kutlasses' behavior during their sword-lifting animation is coded incorrectly, where instead of modifying a memory value related to the Kutlass, it modifies a value related to the player's state. If during that moment the player happens to be exiting one of the aforementioned barrels and holding left or right on the dpad, it'll trigger a Wrong Warp.(Note that Yellow Kutlasses need to have one of the kongs get hit at a certain timing for the glitch to work)- What's going on in Arctic Abyss?Normally if you swap kongs, time stops until the swap is complete. But this doesn't occur if you swap kongs in water, which allows them to get hit by an enemy during the swap. This can be exploited by luring a Lockjaw next to a wall's corner, and allowing the kongs to get hit during a swap while they're in the wall, which makes the remaining kong zip upwards. This trick can be done in any water level, but if the camera doesn't follow the player they are prevented from moving. By sheer luck the end goal target for Arctic Abyss is right above the beginning area of the level and the floor beneath it is barely within camera view. This allows for movement after the zip, and for the goal to be hit.- How's the race in Screech's Sprint skipped?The trigger for the race to start doesn't extend all the way up, so simply flying high up enough in the race area will skip the race. Taking damage while the race is starting will also unlock the camera and work as a pseudo-skip.This game has a ton of technical information about it, so if you're interesting in reading more and/or you're interested in running it you can check out the DKC Speedrun Wiki here: dkcspeedruns.comTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania II: Simons Quest Any% Speedrun (JP FDS) in 4:03/3:43 loadless [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-07-10 | This was an unbelievable run which I got as my second attempt of the first day back after a year or so. I'm not gonna try to beat this any time soon. Good luck to whoever decides to.This is the Japanese version of Castlevania 2 (known as "Dracula II: Noroi no Fuuin") which came out on the Famicom Disk System add-on for the Famicom. It includes a variety of extra glitches useful for speedrunning, which can be used to beat the game in under 5 minutes. Here's a breakdown of the route:- Buy holy water;- Go to Veros Town and try to get the Night Gitch. It involves going through a screen transition on the same frame it'd turn night, which skips the text box and keeps the daylight. This saves 7 seconds.- Take a death off of the eyeball on the same frame as a screen transition. This delays the death and respawns Simon in an unstable, white-textured, glitched version of Ondol Town.- Hope the game doesn't crash while trying to floor drop down (it's important to not press any buttons on the controller during the loading time or it'll guarantee a crash), then void out to the left. This respawns Simon in a glitch world.- Navigate through the glitch world to Dracula's castle.- Attempt the Hexadrop (double floor drop followed by the quad drop).- Kill Dracula with two frame perfect Holy water tosses (the last active frame of the holy water is glitched and deals 185 HP of damage, enough to kill Dracula in two hits if nailed).With this run, Night Glitch and Hexadrop are now mandatory for a world record run. This makes it at least 6 mandatory frame perfect tricks (some floor drops during the Hexadrop didn't feel frame perfect so they aren't being counted, but I never really tested that).Time without loads is 3:43.217. Time without loads is used because the Famicom Disk System has inconsistent loading times, so they are removed for fairness.I played on Wii Virtual Console. This lost me about a second from a slightly lower framerate, but it was the best option available to me. WiiVC has very short loading times compared to original hardware, keeps the sound intact (unlike an Everdrive/Powerpak on an unmodded NES) and has low input delay (unlike emulator which also emulates the long loading times and disk side switching).Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania: Dracula X Any% Speedrun in 13:35 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-05-02 | Got my goal for now. 13:2x is realistic, perhaps even 13:1x, but I'm moving on to something else for the moment being. Very fun run, if anybody decides to challenge this I wish you good luck.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania: Dracula X Any% Speedrun in 13:44 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-04-26 | Good run, but not quite my goal. Gonna keep at it.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania: Dracula X Any% Speedrun in 13:55 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-04-25 | Got the sub 14! Not done yet, goal is 13:3x.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania: Dracula X Any% Speedrun in 14:03 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-04-23 | Almost had the 13:XX despite the terrible level 3 and then I choked the 6-cycle Dracula. Oh well. Next PB might do it.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania 2-loop Speedrun (Hard Mode) in 24:27 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-04-22 | (Hard mode starts at 13:10)Cleaned up this run, happy with it.If high efforts were made to optimize this category, this time could still go 20 seconds lower or so. Sub 24 still seems extremely unlikely.Loop 1 time was 11:34 , Loop 2 time was 11:28. Keep in mind that loop 2 is a little bit faster by nature thanks to an exclusive skip in level 2 that saves 15 seconds.-Q: What is the purpose of this run?-A: When you beat the game, it allow you to replay it again on Hard Mode. This adds new enemies, makes them faster, and makes everything deal maximum damage from the start.So the goal of the 2-loop run is to beat the game once to access Hard Mode, and then go through it.An interesting quirk about Hard Mode is that it's not just enemies that are faster, but Simon's subweapons too. This notably makes it so that the standard kill on Frank doesn't work (holy waters fly offscreen instead of landing on the floor) and so that 2-cycle Dracula is harder due to the crosses being more difficult to recatch.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Cuphead All Bosses Speedrunning Tutorial (Legacy) SBDWolf 2020-04-20 | I'll be honest, I don't think this is a great tutorial in the sense that it's a bit poorly paced and poorly structured. But, at the very least it should be up to date (for now) and it should contain all the information needed both for beginners to get their first speedrun done and for the players with already some experience to polish up their play. I hope one day there will be a better resource to learn, perhaps in an entirely different format. But I also hope this can help a few people out there in the meantime.Here's a few timestamps:0:00 - Run introduction2:53 - Forest Follies4:32 - Forest Follies Advanced12:17 - Shop14:25 - The Root Pack & Weapon Swap Glitch explanation16:48 - The Root Pack Advanced & Lobber Glitch explanation24:06 - Ribby and Croaks & Hitbox/Health explanation30:47 - Ribby and Croaks Advanced37:43 - Goopy Le Grande38:41 - Goopy Le Grande Advanced41:57 - Hilda Berg45:37 - Hilda Berg Intermediate 48:00 - Hilda Berg Advanced, Hilda Glitch55:39 - Cagney Carnation1:00:38 - Baroness Von Bon Bon1:09:56 - Wally Warbles & Weapon Swap Glitch explanation for plane stages1:17:59 - Wally Warbles Advanced & Luigi Swaps explanation1:23:02 - Djimmi The Great1:28:28 - Djimmi The Great Phases 2 & 3 advanced (Djimmi Glitch)1:33:47 - Beppi The Clown1:45:04 - Grim Matchstick1:50:52 - Grim Matchstick final phase explanation1:53:31 - Rumor Honeybottoms2:02:57 - Dr. Kahl's Robot, Robot Glitch explanation and safest (slow) method2:08:02 - Dr. Kahl''s Robot, Fast Glitch (two methods)2:12:22 - Dr. Kahl's Robot, Fastest Glitch2:14:24 - Sally Stageplay2:17:46 - Sally Stageplay Advanced2:19:47 - Werner Werman2:25:11 - Werner Werman Advanced & Lobber manipulations on the fly2:29:14 - Captain Brineybeard2:38:52 - Captain Brineybeard Advanced, Parry method2:46:10 - Captain Brineybeard Advanced, Tank method2:50:52 - Cala Maria2:57:58 - Cala Maria Advanced3:06:40 - Cala Maria "Softlock" and Backup3:09:59 - Phantom Express3:15:43 - Phantom Express Advanced3:20:55 - King Dice3:27:36 - King Dice Advanced3:35:28 - The Devil3:44:18 - The Devil Advanced3:51:06 - ConclusionMy controller layout:Jump: Right BumperShoot: Left TriggerEx Shoot: ASwitch Weapon: XLock: Left BumperDash: YAs for the Ribby and Croaks one-cycle Super Skip on the punches pattern:pastebin.com/aHqfY1rnHere's some useful links/resources:-- Cuphead Leaderboards - speedrun.com/cuphead-- Cuphead Discord - discordapp.com/invite/2BcMwEd-- Debug/Health bar mod - speedrun.com/cuphead/resources-- Old Hilda Glitch tutorial: youtu.be/5qnNrukv4OE-- Old Beppi Glitch tutorial: youtu.be/3IFe-aUpUA0-- Beginners guide to setting up a run: give this a read if you're completely lost in terms of rules, how to setup the game, how to time the run etc - docs.google.com/document/d/1ucyANIrtNijyi0NJc0foCTJ8V16hefsZORM4Nin2oIA/edit-- Go to the above document if you also want to know how to revert back to Legacy v1.0 (section 5.2)-- Best achieved times for individual stages with full-run strats and equipment - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xHwgDSSaUlgRLiEDr-aCo5Hmmy3OWyL70qGQfOGWW0g/edit?usp=sharing-- luigi100's PB of 23:51, the first sub 24 run of Cuphead: luigi uses completely default controls, and his run was achieved without any Lobber Glitches and without any Luigi Swaps. You should use this run as a reference if you can't or don't want to do any of the difficult techniques, but still want to get a great time - youtu.be/uahkw51s36s
Castlevania: Dracula X Any% Speedrun in 14:09 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-04-14 | (I am aware there is something odd about the audio. I'll figure it out for future uploads, apologies in the meantime)This was the second of two WR's in the same day. Still lots of time to save, final goal will probably be somewhere in the high 13:XX range.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania II: Simons Quest - 100% Speedrun in 39:38 [Current World Record] SBDWolf 2020-02-18 | First sub-40. Not a bad run, but I wouldn't call this stellar either. With the amount of mistakes and insecurities from my part this category could easily go more than one full minute lower. That being said, I'm done pushing this for now, maybe I'll improve it more some time in the future.That ending was... an experience I'll never forget.- What's the 100% definition here?Full inventory: All subweapons, all quest items, upgrade the whip to the maximum level (Flame Whip). Getting to the highest experience level is NOT required.- What kind of wacky route is this?It aims to get the best whip money can buy right away which is the Morning Star, as the Flame Whip can only be acquired after said whip. Then it blob boosts, clears Laruba Mansion first, then proceeds to go through all the important quest locations while picking everything up on the road and minimizing detours and backtracking in a satisfactory enough way. This contains most of the major sources of luck within the first 15 minutes of the run (heart farming, blob boost, and Carmilla, the boss of Laruba Mansion) which can be more easily reset over until good luck is achieved.I think TAS-wise there's a faster route, namely the one used in Burb's former WR run of 41:45, but I'm fairly confident for RTA this route is more consistent, more fun, easier to utilize to its full potential, and overall better.For other general game-related curiosities you can give a read to the FAQ section under my, as of this writing, current Any% PB here: youtu.be/95-iYA1ebkwTwitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Castlevania 2 Any% - Blob Boost tips SBDWolf 2020-02-03 | Going over what I know about the Blob Boost and how to make it more consistent. It's still entirely random what the blob does, but the player can make more informed decisions to be able to get the trick more often.
Castlevania II: Simons Quest - Any% Speedrun in 30:52 [Former World Record] SBDWolf 2020-01-26 | What a tough speedrun! The amount of things that have to go right, both from the execution side and the luck side, for a good run, is pretty insane. After almost a year of having learned the run, and close to two straight months of running this game extremely actively (almost daily, often for 6-8 hours a day during the final couple weeks) this is the result. I'm not completely satisfied with this time but I'm probably ready to move on for the moment being. Good luck to whoever will attempt to beat this.And shoutouts to truefalse for gifting me an original cartridge of the game since mine was dying. Forgot to mention him at the end but it was a very kind act of him, thank you man :)- How are you clipping through floors?It's a glitch. When Simon whips on the same frame he falls off of a 2-block height and his Y-subpixel is of a specific value (usually 3/32 possible values) he'll clip through the floor on landing. This makes floor drops a frame-perfect and subpixel-dependent trick. In actuality, the controller input "left/right + B" allows to pixel advance fairly easily, which makes hitting the frame for the floor drops easier.It's even possible to chain floor drops one after another if the two floors are separated by a 3-block gap, but it's again frame perfect, this time with nothing that can be done to make them easier but just timing them well. Sometimes lag can make them a 2-frame window though.- But how are you going through some floors without whipping and even some walls?Game's nonsense. Castlevania II is filled with fake floors and walls, especially inside mansions. It's supposed to be an extra trap/troll/puzzle.- What is happening inside Rover mansion?I'm not entirely confident of the technical explanation, but what I think is going on is that the game checks loading zones based on Simon's position on the screen. If he gets to the edge of a map, the screen will stop scrolling and will allow Simon to walk to the side of the screen, which is how the game most likely determines when to load a screen transition. By using the moving block, it's possible to arbitrarily move Simon to the edge of the screen and trigger a loading zone in unintended places by pressing the opposite direction on the dpad (so it's possible to do it on command, and that's how I delay it the first time until after buying the oak stake). On that screen there doesn't exist a map to the right, so Simon ends up in a glitched screen that resembles Laruba mansion. And then by doing a double floor drop to the bottom and going back left again it's possible to end up fairly close to the orb containing Dracula's Heart.- What is happening in that cemetery around the 21 minutes mark?This is another screen that has no proper level connection on the left side. This is normally not a problem because it should be inaccessible, but by doing a whip-jump (a bit higher than a normal jump) and getting hit by a blob at the peak of Simon's jump, it's possible to get up the 4-block ledge and access the left loading zone, which ends up wrong warping very close to Laruba mansion. This is known as the Blob Boost, and is probably the most infamous trick in the entire run. There's zero ways to manipulate the blob's jump heights and jump delays, so whether or not the run will even be able to continue, 21 minutes in, before Simon's health is depleted, is mostly up to chance.- How are bosses dying that quickly with the holy water?It's another glitch. The last active frame of most subweapons is incorrectly coded and will always end up dealing 185 HP of damage instead of the normal amount. This ends up being enough to potentially one-shot every single enemy in the game except for Carmilla and Dracula. The way the golden dagger crits enemies is a bit different, it has to do with overlapping hitboxes and will always only kill one of them.Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
