Blaster Master Area 1 Boss

Blaster Master Area 1 Boss
by ZeroNoin

The boss of Area 1 has subtle RNG that affects its movement.  I have yet to figure how its RNG works exactly, and if it can be manipulated.  After coming up with my own strats, there seem to be three main strats for the time being.

Grenades are ideal here because of their lingering hitbox and the lack of invincibility frames for this boss.  Pausing during grenades does not seem helpful here.

Hit Points - 128
Invincibility Frames - 3 (includes frame when hit; can be hit again on the 3rd frame after being hit)
Minimum Fight Duration - 190 Frames (about 3.16 seconds)

-Fast Strategy-

Position right of the boss facing left while it spawns.  Position your character so grenades land where the top-left of their hurtbox barely overlaps the bottom-right of the boss's hitbox.  Mash grenades as the boss spawns and hope that the RNG paths it downward about 8 or 16 pixels.  When the boss moves closer and is no longer hit by the grenade spam, quickly move right (perhaps holding A to stay facing left), and stop where the left side of your grenade's hurtbox overlaps right side of the boss's hitbox.  Spam grenades again until it dies (hopefully before it gets too close).  Moving down for the second barrage of grenades instead can be much safer and almost as fast as moving right.

If the boss quickly moves directly at you, walking through it (with 1 health to spare) to the other side and turning around may be a good idea.  In any case, moving up or down or right or left (whichever gets you farther from the boss's hitbox quicker) and turning around may be necessary to finish it.

-Safe Strategy-

An interesting thing I noticed about the boss of Area 1 is if you stand 0 to 6 pixels from the bottom of the room, the boss's main body cannot hit you (revolving orbs still can).  Also, if you are near the bottom of the room facing upward (standing on the boss's lower body), your grenades will still hit the boss while you do not get it.

The other thing about standing down from the boss is that it removes the RNG factor in its movement; the boss will always move downward when you are below it (except when it briefly bounces off the bottom of the screen).

The super safe strat is to face and hold upward (hold A) while positioned down from the boss but up from the revolving orbs as it spawns.  Transition to the bottom of the room as the orbs move out of the way.  Spam grenades until the boss dies.

The regular safe strat is to stand below the boss as it spawns, facing upward positioned so that your grenades land where the top of their hitbox barely overlaps the bottom of the boss's hitbox.  Spam grenades until the boss moves nearly past where they can hit it.  Hold A to face up then quickly move down for the second barrage.  Do the same for the third barrage, which should position you near the bottom wall where you cannot be hit.

If the safe strat is well-executed, the boss can be killed before it reaches the bottom of the screen.

-Behind Strategy-

If you have about 3 or more bars of health, standing at the top of the room can perhaps have benefit.  When mashing grenades decently, this strategy will typically endure 2 or 3 hits, sometimes 1 or 4.  Since the boss spawns near the top and the screen, and bounces off the top of the screen, this strategy is viable.

Simply face downward, hold A, move to the top of the room directly behind the boss, and mash grenades until the boss dies.

-Comparison-

The safe strat is obviously great for when your character cannot take damage.  It is also great for situations where you want to be less risky, such as races.  Moving down on the fast strat for the second barrage of grenades is also pretty safe.

When the fast strat has good RNG and is well-executed, it seems to be about 25 frames faster than a well-executed safe strat.  But because of RNG, I suspect the average safe strat tends to do better than the average fast strat.

A behind strat with good RNG is about 10 frames slower than a well-executed safe strat.  The main strength of the behind strat is simple execution; while the fast strat can go very poorly, and the safe strat can go somewhat poor, this strat is pretty consistent, but of course usually requires extra health.

Video demonstration of strategies - https://youtu.be/UTonfz3cNEg

Credits
The fast strat has been convention in the community; not sure if it can be credited.