[ANALYSIS] Zooney Tunes 100% - 3:43.6

Analysis of my Zooney Tunes 100% - 3:43.6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVGkavisTgQ


At the start of the level, I wait a little bit before pressing any button so that Taz is close enough to the entrance that it starts opening - the tutorial starts when Taz stops that animation he does when you enter a new map (walking a bit then looking around at his sides), which can be done by waiting a bit or by trying to do any action. I also line the camera up during the tutorials.

SW #9 at 1:13 was the final change to the route, replacing the SW on the wall next to #48 (2:13).

The start is quite difficult: you need to be quick after the spinpad or the blue boxes will get you and spinning up the fence (especially after spinning into all those bushes at 1:22) isn't easy. Not to mention that there are more of those annoying tutorials that cover up a third of the screen during this part.

I try to keep an eye on how much destruction I'm doing throughout all the 100% runs I do, so that I know if I need to go for backup destructibles. At the end of this level, the burp can tells me how much damage I've done: if the destruction slowdown happens before the sign slowdown, I've destroyed a bit too much stuff; if the destruction slowdown happens after the sign slowdown (like in this run), I've destroyed just enough stuff; if the destruction slowdown doesn't happen, I obviously didn't destroy enough stuff and I have one final backup object before the run dies (which is exactly what happened on my 3:46.4 - https://youtu.be/C8ONpoOWOPY?t=3m45s)

That spin from SW #28 (1:37) to SW #39 is very hard to do continuously, I usually had to separate it into two or even three different spins. I got more consistent at it once I realized holding right after SW #31 gets you on the perfect line for the next SWs (you can see me doing it by going frame-by-frame at 1:39).

Let's ignore that dynamite at 1:47. It had literally never happened before, so of course it happens on the run with the continuous spin and the three HVEs. At least I got the fast animation.

I accidentally dropped my spin at 1:57, I was supposed to spin onto the other platform (which I do right afterwards).

That spin to the log didn't work, I'm not sure how to make it work consistently. It's hard to get the position, angle and charge period right when you're already worrying about all the other things.

Something no one will notice unless I mention is the series of insane ricochets from 2:08-2:11. Those were very much intentional and effective, and further cements how amazing this run was (and how amazing the movement in this game is!).

The movement at 2:23-2:27 was a bit wonky, I recommend taking a look at this run https://youtu.be/ZUtzPc9aCdw?t=1m38s to see what that part should have looked like.

After the tire that launches you to the tire in the tree, you can sometimes hold right to fall on the cliffs above instead of taking an extra bounce to align yourself. I found that to be quite inconsistent, I think it depends on how you enter the launching tire so I just played it safe.

After the Van Sign, the camera just points wherever it wants to. I don't want to say that it's random but I can't figure out why it happens (go check some other runs, I swear I'm not going crazy). Unfortunately, in this run the camera pointed literally 180 degrees away from where it was pointing at before, which kind of messed me up.

Since I reached 15% destruction at the bush at 2:39 (which usually happens after the Van Sign), I don't go for the plants to the right of the blue box at 2:57.

After getting both HVEs, I start getting a bit nervous; the Tower HVE is much easier, but I failed (I think) two runs at that HVE.

The first big route difference happens at 3:05 - I destroy the Log Sign now for one reason and one reason only: I want the Beehive Sign to be the last sign I destroy (more on that later).

Speaking of how to enter tires, I needed an extra bounce to get SW #68 because I entered the tire weirdly.

I also didn't play fantastically at 3:24 - if you just keep spinning you'll usually miss some SWs on the ramp, so I stopped and walked down (since sliding down a steep slope doesn't make Taz splat). In retrospect, I should have jumped out of the spin, kept pressing B and held the control stick into the ramp to spin very quickly down the ramp into (hopefully) the two posts holding the Tower Sign.

I got the final HVE, but the run isn't over yet; there's still some tough movement ahead of me, so I take a breather and "unsweat" my hands before resuming the run.

The spin at 3:39 went perfectly - you don't just want to get all the SWs, you also ideally want to destroy the blue box and the two little plants at 3:44, which is exactly what I do.

Slight mistake at 3:50 - I hold up for too long before falling down and bump into the entrance to the tunnel, which causes me to gain speed diagonally into the fence instead of just horizontally into the Golden Sam. This is what should have happened: https://youtu.be/C8ONpoOWOPY?t=3m6s

That strat at 3:58 is essentially what made this route so good, I'm so happy it works. It's not 100% consistent, but I managed to clutch it this run.

Would you believe it if I said the strat at 4:00 was made up on the spot? I usually jumped over the fence to the bushes before collecting the log SWs, but I saw the strat right then and there and went with it. It went better than I could have possibly imagined (it's these things that make me love this run so much).

It's faster to activate the burp can right after you pick it up, like I did in my 3:46.4 (https://youtu.be/C8ONpoOWOPY?t=3m45s), but that's pretty risky because you might miss the destruction bonus. I knew my object count was pretty much on par, so going for the quick-burp would have been extremely risky. As you can see at 4:32, I get the destruction bonus pretty much right before the burp can runs out, so I made the right play.

Finally, the cool new strat - after destroying every sign, if you're on the Standard difficulty, you get a tutorial that puts you in a state that makes you unable to move (like the one at the start of the level) that lasts for ~6 seconds. Fortunately, you can break out of this state in a couple of different ways, notably slipping on a slippery surface (such as honey) or falling in water and drowning. After activating the burp can, I stand over the puddle of honey and mash A to skip both the Beehive Sign slowdown and the destruction bonus slowdown and after both happen I quickly make my way to the exit and finish the level.

The wallride to the end of the level gave me a lot of trouble during my grind, before I figured out what I was doing wrong: I wasn't charging my spin for long enough. At that point in the run you need to make it to the end VERY QUICKLY or the camera will make it pretty much impossible for you to do so, so I, unsurprisingly, wasn't charging my spins for long enough, failing to make it up there.

One more important thing I should mention, especially if anyone else wants to run this level: the truck going around the Beehive Sign is on a cycle that starts as soon as the hint videos at the start of the level start playing, which can mess you up in three places: while getting SWs #37 & 38, while approaching the Beehive Sign to destroy it and immediately afterwards (while going to the end of the level). If you play like on my run, you won't run into that truck by immediately skipping the starting videos, but if your pace is slower, you might have to watch them for a bit. I have used this strat before on my Any% run, as you can see here: https://youtu.be/2RQON-qn9DU?t=47s

If you read all of that, let me know if you found it interesting/useful (because my hands hurt after writing this and no one's paying me to do it =P).