Spikevegeta's KH1 Segmented Run Comments

Author's comments:

    Segment 1:(0:00:00--0:47:06)

    DESTINY ISLANDS:
    -Damn heartless decided to jump, cost a second or two.
    -The box I'm supposed to break at the beginning likes to force me on top of it all the time while I'm trying to jump attack it. Thankfully that wasn't an issue.
    -Got really lucky on grouping the heartless together before Darkside.
    -I can attack Darkside's head instead of his hand, but it takes time to run up his hand to reach it. Also, the damage output doesn't increase, I just get Tech points, speeding up my Leveling slightly.
    -Lost a second on that ladder to the rope, other than that the first collecting section went great.
    -Ohhhhh, this always seemed like the longest cutscene with the paupu fruit/meeting donald and goofy.
    -The second fish decided to be dumb this time, but I've seen those fish be a lot worse than that before. The other two were perfect though.
    -This is the fastest route for collecting everything from what I've tested.
    -Coconut's could have been better.
    -I originally tried doing the run on my TV at my house, but unfortunatly it had to be done at a friend's because my screen's brightness couldn't be turned up, and it was so dark that after Sora wakes up and goes to Riku, All I could see was Sora and the eyes of the shadow's, which sucked.
    -Second Darkside fight was awesome to say the least.

    TRAVERSE TOWN:
    -After many tests, it takes defeating 5 heartless, than walking into Cid's shop to trigger Leon showing up.
    -The Leon "fight" went really well, usually he likes to screw around and never hit me, but he only jumped back twice very quickly.

    Segment 2:(0:47:06--1:03:50)


    -The Elixer I collect in the hotel isn't for actual usage, it's to sell with other items for the Haste Gummi later on, which is faster than selling about 500 gummi shards.
    -For Guard Armor the fastest I've found to kill him is to attack at roughly his "crotch" area, so you are simultaneously hitting his torso and both of his feet.
    -The reason for using the blue trinity is also the Haste Gummi, but it's debatable that just selling gummi pieces would have actually been faster. Oh well.
    -I leave through the Accesory shop so I can warp back here throughout the game instead of arriving at the large doors everytime.

    WONDERLAND:
    -I hate those drink's at the start, it's totally random where you have to stand to trigger them.
    -Getting the first piece of evidence is the first place in the game where I have to get all the heartless to dissapear before I can trigger something.

    Segment 3:(1:03:50--1:07:55)
    -It didn't really matter to me whether or not I picked the right piece of evidence or not, but it does make the battle a little easier.
    -The Card Soldier battle was really good, I start by locking on to the front wheel then move to the back, so I can hit all three of them at once. After that I got very lucky that I automatically locked onto the tower, since it usually likes to lock onto everything but the tower.
    -While I wasn't able to pull off the full skip by detaching the hatch before any heartless showed up, I only had to go to the corner and kill one Soldier, so it was still a very good skip. Besides I've only gotten that full skip once in my life.

    Segment 4: (1:07:55--1:27:38)
    -Trickmaster went really well, getting a distance away then using Fire is the fastest and most consistent way to knock him out. Yay for practical uses of Offensive magic in this game.

    DEEP JUNGLE:
    -Needed quite a few resets to get an acceptable Sabor battle, this one was pretty good.
    -Thanks to experimenting with shortcuts in this level, this is the last time I have to slide down the trunks, which I usually had to do everytime back in the day.
    -I go ahead and get the slides before I talk to Jane, which is obviously faster.
    -I grab another item while in the Hippo's Lagoon for the Haste Gummi.
    -Pretty odd, that by heading to the back of the Hippo's Lagoon you never had to actually swing on vines, which is a great relief.
    -One more thing about the Hippo's Lagoon is that a friend found a quicker route by taking the right side. Apparently there is a hippo that rises up just in time to get you to another platform than to the final hippo, which is likely a little bit faster. I didn't know about it until after the run was over, but oh well, that's one for the future.

    Segment 5:(1:27:38--1:31:27)
    -Yay for more practical uses of offensive magic. Blizzard speeds up the Powerwild battles a lot.
    -Overall, really good battles.

    Segment 6:(1:31:27--1:35:09)
    -This is a really hard battle since Sabor doesn't like to stay still ever. This is probably the best battle I've ever had with him though, or at least close to.
    -Since I'll be using the shortcut to the cliffs, I have to save at the treehouse instead of the usual place, the Tent after sliding down the trunks. Still it saves a lot of time.

    Segment 7:(1:35:09--1:49:06)
    -Pick up one more item for the Haste Gummi
    -Shortcut puts me right into the cutscene.
    -Clayton/Stealth Sneak is one my favorite parts of the run, check out how much my party members actually help, especially the part we are surrounding clayton from all sides just destroying his health bar(I wish I had Scan so I could see how fast it depleted).
    -I absolutely hate the waterfall section right after the battle, it cost me close to 100 retries by itself. The game mechanics weren't made to be a platformer, but Square decided to make a random platforming section anyways. Sora loves to just not grab hold of ledgers even when you are right on top of them, many times sending you all the way back to the bottom of the platform. Also, at the end there is another shortcut, but it is VERY difficult, and only saves maybe 5-8 seconds. After having such a good segment up to that point, I decided to take the slower route and get on with the run.
    -Going back to Traverse Town through the Wonderland route is about 90 seconds faster than the other route.

    Segment 8:(1:49:06--2:01:15)

    TRAVERSE TOWN 2:
    -Again, I have to clear out a group of heartless so I can activate the Red Trinity. I've once gotten it without having to kill anything, but it was just about as slow, since the Rhapsody's had to dissapear, so I decided to just blast them with fire.
    -I sell all of my loose items to Cid which gives me 1008 Munni total, awesome since the Haste Gummi costs 1000, and I didn't have to sell any gummi pieces at all, saving a lot time.
    -The platforming area in front of Merlin's shop was another spot that was so dark that it wasn't possible to see on my TV screen.
    -I'm pretty sure swimming back is a tad bit faster than hopping along the platforms.
    -I have to unlock the door back to the first district after the Riku cutscene since afterwards heartless pop up around it.
    -I save the Bell Tower/Reverse Armor quest until I come back later in the game, since I can kill him very fast then.

    Segment 9:(2:01:15--2:15:32)
    -I "upgrade" my Gummi ship by taking off everything that's not necessary and adding the Haste Gummi, which makes my ship much faster. This is the only time in the run I do anything to the ship(who would ever want to do much with this poorly designed aspect of the game anyways).

    AGRABAH:
    -Battle in the alley could have been better, but the heartless didn't want to stick together.
    -I stepped on the save point to replenish my MP so I could summon Simba in the desert.
    -Using Simba is the fastest way to defeat all of the heartless in the desert.
    -Clearing out the Heartless to unlock the palace gates is very hard, since if you fall down to the bottom level, a bunch of other heartless pop up, and then other times the first 4 heartless fall down and you can't kill them, luckily Goofy jumped down and killed the last heartless.
    -I have to watch another short cutscene so I can save before the pot centipede/Tiger head boss battles, two of the most annoying in the run.

    Segment 10:(2:15:32--2:23:49)
    -This is my only other usage of a summon in this game and it's Simba again. He is the fastest way to clear out all of the Pot Spiders, because if the Pot Centipede busts through the first door it's a reset. For actually killing the Pot centipede, you have to stay right in front of him so his antenna's don't hit you.
    -As for the Tiger Head, this is a decent battle, but coupled with the really good Pot Centipede battle, I accepted it. The battle looks frustrating, but overall my best attempt at it in my life isn't much faster.

    Segment 11:(2:23:49--2:36:58)
    -This is the first time in my entire life I've gotten Jafar to never move off that platform. It's pretty easy to make him do two full attacks, but it's almost impossible to get him to stay for a third attack.
    -After the amazing luck I had against Jafar, Iago could have been a little bit nicer about staying in area's I can't hit him at. Still, it was pretty fast.
    -I head to pick up my first Power Up of the game, which I couldn't get earlier because Jafar is the battle that gives me the Green Trinity.
    -I was so relieved when this segment was over, because it meant the hardest level in the game with 4 of the hardest most random bosses in the run was finally over.

    Segment 12:(2:36:58--2:49:39)

    MONSTRO:
    -It seems like since I was young, I just knew this route like the back of my hand, I just had to remember to take Chamber 2 on the first screen.
    -The first Parasite Cage boss battle went really well, since I only got knocked back 2 or 3 times.

    Segment 13:(2:49:39--2:57:40)
    -The reason for the last save isn't because of Parasite Cage II, but so I can make sure that Monstro doesn't show up when i warp to him. By warping to him, then him not showing up, I can get to Halloween Town in no time.
    -Against Parasite Cage II, I try to only use two hit combo's on him for a while after he gets knocked out, since after two full combo's he wakes up immediatly. Besides the scare at the end, it was a really good fight.

    Segment 14:(2:57:40--3:14:43)

    HALLOWEEN TOWN:
    -I don't know why the game designer's decided to put only two save points in this world. Meaning I can't save until after Lock Shock and Barrel, making for a lengthy segment. Full of annoying parts where you can't activate things and open doors until you clear out heartless.
    -That ledge you have to grab to get up to the Power Up can be tricky at times, and caused it's fair share of resets.
    -Graveyard battle was very quick.
    -I restarted the segment every time until 5 white mushrooms showed up in the graveyard, this made that section much faster.
    -By jumping when you cast Fire on the rising platforms, you can jump immediatly onto the platforms, so you don't have to wait until they come back down.
    -The battle at the door is really annoying. While that battle was actually very lucky and good, I forgot to hold onto 1 MP for usage of Fire on the risinig platform, so I had to attack one of the heartless Inside, but then I had to wait until it moved so I could use Fire on the platform instead of them.
    -It's unfortunate that one of the hardest segments in the run has to end with one of the most annoying boss battles in the run. Lock Shock and Barrel suck so bad. Lock at the end might be the worst part of the run, so sorry to all viewers.

    Segment 15:(3:14:43--3:33:20)
    -After many tests, this is the fastest combination to killing Oogie Boogie, and boy oh boy was it difficult to get. Hitting those dice back at him is one of the hardest parts of this entire run. They never like to stay together, you can only hit them in about 2 or 3 second frame, and I have a short reach keyblade on. Makes for quite a few resets. I need to hit the first and third set of dice back at him, since if you hit the first and second sets of dice then he doesn't even throw a third set and he puts you through the longest possible animation he's got, the bouncing blades. So I let the second set go(although I wanted to hit two back at him, but it just meant I had to use an extra Fire to kill him at the end).
    -It sucks so bad that they give you another one of the hardest battles in the game right after maybe the hardest. No real problems with this battle, I never fell, but that would have been a reset anyways. Very quick executions, although I probably could have not saved at the last pod, but can you blame me after making it that far.
    -If these two boss battles weren't enough for this segment, there is a small chance that while flying to Neverland, the Pirate ship won't show up, causing you to go all the way to Atlantica. The odds of it happening are probably lower than Monstro not showing up two segments ago, but still very troublesome after those two battles.

    NEVERLAND: -The start of Neverland is very simple, I just walk all the way to the save point. Of course I have a real eye-soar at the end of the segment that costs about 3 seconds. I accidentally jumped up into the wrong whole, so I had to go through the door to get to the save point. Nerves had probably set in at this point, since I have NEVER screwed this up before.

    Segment 16:(3:33:20--3:37:32)
    -Anti-Sora is annoying enough to where I give him his own segment.
    -I attach Vortex for this battle since it makes it much easier to hit him. Your vertical swing often misses him when he is walking away.
    -Overall a good battle.

    Segment 17:(3:37:32--4:08:42)
    -Prepare for a Loooooong segment with mostly cutscenes.
    -Using Stop on the Pirate ship heartless is a good idea since it likes to shoot across the screen so much.
    -Captain Hook battle was awesome, as long as you stay airborne he can't use his counter attack, which is a very long animation.

    TRAVERSE TOWN 3:
    -Well, it's time to go back and lock Traverse Town, I can do it pretty quickly now.
    -Reverse Armor is an absolute piece of cake now.
    -The day I did this segment, I was able to make a wonderful discovery, I found the Kingdom Hearts Official strategy guide at a local store. I flipped through it thinking I might be able to find something that I hadn't already known, and looky there apparently if you go to Neverland's' clock tower while the game clock reads 4:xx:xx, then a door is opened that gives you a Power Up, which is premium stuff in a speed run, and on top of that, it times out perfectly, I get there at about 4:00:15 or so, and I already have to warp to Neverland so I can fly to Hollow Bastion. Overall, a great discovery.

    HOLLOW BASTION:
    -I have fond memories of this level, as it signified the point where I fell in love with this series. In this run, it signified the easy part of the run, the final two hours.
    -Originally I planned this segment to go even further and end after I complete the sewers puzzle saving on my way out. I didn't lose anytime, but my reasoning behind it was my discovery of an amazingly powerful weapon for Goofy, the Defender, which is dropped by obviously defenders. His attack would increase from 1 to 10, and he would have +9 to his strength. So goofy could have been a big help for the rest of the run. I tried this about 150 times, then checked Gamefaqs to get a drop rate for the weapon. I expected it to be low, but it was only .02%, meaning a single defender had a 1/500 chance of getting it. Unfortunatly this was about 5 days before school started back up, and I really wanted to get this run done before that started back up. So I said screw it and I gave up after 200 total attempts and went on with the run. Sorry to all of my viewers, but if somebody else wants to improve this run, that would be a big tip to breaking my record.

    Segment 18: (4:08:42--4:17:53)
    -The third Shadow Stalker was a real bastard by staying behind the crystal so Beast couldn't hit him with his special, making him take forever.
    -Riku went really well, and this is the first battle where you get to see Ars Arcanum.

    Segment 19:(4:17:53--4:29:13)
    -Collecting these emblems can be a pain, mainly because of those torches, as twice I locked onto something else. Not a big deal though, as the rest of the segment was pretty good.
    -That Power Up is another secret I didn't know about until I read the Strategy Guide, but that was from when I read it before the run started.
    -By flying over to that seperate platform, I keep from having to kill too many heartless to activate the crystal. Only two came over which is really good.
    -I found that to activate the crystal, all I have to do is kill the first set of heartless, leave, then come back and activate the crystal.
    -I actually knew about the glitch to skip lowering the other half of the platform years ago. Simple, yet very effective.
    -I've never seen a video of this Maleficent strategy online, so I wonder if I'm the first to figure this out, it has to qualify as a glitch what I'm doing to her, and it's one of the absolute best parts of the run.

    Segment 20:(4:29:13--4:33:52)
    -This was the first battle where I broke down and used Aero. I have to cure so much, that it saves a lot of time.
    -I find it odd that everyone would call this the hardest battle in the whole game. Even when I was a little kid I thought this boss was really easy. Don't get me wrong, she gets her own segment, because she certainly has the potential to kill me at this level, and I didn't want to group her with either segment surrounding it.

    Segment 21:(4:33:52--4:51:42)
    -Since I finally have a third accessory slot, I can reattach the White Fang.
    -The Riku II boss used to be the hardest part of the game for me when I first played it 6 years ago. I would die dozens of times before I finally killed him. Thankfully I realized the true strength of CounterAttack and Ars Arcanum in this fight and it has since become a much more bearable battle and a fun one-on-one dual.
    -For the shadow section, it's fastest to just jump off of every ledge besides the last one, since it takes longer to teleport back up and go through the main doors.

    Segment 22:(4:51:42--5:07:44)
    -I would think that attaching the Oathkeeper keyblade saves me a few seconds in the two forced fights on the way to the Behemoth.
    -The trick to going back to Hollow Bastion is to make sure your ship is destroyed right when I destroy mine(after the screen changes), that way the path to Hollow Bastion opens back up and I can just warp there.
    -The path I take to get up to the Oblivion Keyblade must be taken to avoid any heartless showing up.
    -Ars Arcanum works very well on Behemoths as you can see.

    Segment 23:(5:07:44--5:17:59)
    -I decide to give Sora as much strength here as possible for the final battles(since there's a lot of them). This includes attaching the Omega Arts at the start.
    -Of the two optional battles I engage in, the first one gives me a second Omega Arts, which gives +2 more attack then one of the other accesories, while the Power Up only requires a very quick battle.
    -The Olympus Coliseum and Atlantica battles are the only required fights in the pillar section.
    -The Atlantica fight ends up being sub-par because of the large fish floating in the center, and me accidentally casting Aero on myself(I thought it was still Firaga)

    Segment 24:(5:17:59--5:27:09)
    -In the hallway outside the laboratory, I try to keep a good distance from the entrance portal, since that could warp me back out.
    -The Chernabog fight is very annoying, because he likes to blow you away a lot, and you need to have Aero on to prevent his Volcano attack from killing you. If it comes up and your not at full health with Aero on, it's game over.
    -Final Behemoth battle could have been better.
    -I rate the large Heartless battle based on whether or not I'm constantly dealing damage to something. Considering the Angel winged heartless never really shield themselves and the darkside looking heartless only screws with with it's invisible attack once, I thought the battle was very good.
    -At the Final Rest I clock in 9 minutes, 3 seconds ahead of the Ultima Garden World Record. Happy is me.

    Segment 25:(5:27:09--5:49:34)
    -Well, here we go.
    -The only really hard parts of the final battle with Ansem are his 1st and 3rd phases. Particularly when he makes his Guardian part of you. It's not a problem when he gives you the warning before hand(Insolent...) but most of the time he just lundges out and does it, and "Submit" comes as your getting hit. Since I'm focusing on relentlessly attacking him, and this is a speed run, I can't be cautious so I have to just go right at him and hope the battle is fine overall. Most of the time I can attack him anyways and it actually gets easier at times I just have to be careful.
    -I remove Ars Arcanum for Guard since Ansem's rush attack can kill you without using Guard.
    -For the most part the Ansem Ship battles are simple enough, and I get a little aggressive at times, electing to finish some battles rather than healing.
    -When Ansem swings his blade around furiously I continue attacking since I can still deal some damage and a lot of the time it deflects his attacks.
    -I don't really like the dark room battles, since I obviously can't see, and the heartless in those battles like to do anything besides stay still.
    -Against the jelly like core of the ship, It's easier to avoid projectiles by moving from side to side constantly.
    -Enjoy the ending.