werster's 2019 speedyear

2019 was a pretty good speed year. Ended up working on a lot of completionist categories of the 2D Sonics, worked on some really solid Pokemon runs along with branching out to some new stuff in that area, and a decent variety of other stuff too. I'm gonna start adding the marathon runs I do to this list, as I put a fair amount of work into making them good products to watch too.

Without further ado, here are my PB's from 2019, listed in chronological order:

Pokemon Soul Silver
Any% Glitchless in 3:35:41 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20y3SWVJR7E
Once again, started off with possibly my favourite speedgame out there. And perhaps the last of the genius routes that'll be put together. In what felt like a fairly sterile landscape, this route completely changed everything. Even now I still think I'm doing mental gymnastics when saying "playing Voltorb Flip for 3 minutes is faster". Love this game.

Pokemon Crystal
Rocky in 4:29:47 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i109QN-FqrQ
And so starts the new campaign. I mentioned above that I think it might've been the last 'genius' route, and what I meant by that was that the optimisations left in the (good) Pokemon speedgames are just not going to be interesting. I've been around some greats - the double Tentacruel, the Metronome, Flash, Chain Manip, using Theif on a Lucky Egg Chansey, and finally Voltorb Flip. But I think they are exhausted. And so now where do I turn to get my fix of genius? Alt Pokemon.
And Rocky is the first. Beating Crystal with just the in-game traded Onix, known as Rocky. Was a huge amount of fun, and I may end up coming back to this one at one stage. But very happy this was the start. There will be more of this in the future (and even on this list), the expansion of possibilities this gives is needed for my longevity of speedrunning Pokemon games.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear)
Any% in 15:46 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eIHb88Nk8
Max Special Bonus in 22:47 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg-1C6DmTeM
Did a fair amount of 8 bit stuff this year, and this game was probably my favourite of the bunch. Really enjoyed this one, and also really enjoyed the completionist category here too.

Pokemon Stadium 2
Gym Leader Castle Round 1 in 2:06:00 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqkqLDWEcVs
Potentially the most frustrating of all the runs I did this year, had so many great pace runs that died *right* at the end. I sadly had a few that were better than this one that ended up falling, but I was relieved to finally get a good improvement here.

Sonic 1 (2013)
Sonic in 12:40 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxrxUDD_4-U
Tails in 13:22 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuKpQ8rpkQs
Knuckles in 16:56 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dpZ6jQJT2c
I've reached a point where I largely prefer the 2013 remakes to the originals now. Just more fun to play. Except with Knuckles, lol. But Sonic is the main draw here. I only spent 2 days doing runs, but it was really fun. Definitely will do both 2013 games more in the future.

Wario Land II
100% Glitchless in 2:38:00 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yHHSvKyoyA
Ok, now this was fun. I had stayed away from this for a long time thinking it would be far to dependant on silver coins. But after actually putting some time into routing I found that wasn't the case. And that then naturally had me putting more time into routing...and man was it fun.

Sonic Battle
Cream's Story in 22:49 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3gOjORzAjM
Just decided to come back to this for a bit of fun and improve on of the single stories.

Sonic the Fighters
Sonic in 3'17"07 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOAsHLBEPas
Tails in 4'21"04 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usSoVD0r6XQ
Times got beaten so I came back and beat them back. I didn't notice till doing this list (or maybe I just forgot), that they got beaten back since. So I guess you'll be seeing these on this list again next year, lol.

Pocket Monsters Stadium
Great Ball in 24:14 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfDjET_fNT0
'97 Cup in 28:14 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz4pOXuVqkM
One of my single cups got beaten so I came back to reclaim that and also attempt complete game deathless again in the meantime. I didn't achieve the latter, and it's still on my list of things I want. Will use as a side project at some point again.

Ys: The Vanished Omens
Any% in 20.917s | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqrUpU2l5gI
Ok, now this one needs a story. One day in March, I was looking through the submissions for the AusSpeedruns marathon coming up later in the year. One one game caught my eye, because the estimate was only 1 solitary minute. I'd never played the game, but I watched the run and thought man that's pretty cool, I reckon I could do that.
Anyway, that night I got the WR. Good fun.

Sonic Spinball
Max Jackpot Bonus in 27:46 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-yewiYbIL4
Did some more re-routing for my preferred category of this game. Happy with the result. Really happy with everything I've got out of this game over the past couple of years actually, have done a lot of successful glitch hunting and routing that have really brought it down.

Pokemon Platinum
Elite Four Round 2 in 4:57:01 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR0aJTe-27M
One of, if not possibly my most bizarre PBs of all time. I *still* can't figure out if this run was good or not. It was incredible, yet also awful. And I can't explain better than that without watching it.

Sonic Megamix
Sonic in 20:03 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dllZ7TXFUis
This is a fun romhack that I have a fair bit of history with that I really enjoy. ime got beaten so used it as an excuse to come back and have some more fun with it. Would like to get the sub 20, probably will happen one day.

Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
Makit in 3:20:30 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M7y2r1hgXI
Now for the second Alt run - using the in-game traded Makuhita known as 'Makit' in OR/AS. What was most incredible about this run, was that I ended up actually beating my regular PB! This was only because it was several years old, but still fairly incredible that ended up happening. Based Makit.

Pocket Monsters Stadium 2
Gym Leader Castle Round 2 in 2:41:46 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HNi4Q2MI7k
Mostly just training for the full game, this was still a pretty good result. Was at the time several minutes better than my English time despite the fact it has much worse rentals.

Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Any% Singles in 1:10:06 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64IniufHsb4
Any% Doubles in 1:06:46 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVnl2Dv9obM
Felt like coming back to one of the Mario Tennis games, really do enjoy them a bit. This game has now got separate categories for difficulties, so definitely expect me to come back here some time soon. My only problem with this game was how easy it was when speedrunning because it used the easy difficulty, so definitely looking forward to running the harder ones.

WarioWare: Twisted
Any% in 28:04 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb40Vu8fVhc
Came back here because I was running it for AusSpeedruns. But man this was actually a fantastic run. Only 2 seconds off my Sum of Best. Really, really solid. Might be one of my most difficult PBs to beat in any game now actually.

Pokemon Yellow
Any% Glitchless in 1:57:05 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Got2yGEVNqw
Again, came back to this because I was running it for the AusSpeedruns marathon. Happy I got a nice improvement to my PB here. Was alright, probably won't ever come back.

Looney Tunes (GB)
Any% in 4:18 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdh6-60Gx1M
I once again decided to participate in the 12 Hour Challenge, where you learn a game within 12 hours. Because I actually had a perfect game once again - one where I beleived I could get the record within those 12 hours. And I did! Has one really tough skip right near the start of the game, but otherwise alright.

Pocket Monsters Stadium 2
Complete Round 1 in 7:08:27 (Same run)
Complete the Game in 26:47:05 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0iiSFb0SC0
Here it is, the longest Pokemon game to beat. Over 24 hours. It's also the hardest. Has some absolutely ridiculous fights, and this run produced some beautiful moments too. Really happy I finished it, is a really significant accomplishment imo.

Knuckles Chaotix
Best Ending in 54:29 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB4RBMEq2Dk
Another completionist sonic run, this game has pretty cool special stages so I wanted to give this a go. Was good fun routing this one, and playing this game more I always learn a lot more about it. Found quite a few new tricks and knowledge along the way, really enjoyed this project.

Pokemon Gaia
Any% Glitchless in 3:52:01 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr6Ys0ONz10
The romhack I picked up this year for PSR Marathon, was really really fun to play. Happy I got a fairly decent time in, but not one I think I'd return to. Romhacks are better as one off projects for Pokemon for me personally.

Pokemon Platinum
Any% in 2:43:29 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ieAgd-t34
Came back here after my time was beaten. Happy to get it back and a significant improvement. Always feel indebted to runs like these - after getting so much out of routing them I feel very compelled give back and get a decent time. Is a bit better now...probably still a bit left in it though.

Pokemon Gold/Silver
Any% No ACE in 32:45 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzcVZZxLIP8
Ok, this category owns. Gen 2 glitched had a heyday where it competed for being the most interesting and fun categories across the series. Those days were destroyed by ACE, the any% runs are now very, very boring. But this category brings those days back, in a new a fun route. Picked this up because I knew it'd be a great marathon run, was really fun to get done.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System)
Max Special Bonus in 23:36 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIb2-sGKhs0
After doing the GG version I felt I should try out the very similar but different SMS version. I preferred the GG one to be honest, but still decided to try my hand at Max Special Bonus, which is my preferred category. Was actually fairly brutal, just completing a run of this is REALLY hard.

Sonic Triple Trouble
Best Ending Sonic in 30:21 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abE4DHGRmm4
Best Ending Tails in 30:03 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu4bHZYIJY0
Another completionist 2D Sonic run(s), another game I feel is very underdone and therefore one that's very fun for me personally because there's so much stuff to discover. And that definitely happened. Both runs could definitely be better, but the discovery of new techniques in this game was what I really enjoyed. Air-roll cancel, instant blocks, full elevator skip, etc.

Pokemon Stadium
Gym Leader Castle Round 2 in 2:29:13 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11VgWKpm0u4
Another one that frustrated me for way too long but gave a much greater sense of relief. My best run finished, completely deathless, and completely satisfied. Will not return to this category again.

Sonic Megamix
Tails in 20:53 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvwyS67mpoc
Once again my time was beaten here, but this time there was one level in particular that I'd missed a really obvious and significant time save. So had to come back. Tails gets more and more fun the more you play him in this game, mastering his aerial controls is very rewarding.

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And here are my marathon runs from 2019:

AusSpeedruns Marathon:
WarioWare: Twisted Any%: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAaqZ_WIy-E
This run went perfectly for a marathon run. Exactly how I wanted. And I don't mean it was a perfect speedrun, because sometimes the perfect marathon run has a failure. And this is a perfect example.

Pokemon Yellow Any% Glitchless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJG02c6Omd8
After all this time I'd still never done a RBY Glitchless run at a marathon. So I wanted to correct that. Was really happy with how it went, and glad I've now got a live, well commentated run of it. And can put it all behind me.

Pokemon Speedrun Marathon:
Pokemon Gaia Any%: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMJ7MmHrLNM
Keeping on with my tradition of learning something very new for the PSR marathon, I kept up with finding a fun and enjoyable romhack to do. Really enjoyed this game overall, irrespective of the speedrun. But the run is really cool too, not many Poke romhacks are designed as compact as this one, like the main series games, to make them still fun to run.

AusSpeedruns @ PAX:
Pokemon Gold Any% No ACE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4sJfAlltVk
This run is super cool for a marathon setting imo. Had some absolute classic marathon moments on stage too, god damn.

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And that was 2019. Looking forward to 2020, hopefully with even more!