SNES Sailor Moon R: Introduction to Speedrun Techniques

This text will be a translation of my strategy article written for the Japanese at DeepL.
I don't know if it will be translated correctly, but I hope it will reach my friends abroad.

This article is about basic movements and techniques in shortening.
There are no strategy articles for each difficulty level or strategy information on how to defeat enemies yet.

When it is completed, we will post the article through the translator again.
I plan to write about Normal and Hard eventually as well.
I hope this will be the first article that someone who wants to start a new game will be able to find out how to do it the first time they look at it.

※The RTA is...
Abbreviation for Real Time Attack. In Japan, the term for speed runs.
Where it's to be corrected, I've made it speedrun, but if it's anywhere written as RTA,
it means the same as speedrun.

table of contents

 Basic Operation

Cross Key: Move
Press B: Jump.
Y button: Normal attack (punch, kick, etc.)
B+Y button or A button: Special Moves B... and then called Mega Crush or Mega Kura.
(You can use the crosshairs + L+R buttons to move.
X Button: Special Move C. Thereafter referred to as Super Special Move or X Special Move.
(Limited to single player mode. Heavy damage to all enemies on the screen.

　

The power and length of super special moves vary from character to character.

Other Moves
Ranged Attack: Special Move A. Press and hold Y to release (not often used).
Continuous Attack: Y button (press the crosshair key right or left while attacking to perform a throw.
Jump move: Y button while jumping (cross-key left/right, down, different if not pressed)
Grabbing: Grab your opponent and press Y (press left or right to throw).
Jump Throw: Grab your opponent and press B to jump, then A to throw.
Combination Move: Two-player mode only. After being thrown by a friend, press the Y button (the thrown party will attack).

Don't forget the production cut.

Shapeshifting banks, eye catching, and tuxedo masked ales can be shortened with button input. This is a good idea.
Here's a comparison gif, though it's not quite right. The only thing you need to know is that pressing a button makes it faster.

　
Left....press the button. Right...hold it.

I couldn't prepare a gif because of the length of the production,
but you can shorten the eye catching process with a series of button presses.

　
Left....button strokes. Right...hold.　(As a side note, I call this a tuxedo cut.)

Note that the score screen after the message has to be pressed to get to the next screen.

Would it be faster to jump around?

There aren't many situations where you have to keep walking because of the game's specification that you can't move forward until you've killed all the enemies...
Every character has a different movement speed, but I feel like jumping is faster than walking.
(Especially Jupiter.)
I'm not talking about analysis or evidence, I'm talking about a feeling, so trust the way you think you're fast.
Please believe in the method you think is fast. I believe flying is faster.

NRSG兄貴のブログを見てとりあえず試してみたら、やっぱりジャンプの方が早い。（今更？） pic.twitter.com/02iLlqXbSn

— asg (o-g) (@asg32644686) 2020年10月25日

Let's master the Mega Crush!

※Mega Crush...Super Move. Hyper Attack, etc. Special Moves.
The Japanese call the A button attack a mega-crash.

Mega Crush...A powerful attack that uses up your health and is invincible while in use. Invincible while in use.
Command... Press A or YB at the same time, or hold down the LR button to move.

You cannot stop or change direction while moving mega-crash. Do not abuse it.

Mega Crush (Move Mega Crush) is an essential RTA technique.
It can be used to gain distance by moving while falling, or used to finish combo parts.
It can be used as the keystone of an attack, regardless of its category, by inserting it into an enemy's attack and using it as a counter.

Counter Example.

　
Foulaiki's series of attacks will roll over on a full hit... but he can make it to the second hit.
It's better not to get attacked, but when you do, you want to deal with it calmly.

Your character's health value is 80 (no difference between characters).
The following are damage and usage limits.

Sailor Moon... deals 18 damage... uses -8 life (can be used 9 times when her health is full)
Sailor Mercury...deals 17 damage...uses life -8 (can be used 9 times when full strength is available)
Sailor Mars... damage 22... use life -10 (can be used 7 times when full strength is available)
Sailor Jupiter...deals 24 damage...uses life -6 (can be used 13 times when full strength is available)
Sailor Venus...20 damage dealt...used life -4 (can be used 19 times with full strength)
Chibi-Usa... damage 20... use life -4 (can be used 19 times with full strength)

Example....Venus.

　full of energy

　used 10

　used 19
Looking at the number of times you can use it and the damage it does, Venus and Jupiter's mega-crash performance is good.
(Also, Chibi-Usa.)

Use your throwing skills!

Invincible while throwing. You can use it to avoid enemy attacks or group multiple enemies in one place.
Chibi-Usa cannot grab enemies, so there are no grabbing or throwing techniques (and jumping throws).

Jump throw attack from a holding position with B+A. (Can be used on all characters.)
It's more powerful than the normal throwing move, allowing you to roll in nearby enemies and deal damage.
You'll lose time to get up if you let the enemy fall, so use this as a last ditch effort if your goal is to get them involved.

Let's avoid misdirections.

When Sailor Senshi runs out of energy, a miss direction is played.
It depends on the enemy's attack,
but per direction (attack and blow up => miss direction => return)

They get stuck for about 4-6 seconds. The key to shortening the time is to reduce the number of mistakes.

It's a good idea to remember the location of recovery items and the amount of recovery for each item. (See below)

It's limited to the Stage 2 raft section, and you can cut out the misses by submerging yourself in water, so use it consciously.

Let's understand the item box specifications.

Items can be destroyed by destroying a box, in addition to the items that fall in a fixed location.
You can obtain this item. The items that appear will change based on your remaining health.

As a general rule, if you have a lot of health left, you can get an item with a low amount of recovery (or an item to increase your score if you have a full tank).
If you have a low amount of health left, you get a high amount of recovery. (If it's too low, it's a 1up item.

Break the ribbon at about the bottom of the ribbon icon on the strength gauge to perform a ribbon (Super Special Move +1).

It says 　No./Item/Recovery amount/score/effect...
The character's health value is 80.
The amount of recovery is done against that value.

Remembering eternal combo

　

(1) YY (wait a second) YY...* repeat　　 (2) B ↓ Y, B ↓ Y * repeat

Chibi-Usa has two types of frame-ups (juvenile bailout) to deal damage to enemies at once, or
It has the advantage of not letting me roll over, and I will definitely use it when I run chibi%.

I'm looking back at it now and thinking about the time it takes to get up, but I'd be more likely to mix up the megacraze if I included the time to get up.
It seems to be faster as a result. Untested.

Venus can also be comboed with a B ↓ Y x n...
There are some characters that are difficult to combo, and depending on the enemy's choice of action, you may be able to get out of combos.
I don't have enough information about this area, so please contact me if you have more information.

Understanding the specifics of enemy appearance

The author can't explain it well, so I want you to get a sense of it. I'm not able to verbalize it properly.

In this game, you can advance to the next level by defeating all the enemies in a section.
If you step into the appearance area while the next enemy appears, an enemy will appear.

Area of Multiple Bodies

• Up to four enemy characters (objects) can be displayed at the same time.
• If there is an item box in the area where all four enemies appear at the same time,
  one enemy character will appear later.
• Enemies remain to be judged until they disappear completely (Gif movie).

In areas where enemies come out in batches, the timing of their appearance will be off if you don't make them appear after all the enemies you defeated before then are completely gone.

Let's understand screen scrolling.

　　

Second half of stage 1, a comparison of the normal progress (left) and the scroll adjusted one (right).
Notice the green enemies. If there are still enemies left to scroll, they come from the edge of the screen at that point.

You can avoid enemies that stay off-screen and don't move, or you can reduce the distance between you and the enemy to get a better shot.
Aim to save time...and so on.

Use the raft-only scrolling technique!

A two-sided, location-specific technique. Slightly related to scrolling and enemy boiling.

Go right to the middle of the raft (the third raft line) to the abyss, using the middle of the raft as a guide.

Adjust it by moving slightly to the right, and when your character moves with a bang, your setup is complete.

　

By hitting the mega-crash at the end of the raft, enemies that originally come out of the left side of the raft will also come out of the water.
If there are any enemies left in this section, the raft will stop, so you'll want to drop them as soon as possible.

By using this move, you can drop enemies immediately, making it harder for the raft to stop.
(This is not a move that says you'll be faster if you succeed, but a move you can use to avoid being slowed down.

Let's get creative with how we defeat the boss.

　

A technique that attracted attention when Nene used it in January 2020 to break the record.
It was called "Desune_Skip" by the international community. (The above comparative Gif is for reference only, as the timing is not correct.
It works when an enemy character is defeated by hitting a super special move the moment it lands on the ground.
If it succeeds, the slowing effect upon defeat will be shortened. Of course, it can be used outside of the second stage, even outside of Jupiter.

What is the best character for each category...?

To some extent, I've written down the basic and applied techniques of this game.
Finally, I'll talk about choosing Sailor Moon R R RTA characters in the Speedrun.com rules.

In the Speedrun.com rules, the only thing that matters is the speed, so Jupiter, Venus, Chibi-Usa, and
These three are used. (The thing is, it's not a character-specific record table.)

As of August 2020, the following combinations of character choices for each difficulty level are considered to be the fastest

Any% Easy / Any% Normal ... Jupiter Any% Hard ... Venus
Chibi% Each difficulty level ... Chibi% (Chibi% is a category to play in Chibi%...)

Any%Easy

Jupiter is used in Any%Easy (difficulty: easy) for one reason.
It comes down to this: "Because she has the highest attack power of all the characters.

【5m31s】美少女戦士セーラームーンR【Any% Easy PB】

Current WR video for reference.

The specification that you need to defeat all the enemies in each section to advance is the same as in the power type Jupiter and
It meshes well, and the disadvantage of moving a bit slower than other Sailor Warriors doesn't matter much.

With Easy, in addition to the destructive power of being able to bury almost all zako enemies with a single Megakura shot.
The key to this category is the low self-inflicted damage during megacruits and the short, high-powered super special moves.

It's a category that gets heavier and heavier in terms of a second's worth the shorter the record gets jammed up, but it takes about 5-10 minutes to finish.
It's the easiest to learn and operate, as it's almost complete with a moving megacraze, so there's not much to remember.

Anyway, for those of you who want to run Sailor Moon R's RTA from now on, I recommend it most!

I can't mention the third side because it ends at stage 2... but I'm not sure if I'm at the mercy of the enemy's movements in this category or
This is the perfect category for learning how to control your ship and the strengths of your character.

As a side note, I like Jupiter the best out of all the Sailor Senshi.

Any% Normal

 【16m53s61ms】美少女戦士セーラームーンR【Any% Normal PB】

Current WR video for reference.

Any%Normal is now considered to be one of the best here, too, with Jupiter.
Originally, overseas runners were more likely to use Venus, partly because of the aforementioned frame-up.
Mr. Kade, the pioneer of the Japanese, drew out Jupiter's potential and set a new record.
I also used that run as a base for charting and reworking the chart, such as when to use super special moves, to break the record.

I was feeling the strength of Venus after a record breaking run on Hard until the other day, so if I do well, I'll be able to get it done on Normal.
Is Venus faster...? There was a time when I was thinking about it....

I was aware of my failure in my last record, so once again, I packed up my Normal movement in Jupiter, which resulted in a 17:41
I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I think it is.

Of course, we can't deny the possibility that other characters will be faster as the number of runners increases and research progresses, but...
Currently, Jupiter is the fastest.

The reason for that is the high attack power and the excellence of the technique.
Jupiter is able to defeat most enemies in one turn by incorporating jump attacks and throws.strengths.

Any%Hard

【26m20s73ms】美少女戦士セーラームーンR【Any% Hard PB】

Current WR video for reference.

Any%Hard is the only choice for Venus, and the reason is still the aforementioned chain combo: B↓Y×n

The reach is long, you can lock enemies in place as long as one of your moves hits, and you can set up multiple enemies at the same time.
The performance is too good.

Hard's enemies are twice as hard as Normal's, and they're just as hard.
The ability to roll multiple enemies at the same time is one of Venus's unique characteristics and strengths.

In addition, Mega Crush's performance is excellent in terms of power, range, and frequency of use.
I feel that Venus is a character designed for beginners.

Chibi%

Chibi% is a category that is played in Chibi% mode. It's basically the same as Any%.
Chibi%'s attack power is low, so it tends to take longer to play, but in RTAs, you can use the aforementioned infinite combos and
We'll be using a lot of Mega Crush, one of Chibi-Usa's techniques that has a relatively high attack power.

Because of the specifics of the rules, we'll be using Chibi-Usa in all categories.
This is also a category where the more you run, the better you can handle your chibi-usa and the more time you can expect to save.

Any%Co-Op

This category is for speed in two-person mode.
I'm not a runner in this category so I can't go into details. Nor do I plan to run.
I don't have an opponent, but I had some thoughts and suggestions for improvement, so I'll note them here.
(The bar is so high for me to enter... I tried to join with one player, two controllers, and quit.

I think it's basically the same strategy as Any%, but with a better combination of pushing character power.
So the best combination of Jupiter and Venus? Or Jupiter and Mars.

There is a backstory for playing two people with the same character, but I'm not sure if it's allowed by regulation. (Probably banned.)

In the previous game, if you attacked two people at the same time, you could defeat them in an instant.

The two-player simultaneous attack that worked in the previous game is no longer available in this game, so the single-player strategy is two players at once...
Personally, I'm wondering if that's a good idea. ...and remembering how I used to play with my sister when I was a child.
I tested a two-man attack just to make sure that, if the timing worked (?) We're both in the midst of a series of attacks.
I noticed that you can cancel it with a companion's attack without performing the last move (the rollable attack).

I'm not sure if this is a useful technique for speed runs.

People who know about it seem to know about it. (Attacking from the same direction is untested.)

If you use it well, you can keep attacking without making the enemy fall, so it may be effective against bosses with a lot of energy.
(Bosses have invincibility, so that's another story...)

Until just now, I thought it would be faster to attack the boss fight alone.
I think it's important to try and check things out...that's why I'm here.

I don't think I'll get a chance to play with two players, but I hope this kind of information will help.

Blindfold%

I like this picture because it's interesting.

Blindfold % is only Easy. I recommend Jupiter as a character to use.
Speaking of attack range and the maximum number of Mega Crushes that can be used, Venus is also a candidate.
In fact, since you can't get a recovery item, it's more of an advantage for Venus.

Jupiter's strength is that it can take out most of the mooks in a single hit, as long as it hits them.
The strength of Venus is that she can cover the disadvantage of being blind with her attack range.
I was even impressed by how well the character performance was differentiated and the consultation system was done.

At the time, I chose Jupiter because Easy's fastest was Jupiter... and I stopped thinking about it... but if I were to run again now, I would
I think it runs on Venus. The range of attacks that can cover the fact that you can't see the screen is appealing.

This competition, which is based on Mega Clash, has room for any character to play in some way.
Moon's attack range, Mars' usage frequency, and Mercury's lack of attack power may be a problem...
Side note... my brother the moderator had to work very hard to create an Easy-only setting...

Anyway, aside from the other games, Sailor Moon R is pretty easy to blindfold!
Because it's a belt scroller, and if you go right, there's a goal.
Coupled with the lack of runners, I can now put myself in the top 3 if I can just finish. *As of August 2020.

~Finally.

I've written about techniques, etc. at great length, but I've been persistent with the Speedrun.com rules - and I'm not.
There's a reason I've said it so many times... If you're going for a record, this is the character for you! With that said.
Personally, I would like to see every character play an active role in the game.

I'm not complaining or criticizing the current rules by any means, but it's not like I have a bias in terms of character performance.
There are certain characters that can be active in the game... But it's not like the Muji record list, where you have to sort by character and difficulty level
Because there are too many slots and too few runners...
So what do we do then? I don't have a plan for improvement.
(Maybe an RTA through all the characters if you want to force it?)

It's such a loving character game, and as a matter of fact, I still play it as an RTA.
I've never even played properly with anything other than Jupiter, Venus, and Chibi-Usa (confession).
From the time I played as a child, I liked Jupiter myself and my sister liked Venus....
What can I say... we both had strong characters that we liked.

I did take pictures of all the character's technique effects for the commentary videos, so I touched on them in that sense... but that's not why I did it.

Not that that's why, but I've seen runners who do RTAs outside of Speedrun.com with fixed characters and
I'm hoping to see some runners pioneering RTAs with weird rules.

No, of course, I'd normally like to see more Speedrun.com runners themselves...
Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this article.

History has proven that the increase in runners and the popularity of strange games has resulted in update proposals and research.

If a character-based RTA video is posted one day, I'd like to follow it myself.
That's it...this time I'm done. I don't know when the next one will be, but
Any%Easy, Normal, Hard... and I'll be writing a chart by category in a bit.

Announcement.
Friday, August 14, RTA in Japan Online 2020 Day 2 with Sailor Moon R.
This article is both a strategy article and a viewing guide. Here's why.
Let's see.

Announcement.
Friday, August 14, RTA in Japan Online 2020 Day 2 with Sailor Moon R.
This article is both a strategy article and a viewing guide. Here's why.
Let's see.

RTA in JAPAN game description.

rtain.jp

2020/8/14

I was at one of Japan's most popular speed run events.
It was a good memory and experience. I'm very proud of it.

RTAinJapanのRTA in Japan Online 2020: 美少女戦士セーラームーンR

www.twitch.tv