Cut the 1 in Ape Escape...without using the infinite jump glitch.
This run...was something. For one, something like 3 years ago I jokingly said "I was to get under an hour in Ape Escape". Jokingly. Because the infinite jump wasn't discovered yet, so I didn't think it was possible. There was no community for the game, it was just me doing a run every once in a while. Then about...a year and a half ago (?) the infinite jump was discovered, and a community sprung up. I met some really cool people (<3 saboom), but at the back of my mind, sub 1 was always nagging. Even when I smashed the 1 hour mark with a 57:18 over a year ago, it still occurred to me that I hadn't truly subbed 1 just yet. We did a few no IJ races, I tried to get there a few times a few months ago, but stopped at a high 1:03. Well, after the 50:19 any% I pulled...this had to be next. I had to complete this goal that I already knew was possible from my earlier attempts, even less a slim PS2. I had to. and that's what I tried to do yesterday...but fell short with a 1:00:20. It was far from a bad run, but it just wasn't good enough. I kept trying for another 4 hours that day, but never managed to top it. This morning, I tried again. And failed. And failed some more. I failed Specter's Factory jumps/route, I failed Snowy Mammoth movement (kills the run if you fall down), I failed Hot Springs ice bridges (likewise), I failed at everything you could come up with.
But then, another average run began. It surpassed average with a catch of UFOless, and survived through Dark Ruins. I evaded the death in Cryptic Relics with a gold split (a gold split is the BEST you've ever had, across all runs), then matched it in Crabby Beach with some amazing movement. The run faded back to mediocrity after the monkey went for a swim in Coral Cave, and there was some time loss in Dexter's Island to RNG. I lost a further second and a half in Snowy Mammoth (hey, it's hard!) by playing it safe, and fell to +0.46 (behind) after Frosty Retreat went...badly. Something changed then. I wanted that sub so badly. I wanted to bring closure to that far-flung dream of sub 1. The fact that I was -right there- with splits that could do it with just better RNG in the final 2 stages gave me hope, gave me that drive.
Hot Springs went flawlessly, gold split. Sushi Temple followed it up saving 3 seconds, another gold. Wabi Sabi Wall went incredibly well, a 3rd consecutive gold split. I didn't mess up any of the complex movement within Crumbling Castle for a 4th gold in a row. Then City Park was again exactly according to plan-though I still have another 5 or seconds there. Doesn't matter, 5 gold splits in a row, -1:34. -1:34! That's on pace for sub 59 right there! And with the time I had to save in the final 2 levels, this could be sub 58 pace! Of course, all good things must come to an end, and I lost 12 seconds in Specter's Factory. It's a tough level, there's 2 brutally difficult jumps in it that my 1:00:20 got first try. Then, disaster struck. I went for a timesaving strategy on the TV Tower boss involving stalling the last hit...and missed by having the pellet go through the boss. Through the giant flying ship. I lost 37 seconds there...was the run over? Nah, I still had a forty something second lead, and a bit of time to save. Monkey madness, my movement was amazing (the people in my chat were going crazy) and I had time to save going into the final boss, which is all RNG. AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!!! I got trolled. Hard.
In the end, I barely subbed 1, but I did, and I'm glad I did. I just wish that that was 'teh urn (TM)' and not just random PB #27. It still means something pretty significant to me, though I know that the true target for this category is still a couple minutes lower.
Here's my splits for the end of the run, with the rise and fall of it all... link Oh, and I like writing up walls of text for significant events. And what could be more significant than meeting a previously unrealistic goal set 3 years ago, in front of ~60 people?
If you want to catch me doing attempts live, check out my stream here.
No comments:
Post a Comment