SuperViperT302

(Does anybody even care whether or not I make these posts?)

The results of the poll I posted a couple of weeks ago show that most of my viewerbase (if I can even call it that, not that having an active viewerbase has ever mattered to me, though I do appreciate anybody who bothers watching my stuff) most enjoys my Gradius content. Since I've uploaded most of my Gradius Origins replays and even have a Salamander III clear under my belt at this point, I'm sure many of you are wondering if I'm going to be showing for a clear in the AM Show version of Gradius III.

Well, unfortunately, the answer to that for now is no. (If you haven't seen anything of the AM Show version of Gradius III yet and don't want to be spoiled, you might not want to read further.)

The main reason is, quite simply, the crystal stage. As of writing this, the best known strategy for getting through that stage on the AM Show version is to not shoot any of the destructible cubes or cannons as you go through the main portion of the stage. This will cause a larger buildup of cubes and cannons, and by the time the Cube Rush segment begins, there will be just enough additional sprites on screen that, with full power and autofire (and with either the Ripple or Twin Lasers), you can generate lag during the cube rush to make dodging the cubes just a bit more manageable (note that the wall-building strategy from the final builds doesn't work on the AM Show version, both because there are more cubes that rush you from behind, and you aren't able to fight the boss afterwards).

I've spent a bit of time messing around with this strategy, and so far I just haven't been able to nail it down. Getting through the crystal maze itself basically requires having the perfect route through it memorized (far more memorization than anything else the franchise has to offer), not to mention how easy it is to accidentally crash into a wall at some point (you basically have to have at least 4 Speed-Ups to outmaneuver the cubes). As of now, I haven't been able to get through it without using the Rewind feature at least a couple of times. Of course, it's much easier if I just blast my way through it, but that just makes the cube rush even harder to get through. Not that it really matters though; regardless of what you do, the cube rush is one giant RNG check right at the end of the run, and while I have seen a recovery pulled off in that stage (I can't seem to find the video for it, though), I'm pretty sure that's far beyond my capabilities at the moment.

One might wonder why I don't just grind for it until everything happens to line up and I get the miracle run. The thing is, I'm not really the "grind-y" type when it comes to these games. I rarely ever put in more than one good attempt in any given "session" of attempting a clear, simply because I lack the patience for such a thing. For me, ideally getting these runs is a one-and-done deal (which might explain why I generally have less consistency in higher loops than I do with just clearing loop 1). Gradius III AM Show version would likely require a truly dedicated grind, featuring who-knows-how-many chokes to the crystal stage, whether it be through my fault or the fault of RNG. Then you have to consider that it takes at least a half hour to even get to that point in the game, and setting aside any failed attempts prior to that stage, the game up until that point is mostly a giant slog that's super tedious and annoying to go through. I just don't have that level of patience for it right now, especially when I have other goals I could be chasing after instead (mostly in speedrunning). So, I'm sorry if anybody is disappointed about this, but you most likely won't be seeing a Gradius III AM Show clear from me anytime soon. (And I mean it this time.)

In the meantime, there are players who have dedicated themselves enough to obtain a clear of the AM Show version, so if you want to check them out, I'll provide links to them here. Huge shoutouts to these players for enduring what I simply don't feel like going through at the moment:

‪@skalt711‬ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI9mf...
‪@JaimersSTG‬ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6M7o...
(there is one other video I remember seeing that was actually a 2-ALL, but I can't seem to find it)

This isn't to say I'll never go for it ever, I just don't want to put myself through such an ordeal for the time being. Perhaps later, after I've met some of my other goals in gaming.

Anyway, that's all. Just wanted to put this out there for the few people that care.

1 week ago | [YT] | 1

SuperViperT302

I'm not really the kind to focus on uploading specific content to here rather than just uploading whatever I want, but since I have a decent amount of subscribers on here I am curious: what videos of mine do you most enjoy seeing?

This poll will have no effect on what I prioritize going forward, like I said I'm asking purely out of morbid curiosity. Super interested to see what you guys say!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

SuperViperT302

So, I'm sure you all are wondering what my thoughts on Gradius Origins are. I don't plan on making some kind of dedicated video to it, but I will summarize my initial impressions here:
- Game emulation is overall fine, aside from some questionable audio emulation in Salamander and Life Force, and even in those two gamee, it's not nearly bad enough to hinder the experience for me (it's definitely an improvement compared to Salamander Portable, though that doesn't say a whole lot).
- I really appreciate M2's choice to provide settings for patching out bugs in the older titles (particularly Gradius III), like they did with Namco Museum DS back in 2007. It gives casuals the option to play with refined settings for a more polished experience, while still allowing purists (like me) to play the completely unpatched versions of these games. (And they were pretty damn thorough about this one.)
- While my PC doesn't really like running Steam games to begin with (especially if a window like OBS is running), the games play very well on PC. There's almost zero input delay and I've had no issues with using my keyboard for them.
- Obviously I like the ability to choose different versions of each game (even though Arcade Archives kinda beat them to the punch there), and I'm especially impressed with the inclusion of the US prototype version of Nemesis and the AM Show version of Gradius III. I may upload a video showcasing Gradius III AM Show at some point, but considering that it's even harder than the final build, it'll likely have to be in Invincible Mode.
- Speaking of which, the inclusion of the Easy, Invincible, and Training modes was another genius move on M2's part. Not only is it helpful for beginners who have less experience with these games, giving them a chance to enjoy playing them without getting overly frustrated, it's also good for veteran players to practice and fine-tune their skills, and I think we'll definitely see that pay off significantly in the future.
- The "gadgets" and subtitles are in a similar vein. I don't really like playing with those kinds of on-screen visuals (the subtitles are distracting and the gadgets give extra information you wouldn't have on other platforms, which kinda feels like cheating), but M2 gives you the option to turn all of those off as well, so again, I'm perfectly fine with their inclusion for players who prefer playing with them on.
- The achievement system is cool, but kinda pointless at the same time. I won't go too deep into these here, but there isn't a whole lot of reward for grinding for these achievements besides bragging rights, and while some of them are quite clever, there are a few that were annoying (such as the one in Gradius II that requires getting all your Options taken by an Option Hunter). Having to do dedicated playthroughs just for certain achievements (mainly the one for not defeating Zelos Force in Salamander/Life Force) was a bit tedious. I don't think it was a bad inclusion, I just wish there was a bit more payoff for them.
- The supplemental materials are a bit mixed, but overall I'm satisfied with them. The Guide to Gradius isn't all that exciting IMO, the Visual Gallery is neat but kinda lackluster at the samd time, and I'm very impressed with the Audio Gallery. Not only do you get the entire games' soundtracks (including unused songs, but there's also bonus songs like the CD versions of Salamander 2's unused songs, special MIDI arrangements, and even the bonus tracks from Gradius Arcade Soundtrack, Salamander Arcade Soundtrack, and the Gradius III album, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. And being able to have those tracks playing in the background on the main menu? Yet another brilliant move.
- Online leaderboards and replays that save automatically are also sick. Not much else I feel I need to say about that.
- I won't go too deep into my thoughts on Salamander III quite yet, as I do plan to record a run of that game within the next couple of days. In short, I think it's a good game, but hardly anything about it really stands out to me, and I don't think it carries the collection on its own.

All in all, I'm very happy with Gradius Origins, and would highly recommend it to anyone with any level of interest in Gradius, Konami, or shmups in general. I don't think it'll be my preferred method of playing most games (aside from maybe III), but I certainly enjoy it greatly. Gradius has been a huge part of my life since before my teenage years, and to see the franchise revived in a manner such as this is so wonderful. Here's to hoping we can get a follow-up collection with some of the console titles in the near future!

Anyways, that's my two cents. Long live Gradius!

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

SuperViperT302

STREAMING GRADIUS ORIGINS DAY 1 HERE

www.twitch.tv/supervipert302

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

SuperViperT302

So, how many of you remember my story playlists? You know, those compilations of video game music I make as "soundtracks" for the stories I'm totally still writing? (Procrastination is one hell of a drug.)

Well, unfortunately, earlier this morning, four of their corresponding videos were hit with copyright strike requests due to the inclusion of Super Mario 64 music, and my channel received a strike as a result. The email attached to them seemed a little suspicious, but given the many reports I've heard about dealing with copyright issues on YouTube, I figured it'd be better to play it safe. Honestly, given how this channel is mainly supposed to be a dump of various gaming achievements and other similar content (like Rhythm Heaven custom remixes), I've been questioning myself for a while on whether or not it's even worth continuing to upload these videos onto here. And, well, looks like that question has been answered for me, lol.

As a result, I've made the decision to delete all of those videos from this channel, and will no longer be uploading them here. Many of them were in need of being updated anyways (whether it be for new revisions of stories that I still plan on making, or just to polish them), and, well, it's not like anybody really cared about them to begin with lmao, so I don't consider it much of a loss. My current plan is to make a Google Drive folder containing all of the videos (the ones that are "finalized", at least) and simply attaching it to every Wattpad publication (yes, I still have Wattpad). As for how I plan on publicizing the documents themselves, that's something I'll have to figure out. Then again, nobody really reads my stories to begin with, but hey, I'd at least like them out there in case some poor helpless soul wants to give them a look. (Am I being too hard on myself?)

Anyways, just thought I'd make a post regarding this for the 0% of people that care. It's unfortunate that these representations of projects I'm really passionate about have to be wiped from here, but I always kinda figured I was poking a bear by uploading them to begin with, and like I said, it's not really a loss for me anyways. Now I just gotta wait the strike out, and we should be good from there.

1 month ago | [YT] | 6

SuperViperT302

Well, I said I would start advertising my Twitch streams here, so let's give this a whirl:

Gonna be streaming a no reset (attempt) of SMG2 any% to prepare for an in-person 1545 any% relay at SGDQ next week!

www.twitch.tv/supervipert302

2 months ago | [YT] | 5

SuperViperT302

I don't know if anybody reads these (my content isn't exactly the type worth giving updates on lol) but I thought I'd make a general update post in case anybody's interested:

First of all, you may have noticed recently that I've uploaded a few new clears in various Gradius/Parodius games. With the upcoming arrival of Gradius Origins on August, I developed a minor itch to fill out my Gradius 1CC playlist as much as I could before the official release of Salamander III. Since I'm sure some of you are wondering, here's a list of the remaining games that I either want(ed) to try or have been suggested to me:
1. Gradius (PC-8801/Sharp X1) - These are two separate ports but I'm listing them together since, based on what I've seen, they are very similar to each other. I don't really want to tackle other forgotten home console ports of Gradius (Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum), but these two were featured in disc 7 of the Gradius Ultimate Collection CD bunch, so I figured they were worth trying. However, Sharp X1 Gradius is actually quite tough due to very unpredictable enemy behavior, and I haven't figured out how to properly set up PC-8801 emulation yet, so these could be on the backburner for a little bit.
2. Salamander (MSX) - Of all the versions of Gradius games I have yet to obtain a clear in, this has always stuck out like a sore thumb for me. I recently learned this game and have put a few attempts in already (yes, I will be aiming for the good ending), but the issue with this game is, quite simply: it's hard. You basically cannot afford to die anywhere as recovery is next to impossible, and there is a fair amount of BS that can happen with this game. Most notably, every enemy is supposed to fire suicide bullets upon clearing four stages, which greatly increases the difficulty (especially for the final boss, Metal Slave). However, it seems as though that doesn't always happen, and I have yet to figure out what the conditions are (if there are any). Combine that with how much of a pain in the ass it was to get the game set up (I had to switch from blueMSX to openMSX) and you're left with a game that I'm really not looking forward to grinding. Like with Gradius, I also plan to avoid the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum ports (because why would anyone want to play them).
3. Solar Assault (+Revised) - I've never had a desire to try this game, and honestly, I barely know anything about it other than the most basic of details. From what I've heard, though, for the longest time, clearing this game using emulation wasn't even possible. People have told me that emulation for Solar Assault has gotten much better in recent years, but that still doesn't leave me with enough confidence to try it (not to mention how bad I imagine the performance would be; running Salamander 2 on MAME sometimes causes lag spikes on my PC). In all honesty, though, the main thing preventing me from trying Solar Assault is simply my lack of motivation to play it, given how different it is compared to all the other games.
4. Java games - This includes the i-Mode ports of Gradius, Salamander, Nemesis 2, and Gradius II, as well as NEO and NEO Imperial. These games were recently preserved and can be played through emulation now, but like with Solar Assault, I just don't have the desire to do so right now. I won't say I'll never play them, but they're not even on my list of games to try.
5. Fangames - I've learned Nemesis '95, and the only thing holding me back in that game is that I haven't gotten in to consistently run at full speed (when Nemesis '94 was able to, and I've seen footage of the game running at full speed elsewhere). I use the XM6 emulator, so maybe it has something to do with how I have it configured. In addition, I've been wanting to try Unofficial Salamander 3 for some time now, but whether or not I could even get that game working on my system has yet to be tested. Besides those, there aren't any fangames I'm interested in trying (maybe Universe, but that game has never really appealed to me).

While I've chosen to mostly leave Parodius out of this for the time being, there's still a few Parodius games I need to get proper clears of. I need an updated run of Da! GB, and the only reason that hasn't happened yet is because I haven't yet gotten a run I'm satisfied with. Da! on the X68000 is basically the arcade version with a lower resolution and slightly slower gameplay, and while I have yet to get any sort of clear in that game, I'm sure I'll get one eventually. That just leaves the arcade versions of Gokujou and Sexy (which I aim to attempt on MAME and PS1 respectively), both of which I've come close to getting Special Stage clears in. Those games are orders of magnitude harder than almost any other game I've attempted, though, so it may be a while. Beyond that, I have a few other ideas for Gradius videos in the future, and I'd also like a Gradius V Very Hard clear at some point (that one likely won't happen anytime soon), so we'll just have to see how things go.

Next, some of you may be wondering whether or not a Namco Museum Encore longplay will happen, and the answer is officially yes. I haven't yet gotten around to getting a proper recording of it, but once I find the time to do so I definitely will.

Also, did you know I speedrun? My speedrunning "content" has kinda gotten lost in the mix of Gradius clears, Namco Museum longplays, and Rhythm Heaven videos in the past couple of years, and while I haven't been doing as much of it as I used to (especially now with my Gradius fix coming back), I still take it seriously and did a fair amount of it earlier this year. I haven't been streaming on Twitch recently as I've found that I prefer to record gaming videos offline, but I will be attending SGDQ 2025 during the second week of July. Right now my main focus is Super Mario Galaxy 2 (mostly Any%, but I will set aside a small portion of July to focus on 242 Star for this year's 1545 event). Once I decide to go back to streaming, I'll try to start announcing them here, in case anybody wants to watch me run live. (I don't have any plans to start streaming on YouTube.)

Lastly, requests for Rhythm Heaven custom remixes are still open, and I could use some, because I've basically dried up in terms of ideas, and I'd really like to make more of them. For more information on what I'd like to see with those, I made a previous post going over all of that.

Anyways, that's about it. Cheers, y'all!

-SuperViperT302

2 months ago | [YT] | 8

SuperViperT302

What Pac-Man World 2 song should I make a custom remix for next?

7 months ago | [YT] | 2

SuperViperT302

I didn't think I'd ever do this, but since I'm out of ideas for Rhythm Heaven custom remixes and I'd like to keep making more, I'm officially opening myself up for requests!

While I'm not sure how much traction this will ultimately get, I do have some guidelines I'd like to enforce just to keep myself from going insane with them:
- Try to avoid requesting songs that could potentially result in copyright strikes (basically, no pop music or songs from movies/TV shows) or getting hit with Made for Kids. Besides that, you can request basically anything, even songs I'm unfamiliar with.
- Songs should preferably be between 2-5 minutes of length. I can tolerate songs in the 6-7 minute range, but anything outside of that limit I will likely reject due to RHRE not liking remixes longer than that. For tracks that loop, I will judge them on a case-by-case basis.
- Tempo should ideally be at least 120 BPM, though again I'll judge this case-by-case. Also try to make sure there's a recording where the tempo is consistent throughout the entire song (aside from occasional ritards/accels), anything with fluctuating tempos may be rejected.
- Meme requests are of course okay, but try to make them reasonable/something I could feasibly do.
- If you spam my page with requests, I will likely stop paying attention to any requests you make.
- For remixes that are "(Rhythm Heaven song) but _________", try to make them at least somewhat interesting and not some random combination of things.
- Keep in mind I reserve the right to reject any remix request if I don't think it'll be enjoyable to make (for one of the reasons listed above). If I still want to fulfill your request but I don't like the exact idea, I may suggest some alteration to it to make it more interesting.

I know, that all sounds very restrictive, but at the moment I'm just going to try this out and see what happens. I'll try to be pretty open-minded with requests to start with, and we'll see where it goes from there! Feel free to comment here with some suggestions!

8 months ago | [YT] | 0

SuperViperT302

Another huge influx of videos is coming, this time for all the Perfects I've gotten so far in Rhythm Heaven Fever (which I streamed on Twitch). I don't feel like making a big compilation out of all of them and just uploading the full session doesn't feel right either, so instead you're gonna get each game highlighted and uploaded individually, like I did for the DS game. Sorry about your feeds getting spammed with this lol

1 year ago | [YT] | 3