This has always been my favorite NES game, so i'm glad that i've finally made a speedrun of it. What i really appreciate about BC is the versatility of the bionic arm. For most platform shooters, the speedrun formula is fairly prosaic: keep the screen scrolling at maximum speed and don't run into anything. But the numerous ways in which the bionic arm can be used lends itself to some very creative game-play, and i have found the route-planning aspect of this speedrun attempt to be more right-brained and enjoyable than that of other speedruns i've done in the past.

The vast majority of the route you see here was developed before i watched sdkess's video (the previous record), however i did learn a few things from it and i am grateful to him and to SDA for making it available. There are a number of TAS videos of this game which are immensely entertaining to watch due to extensive exploitation of the game mechanics, however i found these videos to be of little help since they employ tactics that are not possible for a human.

I did not keep track of how many attempts it took to make this run, but the total recording time was about 25 hours (not including planning, research, and practice) spread over the course of about 4 weeks.

Note that i played by the (somewhat stupid) Twin Galaxies rule prohibiting A+B+Start. The previous record for this game (by sdkess) also followed this convention.

• AREA 15
  Not much to this level. Grabbing the communicator is the only challenge, and i must admit that i'm rather proud of my technique for doing so.
  Probability of failure on this level: <10% (Usually due to a missed grapple in the item room. This early in the game a missed grapple is a resettable offense.)

• AREA 5
  I find this to be the most fault-prone level. Placement of the copters and paratroopers is difficult to control and has caused me many headaches and resets. How glad i am to get this level out of the way early on in the game. This level has several applications of a technique that i call the "hop" -- grappling at a 45 degree angle, beginning to swing, but then immediately disconnecting. This takes advantage of the fact that you are given a slight upward lift at the onset of a swing. When timed correctly, you can use it to perform a small jump. This move is enormously useful throughout the game, not the least of which being the top segment of this tower (2:13--2:22).
  Probability of failure on this level: 60% (Usually due to high standards rather than death)

  (1:41) This spot is a big headache. One must stand at the very edge of this platform in order to reach the grapple point, and the range of acceptable places to stand is only 2 pixels wide. Many attempts end here because of missed grapples or walking off the platform (either of which is a resettable offense). Once connected to the barrels i choose to swing rather than hop, since this is more reliable and only a split second slower.

  (2:17) I must pause here briefly to wait for the paratrooper to appear, else i'd have a much longer delay on the next platform while he dropped straight through where i needed to be. It's a matter of screen positioning.

• AREA 3
  This level is a piece of cake. The only risky part is the spikes right before the boss room, but even this is fairly tame.
  Probability of failure on this level: 10%

  (3:57) I like to fire a shot right before i begin the swing so that the bullet hits the boss the moment it comes on screen. Not a huge time savings, but it looks cool.

• AREA 5
  I used to hate this level, particularly the places where you must swing across large gaps via the lamp-posts. But now that i've had a good deal of practice i find it quite fun. I especially enjoy exploiting the collision-detection bugs and climbing through the platforms in the second part of this level (because the game designers clearly wanted you to zigzag your way up the levels of the tower on foot and get bowled-over by spikey-balls, and we all love doing things that the game designers didn't intend).
  Probability of failure on this level: 33%

  (4:45) An inconveniently-placed paratrooper hits my line, causing it to disconnect prematurely. Thus i could not execute my usual plan of grappling straight up to the tall lamppost, dropping straight down, and then hooking on to the following platform to do a swing with my line fully extended. It would have looked pretty sweet. Instead i had to improvise. Fortunately, there are other ways of getting across the gap. It did, however, cost me about 4 seconds.

  (5:15) I lose another 3 seconds here by failing to pass through the platform on the first attempt. This is a very uncommon occurrence.

• AREA 14
  Very short level. Again, i am rather proud of my communicator-grabbing technique.
  Probability of failure on this level: ~0%

• AREA 9
  Piece of cake. There is nothing in this wimpy level that deserves comment.
  Probability of failure on this level: 5%

• AREA 7
  Everything in this level goes according to plan except for some inefficiency with the boss.
  Probability of failure on this level: 40% (Usually due to a missed grapple at 8:48)

  (8:48) For some reason i very often miss the grapple on this last block (which basically means game over). I didn't this time, though. Go me.

  (9:00) Normally i'd start the battle by hitting this guy in the face at point-blank, doing 2 damage. Because i missed the shot, i'm not able to kill him before he pauses for the 3rd time, out of range of my attacks (as seen at 9:12). This costs me about 5 seconds.

• AREA 10
  This level has it all... lasers, purple slimes, spike pits, robots that fall from the sky, and yet another pi-pi-pi machine. It's probably my favorite.
  Probability of failure on this level: 5%

  (10:44) Timing the swing to pass in between laser blasts is rather difficult. Add to this the fact that you must hitch to just the right spot in order to be able to reach the right part of the platform on the other side. I succeed only about 50% of the time.

  (11:02) This is a tough spot, since you must get extremely close to the spike in order to reach the box, and there is little room for error. I don't manage to pull it off, and i lose 3 seconds in the process.

• AREA 11
  This level has elicited the use of much profanity. Many a brilliant speedrun has ended here.
  Probability of failure on this level: 60%

  (12:39--12:44) This part is the main offender. Even if you manage to make all your grapples, you may still fail to clear the flame pit because one of the swings wasn't long enough. If I miss, the backup plan is to walk into the flames, take 3 damages, and bounce to the other side (making the boss-room battle harder, but potentially saving me a reset). However, since i took a hit earlier in the level, i would not have had enough life to do this. So thank god i didn't miss.

  (12:52--13:04) I don't really have a coherent strategy for the boss room; i always just run in there shooting and hope for the best. This time it got rather hairy -- i took several laser hits and made it through by the skin of my bionic teeth.

• AREA 12
  This level is remarkably easy for a last level. The only challenge is getting through all the sparks; however these parts are quite predictable so once you've learned the patterns there's really nothing to it. I took an accidental hit at one point, but it made no difference to the timing.
  Probability of failure on this level: 5%

• THE ALBATROSS
  It is a little tricky making the vertical grapples at 16:27 to reach the spot from which i do my shooting. It took a good deal of practice before i managed to make it on the first attempt with any degree of consistency. Notice that i face left while doing the vertical grapples and then turn back to the right once i'm ready to start shooting. This puts me slightly closer to the target than if i had simply faced right the whole time. If not for this, it wouldn't be possible to get in enough shots to destroy the machine before it slid off the screen.
  Probability of failure on the albatross: 33%

  Once the albatross is dead, i have almost no chance of failure, and it is all pretty much in the bag. I take a shot at the helicopter cockpit and splatter the head of Hitl... uh... Master-D. Then i climb my way out the escape tunnel just in time to watch the base "explod".

What a great game. It was a pleasure making this speedrun. Enjoy.