First of all, I want to thank Nate for encoding and fixing some minor audio desynch, thanks dude! I also want to thank the SDA community and staff for any help they've given me tech support wise, and for having a great site and community as well as giving me a home for this speedrun and any others I may do.

Next, I want to thank Andrew "Romscout" Schroeder for getting me interested in the realm of speedrunning. Had he not seriously discussed running the game as well as convincing me I was the right man for the job, this run probably wouldn't exist.

I'd also like to thank multiple others, including: tjp, RaneofSotN, Fisherrob AKA MickeyMage, all of my stream mods, all the streamgoers who were supportive during practice runs, and my girlfriend for always believing in me and anything I do, even if it's speedrunning.

One last thanks goes to szsk for his RTA. It gave me solid ground for starting work on my own run as well as a few pointers for later areas, without it I'd probably still be in the planning stages of this speedrun.

Now, onto the run itself. I first became interested in running the game after having a discussion with Romscout. At the time, I was attempting numerous other games with little to no results, and in the end I became convinced that having finished La-Mulana multiple times that it was time to give it a shot. Romscout directed me to the RTA and the SDA run thread for it.

I began my attempts by watching the RTA, taking note of each thing it did and tweaking it into a single segment route. My attempts started really poorly, with just struggling to remember everything, however, after a good month or so the problems began easing up, and I even noticed that there were multiple paths taken in the RTA that actually lose time. My initial 3:18:XX time was slow, but I knew with work I could beat the RTA; here I am 3 months and many attempts later with a 2:27:12. I initially thought it impossible to beat the RTA single segment, but I'm convinced with optimal luck that there's room to improve it even beyond sub 2:25:00, that said let's discuss how this run went, shall we?

First off, I run the japanese version of the game, cause the text in the english version is way slower as well as the fact that the patch is considered a game mod. Hopefully that clears any and all questions about that.

The run begins soon as I take control of Lemeza after his feet touch the ground, and ends when the final treasure of La-Mulana is collected. I navigate the Surface, grabbing ten coins and talking to Elder Xelpud to open the mysterious ruins of La-Mulana, where the quest really begins!

In the first trip to the Guidance Gate, I collect the shurikens, some money, the grail, the ankh jewel, and the first life crystal. Everything goes well aside from one minor instance of bad luck with a bat. It's not enough to cost any major time though.

The Temple of the Sun's first trip goes as well as it can. The bat quick kill that occurs on the side of the pyramid goes flawlessly with almost optimal bat cooperation. I pick up my 15 weights at the store for solving puzzles, wait under the eye statue (Udjat) for the ankh jewel, get the life crystal, and then hit a button and warp out.

The only thing I do on Surface trip 2 is snag the Handy Scanner (for scanning objects and the various tablets found throughout the temple) and open the quick route into the temple with shurikens.

The Guidance Gate second trip lets me pick up an essential rom called Athletic Land (objects used in combination with eachother to achieve various effects, almost like a spell) I work my way to the Mausoleum of Giants.

I head for the throwing knives, picking up money on the way. I kill the two warrior enemies, grab the knives and work deeper into the mausoleum, solving the first part of the star/moon/sun puzzle which lets me set up for grabbing the ankh jewel (not before getting knocked off a ladder though). I grab the life crystal, that, a few more pots with money and weapon ammo and head to the Twin Labyrinths.

In the first visit here I grab multiple coin jars, one for 10, one for 30, and one for a whopping 100. I buy the Helmet here (which allows for jumping through waterfalls without being forced down) and warp to the surface.

Third Surface trip. I buy the glyph reader (which allows reading of tablets when equipped and is essential for opening warps) I head inside the Guidance Gate and work my way to the Spring in the Sky, activating a grail point along the way and missing a somewhat easy jump, I just climb the ladder losing only a few seconds tops.

I grab a quick money pot, then dive into the water and activate the grail point for the spring. I make my way to the miniboss, having some fun stabbing to the music and snagging a coin pot along the way. Miniboss goes down as easy as ever and I snag a coin jar, collect the first seal of the game (used for opening objects with the same symbol on them) and grab the Scalesphere (which allows breathing underwater). I next activate the waterworks, warp back to the grail point, kill the fish leader dude, grab Cabbage Patch Kids (another rom) and take the ankh jewel. Next I unplug the drain plug if you'd call it that, unleashing water into the Temple of the Sun.

Back to the Guidance Gate, I work my way to The Temple of The Sun second time. I activate the temple grail and grab some shurikens. Then grab the Speed Boots (faster walking).

I now enter the Chamber of Extinction first time, the rooms are dark as I do not have the means for lighting it, so I just work through it in the dark. Everything goes perfectly and I activate the grail point.

Spring in the Sky part 2 commences and I get the Gloves (which allow faster pushing of blocks) then fight my first boss who is Bahamut. I get a somewhat unfavorable pattern but take it as I still end the battle with a time under 25 minutes.

The Surface once again, I snag the second seal and yet another life crystal. On to the Temple of the Sun once more.

Here I activate the light button and drop the minecart by killing some baddies, I then battle a miniboss and it's on to the Inferno Caverns.

Inferno Caverns trip 1 works well enough, I get knocked back by some obnoxious fireballs, but nothing major. I grab some shurikens, another essential rom which is Antarctic Adventure and solve a block pushing puzzle for the flares. I nearly die (which is necessary for optimal speed) to push a block in the lava and obtain the Grapple Claws (allows for wall jumping).

Now I warp to the Chamber of Extinction and grab some flares for the upcoming boss fight, then gack to the Temple of the Sun. I push the minecart into place and battle Elmac. It goes flawlessly and I defeat him as fast as I possibly can. Next stop is Temple of the Moon.

Temple of the Moon trip 1 goes near flawlessly, I get some coins and the item that allows you to defeat the blue giant on the surface, then grab the axe (and get a much needed health refill from killing enemies and maxing the exp bar, this is used a lot in the run) next I grab the Ice Cape (movement in lava without damage) and activate the grail point. Next I go to the Confusion Gate.

Inside the confusion Gate on the first trip I talk to a guy who gives me Pepper (used to make a statue sneeze in the Guidance Gate, yes really) then pick up a 100 coin jar and a 10 coin jar on the way to the Graveyard of Giants.

All that's done in the Graveyard first trip is the activation of the grail, a minor puzzle solved, and the collection of the Gauntlets. I grab some coins along the way and miss the jump to the Gauntlets once or twice, nothing major.

Next up is the Chamber of Extinction once more, this time I navigate the invisible platforms section to activate a seal, which allows me to collect the third seal.

Yet another trip to the Surface, this time I eliminate the blue giant and snag some coins along the way. I activate the seal to grab a whopping 200 coins and 20 weights, then buy the MSX2 which allows for rom combining, the main combination seen throughout gives you more invulnerability time after getting hit, and is a combo of Athletic Land and Cabbage Patch kids. I head inside the Guidance Gate and use the Pepper on the statue to obtain the skeleton man's treasure.

I warp to the Guidance Gate grail point and collect the Cross, which prevents those weird spinning color swirls from damaging you. I solve the last puzzle of the Guidance Gate and fight Amphisbaena, yet another perfect boss done as fast as I can manage. I take a quick detour from here to activate the grail point in the Mausoleum of Giants for a puzzle coming up, then head back to the Temple of the Sun, to the Temple of the Moon, and once more into the Confusion gate.

Here in the Confusion Gate comes the most luck based puzzle in the game. I deliver the treasure to the angered skeleton who only gives me an Anchor in return (allows me to sink through that upwards water rift) I drop into that, use a weight to slow the platform and take the warp, solving a weight puzzle which opens the second half of the Confusion Gate. Next up is the Lizard puzzle. I have to rely on pure luck for the lizard to walk into the light, I spend a good bit trying, luckily after the first room reset he does it immediately. Some time lost, but not enough to warrant any concern. I activate the grail point and push a button in the Guidance Gate. Then in the Confusion Gate I go to a newly activated door and get the Mini Doll (solves a puzzle to allow you through a blocked area in Confusion Gate. I warp to the Mausoleum of Giants (to activate the doll) then to the Guidance Gate and go back to the Confusion Gate. I defeat the miniboss here and collect the Key and head into the Inferno Chamber.

Here in the Inferno Chamber, I activate the grail point, then get the spears. Next I grab the Ankh jewel by spelling "MU" in the room with bats, lastly I grab the life crystal and kill the jelly enemies to get back into a new area of the Inferno Caverns where I place a weight, then warp to the Temple of the Sun, head into the Caverns normally, then grab some spears and place another weight which opens the Viy boss fight. During this I had a small McAfee fiasco, I spend about 2 seconds pausing the game to shut it off, not realizing I had it on. No major time lost. The Viy battle only has a few missed hits, during the fight though I managed to jump at the right time during scrolling and glitch through a platform, it served no purpose but gave me a good chuckle.

After Viy, I take another trip to the Surface and collect the Conch Shell (makes a chime when you solve puzzles, essential for puzzles where you need to wait) and some coins, then head into the Tower of the Goddess.

Inside the Tower, I collect money and ammo, as well as reading an essential tablet that makes an item appear inside the Mausoleum of Giants. I activate the grail point, then solve the puzzle to grab the Mace Whip which is the strongest weapon in the game.

We return to the Mausoleum of Giants and solve the rest of the sun/moon/star puzzle, place a weight in a giant's chest, and then destroy a pot and the orb within it. Next up is the Sakit boss fight, I battle him almost as quickly as I can, destroying him in an amazing 7 hits. Then move on to the Endless Corridor.

Inside here I grab some coins and activate the grail point, I move downwards and solve the gate puzzle as well as snagging the Keyblade (it's literally a blade that looks and works nothing like a key except in one instance). I head down and do the timed puzzle to snag the Twin Statues (makes the Twin labyrinths not be confusing anymore if that makes sense) then load up on weights and coins in the room full of pots.

Our next stop is entrance to the Twin Labyrinths through the Temple of the Sun. I navigate the gas chamber and turn off the poison gas then grab a rom (Comic Bakery, this and Antarctic Adventure used together allow me to warp throughout the "backside" areas of the game like the Confusion Gate and Temple of the Moon) as well as kill the enemy there. I go down and grab the ring as well as shoot flares at the dino statues which makes a platform appear. I naviagate rooms, activating the grail point and killing enemies and collecting items as necessary. I collect the ankh jewel, then grab the Fake Scanner (opens Dragon Skull shop) and the Dragon Skull (opens Shrine of the Mother). I quick kill the miniboss, then the four wizard enemies and do the waiting puzzle. I open up the Katana for later. Warping to the Mausoleum, I work my way back to the other entrance of the Twin Labyrinths, from here I go to the shop and buy the Lamp of Time (stops time for around 15 seconds after use, has a recharge of five minutes or so). I head up and kill the other miniboss fairly fast, grab the life crystal and fight Baphomet. This fight goes okay, could've had better luck but it still went at a satisfying pace.

Next I head to the Tower of the Goddess for the dreaded climb. I skip getting the Eye (allows you to see invisible enemies) and work on the climb. It goes fairly well, though the cannon shooting enemies could probably have been done a bit quicker and I suffered one tiny fall, I make up for it though in the second room by killing an invisible enemy with flares, not a lot of time wasted overall and definitely a good run of the Tower.

I now head into the alternate entrance for the Graveyard of Giants, placing weights to activate the miniboss. I get a kinda crappy pattern, but still finish it in a few cycles. I snag the grenades and head into the Chamber of Birth.

In here, I collect money and grenades and activate the grail point. I work my way to the Woman Statue (used for a puzzle) then head up, grab some coins and grenades, and activate a pedestal that's part of the process for opening the Palenque boss battle.

Now we arp back to the Temple of the Sun to impregnate the Woman Statue (yeah really). Next is to shoot flares to open the alternate entrance to Temple of the Moon, now we sleep with the pregnant woman statue inside the area where I pause which allows us to collect the ocarina. I now talk to the first Sage.

I warp to the Spring in the Sky and collect a life crystal as well as speaking to the second sage.

Now I head to the Spring in the Sky and talk to the third sage, followed by a warp to the Graveyard of Giants, here I use the rom combo to sustain less damage to open the wall and make my way to Tower of the Goddes, I go to the Confusion Gate alternate entrance and solve the pot smashing puzzle (break them all at once with time stop) I mess up the first time but lose only a couple seconds resetting the room. Now I defeat the bat miniboss and collect the Flywheel (activates mudmen and allows me to buy the last ankh jewel and fight the giant mudman for the Pochette Key).

I now head to the Tower of the Goddess and go to the alternate entrance to the Chamber of Birth from there, I take all the mini warps and do the Dance of Life (that little left, left, left, right, right, right, jump dance) and work my way through grabbing the ankh jewel from the shop. Mudman miniboss goes well, if a bit uncooperative and I get the Pochette key.

I warp into the Temple of the Sun and go to grab the Talisman (take it to Xelpud and he'll explain it) I now warp to the Endless Corridor and go grab the final seal, now I use a glitch to skip solving tons of Endless Corridor puzzles, only missing it once (about 10 or so minutes are saved by doing this multiple times) and activate the eyeball miniboss. I get chased, kill the jelly eyeball surprise monster thing and the big eye, then go into the Shrine of the Mother.

Here, I activate a seal, use the time stop and grab Shorn's Journal, then take that to Xelpud to get a protection item that allows me to pick up the Crystal Skull. I take a detour here to the Chamber of Extinction to go ahead and fight Palenque. I navigate a second, tricker set of dark rooms, with somewhat relative ease, pick up a life crystal, and activate the last pedastal. I warp to the Inferno Caverns to get to the quick entrance to Palenque and I quick kill him as fast as possible, taking him out in only 10 seconds or so.

I go ahead and warp back to the Endless Corridor, head to the Shrine of the Mother and activate all the seals but forget the Life Crystal. I grab the Crystal Skull (opens Dimensional Corridor).

I warp to the Twin Labyrinths and go to the Dimensional Corridor, here I grab the ankh jewel. I mess up slightly by doing the various minibosses (one that you need to kill twice for it to count) out of order, but I kill them all quickly enough and talk to the final sage who tells me the spells to get the potion you use on Mother. I set up for getting the Shield (used to block attacks or reflect things) and continue slaying the minibosses. I battle Tiamat, who used to be my most feared boss and biggest run ender. The fight goes mildly well, only getting knockd down once or twice. I pick up the item, collect the shield and head out of the Corridor.

I warp now to the Chamber of Birth and collect the Cup (allows me to collect potion later) then defeat the two minibosses in the alternate area of the Chamber of Extinction. This leads me to the Inferno Chamber where I fight the miniboss Mu where I hit myself in the face with a grenade (good going) before finishing it off somewhat fast and getting the Wedge (allows you to chant mantras by typing commands on the keyboard, much like the BIRTH and DEATH spells taught to you by the final sage). A setback occurs here, I miss the seal and fall forcing me to work back to that point. It costs a good couple mins, but the run went so well to that point I knew I could still pull a great time so I kept going. I hit the seal this time, then cast DEATH by typing it on my keyboard to the first two fairies, and BIRTH on the last group to create the potion for revealing Mother's true form.

Last up is the Mantra chanting. Various tablets around the ruin contain chants you use in certain rooms to make a symbol appear, once all symbols are activated you can go fight Mother. The first is to chant MARDUK in the Endless Corridor, I read the tablet and chant the spell in the proper room (taking a few tries cause the game is picky with reading it sometimes, you also can't chant the spells til you read the tablet).

Next I warp to the Twin Labyrinths and find the next Mantra, which is SABBAT, I chant it in the proper room.

The next tablet is in the Chamber of Extinction in the room before the double miniboss, I go there and get the Mantra, which is Mu. I go to the Tower of the Goddess and take the alt entrance to the Chamber of Birth to chant it.

The next mantra is found right before the alternate entrance to the Inferno Chamber, I read it and get the next Mantra, VIY. I chant it in the appropriate spot in the Inferno Chamber after solving a puzzle that allows you to access the Potion for Mother.

Next up is the Tower of the Goddess, I fall down to go grab the Potion, taking another entrance into the Inferno Chamber before heading back to the Tower and reading the next Mantra, BAHRUN. I chant in the appropriate spot and move on.

The Temple of the Sun is next, I read the Mantra which is Udjat and chant it in the right spot in the Temple of the Moon.

Graveyard of Giants is up next, I look at the Mantra, ABT. I chant it in the spot and head to where it all began, the Guidance Gate.

I read the last tablet here, the sacred words, LA MULANA! I chant them in the Confusion Gate and warp to the Endless Corridor. I do the glitch one last time and head to the True Shrine of the Mother.

It all comes together here, I solve the final weight puzzle and miss a jump a few times due to jittery nerves. The battle with Beelzebub goes quite well considering my lack of subweapons. Last minute grinding occurs to bring my health to max before the final boss, I may have been able to get away without doing it but decided not to take the risk.

The final battle with Mother lasts only a few minutes, I miss a couple of attacks during her second phase but make up for it on the fourth with a solid round. The last phase gives a favorable pattern, though I miss a couple times. I pick up the treasure and defeat the Mother AKA Cranky Fetus (cause she's really an alien in a ball or something, weird). I pick up the Treasure of La-Mulana at 2:27:12 or so and the ending plays to show off the time of 00:00:00 game time, which occurs due to the game not having a save file to base time off of.

Phew, that's a lot of notes! In conclusion, I really hope you've enjoyed this speedrun of La-Mulana. It's one of my absolute favorite games, and in my opinion the best freeware game available. If you're new to this game I hope the run has interested you in playing!

Thanks once again to everyone that supported me through the many attempts it took for this, enjoy, even though Mother's Day is now cancelled... cause I beat her at the end of the run... (Thanks to Paulrus for that awful joke).