Hello, with this game I am completing both 'ZAMN Engine' games from Lucas Arts on the SNES, the other game being Zombies Ate My Neighbors. This is Zombies Ate My Neighbors' twin brother, whatever, this game has a reference to zamn (special versus level) and zamn has a reference to this game (credits level).

I love this game, whatever team did this and ZAMN should have kept making games together :P but have to say it's buggy as hell, at least from a speed running perspective, many runs end during transmissions because the game likes to freeze on those... specifically level 3's when taking the ship and level 8's when facing the boss.

I have been planning this run since November last year after I couldn't find a video walkthrough/run, which baffles me. The story mode is awesome, and the multiplayer versus is better, it was released on the final years of the super nintendo though, maybe that's a reason.

About tricks of this game:

• Rockets accelerate all levels. However they are usually random items so you have to get real lucky to get a 'perfect' run. Whenever I didn't get rockets I improvised, by that I mean I followed plan B.
• If hit with a rocket as it spawns (as in hitting with your back?) then you'll get full damage, and it's a lot of damage. To make use of this turn while next to your target and fire.
• You and your mech are invulnerable for some frames while you exit/enter it.

Loading: Leave start pressed to skip Lucas Arts's logo and to skip the story. Sometimes I 'forget' and Lucas' logo appears, but it doesn't get timed so whatever.

Intro: First glitch, sometimes the intro gets tinted blue. I'll take it it is a glitch that happens on an specific frame (and as such is dependent on my presses while loading).

Options: This idea from the (currently) WIP tas - I turn off cutscenes on the options menu, this gets stored in ram, so during this specific game it was already set. I also changed my name from STONE to a blank character just in case it gives a couple frames.

Level 1 - During my first runs I used to fire synched to the music and while some could find it annoying I was in perfect synch ;o, as I kept going with more and more attempts I noticed that I could no longer get the timing right. I'll take it I was concentrating more on the game than on the music, so well I started doing that less. On this ss in particular there are many places where I just blew it :P.

Anyway, I use rockets to speed up the levels. On the room with the first cannon I took the upper path, because it is usually faster, however the optimal route is taking the middle: You can get boosted by those hovering mines and gain time (and these boosts ARE visible), however it is usually the opposite.

Level 2 - Some big problem with Nitro (the mech) is that any hit makes it lose altitude, and that's completely annoying because it makes you lose time, helps getting stuck with something below you and miss an entrance, etc. Add to that its acceleration and extreme weight some times it's faster to just hit ground and boost again than trying to beat gravity. So I usually blow that damn robot at the beginning and the other one in the missile room because they usually keep you stuck in place. This time I didn't destroy any of them, the first one, it usually moves in the way of the rocket that destroyed the first cannon, but since this time it didn't I just passed by. About the second one, I usually go the top route, but since it was totally in the way (and it can fire downwards-ish) I just decided to cross through the missiles... I had blown one section after all..., slower than the upper path, but faster given the situation. Right after that I blow another robot..., he got in the way, I was targetting the missiles, it made me lose time because now I had to fall and raise again to fit in that hole.

At the end you have to be careful not to keep firing missiles so you don't blow yourself up with one of them when you come out of the suit. Then you have to be a bit lucky to get to the control room alive, your run may end as soon as here, however if you die as you get to the room you will still complete the mission.

Level 3 - Yay rockets!, not, you get two chances for rockets here, one where I got the sucky health pack and the other on the top floor where not only I got B, which I also picked up (I was like let's pick whatever comes up it won't hurt, wrong!). You use the rockets to blow up the cannons quickly, with B I was screwed, not SO much but still. I don't slash the second cannon because there's not enough room, you fall. Later, you have to be careful when you exit the suit not to get it stolen. Later you are given an objective, keep the generators safe, if you see an accelerator on the port you may pick it and use immediately if you wish, not required though becuase the times are about the same. In theory, you have to completely destroy the attacking force to complete the mission but as long as the four enerators don't get destroyed it's fine. The main mission is to destroy the turrets of the ship that happens to be leaving and bring it back to the base, the game likes to freeze on this transmission if you hold certain button combo. Thing is, if you go for the ship and skip the generators, they get destroyed before you finish the mission. Solution, when you claim the ship (take control of it) all generators are restored (and get destroyed again in seconds because the robots will be just there waiting), however, when the base explodes all robots get destroyed, so I wait for the explosion, restore the generators, and get the win. During this the game glitches up because it wasn't expecting it, unluckily I got the boring effect :(, I wanted the seizure one.

Level 4 - A defense map, the enemies always appear on the same positions but they won't show up if you are looking so you have to be moving and waiting until they decide to appear. Since I've played this level many times I know where to go next, I got slighty off at some point but I got back into normal timing.

Level 5 - The beginning didn't go well, getting the mines to impulse you instead of slow you down is sort of random, to cross the energy wall you have to have some extra impulse, well not really but it's extremely unlikely to cross without the impulse. You may go straight for it without the impulse, you may die, but hey it's just another attempt. This time I decided to evade the first ion cannon shot and sucked at it, so I was left with no choice but to wait... The ion cannon deals a lot of damage so you dont want to get two full hits on you, if you later add crossing the energy barrier, the two floating mines, havoc and the cannon at the other side you may get why. Later when leaving Nitro I let Stone drop to the ground because it's much faster than trying to beat gravity (and getting shot as you try as well). At the switch section the enemy Havok didn't cooperate and didn't destroy the floor for me, had to do it myself. I usually destroy the Havok because it lowers chances of failure, but it is not 100% required (well this time it was, it was on the way). During the generator explosion I wait because if you don't stay away until the whole animation plays you will die :), again you can gain some frames but you have to be frame perfect here, if you survive with 3 health then you did it frame perfect, another one and you'd had died. To dispose of the cannon I abuse a glitch and get inside of it, Nitro has to use the sabre twice, jump then use the sabre twice again, without jumping you will fall out of the cannon.

Level 6-1 - At the beginning Havok didn't follow me which allowed me to show this camera "gitch", it also faster. I got a very nice boost from the enemy. After activating the switch I flew low, I was trying to remove the robot I am forced to destroy moments later (if I don't it won't let me take off out of there).

Level 6-2 - While destroying those walls it's better to be flying because then you only have to aim forwards or downwards, that reduces "aim switch animation" time. For the first cannon, it IS faster to destroy the first stages with rapid fire but the last one with a slash, the ground below crumbles but there's one spot where it doesn't. However after the really bad experience of having a very nice SS totally screwed (looks wise) by that going wrong I stopped doing it altogether because the gain is way too small for the sorta small but ugly risk. After falling to the inside of the base I wasn't sure if I had killed that guy below me, he has to be killed or he will steal your suit. Then one mistake, to exit the suit you have to press select, I use whatever finger is closer, well this time I touched the start button on the way and paused, bah. To make up for it I pull a hard maneuver, after activating the switch, the command travels a long distance until it gets to an energy beam that's blocking the way and turns it off (the beam would be after the Havoks and before the elevator). The feat is to get to the first possible elevator ride after the beam turns off. To do this you have to first cross both energy walls on the way, to do this you can't miss time on your way to them, I barely made it this time. After that it is not over, the Havok have to cooperate, you can't get two Havok blocking the way, it has to be one, and it has to stand there and take the hits (it likes to zip away from you). Anyway, I barely make it to the elevator and got about 12 seconds from this.

During the elevator section I always hit the mines and enter the corridor, this time I missed both but could still pull off what I wanted before leaving. On the next elevator, instead of waiting outside (and lose some time later) I get into the energy wall area but leave my suit, the suit won't be destroyed, I also immediately go the rightmost place (without falling) so that the beam doesn't kill me.

I have played this level many times, and rockets are hard to get, I wasn't expecting them, I was extremely happy because here I had a run that pulled the elevator ride and also got rockets, of course the excitement means screwing up, I didn't place remote shields properly on the first turret section and got several hits in, but after that I controlled myself and did the navigation section flawlessly. During the boss I did my job, pull off a reverse rocket to finish the fight in no time. It is the one I fire before revealing the health pack. Why don't I start the fight by firing a rocket? Since the boss moves so much I prefer to start firing once we are in place, there's been times I lost the rockets without hitting a reverse. When the boss suit falls just stay away, its explosion is big and pushes you anywhere but where you wanted to go.

Level 6-3 - The turret didn't let me continue but the energy wall was down so it's all cool. Later, against the pair of guards, one didn't move so I had to lose time destroying it with my cannon. I miss a jump with Havok (waited a bit too much), but the rest went fine.

Level 7-1 - Awesome, rockets, they speed this level a lot. I pulled everything I wanted even a reverse rocket one shot vs Havok. Level would have been perfect if it wasn't that I screwed at the very end, my idea was to fly as low as possible to reduce time falling, but since the enemy moved up the hill, it blocked me and I lost time, bad move on my part.

Level 7-2 - The worms can be destroyed in two iterations but you risk dying, after that 6-2 I didn't want to lose this run, so I played safe. Even by playing safe it just took one rocket to bring me to practically dead, if I had been hit by the enemy cannons before I would have died.

Level 8 - Bonus Mission - Not sure what's the bonus here, for some reason I recall finishing the game on level 7 but now I can't and always get to this mission. Anyway, we start with BAD flying skills, I never do that and wanna do again, then I get better. Not much to say, just that Drache is extremely weak so you do not want to get hit but a couple times. I still go shooting everything I can. I was lucky vs the ceiling thing, that shot is a run finisher. Many of my runs end vs. the boss here, not because I fight her but because she hits me while I leave the suit. This time I was prepared for her tricks, luckily that ricochet didn't come full speed, it hits per frame so if it touches you you are most likely dead. There's some times she manages to fit a rocket right next to the ceiling killing you in an awesome way. btw, during the transmission with the boss, release all your buttons or the game will crash.

Final Mission-1 - As soon as I started I noticed my disk had one minute and some seconds left for recording, this level takes a minute and next one about four... The part where you fly out of the suit is a critical point in any attempt, toss a coin and find out if you'll live or die. There's not much you can do but take a deep breath and keep going. Later, I didn't do the climbing part as I wanted, but at least I didn't get killed while trying.

Final Mission-2 - Finally! a level where rockets are NOT necessary, but there's nothing to do so I pick them up anyway. On this level antigravity is king. Thirty seconds left..., I paused and deleted whatever I could find until I finally got the required space. After solving the issue came the next area, I usually use a little push from the enemy to climb that tall step, but this time I didn't get it. Doesn't matter because up there I can't do anything yet. That robot that fell can break the run, all he needs to do is fall there and shoot some bullets to prevent you from climbing. Couldn't find any glitch to skip this section, and raw speed can't get you to the top without waits either (well it can but you get crushed on the last step). To evade the turrets just get out of the suit, I do because I want as little damage as possible, it's a long way... in the meantime I have fun in the "cage", I also show some camera issues. And now why antigravity beats rockets here, gee I always have to err on something, now I used melee upwards...

Anyway, a bit after, I jump while a robot zips away from me, it usually doesn't so I was supposed to jump over it. Havok passes the batton to Prometheus to dispose of the ultimate mech, the differences in time are pretty obvious so it's a no brainer. It's sad and funny to get all the way here and die when the last moving wall before the boss crushes you, had that happen... and you can't do much. Versus the boss, whenever you destroy one of its stages it will go to the opposite corner of the room, using antigravity you can keep it locked there, just don't push yourself towards it or you will get squished. It didn't go as planned because the boss didn't go up all the way, so he want's locked. For the last two stages I usually play safe and go to the corner, Prometheus is too slow and if caught under the boss' attack then there's no out of it, at the same time it helps to skip the chase portion at the end of the game, if you enter the maze first then you are no longer chasing. However I had to risk a bit and stayed in place, when I calculated I had destroyed the final boss I went towards the final area, but then the sounds kept going and going... I was afraid I hadn't actually defeated the boss and it had just destroyed my suit, as I was using the booster, I noticed Akmon was already right on the way, damn, I lost a few seconds getting stuck. Anyways, I still got in front of the race for the scape suit which saves a lot of time. Akmon had one surprise left on the suit, and made it go crazy, but Stone still managed to survive.

All my ILs come from SS attempts, it's just the difference in final time that is based on luck is so high that there was many flawless runs I died :(, here you can see how quick levels can go given the right factors.

Level 1 - Everything went smooth here.

Level 2 - If you notice at the beginning I was helped by the enemy robot :) Then at the missile section I took the upper path because the enemy robot was not blocking the way. I was able later to open a dent on the missile pack to be able to enter the "corridor" without having to jump below first. I did take a while to exit the suit, but have not been able to beat the time, not close.

Level 3 - I got the accelerator, and later the rockets, logic I should have used the accelerator asap, but in the case I hadn't got rockets the accelerator was better to use later. Anyway, everything went smooth. You'll notice I stop for no reason versus the ship's turrets, well if you listen closely, there's a thump sound, so I was blocked by an "invisible" turret. While this level wasn't optimal item wise the fight versus the turrets was extremely quick, which also meant the ship was closer to the target area, in other words the level went very fast.

Level 4 - The time of this level is mostly based on the time you eliminate the last enemy, so time differences are very very small, this one was my fastest.

Level 5 - This I couldn't do on the SS, I get past the energy barrier with the help of the floating mines, one of them gave me extra speed, reducing my risk of death. I always try to play this level the same as to when I get pushed by the mines so that I repeat the feat as much as possible. Here I also get a "normal" Havok fight. I enter the cannon just in time.

Level 6-1 - At the beginning Havok didn't follow me which allowed me to show this camera "gitch", it also faster. I got a very nice boost from the enemy. After activating the switch I flew low, I was trying to remove the robot I am forced to destroy moments later (if I don't it won't let me take off out of there).

Level 6-2 - While destroying those walls it's better to be flying because then you only have to aim forwards or downwards, that reduces "aim switch animation" time. For the first cannon, it IS faster to destroy the first stages with rapid fire but the last one with a slash, the ground below crumbles but there's one spot where it doesn't. However after the really bad experience of having a very nice SS totally screwed (looks wise) by that going wrong I stopped doing it altogether because the gain is way too small for the sorta small but ugly risk. After falling to the inside of the base I wasn't sure if I had killed that guy below me, he has to be killed or he will steal your suit. Then one mistake, to exit the suit you have to press select, I use whatever finger is closer, well this time I touched the start button on the way and paused, bah. To make up for it I pull a hard maneuver, after activating the switch, the command travels a long distance until it gets to an energy beam that's blocking the way and turns it off (the beam would be after the Havoks and before the elevator). The feat is to get to the first possible elevator ride after the beam turns off. To do this you have to first cross both energy walls on the way, to do this you can't miss time on your way to them, I barely made it this time. After that it is not over, the Havok have to cooperate, you can't get two Havok blocking the way, it has to be one, and it has to stand there and take the hits (it likes to zip away from you). Anyway, I barely make it to the elevator and got about 12 seconds from this.

During the elevator section I always hit the mines and enter the corridor, this time I missed both but could still pull off what I wanted before leaving. On the next elevator, instead of waiting outside (and lose some time later) I get into the energy wall area but leave my suit, the suit won't be destroyed, I also immediately go the rightmost place (without falling) so that the beam doesn't kill me.

I have played this level many times, and rockets are hard to get, I wasn't expecting them, I was extremely happy because here I had a run that pulled the elevator ride and also got rockets, of course the excitement means screwing up, I didn't place remote shields properly on the first turret section and got several hits in, but after that I controlled myself and did the navigation section flawlessly. During the boss I did my job, pull off a reverse rocket to finish the fight in no time. It is the one I fire before revealing the health pack. Why don't I start the fight by firing a rocket? Since the boss moves so much I prefer to start firing once we are in place, there's been times I lost the rockets without hitting a reverse. When the boss suit falls just stay away, its explosion is big and pushes you anywhere but where you wanted to go.

Level 6-3 - This is an old record, but can't beat it because I lucked out on this level. If you notice The robot got pushed by the energy wall towards my fire, so when the wall went down I could continue without slowing down. Then the robot couple zipped away from me giving me more seconds. And finally enemy Havok cleared the right spots of the bridge for me.

Level 7-1 - This is my third best time actually. But while recording the SS I was forced to delete files and there went the best two records. The only difference is a screwup towards the end. Awesome, rockets, they speed this level a lot. I pulled everything I wanted even a reverse rocket one shot vs Havok. Level would have been perfect if it wasn't that I screwed at the very end, my idea was to fly as low as possible to reduce time falling, but since the enemy moved up the hill, it blocked me and I lost time, bad move on my part.

Level 7-2 - This level requires a lot of luck to do aggressively, so I went and played up to here just to get it recorded. I destroy every worm in 2 "hits". The first goes 2-4, which is VERY risky, second one goes down with the more normal 3-3, last one goes with 3-3 as well, I didn't arrive with the correct rng to be able to do 3-3 cleanly, but since this wasn't part of a SS I just went for it, and didn't lose my arms.

Level 8 - Everything went perfect until I bumped that robot, it doesn't usually appear. Since I got too many hits on me I picked the health. The rest went fine, that other robot usually appears there, for some reason on the SS I got a robot-less level.

Level 9-1 - What can I say, I got pushed favorably by the cannons at the beginning, and the death area went incredibly good. At the climbing area I waited because the ceiling thing's attack can destroy or leave you damaged enough to be finished by the other enemies up there. That and also it would go through me, destroy the floor below, and push me to the bottom of the room :D Havok then gave me a push.

Level 9-2 - Got the push I wanted at the beginning, just for kicks because can't do anything, after the boring part I continued as planned. I jumped the robot as expected and the hovering mine decided to stop me for a while. The robot Prometheus destroys first is the one Havok jumped. Versus the final boss the antigravity portion went smooth, the crushing stages too. You'll notice I come out of the suit and fly low towards the final gate, that was a heart attack moment because the boss' hitbox kills you if you touch it (ie. Prometheus goes down in a couple seconds), it is quite big and invisible, and the suit drops to the bottom of the screen ala mario while dying, I was like this is a veeery bad idea, I didn't hesitate though and got through, phew.