Disclaimer
I did this run on a Powerpak. In case it matters for future reference, I used a ROM with checksum afa6d274a86d33cfb519515061704af3.

SDA history
09-Sep-2013 - 0:06:57 by ktwo (http://www.archive.org/download/2014-02-20-SDA_Speed_Runs/)
07-Mar-2024 - 0:06:26 by ktwo (https://ia601507.us.archive.org/11/items/2024-08-04-SDA_Speed_Runs/)

Speedrun information
For information about speedrunning Mighty Bomb Jack and to get a better understanding of what's going on in this run, go to the guide in the SDA knowledge base (referred to as sdakb in my comments below):
https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Mighty_bomb_jack_(nes)

Background
After a more than 10 year hiatus, I picked up Mighty Bomb Jack again earlier this year, which resulted in an any% run of 6:26 and supporting a new any% TAS. Towards the end of the year, I was once again able to play. My eyes were then first set on the best ending category of the U-version, both in real-time and for a TAS. Once I felt done with the best ending, I wanted to at least try out the any% category again. I had found one "new" room solution (technically not new - it's a tweak of the TAS solution) during my best ending attempts, which would save a little under a second in the any% run. On top of that, the experience from the best ending provided me with a better way to get through corridor 17. I also knew there was room for improvement by tighter playing than in my 6:26 run and cutting out a few minor mistakes were also potential time gains.

As I started making attempts, my splits quickly showed that my execution had improved since last time. My initial estimate was that a 6:23 should be feasible. I first managed a pb of a very high 6:24, which included a few costly mistakes, but at least showed that 6:23 seemed like a realistic goal. With more attempts, I started to tighten up the average execution. I also experimented with some very minor tweaks of some of the room solutions to cut a few frames here and there. I started getting a few attempts on a 6:22 pace.

The next step was coming up with an enemy manipulation starting in corridor 5 that I was able to keep until the end of the run. This opened up for a faster room 12 solution, saving almost a second. 6:22 became the new goal time. When I finally hit 6:22, it was a run that included ~0.7s of clearly visible mistakes. I had also had attempts on even better pace. It therefore felt like I should at least try for one more pb.

For the final push, I was helped by getting a better understanding of how to clear 5-1 faster and I also replaced the room 12 route, which had been a bottleneck, with an alternative that turned out to be equally fast in my real-time attempts. The result of this final push is the submitted run.

Links to my previous pbs can be found in the forum thread for Mighty Bomb Jack.

Run comments
For the general game mechanics and an explanation of the route, please refer to the sdakb.

In these comments, I will focus on the differences between this run and my previous SDA-run (0:06:26):

* 1-1 - Same time as my previous SDA-run. Faster mashing could save time for breaking open the chests though.
* PR1 - Around a quarter of a second saved by tighter execution throughout the room.
* PR2 - Around a quarter of a second saved by tighter execution throughout the room.
* PR3 - 0.2s saved by tighter execution and approaching the upper right corner slightly differently. A bit more time could have been saved by not overshooting the top bomb of the three vertical ones on the right.
* PR4 - 0.9s saved from a new route that I started using during my best ending attempts. Together with PR12, this is the single biggest route improvement over my previous SDA-run.
* 5-1 - 0.8s saved by more practice that helped me tighten up the execution throughout the room. More time can be saved on every jump, but especially the first jump was overshot by quite a bit, so more time could have been saved.
* 5-2 - Very similar to the previous SDA-run, but time can be saved by faster breaking of the blocks around the sphinx.
* 5-5 - A quarter of a second saved, mainly by using a mighty coin to transform into orange Jack and break the last chest instead of jumping around it.
* 5-7 - 0.2s saved by slightly tighter execution
* PR11 - 0.2s saved by slightly tighter execution. I also tweaked the route slightly for the first jump. Instead of jumping back on the right side of the wall, I continued left and jumped up on the left side. This is in theory slower, but when taking the reality of execution imprecision into account, both ways seemed equally fast for me. I had a better success rate with the new route though.
* PR12 - The second big route improvement of the run, saving 0.9s. Looking back at the run, the jump back down on the right side looked a bit slow, so there is a potential time save there. This route is not new, but was generally not used because it seemed incompatible with an enemy manipulation in PR13. By tracing back the steps to the third (and last) visit of 5-2, I was however able to find a way to observe and keep track of the enemy counter until PR13 without having to rely on getting a mummy to transform in PR12. For more information about how to set up the enemy manipulation, see the sdakb.
* PR13 - 0.4s saved by avoiding the mistake on the right side in my previous SDA-run. The enemy movements in this room are not known to be possible to manipulate and can lead to big time losses. I was lucky in both my previous SDA-run and in this run by getting both bats to immediately fly out of the lower right alcove.
* PR14 - A few frames faster than my previous SDA-run, despite not getting a good jump cancel after collecting the last bomb. A relatively easy 0.1s lost.
* PR15 - 0.2s saved from tighter execution. I could have been a bit more aggressive collecting the P-ball though for a bit more time saved.
* PR16 - Same completion time as in my previous SDA-run. This was conservatively played though. At this point I was very much balancing risk and reward to keep the attempt going. Looking back at the run, I was lucky with the enemy movements inside the box and could definitely have been more aggressive for a time save.
* 17-1-1 - Pretty much the same in this room too. Better game knowledge allowed me to clear this room without changing to green Jack (see sdakb), which in turn saved time in 5-5 instead. A lot of time could be saved here from breaking the blocks above the sphinx faster though.
* 17-2 - Again, pretty much the same as last time. It's starting to look a bit shaky though. With more steady hands, the sphinx could have been collected faster. I didn't collect the mighty coin this time around, which should have resulted in a time save.
* 17-1-2 - Shaky hands led to "input bleeding" on the d-pad at the start. Only a small time loss from having to briefly walk on the floor instead of jumping as early as possible. It looks a bit worse than it actually is in terms of time loss though.
* King's room - 0.15s saved. Mostly because of a mistake in my previous SDA-run. Like the other rooms in corridor 17, this looks a bit shaky. Timing of the jumps could have been faster and better mashing could also have sped up this room. New this time around is that I used an enemy manipulation instead of turning into green Jack (see the sdakb). This has no impact on the clear time of this room, but allows for a small time save in 17-2.

Final thoughts
Analyzing this run in a bit more detail reveals there is still quite a bit of time that can realistically be saved throughout. That being said, I will stop here and let this run mark the conclusion of my efforts in Mighty Bomb Jack this year.

Summing things up, I now have pbs in both the any% and best ending categories that illustrate the most recent route developments. I've also co-authored the current any% TAS and created a first best ending TAS of the U-version (both can be found on tasvideos.org). The speedrun guide in the knowledge base has also been updated with the latest findings. Given that I've had this game in the back of my head for several years now, it's nice to finally feel that I can put it down and move on to other projects.

Disclaimer
I did this run on a Powerpak. In case it matters for future reference, I used a ROM with checksum afa6d274a86d33cfb519515061704af3.

SDA history
13-Oct-2013 - 0:12:06 by ktwo (http://www.archive.org/download/2014-06-19-SDA_Speed_Runs/)

Speedrun information
For information about speedrunning Mighty Bomb Jack and to get a better understanding of what's going on in this run, go to the guide in the SDA knowledge base (referred to as sdakb in my comments below):
https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Mighty_bomb_jack_(nes)

Background
'msm_smtn' published a best ending speedrun in 2019, which demonstrated several improvements and optimizations (over my previous SDA-run from 2013). Ever since, I've had this run on my radar and was interested to try out the new strats for myself and also see if I could add a few of my own. Earlier this year, I made a speedrun for the any% category. This submission is a continuation of that run.

Run comments
On top of many improvements that were developed for the any% category and apply to the best ending, this submission also contains several improvements that are specific to the best ending category. While the general route is the same as in my previous SDA-run, it's still a major update with too many improvements to list.

There is a lot going on in this run that isn't obvious to a casual viewer. However, in these comments I'll just mention a few noteworthy things (room references taken from http://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/NES/MightyBombJack-Pyramid.png). For a more detailed understanding of the run, see the sdakb.

* I got slightly stuck on a chest near the end of 7-4. I believe this delayed the enemy spawn right after, which resulted in a missed opportunity for an enemy manipulation in 7-7 (the 1st crystal room). However, I was then a bit lucky to get a "jellyfish" in 7-7, which is one of the enemy types I can avoid without wasting time to dodge.
* A bit of an ugly spot near the middle of 10-1, where I landed on a chest instead of landing behind it. Not a big time loss (a few tenths), but still noticeable.
* Bad palace room 10. Around 1s lost from several obvious mistakes (starting from not collecting the P-ball in the lower right).

Final thoughts
When my first route draft was in place and I started making attempts, I had an idea that a "sub-11:30" would be a good target. At first, this did however seem like a bit too ambitious. But as I continued playing, I tweaked a few minor things in the route and the room solutions and my overall speed also increased a notch. "Sub-11:30" again seemed like a good goal. My pb went from 11:41 to 11:38 to 11:32 and finally to the submitted run (my previous pbs are linked to in the forum thread). There are many ways the run could be improved on, but it's in my opinion still a good display of the current knowledge level of the best ending category.

Credits
* 'SpaceColonizer' - Completing the any% TAS and finding many room improvements that also apply to the best ending category
* 'msm_smtn' - For finding many room improvements and implementing optimizations in his 2019 run.