Donkey Kong is truly an unstoppable monster in this game. I decided I had to keep improving this run until I hit the human limit for Primate destruction. Bottom line, the Gorilla Wrecking Ball is open for business. This run is truly worthy of the Kong legacy.

Violence unmatched anywhere -

• Link - Created a new game plan here. When executed correctly, this pattern has a higher success rate of Link not doing his third jump

   

• Yoshi Team - Well done this time. My minimum standard is less than 19 seconds.

   

• Fox - Another new plan of attack. If it looks stiff, it's because it is. At first, it's kind of awkward to pull off. It almost looks like it won't work.

   

• Break the Targets - Meh.

   

• Mario Bros - Third new attack pattern. Another suggestion by UltimateDarius. It's better because it gets me on top sooner. In the No Death run, I can't use it, because I need more control in Luigi placement. The problem though, is you can accidentally knock Luigi away, like here. Luckily, Yoshi was doing exactly what I want, nothing. So I just took Luigi off the opposite side.

   

• Pikachu - Rerun

   

• Giant DK - Flawless victory. More, great ally cooperation. Please do nothing and stay out of my way.

   

• Board the Platforms - Business as usual

   

• Kirby Team - I think this round would make even the TAS community give a standing ovation

   

• Samus - You can never fully cooperate, can you woman? I get blasted and barely flinch, I love Donkey Kong for that. The rest is smooth.

   

• Metal Mario - Perfection

   

• Race to the Finish - Even in polygon form, Samus can't leave me alone.

   

• Polygon Team - Some early trouble here. For some reason, a handful were dying off the top of the screen. At least the others didn't resist much. Average time.

   

• Master Hand - Some tough back and forth. I refused to have another great run ended by a bad final round. I had to resist looking at the in-game clock. I just kept pounding him.

Now, I tally the round times manually as I progress. My new strategy is I take my goal time in seconds and subtract, instead of adding. That way, I know what I have left to work with after each fight. I had a chunk of time to spare after finishing and couldn't believe it. I had to watch it immediately to verify it. I was in complete astonishment that I achieved 3:01. I was shooting for sub 3:09. If it wasn't after two in the morning, I would have celebrated more.

I am now one with Donkey Kong.

Announcer: We have a great match up for you tonight folks. The challenger, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake, Donkey Kong!

Announcer: First round vs Link
DK: Let's have a good fight
Link: I'm going to do you like I did your Candy Kong
DK: What?!
Link: You heard me furball
DK: You realize I now have to shove your shield up your ass right?
Link: Huh?
Announcer: Go!
Link: Wait, hold on a sec
Announcer: DK grabs, throws, throws again
Link: Wait DK, I was kidding, DK, DK nooo
DK: Smash your face
Announcer: DK delivers the double axe handle. That's gotta hurt, it's all over

Announcer: Next round vs Yoshi Team
DK: Too many colors. Must crush
Announcer: Go! DK comes out with the copter-o-death
DK: *spinning*
Yoshi: Waaahh!
Yoshi: Waaahh!
DK: *still spinning*
Yoshi: Waaahh!
Yoshi: Waaahh!
Yoshi: Waaahh!
Announcer: Finish. And the Yoshis are extinct

Announcer: Into space vs Fox
Fox: Now DK, are you sure you want to fight? I am a greatly feared, highly decorated pilot.
DK: ???
Fox: I remember this one time, I was...
Announcer: Go!
Fox: How rude. Don't interrupt me. Anyway, as I was saying...
DK: Silence
Announcer: And DK throws Fox off the ship by his hair
Fox: Ow, stop it
DK: Put my feet in your chest cavity
Announcer: Pain everywhere
DK: Again
Announcer: Fox is down. Somebody better send Slippy out to recover him

Announcer: Okay DK, this is a bonus stage
DK: Okay
Announcer: Break the targets
DK: No problem
Announcer: Get them all
DK: Easy
Announcer: Go! Wait DK, you missed a...you need to...ummm

Announcer: Next round vs Mario Bros
DK: Ness, you ready?
Ness: Okay
DK: This is THE Mario Bros, no joke
Ness: I am the boy wonder, watch me destroy
Announcer: Go!
DK: Grab the plumbers. Smash
Announcer: Mario goes down fast
Mario: Oh no. I a-suck
DK: Ness? I guess I'll get Luigi too
Ness: Ooh! A quarter
Announcer: DK bounces Luigi, into the Meteor Smash. Lights out in the Mushroom Kingdom
Ness: PK thunder
Bumper: Ding!
Announcer: Uh, we're finished here Ness
Ness: PK fire

Announcer: Into Saffron vs Pikachu, the master of electricity
Pikachu: Pika, pika
DK: I'm going to rip your heart out through your throat, you little, yellow rat
Pikachu: Pika?
Announcer: DK grabs hold, drops
Pikachu: Pik-ow
Announcer: I think Pikachu forgot to flip the switch on

Announcer: In the jungle, the mighty jungle vs Giant Donkey Kong
DK: Okay, I need you both to stay back and let me do this. Okay Samus?
Samus: Wrnkt
DK: Exactly. Ness?
Ness: Okay
Samus: Crmp Brniyt
DK: No, I don't think that would work, but good thinking
Samus:: Glmdt Wrsth
DK: Hell yeah girl. After the fight
Announcer: Go!
Ness: Attack!
DK: Ness, no. Idiot.
Announcer: DK drops Giant DK. Great un-team work by Ness
DK: You're coming to hell with me
Announcer: It's an epic mid-air struggle. It's too violent to show. Oh my god. Send in the meat wagon

Announcer: DK, another bonus stage, okay?
DK: Got it
Announcer: Board the platforms, all of them
DK: Crystal clear
Announcer: Go! Wait DK...you passed a couple..you...Dk...D...nevermind

Announcer: Next round vs Kirby Team
DK: How adorable, hey, can I get a hat?
Announcer: Go!
DK: Wait a minute
Kirby: Aaahh!
Kirby: Ow!
DK: You guys don't get it
Kirby: Ugh!
DK: Don't you understand?
Kirby: Noooo!
Kirby: Uncle, uncle
Kirby: Mercy
DK: Identity theft is a serious problem in today's world
Announcer: Gameset

Announcer: Down into the depths vs Samus
Samus: ......
DK: Look, I was going to call you back, honest
Announcer: Go!
Samus: *charging*
DK: Oh crap *winding*
Announcer: DK throws. Samus returns with the flame thrower
DK: Calm down
Announcer: Samus is punching DK in the face! He hasn't taken a beating like this the whole tournament
DK: That does it
Announcer: DK jumps to meet Samus in the air. Wind up punch for the win!
DK: Gotta keep my pimp hand strong

Announcer: Quarter final vs Metal Mario
DK: Put on some weight?
Announcer: Go! DK grabs, flys, murders. Hope you didn't blink

Announcer: Final bonus stage DK
DK: What is it?
Announcer: Just run to the end
DK: I don't get it
Announcer: Go!
Polygon Luigi: ULTRAAAAAA COMMMBOOOOOOOO
Announcer: DK is too fast for Polygon Captain Flacon. Around the bumpers
DK: Take this you fool
Announcer: Drop kick off the top rope to Polygon Link and DK actually finishes a bonus round!

Announcer: Next round vs Fighting Polygon Team
DK: An epic battle will commence here. I, the lone warrior, versus thirty. I must vanquish them all
Announcer: Are you ready yet?
DK: Oh, right. SMASH!
Announcer: Go!
DK: Destruct-o-chopper
Announcer: Sweet merciful crap!
DK: Everybody dies
Announcer: It's like nothing I've ever seen. There's just ass and polygon flying everywhere
DK: Oh yeah, like grinding meat
Announcer: And it's a new world record

Announcer: Final round vs Master Hand
Master Hand: Bwa hah hah hah ha
DK: What are you laughing at? No, how are you laughing? You have no mouth
Announcer: Go!
DK: I'm going to tear you apart
Announcer: DK punches, Master Hand punches back. It's Master Hand flying in with the finger
DK: Hey! It's rude to point
Announcer: DK is giving Master Hand a brutal round of applause
DK: I am going to finish this now
Announcer: DK jumping in for the combo
*Dramatic moment*
Announcer: Unbelievable! DK just punched the poor bastard right in the wrist. DK just stood there and watched him die

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen. Your winner and NEWWWW, HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE SMASH - DONKEY KONG!

Announcer: Incredible!

As we should always do, thank you to all SDA crew for being amazing Humans!

Now this run has quite a history. Dating all the way back to 2009. I submitted a Ness run to go along with my DK runs as SDA categorizes each Fighter separately. DK is obviously my favorite on Smash 64, but Ness is a close second. The old run was 4:38 and was handily rejected for being too slow. This run destroys that old run, a lot.

 

Tetra Pro Strats Incoming -

Link - First fight, first new strat. Taking Link to the right and kicking him down. This is pretty tight, but it yields a 5 second fight whereas the old strat was 6. It's a free second on the first fight.

Yoshi Team - I used to throw a lot. While that is super effective, it does eat a bit of time for the animation. I've gone to a combo of throws and A attacks. This could have been a couple seconds faster if that last Yoshi had died, but still a good fight.

Fox - Gives me a bad roll, but doesn't do his Up+B while falling, so the net time is acceptable.

Targets - Yes, I fail cause it's faster.

Mario Bros - The only fight that is kind of 'Bad'. Mario doesn't cooperate, but I do get Luigi quick. My partner gets in the way of finishing Mario, which happens often.

Pikachu - Another new strat as Tetra taught taught me how to knock Pikachu out of his Up+B teleport, this locked in a 5 second fight each time.

GIant DK - Really a Perfect fight. Partners stayed away and DK was mostly cooperative.

Platforms - Yes, I fail cause it's faster.

Kirby Team - Yoshi Kirby comes back from a hit, which is bad RNG, but I feel the worse part was bad spawning by the Kirbys, but still an okay time.

Samus - The gateway fight for this run. Tetra was OP here in showing me how to do the acid spike. Critical breakthrough in this game for me.

Metal Mario - Amazing. Yo-yo FTW.

Race - Stupid Polygon Kirby...

Polygon Team - 'Here comes the best Polygon fight you've ever seen'. These guys are heavy and Ness doesn't have a lot in the way of KO'ing them. Again, I used to rely on throws, but new Tetra strat is to use precise execution, plus a little RNG with the Homerun Bat. Literally swinging for the fences.

Master Hand - Tetra took some time here teaching me DJC, which is a move to do quicker air attacks. I blow the opening, but nail the rest of the fight. I only wish he hadn't done the second gun. But still a good time for Ness.

Thanks to zallard1 for making me some customer splits for me to stream attempts with, made this a lot more fun.

Also, I have to give enormous thanks and credit to Tetra76. Watching from halfway across the globe and staying up incredibly late with me, Tetra help me develop multiple strats and was very motivating in pushing the time down and down. Even when I was ready to settle with 4:10. This run wouldn't be sub 4 without Tetra's help.

You can follow me athttp://www.twitch.tv/dk28/profile

Join the Kong Clan!

 

Below, Tetra contributed some more detailed notes about the run!

 

Quick note about me: Hi, I'm Tetra and I'm terrible at introducing myself! At the time of writing, it's only been about 3 weeks since I've started frequenting the speedrunning community here on Twitch, although I had watched quite a bit of GDQ before. Turns out everyone here is adorable, always nice and helpful, it's literally the best community I've seen on the web, period. ^^

I quickly stumbled upon DK28's channel, as he was having some trouble with Smash 64, and I thought I could help, since I'm a huge fan of the series, to the point of getting very competitive on Brawl a few years ago. I did end up finding a few strats here and there, and I'm very, very glad I could help with this run, it truly was a wonderful experience. ^^

I'm not too comfortable with oral talk by the way, which is why I'm not part of the audio commentary, among other reasons.

 

Alright, on with the comments now!

 

Link -

Old strat was 6 seconds, by throwing him to the left twice, before going for a spike. It was very consistent, but didn't seem optimal, so I started throwing Link to the right instead, see if I could make something happen on the other side of the stage. It took quite some time, but I did end up with a solid strat that only requires a single throw, effectively bringing Link near the edge faster. It's a little harder to pull off than the old one, because it relies on Link rolling to the right after hitting the ground. Fortunately, consistently manipulating his AI to do just that is possible with good timing and a little practice. Going for a Down Air at the end instead of a Down Tilt is trickier, but a little faster, and with perfect execution, it can even bring down that fight to a mere 4 seconds, although the timing on that is way too tight to pull it off every single time. I don't think going lower than 4 seconds is possible for that first fight, even with a new strat; the stage is a little too big for that, and Link starts out right in the middle of it.

 

Fox -

Didn't help much with Fox, DK's strat seemed pretty optimal to me. I don't think going for that Dash Attack is a good idea, it misses most of the time (and wouldn't you know it, it did during that run :p), I'd say going for a good old tech chase is more reliable, but aside from that, nothing to add.

 

Mario Bros. -

Since things seemed to go well with Mario Bros, I didn't bother to look too much into them, the only thing I suggested was to go for a spike immediately after throwing Mario, right at the start... Turns out it missed because Mario's AI didn't cooperate, so I guess I'm partly to blame for that very average Mario Bros. fight... Oops. :(

 

Pikachu -

Used to be pretty bad, since he can randomly UpB back on stage sometimes. Double spiking him as shown in the video looks fairly simple at first glance, but since Pikachu's UpB is completely invincible during its first 20 frames, landing that second Down Air can be a nightmare. Can't go too fast or you'll hit him while he's invincible, and can't go too slow either, or he'll zip right past you before you can even react to it. The only way to hit him out of it is to go for a "preventive" aerial attack with perfect timing and execution, so that it lands right after the invincibility wears off, but before he starts moving away. As said in the audio commentary, spiking Pikachu between the two buildings on the right in 3 seconds is possible, but it's both RNG dependant (since it dictates in which way Pikachu will walk at the beginning of the match) and very difficult to pull off, so it's not worth going for it, not with the already overwhelming amount of luck required to get a decent run.

 

Samus -

Samus used to be pretty bad and inconsistent as well, due to her annoying AI and the sheer size of Planet Zebes. KOing her off the side takes quite a bit of percentage, and a very strong attack to finish her off, like Ness' UpB, which is hard to hit with reliably, and pretty much ends the run if it misses. I first saw that double spike through the acid on Dennis Balow's TAS on Youtube, and tried to see if I could recreate it with a controller. I'm not even sure how it works, but it turned out to be both possible and consistent outside of TAS, and it makes that fight much faster and much easier... as long as Samus does cooperate a little.

 

Race to the Finish -

All I did for that part was find out you don't have to double jump over the walls on your way down, a single one is enough, as long as you let go of the stick to get as much height as possible. It's a tiny bit quicker and it ensures you don't mess up the fast fall that comes right after. That's it, I guess there's not much else to that stage anyway... Just gotta go fast!

 

Polygon Team -

By far the worst fight in the game before I looked into it for like an hour or two, only to end up with the stupidest (working) strat ever: Forward Smash everything. Polygons are much heavier than both Yoshis and Kirbys, they'll only die in one hit from powerful moves, such as Ness' throws or his bat. Turns out spamming the latter is probably the best way to go, even if it looks dumb as hell. It's faster than throwing, never star KOs (that would waste time and delay the spawning of other Polygons), and it can hit many of them in one swing. I can see this fight being improved quite a bit with some luck, but that's pretty much it, there doesn't seem to be a better strategy with Ness, as ridiculous as it appears.

 

Master Hand -

Some improvement to be made here, but again, it's all luck. What attack Master Hand uses is 100% random, and some of them leave him vulnerable more than others. Using Double Jump Cancel Up Airs is the best way to go against him, it speeds things up a lot, but then again, it's all up to RNG at this point... This fight can really go either way, regardless of how flawless your inputs are, unfortunately.

 

Overall, I'm very happy with how this run came out, and as I said already, even happier that I could be a part of it! Congrats to DK for pulling it off, it definitely is no small feat. :3

Mandatory shout out to all SDA staff before we kick things off. Thank you all for everything you do for the site!

This is the next chapter in my continuing endeavor to run Smash with all the characters.

Follow me and watch my live attempts at http://www.twitch.tv/dk28/profile
Join the Kong Clan!

I run many games for the NES and SNES!

Show me your moves!

Link - This strat was actually devised on the fly by chat. I had more chat involvement in the routing of this run than in any other!

Yoshi Team - Neutral air and back throw FTW. Lots of Yoshi punting...

Fox - My favorite Tetra strat. Period.

Targets - 1 second.

Mario Bros - Hard fight, but good for what was given to me.

Pikachu - AI manipulation at it's finest.

Giant DK - Tag Team champions.

Platforms - 2 seconds.

Kirby Team - That height difference matters!

Samus - Similar strat as Fox, but seriously, Samus is legit the hardest fight. Always.

Metal Mario - All improv here. MM didn't cooperate and I got lucky.

Race - Yup

Polygon Team - Best. FIght. Ever.

Master Hand - One missed attack, but very good RNG. Extremely happy with this fight.

Overall, this time was way below the goal time. And a HUGE thanks again to Tetra! These Smash 64 runs do not happen without Tetra helping me with fight strategies.

FALCON PAWNCH!!!

This is an amazing run, with near perfect RNG, near perfect execution, and overall nearly flawless. Only a few stages have areas where a few seconds could be saved, but given the RNG required, I think it's safe to say this is going to be the fastest run for quite a while.

Run Breakdown:

Link went nearly flawless. The only thing that could have saved time would have been to down air Link as soon as he double jumped off-stage, but that only costed 0.1 or 0.2 seconds, so no big deal.

Yoshi team went rather well. My execution wasn't exactly ideal, but given the order the Yoshis spawned, the ones I made mistakes on (mainly at the end) did not overly affect the timing of the last Yoshi dying, so overall this went very well. Better Yoshi spawning RNG may have saved a second or two.

Fox was ok. Whether he starts walking left or right doesn't change the strat I use, and I did not notice a difference in time between the two. The only place that did not go well was the final Fox roll. He rolled to the left away from me, when I wanted him to roll towards me (which would have set up an up-B spike as he came back). Overall, this went well, and up to a second could have been saved with this strat (a faster strat does exist by about a second, but the RNG is very unlikely and the execution is so precice I don't go for it).

Break the Targets is standard, not much to say here.

Mario Bros was interesting. My Mario strat at the start went ideal, but he somehow recovered, which is usually a run ender right there. However, he recovered in such a way that as I went to kill Luigi (with a surprisingly very helpful DK), he died from the same moves, only losing a short amount of time. Overall this went very well.

For Pikachu, I thought of a new strat earlier that day, involving suiciding with Kirby's Forward Throw move. It worked, which instantly saved around 4 seconds over the old strat (which largely consisted of hoping for good RNG). This strat went basically flawless, so no significant time saves available here.

Giant DK went nearly ideal in execution, but poor in RNG. I do an extra jump to make sure I don't mess up on my reverse neutral B (several times, when rushing the strat, I jump to the left then neutral B, which costs a lot of time and is nearly a run ender). Maybe a second max could have been saved in strat execution. However, Giant DK jumping and up-Bing out of the suicide costed 3 additional seconds. Ideally he dies when Kirby dies, but that didn't happen.

Board the Platforms went pretty much ideal. Not much else to say here.

Kirby Team had bad RNG and bad execution. The first four Kirbies went ideal. The next two, I accidentally double jumped when I used up-air, causing me to land on the platform and lose time. Thankfully I was able to kill them quickly afterwards. The last two spawned on opposite sides of the stage, causing even more time to be lost. I'd estimate around 4 seconds could be saved here with better RNG and better execution.

Samus was bad. I got the general idea of the strat I was going for, but did not execute it well. Also, Samus landing on the stage right before I Forward Smashed made it so she survived the hit, making me lose around 5 seconds chasing her off stage. Definitely a stage I could have improved, but oh well.

Metal Mario went ok. Ideally, my second Neutral B is off stage, and suicides with him, but that only loses about a second or two. Overall, not the worst result.

Race To The Finish didn't go well at all. I got hit by the Ness polygon at the start, then ran into the first exploding barrel (jumped too late). The rest went rather well, but still, around 2 seconds could be saved here.

Fighting Polygon Team went amazing. RNG on polygon spawnings was really bad, but I managed to kill them all rather quickly. I think maybe 5 seconds could be saved with better spawn RNG.

Master Hand was the highlight of the run, and went next to perfect. The only way it could have been better is if the move it made was a move I could still attack it while it was doing it (e.g. the poke move, where it's literally right beside you). Otherwise, this went ideal, and Master Hand died before it could use a second move. I think this is the only known run to have a 1 attack cycle Master Hand.

Overall, this was an amazing run. The day before getting this, while on stream, I said that I wanted to get a sub 5:45, but thought getting sub 5:50 was more realistic (with a WR at the time of 5:59). I managed to beat my 5:45 goal, which I did not expect. This run is still definitely beatable, as several areas have a few seconds to save, but given the required RNG and execution, I think it's safe to say that this will be the fastest run for a while.