Just so that future runs won't have any issues, I've taken the liberty of adding some rules to future submissions. GOING FORWARD, ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST:

-clearly include the game audio from start to finish. (if live streamed, commentary is perfectly fine. If music is played in the vod, it cannot cover up the game audio to the point of obscuring it) -show the reset before the run begins. -show the ending. -if, on emulator, must include the emulator name in the submission.

These are basically par-for-the-course for all NES speedruns, and for a lot of other speedrunning communities as well. Since these rules were not stated clearly until now, past runs will be grandfathered in (unless a separate reason is found to not allow them on the board). Please make sure you submit runs that match this criteria, or your speedrun will not be verified. Thank you!

Huh, I did hear the game audio throughout Kanabei's run, but it is VERY quiet. I'll have to make sure the volume is turned up if I ever get around to recording a run, then, since I tend to need a lower setting to listen comfortably with my headphones!

So typing the name and recording a reset is good enough for an emulator run? I just wanted to be sure of anything I have to do to prove I'm not using the emulator's pause, slowdown, or savestate features, as I'm reading that the most accurate Sega Game Gear emulator currently is only available as a core in RetroArch if I'm using Windows.

Say, did you hear that another button cheat code was discovered in the third NES version? It turns out that if you hold Left and A while clearing the intro story with Start, you gain the ability to hold A and B to force Dizzy to float in any direction and through obstacles, which seems like a much bigger deal than one extra life. I know cheat codes are generally banned by default, but it might be a good idea to mention them in the rules anyway.

When in doubt, do your own research for what emulators are allowed. Obviously, for some consoles, we'll be willing to bend to maximize inclusivity, but overall we always will defer to the accuracy of the real console. If an emulator gives an unfair advantage, it's banned, no questions asked. If there's no other options, we can split the board.

It goes without saying, but cheat codes are banned. Any runs that use them will be denied.

I was thinking about some updates to the submission rules, and here's a few of my thoughts:

• NES Red and PAL revisions have a built-in soft reset combo (A + B + Select + Start). Should it be allowed to start the run from a such soft reset? I think as a rule of thumb soft resets aren't allowed, but wanted to ask just to be sure.

• Should we restrict NES PAL version runs to be allowed only at 50FPS? The thing is, while this revision was released only in PAL regions back in the day, it's apparently also present on the recently released Evercade handheld console, and I can only assume it's being ran at 60FPS. Not that I expect anyone doing speedruns on Evercade, but wanted to ask just in case.

• And then there are SMS and GG versions... the thing is, there doesn't really seem to exist a Game Gear ROM of this game. Fantastic Dizzy is one of the few games that actually run the exact same Master System version on a Game Gear (with the SMS video output downscaled do GG's resolution). This begs a question - is there really a point in having separate SMS/GG categories then? There is just one caveat that I can see. The SMS cartridge was released only in PAL regions, thus one might argue we should restrict speedrun entries to those ran at 50FPS. However, AFAIK Game Gear runs at 60FPS regardless of region. So, that would put anyone playing on a PAL Master System at a disadvantage, since the game runs 1/6 slower on PAL. Or we could just allow playing on NTSC SMS consoles, despite the game not being released in this region.

If I recall correctly, the Game Gear ROM is only a slightly different version in that the sky never darkens and the music is slowed down to sound the same at 60 FPS as the Master System version sounds at 50 FPS. If only you could convert times for comparison, then you could safely leave them a combined category!

And since the Evercade has HDMI output, I could imagine someone recording a speedrun from that eventually... I don't know if there's a way to configure what analog television standard it emulates for, though.

Have you looked into whether the RAM is left in a very different state from the four-button reset combo than from the actual Reset button? I know that either way lets you clear the Codemasters logo early, but I don't see that making a real difference to the time when timing begins from pressing Start on the title screen anyway.

Sorry for the confusion - since the GG ROM has the same exact name as the SMS ROM (it even uses the .sms extension instead of .gg), and the GG versions runs in SMS mode, I have incorrectly assumed they're the same byte for byte. Now that I've verified the checksum, that is clearly not the case. I should have known better, even the Sega Retro lists different checksums for SMS and GG ROMs. It's definitely far outside my expertise to tell what exactly differs between these ROMs, but judging from what you say there isn't anything that affects the gameplay.

Personally I don't like the idea of allowing soft resets... even if it can be convenient. Some games have RNG that depends on the frame you're on, especially on the NES. A soft reset could give a runner an unfair advantage, especially if they can find something that most runners wouldn't know. I suppose if the community felt that a soft reset was the best way to run the game I'd be on board with it, but since nobody's attempted that yet, I think it's safer to just say for now, that it's outlawed.

As far as PAL games are concerned, IMO they should only be ran at their native framerates. Running them at 60 FPS is an unfair advantage. If people in NTSC regions cannot play them on native hardware or at native speeds, they should emulate IMO.

(These are just my opinions, and I'm open for discussion for sure)