Hey guys! When I submitted my run I wasn't sure what was gonna happen cos this game had been quiet for so long, but holy cow we have two new runs already! That's absolutely awesome and it's given me motivation to wanna really work out how to get the time on this badboy down. i notice that JJ_Klooney actually managed to beat the battle stages in under 10, so I created this topic for us to share ideas and stuff!

I haven't got anything cool to add yet cos I've only just now logged in to discover this awesomeness, but i'll let you know if i find anything fun in the future ;P

Today I managed to beat the game in 33:38, but I didn't record the video cos I never expected to get so far below my previous time! I'm gonna record the run tomorrow and explain what I do, but here's the jist:

Just as JJ_Klooney discovered, you can reduce the battle stages well below 10minutes. I managed to finish one in 2 minutes and the rest (apart from Frontiersville) in under 5. The trick is this: it's not about attacking the cpu constantly - you just have to deny them UFO spots. If you systematically deny them the ability to disguise themselves, they will eventually be reduced to 0 coins just from humans beating them up (along with you beating them up of course). This actually makes Frontiersville the most difficult area in the game because you can't tell where a UFO is at any given time, though you can at least follow the AI around and try to cockblock it that way.

In my video I talk about routing, and I think that's even more important now we know how to get past the battle stages. You should do both Pharaoh Island and Frontiersville early on, though I do recommend you do Coco Town and Pranksylvania one after the other, to make best use of Cameras and Microphones. The reason I recommend Frontiersville and all that is because Bowling Balls from Pharaoh Island and the Rifles from Frontiersville are both excellent weapons for attacking the AI at a distance and stopping them from getting away. After that it's all down to personal preference but Raccoon City is another excellent choice due to the Missile Launcher you get there. I used to say leave Big Booty Bay till last, but the cannon could actually be useful for chasing an opponent.

TL;DR my recommendations are: stop the ai from getting to UFOs and do Pranksylvania straight after Coco Town.

Ran into a million and one technical issues while recording my run, but I'm gonna upload it today. I also discovered something that'll make battle stages even easier:

If you and the AI are running towards a UFO, even if you are BEHIND the AI, you will be the one that gets to refresh your disguise. As long as you are right next to the AI, you will always outprioritise them for UFOs.

Hope this helps someone!

Insanely happy that you enjoy this game as much as I do, thank you for finding these wonderful strats. My goal is to one day get a few glitches into this run... that'd be insane.

I've gotta believe that glitches are possible! Glitches that stop AI movement, or glitches that break game time would be perfect. I haven't found a way to clip out of stages yet, though I'm not sure that in itself would be helpful. It makes me wonder actually if maybe an emulator glitch% category would be a good idea? running the game at ridiculous fps to break it to the max might be an interesting and different way to play it fast.

I just noticed you submitted a run where you said you got way less viruses when you did Raccoon City last. I haven't tested that, but I will today and let you know if that's the same for me too. The '?' abilities can be some of the most powerful, as you have a reasonably high chance of getting your character's special ability (I don't know the numbers for it). So if it's possible to limit the amount of virus spawns for '?' abilities, that'd be a huge game changer.

Also, on character choices. For high combos I think Cosmi and Itazura must be two of the best, but Baron Von Proptop's ability to tie everyone up could have a similar utility in the get-to-500 stages AND be good for the battle stages too. I'm not sure about the other characters. Princess Cleo's ability to summon a UFO would be good during a casual playthrough, but unless we find a way to glitch it I don't think it's necessarily as good for speed as it could be. Same applies to Becky's ability. Magnetron's ability would be less useful in Cocotown but very useful in Raccoon City and also potentially Pranksylvania if the AI is off on the other side of the map while you're dealing with people on your side. I think Magnetron could be good but would require a different strategy to make good use of his ability compared to the obvious utility of Itazura and Cosmi's super-form abilities.