There are no previous emulator runs or debates I know of for this run. I love seeing new runners and runs and, while getting physical copies of the games is not very hard, emulators can have particularly low barriers in some cases. Nevertheless, as we all know, emulators (especially on PC) have some significant differences that make a comparison with original hardware difficult.

I propose the following: The number of emulator runs is currently low and not on world record pace. We had no debates on emulators at the moment. I will keep doing my best to verify runs, including emulator runs and keep all runs on a single leader board, just like with JP-Western version runs. Should there be a significant increase in emulation, I will create a separate category even without previous debate. (This can of course be reverted at any time if there are arguments against it.) We should have research on potential differences between runs on emulator and original hardware. (I have made some observations but am still lacking sufficient evidence. I suggest prioritizing analyzing JP runs.)

Please add ROM and emulator information to make it easier to reproduce and investigate.

ROM Example: Core: Goodname: Ganbare Goemon - Derodero Douchuu Obake Tenkomori (J) [!] Core: Name: GOEMON2 DERODERO Core: MD5: 96CA36D474E82C270A129D775C63167A Core: CRC: 457B9CD9 9C55352 Core: Imagetype: .v64 (byteswapped) Core: Rom size: 16777216 bytes (or 16 Mb or 128 Megabits) Core: Version: 1449 Core: Manufacturer: Nintendo Core: Country: Japan

Emulator: Build version/date/hash/commit and operating system.

@ZAR: Either I am stupid or your top run on the leaderboard is not available anymore on Twitch. (2nd best is.) I trust your abilities but you are the one who did not want times without video in the leaderboard. So now I am unsure what to do about it.

Agreed! My plan is to mainly run this game for the next years. As I speak both English and Japanese I hope for opportunities to bridge the gap a bit and make things more accessible!

I did one unrecorded full run but at the moment I still grind IL until I feel more confident in a full run!

For running NA or PAL I suggest studying this run by Shaaf for routing and strats:

And refer to this run by REFPSI for strats due to different enemy placements and damage that makes certain sections harder or impossible:

Shaaf also has a level-by-level guide on NicoVideo but it uses alternative routes in some sections and is not as helpful for NA/PAL details due to enemy placements.

Edit: I tried timing some alternative routes in PAL (like adding the first Obismaru race or Yae part time jobs to skip a stage) but the JP routing is still fastest in NA/PAL too so far. Also switching to Goemon like REFPSI does helps with the different enemies. But the character switch is not optimal and it can be done without like in JP you just take more hits.

Edit2: Now that I have been accepted as moderator (thank you very much!) I have added the PAL region to options as well.

I still want a category split but I do not want to make this decision by myself, so waiting for more input. My main reason for a split is to encourage more western players to pick up the game without worrying about getting the JP version from the start. NA/PAL is also quite a fun challenge compared to JP.

Right now I set it up so you should be able to submit multiple regions and they will all be in the leaderboard... I think.

I plan do make a comparison of differences relevant to the current route but probably not this year.

Been (offline) running the PAL version for half a year and watching REFPSIs runs as well as シャーフ quite a lot.

Apart from the title screen and languages, the western releases look identical from an RTA perspective. Same enemy placements, timings, damage, ammo, glitches etc.

I plan to get a good time in the PAL version before moving on to JP. The versions seem different enough to qualify for a separate category, judging by the standards of other communities.