Sonic Adventure 2 - Eternal Engine - m3 - 0:59.94

The "get as many emblems as you can without Mystic Melody" challenge, a sort of analog to Super Mario 64's "get as many stars as you can without opening cannons or getting transformation caps" challenge, has been somewhat stable for quite some time. The count on it has been at 168 for...probably close to three years now. Only three levels' Chao missions were believed impossible (Eternal Engine, Iron Gate, and Egg Quarters), and as a result those levels' 4th and 5th missions were inaccessible, as were the characters' All-A emblems.

We will have no more of that. As this video shows, I've finally solved Eternal Engine, upping the maximum potential on the challenge to 172, and--furthermore--the method that enables it is faster than the old record, breaking through a minute to boot.

The trick that makes this at all possible is called "hover jumping". If you do some experimentation, you'll find that double tapping A quickly lets you jump higher than just using a full jump and hovering at the top of that. With some practice, you can start clearing obstacles that are 2 boxes high, among them the cage walls in Mission Street and Lost Colony, and the raised floors to get up to the security doors in Cannon's Core.

Unfortunately, to reach the platform out to the left of the catwalk here (which you would normally Melody to create a platform staircase up to), a 2-box jump isn't going to cut it. You're going to need about another half a box height, and to get that you have to push the very limits of the hover jump.

The whole reason the hover jump works like it does is because you're starting your hover with a vertical speed that's negative (up), and the hover slows down the time it takes for gravity to kick in to its fullest extent--the net result is that your vertical momentum remains in the up direction for a longer time. The faster you're moving up as of the hover, the higher you'll go--and since gravity only impairs the situation as time goes on, the way to get the best hover jump is to double-tap A as fast as possible, ideally 2 frames apart.

Of course, double-tapping a button 2 frames apart, on demand, and being sure to keep it held down after the second tap, isn't quite the easiest thing in the world. It's not going to be easy by any means, but we can improve the situation by inserting pauses. With two fingers on two different buttons (A and Start in this case), it's a lot easier to "cascade" across the buttons, hitting them a single frame apart, than it is to double-tap the same button in 2 frames. So the goal here is to hit A then Start (separated by one frame) to pause, and unpause with Start, followed by A on the next frame. This gives me just enough height to make that platform, and the running speed I have at this point allows me to make it there from as far away as I started. Between that, and running into the final laser barrier head-on (in such a way that I get knocked right through it, and low enough that the last door starts opening before I even hit the lasers), this is just enough to beat the minute.

If you want to get used to these ideal "cascade hover jumps" in a less dangerous situation, such as...I don't know, maybe one where you DON'T fall into a void for failing...well anyway, Hidden Base is a good place to start. The height you can get this way is exactly enough to clear breakable doors (and anything else that's the same height) in a single bound.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• sonic
• adventure
• two
• sa2
• eternal
• engine
• tails
• chao
• speedrun

[thejess521]

What allowed you to be knocked through the lasers at the end, instead of back off the platform? Was it the angle that you entered it at, or something else? This is also a run that I would like to try, seems like a nice challenge. :)

[SadisticMystic]

Whenever you take a hit, you always get knocked away from the direction you're facing. You may notice that right before I get to the lasers, I release hover and do a quick turnaround; it's for precisely that reason.

Of course you could just charge the laser wall, "bounce off", then pick the hover back up and go through the wall easily during your 2 seconds of hit stun, but that's slower.

[mlhownz]

Can't Rouge break out of Egg Quarters?

[SadisticMystic]

Not in any place useful for much, and it doesn't help that Egg Quarters is a very flat level (making it unlikely you can ever get a height advantage) and there's a long distance to cover just to get from the closest point to the secret rooms.

[afolita]

Damn! Who would've known jumping up there was possible! But the most impressive thing is of course the speed run.

That handicap is a nice thing, yeah, but... What about other upgrades? Which ones are required? Few of them, I suppose, seeing all the old and recently found massive breakouts.

[thejess521]

True about the 2 second stun thing, and I'd like to shoot for a good time. Though I'm not sure that I could come anywhere close to your time.... yet. I need some practice.

[TheSideCharacters]

i was screwing around with action replay and i accidentaly got to the chao path and the chaos monster with the dynamite screwed me over

[TheSideCharacters]

uhh actually its m4

[srb2Espyo]

LOL, you held Shift while pressing 4.

You obviously meant M4. It happens to me sometimes to.

[blackdevil4321]

Fuck man, I know.