Speed - How To Beat That Wall
Submitted by mike89
You might, at this stage, be wondering what the wall I speak of is. Well, when SM suggested that I look for a way to skip HT1's entire underground section with Knuckles, I was confronted with a rather large wall (to the tune of, up to the top scrolling point of the screen). Knux can't climb up it, so how do you get past it? If you're too lazy to watch the video (which still isn't the best guide as I've revised my strat considerably), learn how...
Start with a spindash immediately, then jump and glide, landing on the moving platform. Charge a spindash and launch (don't worry, you'll land safely) then ramp jump and glide at the peak of your jump. Climb up whatever of the wall you land on you are yet to clear, and again jump and glide. The idea here is to hit the platform that dips into the lava and comes out again - just as it comes up. If you miss, not to worry, you don't lose much time. Either way, continue to the nearby tunnel.
After you come out of this tunnel, you go up a ramp. What you could do at this ramp is, after you go up it, hold left and go up that way. That's the best way with Sonic, but Knuckles can do better. Try and jump out of the ramp (even if you don't get much height, don't worry too much), then at the peak of your jump glide, and climb up this wall. After you get to the top, spindash and ramp jump, then glide and land on the see-saw thingy (actually, I think a good ramp jump and glide will land you right on it). Go up the two of these, and hit the spring. Once you hit this next platform, jump off, and glide.
You might wonder what the purpose of this is. If you were to spindash here, you'd go down and through the underground. But remember, we want to skip it. So instead you want to do a long glide (it appears as if you'll hit a wall, don't worry, you won't) and land ON the loop. Preferably, you want to hit the very left edge, but if this is your first time, this is a good time to experiment.
To your right is one large wall. You're probably thinking "oh damnit, mike's led me to a dead end!" Don't worry, I haven't (you'll know if you've seen the vid). Like I said, you want to be at the very left edge, facing right. Charge up a spindash, and jump immediately.
What happens next is one of them WTF moments. You see, if you jumped in exactly the right spot, you just did a ramp jump off a very small hill. So where are you going? Maybe if you've played Sonic 1 for speed, you think you're going over the wall, a la Spring Yard 1. If you thought that, you're wrong, but you're close.
You don't quite get enough height to get over the wall, but instead you go THROUGH it, and the screen scrolls down slower than you fall. Despite the fact that you're off the screen, charge a spindash. Before long you'll hear the spindashing sound, and you'll be back in the frame - does this area seem familiar? You just skipped about 10 seconds of track! Release your spindash, and wait for the scenery to move up as usual. Now, you could just jump through the hole that appears with a bit of a run-up, but you can get Knuckles running at almost full speed from a standing start here. This is also a bit strange, but you've probably noticed it before. If you glide and land on solid ground, you stop. But if you land on a moving platform, you keep moving - this also applies to the rock that blocks your way, as it can be broken and thus moves. Run through this narrow channel, TAKE AN INTENTIONAL HIT (this is absolutely essential, otherwise you have to wait for the lava to go back down, and lose about 5 seconds), then quickly spindash before the lava reaches full height.
You should end up in the last tunnel, be launched off a ramp, hold right and you should hit a checkpoint. Strange positioning this checkpoint has, since you can simply spindash and finish the act. This has led me to throw around the idea of an intentional death here (as you certainly aren't going to have 50 rings, you just took an intentional hit). I'm not quite sure if you can get from the check to the finish line in just under 2 seconds, but it could just be possible. My 43 vid has 2.15 seconds from spindash charge to finish line, but I started behind the checkpoint. A perfect 6-tap spindash and release might see an extra second cut off. Either way, just get to the finish line quick, watch for the ramp!
And now for my usual analysis:
My current time: 0:42
Potential for improvement: This could go to 40, or even 39 if intentional death works at the end.
Start with a spindash immediately, then jump and glide, landing on the moving platform. Charge a spindash and launch (don't worry, you'll land safely) then ramp jump and glide at the peak of your jump. Climb up whatever of the wall you land on you are yet to clear, and again jump and glide. The idea here is to hit the platform that dips into the lava and comes out again - just as it comes up. If you miss, not to worry, you don't lose much time. Either way, continue to the nearby tunnel.
After you come out of this tunnel, you go up a ramp. What you could do at this ramp is, after you go up it, hold left and go up that way. That's the best way with Sonic, but Knuckles can do better. Try and jump out of the ramp (even if you don't get much height, don't worry too much), then at the peak of your jump glide, and climb up this wall. After you get to the top, spindash and ramp jump, then glide and land on the see-saw thingy (actually, I think a good ramp jump and glide will land you right on it). Go up the two of these, and hit the spring. Once you hit this next platform, jump off, and glide.
You might wonder what the purpose of this is. If you were to spindash here, you'd go down and through the underground. But remember, we want to skip it. So instead you want to do a long glide (it appears as if you'll hit a wall, don't worry, you won't) and land ON the loop. Preferably, you want to hit the very left edge, but if this is your first time, this is a good time to experiment.
To your right is one large wall. You're probably thinking "oh damnit, mike's led me to a dead end!" Don't worry, I haven't (you'll know if you've seen the vid). Like I said, you want to be at the very left edge, facing right. Charge up a spindash, and jump immediately.
What happens next is one of them WTF moments. You see, if you jumped in exactly the right spot, you just did a ramp jump off a very small hill. So where are you going? Maybe if you've played Sonic 1 for speed, you think you're going over the wall, a la Spring Yard 1. If you thought that, you're wrong, but you're close.
You don't quite get enough height to get over the wall, but instead you go THROUGH it, and the screen scrolls down slower than you fall. Despite the fact that you're off the screen, charge a spindash. Before long you'll hear the spindashing sound, and you'll be back in the frame - does this area seem familiar? You just skipped about 10 seconds of track! Release your spindash, and wait for the scenery to move up as usual. Now, you could just jump through the hole that appears with a bit of a run-up, but you can get Knuckles running at almost full speed from a standing start here. This is also a bit strange, but you've probably noticed it before. If you glide and land on solid ground, you stop. But if you land on a moving platform, you keep moving - this also applies to the rock that blocks your way, as it can be broken and thus moves. Run through this narrow channel, TAKE AN INTENTIONAL HIT (this is absolutely essential, otherwise you have to wait for the lava to go back down, and lose about 5 seconds), then quickly spindash before the lava reaches full height.
You should end up in the last tunnel, be launched off a ramp, hold right and you should hit a checkpoint. Strange positioning this checkpoint has, since you can simply spindash and finish the act. This has led me to throw around the idea of an intentional death here (as you certainly aren't going to have 50 rings, you just took an intentional hit). I'm not quite sure if you can get from the check to the finish line in just under 2 seconds, but it could just be possible. My 43 vid has 2.15 seconds from spindash charge to finish line, but I started behind the checkpoint. A perfect 6-tap spindash and release might see an extra second cut off. Either way, just get to the finish line quick, watch for the ramp!
And now for my usual analysis:
My current time: 0:42
Potential for improvement: This could go to 40, or even 39 if intentional death works at the end.
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