The usual thanks:

• Radix -Hosting SDA and all, y'know.
• Nate -For the capturing stuff, and sharing my love of Sonic
• VecGun -for handy advice pertaining to this game in particular, and doing Vectorman 1 which got me started on this
• Anyone else who did or didn't support me on the boards -I know you all wanted this run done.

I was originally picking up Sonic Gems Collection for Sonic CD, but for whatever reason the Vectorman speedrun caught my eye -it was at that point I found out that it would appear on the aforementioned collection, along with its sequel. Upon playing through, and beating, both, it appeared that VecGun had done a pretty good job, and thankfully left me the easier game.

The run time is calculated by adding up all the level times. These aren't obvious in the usual manner, instead, you have to subtract the time at the end from the time that you started the level with. There are powerups that increase the time remaining, complicating the issue a little, but they're fairly out of the way and I don't go anywhere near them. Using this method, the total completion time is 13 minutes 47 seconds (editor's note: the runner is off by one second on almost every level).

This run was done on the normal difficulty, on a PAL system.

Specific comments:

• Geronimo (1) -0:38 time spent in level There's nothing much to say about this level, as it's a fixed top-down scroller. My objective in this level is to get all the photons for a bonus, and not get hit. I achieved both this time -often I don't, and it makes the next level considerably harder.

• Night in the Swamp (2) -0:52 My best time on this level. There's a couple of jumps (particularly one very early over one of those slugs) that can be rather nasty, but everything went nicely on this run.

• Bog Jam (3) -0:33 A wonderful level, this. Home to not one but TWO extra life pieces, it sets me up nicely for later on in the game. It also saves my rear if I have a bad run on the previous level. Double-jumping for a quick shield is something I came up with fairly recently -the shield is unnecessary this close to a health restore, but handy anyway.

• In Darkest Night (4, boss) -0:13 Interesting boss, this. I don't know exactly what makes it go quicker, but I think it has to move to a specific spot before it starts dying. On my quickest runs (as low as 10!) it was obviously very close to that spot right away. This went okay, except for that hit at the very end.

• Fired (5) -0:44 I really, really don't like this level. Those scorpions are killers, and the long stretches of lava don't exactly do you good either. Thankfully, to make it a little easier, I discovered that that first powersack contains an Overkill weapon -giving me the first scorpion transformation straight away. The others take too long to kill safely to concern myself with.

• Magma P.I. (6) -0:23 Getting the extra life piece here doesn't take as much time as I had thought it would -about four seconds. And when you consider that there's not another extra life piece until level 13, it's kinda essential I pick this one up. It was overall a pretty good run this time.

• Turn up the Heat (7, boss) -0:20 Another personal record. Nothing to say except this run was really, really good.

• Orbot Express (8) -0:24 All these type of levels are the same length, amazingly enough. I wish you could play as rollerblading Vectorman in the other levels, as he's considerably faster-but I digress. A trick I found on these levels is to shoot after you're done whatever you need to do in the air, as it restores your horizontal velocity. And as much as I tried, those bugs that spat on me just wouldn't miss-

• Dirty Job (9) -0:35 This level is more about route planning than anything else. My tactic for climbing near the start is as fast as you can do it if done properly, I think, and takes up the majority of the level. As for the bit at the end, I did not count my shots, I was just incredibly lucky!

• Vectorman 1 2 3 (10) -0:24 Nothing much to say about this -it's pretty simple, very similar to the first.

• I Can Dig It (11) -0:13 A lovely short level here. There's quite literally nothing to it -just shoot your way right and to the exit.

• Rollerderby (12) -0:24 Another simple one, just a matter of knowing when to jump to dodge the enemies. As you can see, I cut one a little fine-

• Mist Chances (13) -0:23 Finally, a chance to restock on life! My only priority is speed during the first part, as soon as I pick up the extra health piece my only priority is still speed. It's basically just a lead in to-

• Cave Fear (14) -0:43 -his. It's my best time on this level by a considerable margin, my previous best was 48! Pretty much everything went my way, except the turtle that hit me not once but twice, but cost me zero time. I was hoping I wouldn't lose health the second time -a tactic I abuse on the next level. Rhino Charge is the best transformation in the game -and here you see why.

• Dreamsnake (15, boss) -0:35 My first real bad level. The first part of it goes all right -hole up in a corner and keep getting hit so as to avoid taking additional damage -but when there's only one left and I lose my invincibility period, I attempt to hit it with double jumps and miss quite a few times.

• Recycle or Die (16) -0:18 Lucky me. That first platform is normally a killer, as the two enemies alongside it like to knock you off it. I was hit, but not knocked off. The rest is straightforward.

• The Shadow Nose (17, boss) -0:40 This is one really odd boss. The approach to it is probably the worst part, as I had considerable trouble on the way up, due purely to the randomness of the blocks that are residually destroyed. A block you were about to use as a platform can disappear any second. Not that I can use that as an excuse-The boss itself was smooth.

• Shout and Twist (18) -1:31 Yay, a parody of Twist and Shout from the first game. Also the first level that takes over a minute -with three more to come in the last four levels. Anyway, this level went pretty well overall -I pick up my fifth additional health piece here. This level has another, but I elect not to take it, as Vectorman can't have more than 10 health, and the health I normally pick up in Tank Patrol would have been replaced by a life. This is an option I did not like, and thus avoided. It was about ten seconds quicker to do so too. The tornado can increase the height of its jump by pressing C quickly - something it took me a long time to notice.

• Tank You (19) -1:04 ARGH. This is my most hated level in the game, by a long margin. The reason is simple: when Vectorman is a tank, he loses the invincibility time that I so often abuse. This means I can bounce on an enemy while trying to pass it and take three, four or five damage in one fell swoop. That, with nine health, is pretty much run-destroying with the danger never far away. The level went okay this time, even though I was down to two health at the end - I think it was my best time.

• Tank Patrol (20) -1:06 This level isn't as bad, but the danger lies in starting with so little health as a result of the level previous. If you're going to die anywhere here, it's right at the start. I then proceeded to make a mockery of my statement by taking four damage at once by bouncing on an enemy as described above. Thankfully the enemies in here tend to give health pickups more often than in any other level, which combined with a 2x multiplier got me out with full health.

• Bad Eggs (21) -0:31 No speedrun would be complete without an astonishingly stupid mistake -this is my one. Right at the end of the level, going for a comfortable 23, I inexplicably double jumped and hit the ceiling, destroying my forward velocity and forcing me to drop a level. My quick thinking tried to get me back on the higher platform, and while failing in that task it probably succeeded in stopping me from dropping even further. About eight seconds lost.

• Queen for a Day (22, boss) -1:13 An easy boss, thank goodness. My original tactic was to simply sit in the left hand corner and just jump over her shots and shoot -but it wasn't that easy, as she has a tendency to throw two at you in quick succession, leaving you easily hit as soon as you land. I reverted to the strategy you see here: attacking with the double jump until the first phase ends, as her shots become slower and more predictable once the first phase ends. It looks risky, but it's not as long as your double jumps are well timed.

The ending can be skipped, but I figured I'd leave it in because it wouldn't make much sense if I went straight back to the start a few seconds after beating the boss.

Enjoy the run!

You can contact me on either MSN or AIM:
MSN: mike89_mkscelite AT hotmail.com (this is also my primary email address)
AIM: mike89mkscelite