8 seconds - Knuckles' Home Sure Is Small; Why Not Speed Through It?
Submitted by SadisticMystic
With a record of 8 seconds, this is the shortest level in any Genesis/Mega Drive Sonic game (disregarding the 32X and Sega CD addons). I'll go on record as calling it the easiest time record that requires a spindash, anywhere on this site.
That doesn't mean 0:08 is easy enough that you'll get it first time, all the time. There's a reason it took so long after 9 was set in order to get 8. You don't have much leeway, so even though it doesn't take long to go through each try, it might take lots of tries. You should eventually be able to do it anyway.
There are four major parts to this level on a speedrun:
1. Come to a stop
2. Spindash with full charge
3. Jump out of it and run right
4. Jump on the teleporter
You want to come to a stop as soon as possible, because you can only spindash from a standstill. As you select Hidden Palace, listen to the music. You'll hear long background notes, and foreground notes that are 1/12 as short. The title card begins to scroll away as the second background note begins. Hold left from the beginning, and as you hear the third background note start, release left and switch to holding down. It's not very long after you start to gain control, but it doesn't take long for Knuckles to come to a stop either, especially from the slow speed that he walks into the stage at.
There are two things that can go wrong here. If you press down too early, before you're done coming to a stop, you'll roll, which slows you down far too much to have a chance at the record. Alternately, if you hold left too long before pressing down, you'll turn around and face left, which isn't the way you want to go.
In addition to using the music to time the switch from left to down, you can also look at the ground. There's a specific line that Knuckles is centered over when he successfully comes to a stop, so you can release left when you get on top of that line.
If you did the first part correctly, your odds of winning just went up. You're definitely not clear, but it's one step down.
As soon as you're crouched, you need to charge a full spindash. It takes 6 button taps in any combination of A, B, or C in order to achieve full speed, and you can't take too much time doing it or else you've blown a shot at 8. Rippling your fingers across the buttons twice tends to be effective and gets you up to the 6 count. Once you've charged it, release down.
If you try charging the spindash before you're crouched, you'll jump and/or glide instead and that's no good. That's the only real thing that can go wrong in this step, besides hitting the buttons too slowly.
After the 6 revs, you're not done hitting trigger buttons. If you were to simply release the spindash now, you'd start out going fast, but wouldn't be able to get any forward momentum from pressing right, and would come to a stop well before you're supposed to. But you can take advantage of the level layout here. The ceiling is low enough that a jump takes you into it, and from a released spindash, hitting the ceiling will take you out of the ball animation and into the running animation, where you can keep up your speed by holding right. Jump immediately after you release the spindash, and you're set.
There are two possible problems at this point. If you jump on the exact same frame that you release down, you'll make a stationary jump and your spindash will be for nothing. Alternately, if you accidentally press more than one button after releasing, you'll glide and lose your spindash momentum.
The next 3 seconds are a leisurely, if fast, stroll across the level, covering the ground you need to. Nothing to do here but hold right. Note that there are 3 large steps down, with smaller steps inserted between them. You should fly across the air, skipping the first big step entirely (if you land on it, that means you're going too slowly and you should restart).
Now, the moment of truth. One jump, with your target being the teleporter. This can make or break an 8. As you cruise right, after the third step down, look at the floor. You'll see the top of a purple column below you. Jump at the left side of that column, and if you keep moving right, that should land you on the teleporter. Obviously if you jump too late, you'll fly over and miss it, and if you don't hold the jump button long enough, you won't land on the teleporter but instead you'll pass under it.
It takes 2.8 seconds for the teleport animation to take place, up until the screen fades and your time is locked in. You'll need to land there at low 6 in order to claim your 8. Just keep an eye on the clock and hope it doesn't tick to 9 on your way up. You can always try again, so keep going until you see the screen fade out on 8 and you're done!
That doesn't mean 0:08 is easy enough that you'll get it first time, all the time. There's a reason it took so long after 9 was set in order to get 8. You don't have much leeway, so even though it doesn't take long to go through each try, it might take lots of tries. You should eventually be able to do it anyway.
There are four major parts to this level on a speedrun:
1. Come to a stop
2. Spindash with full charge
3. Jump out of it and run right
4. Jump on the teleporter
You want to come to a stop as soon as possible, because you can only spindash from a standstill. As you select Hidden Palace, listen to the music. You'll hear long background notes, and foreground notes that are 1/12 as short. The title card begins to scroll away as the second background note begins. Hold left from the beginning, and as you hear the third background note start, release left and switch to holding down. It's not very long after you start to gain control, but it doesn't take long for Knuckles to come to a stop either, especially from the slow speed that he walks into the stage at.
There are two things that can go wrong here. If you press down too early, before you're done coming to a stop, you'll roll, which slows you down far too much to have a chance at the record. Alternately, if you hold left too long before pressing down, you'll turn around and face left, which isn't the way you want to go.
In addition to using the music to time the switch from left to down, you can also look at the ground. There's a specific line that Knuckles is centered over when he successfully comes to a stop, so you can release left when you get on top of that line.
If you did the first part correctly, your odds of winning just went up. You're definitely not clear, but it's one step down.
As soon as you're crouched, you need to charge a full spindash. It takes 6 button taps in any combination of A, B, or C in order to achieve full speed, and you can't take too much time doing it or else you've blown a shot at 8. Rippling your fingers across the buttons twice tends to be effective and gets you up to the 6 count. Once you've charged it, release down.
If you try charging the spindash before you're crouched, you'll jump and/or glide instead and that's no good. That's the only real thing that can go wrong in this step, besides hitting the buttons too slowly.
After the 6 revs, you're not done hitting trigger buttons. If you were to simply release the spindash now, you'd start out going fast, but wouldn't be able to get any forward momentum from pressing right, and would come to a stop well before you're supposed to. But you can take advantage of the level layout here. The ceiling is low enough that a jump takes you into it, and from a released spindash, hitting the ceiling will take you out of the ball animation and into the running animation, where you can keep up your speed by holding right. Jump immediately after you release the spindash, and you're set.
There are two possible problems at this point. If you jump on the exact same frame that you release down, you'll make a stationary jump and your spindash will be for nothing. Alternately, if you accidentally press more than one button after releasing, you'll glide and lose your spindash momentum.
The next 3 seconds are a leisurely, if fast, stroll across the level, covering the ground you need to. Nothing to do here but hold right. Note that there are 3 large steps down, with smaller steps inserted between them. You should fly across the air, skipping the first big step entirely (if you land on it, that means you're going too slowly and you should restart).
Now, the moment of truth. One jump, with your target being the teleporter. This can make or break an 8. As you cruise right, after the third step down, look at the floor. You'll see the top of a purple column below you. Jump at the left side of that column, and if you keep moving right, that should land you on the teleporter. Obviously if you jump too late, you'll fly over and miss it, and if you don't hold the jump button long enough, you won't land on the teleporter but instead you'll pass under it.
It takes 2.8 seconds for the teleport animation to take place, up until the screen fades and your time is locked in. You'll need to land there at low 6 in order to claim your 8. Just keep an eye on the clock and hope it doesn't tick to 9 on your way up. You can always try again, so keep going until you see the screen fade out on 8 and you're done!
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