The History of Mega Man 2 World Records

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Merchandise - my-store-c98c64.creator-sprin...
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/ summoningsalt
Music list: docs.google.com/document/d/1p...
/ discord
/ summoningsalt
Music Credits:
List of all music in this video:
docs.google.com/document/d/1p...
Amie Waters (amiewaters.bandcamp.com/)
Chris Doerksen (chrisdoerksen.bandcamp.com/)
HOME ( / home-2001 )
oDDling (linktr.ee/oddlingmusic)
Rosentwig (rosentwig.bandcamp.com/)
TheOfficialLobst ( / theofficiallobst )
Thanks to the following people for help with research! Be sure to check their channels out:
cyghfer: / cyghfer
Shinryuu: / mrshnryuu
warmCabin: / @warmcabin
sinister1: / sinister1
coolkid: / coolkid
And check out the Mega Man 2 leaderboards to keep up with other top runners - megamanleaderboards.net/index...
Top Supporters: docs.google.com/document/d/1f...
Video Credits:
docs.google.com/document/d/1K...

[@SummoningSalt]

This is a reupload - I’m sorry for any confusion. It is the same as my last Mega Man 2 video, but with all profanity censored. In case you haven’t heard what happened, my last video was age-restricted: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6TCaJaoma2jmNE. I cannot disagree more with KZbin’s ruling on this. Original pinned comment: Thanks to the following people for help with research! Be sure to check their channels out: cyghfer: www.twitch.tv/cyghfer Shinryuu: kzbin.info shoka: www.twitch.tv/shokashoka warmCabin: kzbin.info/door/qph5T9ZBmtdXCTvg-kgEzg sinister1: www.twitch.tv/sinister1 coolkid: www.twitch.tv/coolkid And check out the Mega Man 2 leaderboards to keep up with other top runners - megamanleaderboards.net/index.php?game=2

[@drDryden1]

Hello

[@lando8190]

Legend

[@rushilsaini6356]

KZbin policy sucks

[@spiraldj]

No worries!

[@Nateisaguy]

it’s okay

[@Zach2K]

Watching a summoning salt video twice should be the bare minimum

[@rosehirstius]

Gotta do it three times now to get it even

[@marybean2231]

@@rosehirstius three is even?

[@superbadisfunmy]

Rookie numbers

[@dans6920]

Couldn’t agree more!

[@idrissb9742]

Im on 10 with this one, and thats a LOW estimate

[@AyylienInvader]

The whole demonetization headache sucked, glad to help get this one back on track!

[@bgmarshall]

Bot moment

[@joekat6451]

Engagement +1

[@Hue_Sam]

Age restriction

[@mikeallison5549]

Well Actually…… Hearing a few swear words is causing severe degradation in our society. Most don’t know about it as the biased media won’t cover it. Thankfully KZbin is accurately censoring these destructive videos. More of this will get our society back on track. Now I’m off to watch the un-age-restricted, family friendly AVGN episodes.

[@lovingthesauce]

TOO MANY ADS👎👎

[@SpectralSuperSonic]

cyghfer reobtained his world record back this November 2022. He never gave up this grind and I don't think he ever will. Congrats.

[@billj4525]

Nope never, he will always either have the record or be chasing the record. He's not giving up on that. Glad to see he took it back just shortly after this video.

[@pierreluc5382]

did he get a job tho?

[@SCORP1ONF1RE]

@@pierreluc5382 yep!

[@primadhy]

nice, i was rooting for him the whole video

[@lightfeather9953]

Were there any new strats? How did he do it

[@ChocoMuffin23]

"You cant keep Cyghfer from Rock Man 2." And on this very day... Cyghfer achieves the top spot. 26:32.4, a new world record!! CONGRATS CYGHFER!!!

[@ArseAllowance]

YOOOOOO ODKJQDMJA I was so sad he wasnt able to keep wr, you made my day sir

[@ChocoMuffin23]

@@ArseAllowance same dude watchimg that run die was so heartbreaking, glad to have watched the wr live

[@matearonmiskolczi1995]

🐏🐏

[@iplayminecraft2248]

YEAH BABY (with 1 year delay)

[@Wirtual]

Lets get this back to Trending #1. IT DESERVES IT

[@jhonthecat5061]

Lets get this bread gamers and stick it to the man!

[@ouchouchouch]

just saw you driving backwards!

[@Cera_01]

Hello speed driver boi

[@dylangomer4006]

Hoping you two do a collaboration video in the future!!

[@bigannoyingbanana1365]

WIRUTAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@theNotOPOfficial]

Your work is valued, even if KZbin doesn't quite realize it. You have a gift in storytelling as a documentarian.

[@dbeast03]

I don't think youtube could possibly have their heads farther up their asses but at least re-uploading is a thing and the interaction (may) help the algorithm pick this one back up. Never do I really care about the "like, comment, subscribe" mentality unless I really like a channel, but this would be a nice way to toss a wrench into the system and support one of the best of the best on YT

[@ChefHeisca]

He really is the best.

[@Catalyst8487]

Imagine making this video, spending hours writing and editing it, going thru all the BS around the age restriction, and then Cyghfer coming along and beating the record shortly after the video is released.

[@Zeuseus6609]

Happens with a lot of his vids actually. Seen plenty of comments over his vids of people beating record within a week of the related vid dropping. Wouldn't be surprised if it's because summoning salt doing research and talking to runners reignites some fervor to get back to the grind

[@Chris-et2fm]

​@@Zeuseus6609 Yup. Imagine inspiring someone to have another go and eventually nail it. I'm sure it's nice to think you may have inspired it

[@Grak70]

Beating a record you’ve been attempting for months, on the absolute last run, on a competition stream. Legend.

[@CleveDeansHand]

I’m rewatching this in full, and upvoting everyone that is doing the same. SS provides great content, truly my favorite channel.

[@ZipplyZane]

I heard it happened, so I didn't watch yet, so I could watch now. Though I was expecting him just to go in and edit the original video with KZbin's editor, blanking out the audio when the profanity struck. I guess that wasn't an option for some reason. (Maybe a limited number of edits, maybe because KZbin wouldn't reverse their decision anyway.)

[@tonytonychopper9037]

Schutz Staffel

[@fredtrunce5931]

If you really like this channel you’ll probably like SB nation’s dork town series as well.

[@juanjobj3]

"Thank you but please refrain from using that acronym"

[@_Zuckeraffe_]

@@ZipplyZane The thing is, even in the time, the age restricton was lifted for a short period, the video got nearly zero views via recommendations. Regarding the algorithm, the video was dead. So even if it would been possible to edit the part out through the editor and KZbin lifts the restriction once again, it wouldn't really fix the problem of way too few impressions.

[@gama888_6]

This is such a shame that this documentary got age restricted so i will watch this without skipping any parts of this master piece. Summoning Salt is a legend keep it up man!

[@foxey9613]

i stumbled upon your channel while i was in the mental hospital. your videos honestly helped me through some tough times, now i usually listen to them to help me fall asleep. thank you summoning salt, for all your hard work!

[@kefkapalazzo1]

Good to hear you’re doing better my friend

[@rafawars_]

I know what that's like, i'm glad to hear that you're doing better

[@jay1jayf]

ywbaw

[@TheBr00talhamster]

Hope you're staying well. Great to hear you're doing better now!

[@KingC89]

lol

[@solipsisme8472]

Stellar storytelling, I was hooked from beginning to end. And the graphic representation of WRs is a very nice addition !

[@gbay99]

This is a great documentary that doesn't deserve an age restriction. Let's get it trending again.

[@joshuaflores7621]

Gbay!!!! :O

[@majikcheezit]

My other favorite documentarian!

[@sashiniranjannair922]

Agree 👍💯

[@praetorxak5361]

Gbay99? Damn good to see you here!

[@Gregory_12]

Comment to boost engagement

[@speakingofpaz]

So glad you could cover one of the most iconic games of all time! Here to give this video the boost it deserves!

[@Chibi_Mercury]

re-cover lol

[@bgmarshall]

Also giving this video a boost

[@joekat6451]

Engagement +1

[@rosehirstius]

+

[@kkanjiro]

Every time Summoning Salt posts a video, I tell myself that It's worth paying the internet today. His content is unrivaled and unique with a great storytelling. Keep it up!

My one claim to fame for Mega Man 2 is that I got my name in the "NES Achievers" section of Nintendo Power magazine (Nov/Dec 1989) for being among the first to finish the game. Not very impressive, I know, especially compared to the superhuman feats performed by these legendary speedrunners. But it's something. 😊 Massive props to Summoning Salt for putting together such a quality, detailed, and interesting video on the speedrunning history of this game. Please keep producing more!

[@FoxyMoxyValo]

Salt you set the standard for high quality video game content, and this is your best documentary yet. It needs to get on trending again so more people can see it!

[@Bakuan]

Re-watching this video because it deserves it. Your determination is respectable for everything that happened to the original video.

[@chfbrian]

This deserves a rewatch.

[@CHIP-PICS]

What happened??? Im confused! 😅

[@escobarisanoctopus]

It's crazy to think how little time was reduced from when Ureta's run was submitted to where it is now.

[@joezawinulreviewsandreacti2509]

Something about cypher's comeback literally brought tears to my eyes. It's a metaphor for the human spirit and how people fight uphill battles and how sometimes we can get unexpected grace

[@jtwinb6]

If anything these videos have incredible rewatch value because you see how much work goes into foreshadowing and setting up of these incredible storylines. 11/10

[@joeecm27]

I’ve watched several of my favorites a few times over the years. I forget so much it’s close enough to watching a new video. 😂

[@TDohertyProductions]

I've rewatched the mario kart wii ultra shortcuts video like 10 times and I've never played mario kart wii.

[@FutureProp]

To be a bro leave this video playing somewhere in the background at 0.25x speed. It counts as watching it four times.

[@orgil.altansukh]

lets gooooooooo (im just commenting to help out the algorithm)

[@sheevpalpatine8230]

I’m in awe of the sheer effort goes into every one of these videos. Nobody makes long-form videos like this quite like you

[@SylvaGardenia]

Not surprising the Empire is into speedrunning seeing as they speedran a near-extinction event for the Jedi.

[@Merennulli]

@@SylvaGardenia He would have done it sooner but Force glitches were banned on Twin Galaxies.

[@kelpfries9042]

@@recitationtohear I think you're wrong there.

[@kelpfries9042]

@@SylvaGardenia And then Palpatine discovered a new technique. Enter, Order 66.

[@BlueBead]

If there's a silver lining to the awful age restriction situation, it's that I, and hopefully more people like me, found your content through hearing about it. I watched because I like speedrunning and wanted to give the video support, but now I'm sticking around because wow, you're an amazing documentary maker! This had me as emotionally invested as a movie. Well done! 👏

[@octave9401]

it's insane to me how over the course of 18 years, the record was lowered by a total of less than four minutes.

[@Patterrz]

Gonna watch this whole thing again so it doesn't lose watch time, it deserves as many views as possible

[@TypmitKFC]

Agreed. It's a shame it got age restricted in the first place

[@matthewleadbetter5580]

Me too.

[@xlittlep]

Same. Watching again at 2x speed, gonna have the window open the whole time, too.

[@Ulquiorra191]

I think Cyghfer's relation of his Chase the Record run is unfathomably insightful. State of mind is ridiculously important. On that day, he was fully at peace with the possibility of failure but also fully believed he had the ability required to succeed. That's the state of mind you need to perform at your fullest potential, and it's all but impossible to call upon it on demand. It's blood-boilingly tragic that this is the video to get fucked by arbitrary profanity rules because this is a masterpiece.

[@ofconsciousness]

This is inspiring ❤️

[@derekg5563]

TechNickL: It truly represents the way to live life in general: let go of the outcome. It allows you to do your best, be satisfied with your effort/performance whether you win or lose, and if you do win, you can actually just enjoy it instead of - compared to when you are attached to the outcome - just worrying about losing your title or experiencing some setback, which is bound to happen, but your mental state decides how to react to it. Ironically you achieve more when you are more at peace with (not necessarily indifferent to, but accepting of) the potential outcomes. Of course you still have a serious chance of failure, but it is saying something that it improves, not worsens, when you let go of the outcome. Related to this is that it reminds me of how people who do things chiefly for the accolades and trophies and such, are not the ones who usually get them, but rather it's the people who don't care so much about those things who end up getting them because their state of mind allowed them to perform better, and the awards flow naturally, whether they were particularly wanted or not. I would argue that the point of awards is more about the community _wanting_ to honor people, rather than satisfying people's wants to be honored. The distinction is clear when oftentimes, the person the community is dying to honor, often seems indifferent to the honor, or even doesn't want the credit sometimes, and that is a sign that the person very much internally understands what they achieved, and no missing of a title can take that away from them. They appreciate the essence of what they achieved, not the recognition of it. This contrasts with other players who might also play at a very high level, but may still be attached to the outcome too much, and so they haven't fully let loose on their potential to become the very best. The very best are exceptional to the rest of the great players, by definition, and it usually reflects not only exceptional technical traits, but also mental and emotional ones. I don't intend to speak in absolutes of course, but I think the trend is that the people who deserve the honor tend to be the ones who don't particularly want/need the credit. Of course this mindset needs to come up organically (by being mentally healthy, etc.), and not merely be fabricated in order to virtue-signal or something. The people with this genuine mindset are not only not in need of credit for their technical achievement, but not in need of credit even for having the mindset itself by those such as myself who notice it in them. The reason I honor it is not because these people need it but because I want to do it, and because they might like to know the people they have inspired by it, and be happy for those people, rather than be validated by those people (as great achievers already found ways to find their own internal validation to get where they are today, and it rubs off on people when they see the fruits of that mindset). It's sort of like laughing: genuine laughter is when we are trying to hold in our laughter but just can't, because the situation takes control of us (in a positive way). We laugh at these people whether they want us to laugh or not. I feel like true admiration can ooze out in this same kind of way as laughter. Where it's not that we honor out of some perceived duty, but when the "honor" feels like genuine enjoyment, to the point where, if someone told us not to honor them, we wouldn't feel relief, but instead would actually have trouble containing the honor we wanted to give them :)

[@ObservationofLimits]

Reminds me of when I was younger and I had come close but never broke the 5:00 mark for a mile. I still remember I had two bran muffins and some regular ass yogurt for breakfast. By game time it was just there. No jitters, just calm. I didn't just do it, I crushed it. I ran down that mile in 4:38 I remember my teacher just kept saying "not fast enough" every lap. I was coughing up blood by the time I was done. It was like a crazy unlock moment for "what the mind wills the body does." I did wild shit for the next two decades, swimming in freezing rivers, crawling through hundreds of meters of drainage pipe under stadium parking lots that was barely wider than my shoulders, shit at one point I got into an argument with my psychotic mother and promptly hiked off to live in the Appalachians for almost 2 years. Working from 0330 to 2230, getting 3 hours of sleep every night. Taking that opportunity to attempt an iron man schedule (sleep 15 minutes every 6 hours). It was wild. But I had no semblance of sanity and now I'm just over 40 and my body is ruined. Sometimes I can't convince myself to sit down and play some video games for an hour.

[@FFKonoko]

I like that you talk about the state of mind thing. And I suddenly wonder, if there is something to why someone breaking a long standing record is often then beaten themselves soon after. The longer a record stands, the more legendary it is, the more likely someone is to be tense about it. Even though beating the time that beat that time is logically harder, there is that element of "he just did it, so I think I can too"

[@Jann75]

@@derekg5563 take my like

[@BlysoFly]

I’ve found this 9 months after upload and to my surprise, cyghfer has once again taken the record! As of 7/10/23 he still holds number one with 26:32.4 and coolkid has number 2 at 26:34.4. Cyghfer has held this record since 11/20/22.

[@reesepounders8156]

Ive really enjoyed seeing speedrunners on camera while getting records when possible and getting comments from the runners themselves on the sacrifices and struggles they had in the process. I found myself rooting for Cyghfer as well as gaining a much larger respect for the amount of dedication involved in the process. I would love to see more of that. Amazing video, as always 10/10

[@benjaminshields9421]

I love how these videos are all a masterclass in not only documentation and research, but storytelling.

[@TheRenegade...]

And editing

[@Jojo-on7pk]

yeah, it's great how he also explains how the big tricks work in such a way that even those who've never even seen the game can understand what's going on

[@FloridaManYT]

Yes point exactly

[@DotHackKaiser]

I can't imagine how exhausting this whole age-restriction ordeal has been for you. To pour your heart & soul into a project for so long, hoping that all of your hard work is properly rewarded, only to be taken for a massive emotional (and financial) roller-coaster ride...it's so unfair. I hope you're doing okay, SS. 💙 Thank you for all the hard work you put in.

[@cadeyoung4406]

^ not the time

[@matthewthiele6020]

Maybe just say the full name

[@MeesterTweester]

I agree, this is his job now, he must have been devastated.

[@scubasteve6175]

Jesus it's bad and annoying but it's not like his immediate family died

[@allontarkkus1906]

You're a fantastic content creator man, I'm sorry you have to suffer KZbin's terrible bureaucracy. This video definitely deserves the #1 trending spot.

[@SP-kk1sj]

I was really hoping cygpher would get his record. He had such a struggle and it would've been an amazing end

[@Kaygu_]

He has the current world record with a 26:32 achieved in November !

[@SP-kk1sj]

@@Kaygu_ thanks 👍

[@billj4525]

@@Kaygu_ I just found that out right now when I looked at the current records randomly. Cygpher is a beast, and I was rooting for him since watching this, so I'm glad he took the record back. I think he will either have the record or be trying to get it back. He's a machine at this game.

[@kjmartin815]

it's crazy how whenever youtube gets a creator who makes genuinely amazing, high effort, and consistent content with something for everyone they treat them like garbage while allowing actual dangerous and obscene content fly every day

[@testname4464]

Funnily enough, searching up "ø" brings up gore and cartel execution videos! Seems youtube has some odd priorities...

[@matthewhafner962]

@@testname4464 DaFuq? The Greek letter Theta is associated with that? I can't even.

[@wesleywyndam-pryce5305]

I mean youtube won't even ban people like Sargon or his little nazi followers.

[@jedsithor]

Your first name tells me you have Irish connections. Your surname...Greek? That's probably wrong, apologies. In any case I think the issue is that Google is an American company, bowing to American puritanical language standards. In Europe (including Ireland), coarse language isn't such a big deal. Both Ireland and the UK allow most "vulgar" language after 9pm on TV (C U Next Tuesday being an occasional exception for some random reason). You can't even say "shit" on network TV in the US. You can say it on cable but heaven help you if you even think about saying "fuck" if you're not on a premium adult channel.

[@donkeyking475]

KZbin has frequently promoted to the top known obvious scam videos that have criminals stealing money from victims and they do nothing to stop them. Is anyone surprised they can't anything BUT drop the ball?

[@EboRL]

It’s incredibly upsetting it had to come to this. With all the recent events, KZbin needs to be more clear with their rules. Absolutely ridiculous. Keep up the good work Summoning Salt, we will always support you!

[@toby2581]

KZbin's unclear rules are entirely intentional. If the rules are a mystery, they have plausible deniability to do whatever they want whenever they want for whatever reason they want with no accountability.

[@Gregory_12]

Comment to boost engagement

[@rosehirstius]

+++

[@EboRL]

@@toby2581 And it shouldn’t be that way. KZbin only succeeds when it’s creators succeed so why make it difficult for creators to succeed with vague rules and absurd reasons to age restrict videos. It isn’t that difficult to set and enforce specific rules, instead of going back and forth when deciding if a video should be age restricted. I completely understand that videos need to be “advertiser friendly” but the grounds on which to classify a video as “advertiser friendly” shouldn’t vary on every video.

[@mikeallison5549]

Well Actually…… Hearing a few swear words is causing severe degradation in our society. Most don’t know about it as the biased media won’t cover it. Thankfully KZbin is accurately censoring these destructive videos. More of this will get our society back on track. Now I’m off to watch the un-age-restricted, family friendly AVGN episodes.

[@JaysTechVault]

Here to support the re-upload

[@angelpagecdlmhq]

Cyghfer set a new Mega Man 2 World Record of 26:32.4 in November 2022, which still stands. 26:2X is certainly possible, as you can see where that run could’ve been polished a bit more. However, keep an eye on Ellonija - It appears he’s back on the scene, after posting a 26:39.8 on Normal Mode earlier today, which makes him the third sub-26:40 MM2 speedrunner and is his new PB, IIRC.

[@GingerBreadSed]

The way you can make someone who's never even played megaman to care so much about the record that I cheered loudly when cyghfer finally got it is truly a testament to your talent! Sorry you had to reupload this!

[@BrothersofOG]

You must live a boring life

[@thepowerplayer4530]

Let’s try and get this video promoted as much as possible, I feel bad for summoning salt and he deserves to get recognition, especially for how much work he put into this video, and how good it turned out.

[@masonw9971]

im just leaving it running on a loop on mute in the background. doesnt do much but it's what i can do.

[@Janpetervogt]

@@masonw9971 Comment for the algorithm

[@spk_eze]

Yeah the more discussion we generate the more likely it'll get promoted right?

[@fasddfadfgasdgs]

@@spk_eze it failed to get into the ranking even when it has 300k views. seems like algorithm isn't pushing this.

[@spk_eze]

@@fasddfadfgasdgs Ah well, maybe in a years' time it'll pop up in a bunch of people's recommended 😊

[@Fartypantslive]

KZbin fucked it up. The first video was fully viral

[@jonathanswink2682]

Why do all these video seem so epic. I don't even play video games yet I find myself going on these journey into these world record battles. The music...the editing...so good! Keep them coming

[@APM-xc9ny]

Q look

[@bloodondope]

summoning salt is an amazing storyteller. these videos are emotional and exciting. you feel with the runners.

[@appointmenteer]

i cannot overstate how amazing this storytelling is. the chase for the record bit with cypher felt like a legit documentary, it felt like the most important moment in history, and it was all about one person playing a game 15 seconds faster. well done. this is a masterpiece

[@ObservationofLimits]

Reminds me of slapshoes videos about older nascar chases for the cup (before nascar went full retard)

[@EnjoySackLunch]

Allright allright, relax buddy

[@theperfecteraser5988]

@@EnjoySackLunch bruh

[@EnjoySackLunch]

@@theperfecteraser5988 what is the meaning of this, sir

[@sangan3202]

@@EnjoySackLunch shut up

[@Toadstar0]

Doing my part to help engagement on the video. You really deserve the best man, fingers crossed the reupload goes well.

[@ng65gaming]

Summoning salt: this was the end. The true perfection of the run. Me: there’s still half the video left…

[@mattkasperitis2232]

My sister has epileptic seizures and I have never once seen this pre warning on a youtube video before. subbed for that alone

[@Rudyliciousness]

Interacting for the algo. Incredible quality as always. Thanks for the unending dedication to letting the world know just how fun and impressive speedrunning can be

[@go-away-5555]

Starting a fake flamewar argument for the algo 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@willythewyno]

@@go-away-5555 then to war we must go 🔥🔥🔥

[@cutterrojo]

Interacting for the same reason

[@kelpfries9042]

@@go-away-5555 Not gonna lie I hate you're guts. :)

[@noodroid6736]

Shoutout to Summoning Salt for ensuring there's a flash warning during videos. I'm mildly photosensitive, so coming in prepared is always needed. This has so much flashing but it's still my favorite video. Thanks for the consideration and warnings every time, man.

[@bsidethebox]

So many old games have crazy flashing because it was such a cheap effect ROM wise. :(

[@abstractaxolotl6961]

Same here! Even though I usually just listen to long videos in the background while doing something else, I was incredibly grateful for the warning.

[@memesong21]

​@@bsidetheboxyou mean stuff like the short flash in the a link to the past intro?

[@bsidethebox]

@@memesong21 ...I'm not sure? I'm assuming you're talking about Zelda, but I don't have a copy to look at. Let me nerd out and see if that answers your question. (Excuse my word avalanche, I'm not very good at short and sweet.) So, caveats first: I'm no expert. I made art and did design for some cheap electronic toys and Plug-and-Play video games (those $20 straight-to-the-clearance-shelf themed joysticks with like 4 games on them circa 2010ish) that used the cheapest and thus smallest chips possible to keep costs down, and we used all sorts of tricks to keep our games' sizes small. I'm ultimately _assuming_ many of those tricks were holdovers from NES and arcade game development. I didn't go to school for game dev, though the coworkers that I learned from had. First, the easier one to explain: sprites *flickering*. Sprites=the things that move around the screen: MegaMan, platforms, enemies, projectiles, "explosion particles", etc. All art in the NES is broken up into 8x8 tiles, so depending on pose, MegaMan is 2-4 tiles wide. You can have 64 sprite tiles on the screen at a time, BUT only 8 sprite tiles on any single pixel horizontal line before they stop rendering. So...4 tiles for MegaMan, and if he shoots 4 bullets (1 tile each) horizontally, there's no tiles left to render an enemy on that line. But there's a trick where they'll use code to quickly alternate which tiles get rendered so more sprite tiles can occupy a single line. Imagine on frame 1, MegaMan is rendered but the enemy isn't, frame 2, MM isn't but the enemy is, repeat...it's so fast that your eyes and brain have no trouble parsing who/what is where, but visually, you still see the flicker as the tiles quickly cycle on and off. This is incredibly common in old games. From what I understand, the flicker usually isn't a problem for epileptics, as the sprites make up only a small portion of the screen and each flicker is only one frame.

[@bsidethebox]

@@memesong21 (Continued) The _flashing_ is different, and I think way more likely to cause epileptic issues. For special effects and highlights and whatnot, we used a trick called 'palette swapping' to keep things as small as possible, and I think something similar is happening here. To make things smaller, the code for each pixel in a tile didn't specify its color. Instead, each tile (sprite or background) indexes a spot in a 'palette'--a group of colors. The games I made usually had 8 or 16 color palettes, but I think the NES was limited to 4 color palette...which are actually 3 color palettes, because the first color is always "transparent". MegaMan is a great example for this: his blue outfit changes to different colors to indicate the different powers, right? So all you need to understand is that it's the same tiles/art and the only thing that changes is that it's indexing a different palette. This means the actual art is encoded not as "transparent, black, blue, blue, aqua, aqua, blue, black", but as "color# 1,2,3,3,4,4,3,2" and the code says "when MegaMan is blue, index palette 1(transparent, black, blue, aqua), when he's red, index from palette 2 (transparent, black, red, pink)". Now here's the "trick". The NES loads 8 palettes at a time, 4 for background and 4 for sprites. Say we want to indicate an enemy taking damage. If it's a 4 tile sprite, we could swap to another frame of animation (cost: 4 tiles in ROM, and processing power to draw those 4 tiles), or use an overlay (cost: 4 tiles in ROM, processing power to bring in those tiles, PLUS we're at 8 tiles in our scanline so likely hello flicker-time/processing power to cycle the tiles in and out as explained above)...OR! we have an alternate palette, wherein instead of transparent, black, blue, aqua, the colors are transparent, aqua, white, white, and code it so when the enemy takes damage, it indexes palette 2 for a couple of frames, then palette 1 for a couple of frames, then palette 2, before settling out back at its normal palette 1. This'll look like the blue-with-a-black outline enemy flashes to white-with-an-aqua-outline twice when it's damaged, and all it costs is a tiny bit of processing power to switch the palette. (Take for example the big fish @ 5:10). Swapping to an alternate palette with transparent, white, transparent, transparent would make a transparent "ghost" with just a white outline. All with negligible cost to cartridge size and working memory. And the background tiles can be palette swapped too--like making the black background flash white @6:51. We used palette swaps for all sorts of things--hiding textures or features within background tiles, changing text colors to highlight menu options, even simulating animation, like "scrolling" conveyor belts or twinkling stars, without additional frames by swapping through multiple palettes. I'm pretty sure the trippy "animated" backgrounds for the Lavos Core boss fight in Chrono Trigger are just a series of palette swaps on a single frame background (the SNES has 16 color palettes, with 8 palette slots for background tiles at any one time.) It was a great trick, but especially with the NES limitations, with 4(3) color palettes (and I think only 64 preset colors to choose from), it's not surprising that there's a lot of painful flashing effects.

[@Topunito]

cyghfer getting a world record in a game that competitive during a goddamn live 3 hour event might be one of the absolute most legendary speedrunning events I've heard of (though, not that I'm that knowledgeable about it- something similar might have happened in another event i don't know of)

[@jonbomb1480]

I'm just imagining the day when someone does a video on Summoning Salt and it starts of with the same intro music "This, is Summoning Salt, if you've been around since 2017, you may have heard of him."

[@sarabeth3016]

That sponsor segment was absolute perfection, perfect integration ❤️

[@sarabeth3016]

@UCt8rVaseGSXFsmE49bZ_6oA I’m applauding the creativity of the segment instead of just doing an ad read. It made it more entertaining to watch than the same old ad read I’ve heard a million times for VPN services. I’m not going to shame a creator for having a sponsor, it’s hard to validate spending this much time on something and not getting any money in return, especially if this is his main or only source of income. You’re always free to skip the segment if you hate it so much.

[@CJ_Hyperfresh]

Right? One of the best personalized sponsorship segments I've seen haha

[@ofconsciousness]

Yeah I really enjoyed it too!

[@RCVideoDude]

Crazy how many of these speedruns practically have their own story arcs and protagonists. Art really does imitate life

[@pyropulseIXXI]

It is also a little bit of narrative crafting and over emphasizing the drama

[@Suckitfromthaackbays]

Crazy how people do things in real life hey

[@skungillian91]

Cyghfer is like old bands that do farewell tours only to say, "see you next year!" at the end I Hope he gets the time he wants

[@elizander5902]

As of august 2023, the record has been improved on by 2 second, by none other than cyghfer

[@rory_posting]

What happened is a shame, but let's not let it distract us from how amazing of a video this is. Thank you for your work Summoning Salt!

[@joekat6451]

Engagement +1

[@Currnation22]

He really is the best

[@mikeallison5549]

Here here!

[@rosehirstius]

+

[@Miss-Alexis]

Cyghfer truly does feel like a speedrunning hero. Whether or not he ever pulls off his perfect run, he's still going to be immortalized as a legend of Mega Man 2

[@gasasmk]

He almost turned into the Joker after that crazy run

[@silverflight01]

So I went on the leaderboard and sorted by "All Runs" instead of just Rockman 2. According to this combined leaderboard, Ellonija currently holds the Normal WR at 26m 33s, putting him at 2nd Overall, while cyghfer took back the Difficult WR at 26m 32.4s So we're still at a low 26:3X as of now

[@lordofshadows2124]

I think we all knew from the beginning that cyghfer was the protagonist of this story

[@teampokepals763]

I don't usually comment on your videos, but I want to do everything I can to help this one out. It's a shame what happened to the original, because you deserve nothing but success with all of the time, effort, and passion you put into your videos.

[@gigabyte2248]

Absolutely. Summoning Salt makes great videos, I love the sports documentary vibe and the gravitas it lends to speedrunning and I want the channel to keep growing, sooo... comment, comment, comment!

[@CFeral-xu9ku]

@@saschaberger3212 You're projecting your own thrist for attention with your question.

[@CFeral-xu9ku]

KZbin really needs competition and eventually an end to the whole project.

[@naobi666]

@@saschaberger3212 who cares lol

[@mootwo_]

@@saschaberger3212 who cares? they left one simple comment because they thought the video was well-made and deserved support. there's no need to care if your comment isn't recognized because you shouldn't expect anything in return, esp. from someone you don't know

[@kjez]

I really loved the addition of player interviews in this it gave a nice depth and connection that you don't get from just stream clips

[@TravelWithRipej]

Bh

[@joekat6451]

Engagement +1

[@fennglordd6365]

Hello you!

[@TRex-fu7bt]

That definitely was a level up for Salt

[@go-away-5555]

engagement engagement engagement. More comments means more tending

[@thanoschungussnunsou4151]

It’s bullshit this was ever taken down I’ll watch it fully to support because I missed it the first time but better late than never

[@TheOuroborosLoop]

Dude I have rewatched this a couple times, and every fucking time it's so sad seeing Cyghfer lose that perfect run, man. Fuck. I can not imagine.

[@natodepotato5245]

I hope that this video gets on trending, because it 100% deserves it

[@alantaylor2694]

I don't know how you do it. You basically count down from one number to another but it's so compelling, so engaging, so watchable. I'm hooked from start to finish and your use of music and editing to make things land give me goose bumps every time. Please never stop making these, Thank you.

[@endymallorn]

It’s not about the numbers. It’s about the stories we tell. It’s how people worked on this. How they found themselves becoming famous over a few seconds. Even without the speedrun, the passion is what makes this important.

[@Walt_Raleigh]

Cyghfer was like "MegaMan 2 killed my grandma, I can't stop until I get revenge"

[@Drakojana]

Honestly cyghfer's story is something out of a movie. I think you're doing all those speedrunners an amazing honor by making those videos. Those achievements are incredible and I'm glad more and more people hear about them!

[@TKNinja37]

I hope that what can only be called a "travesty of a need" to reupload this will prove to make this video, and you, more popular, Salt. The History of World Records series is the only one on KZbin that consistently makes me stop what I'm doing to watch it instead. You give so much more than we could ask for, and deserve far better than you've received.

[@HarleyKita]

I’m happy to do my part to get this masterpiece seen by the masses. You have my full support! Keep making great stuff! Sorry that this happened to you.

[@irvingf.8769]

Wild that cyghfer got the record a month after this video and has had it ever since

[@drexsd4448]

Making sure I do my part to push this one on the algorithm. So sorry this situation happened to you salt, of all the creators on this platform why you were targeted I don’t understand. Don’t let this hiccup knock you down, you never stop improving and I always look forward to your next uploads :)

[@Heroesworkshop]

I was hoping you would just reuplaod this. We’re all here to rewatch. I’m literally letting this play in its entirety for the watch time.

[@PeterLevitov]

Same :)

[@TheSocalpenguin225]

Same!!

[@alimbis]

And looping it at night

[@ctmdwhub]

Same! And I'm peppering comments too.

[@magdabrownis265]

Something almost magical about this game when I was a kid

[@tboneslim1378]

FYI when you're talking about the Japan runner "nou1", in Japanese nou is mostly pronounced just like "no", so the username could be a play on the phrase "no one".

[@2leftthumbs]

Excellent work as always! Sorry this is how things played out. It may not feel that way now, but considering everything, I'm confident a reupload was the right course of action! Best wishes Salt!

[@Mexikirb]

Where's 3 Right Pinkies?

[@coredumperror]

What actually happened?

[@2leftthumbs]

@@coredumperror Salt has a pinned comment with a video that goes in depth on it. Basically there were a couple f-bombs close together in a clip he used. And KZbin age restricted it, then removed it, then re added it and doubled down. So they effectively killed the video forever

[@KiritoYager]

This video was amazing. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves without being restricted by KZbin this time

[@dream1nf1n1te7]

I seriously love the way he makes the advertisment in his own special way, its unique

[@ahmedswidan1042]

GUYS AS OF 20/11/22 CYGHEF GOT THE WORLD RECORD AGAIN WITH A 26:32.32. this guy just wont give up untill he gets his sub 30

[@user-my9ob9cd7q]

It's a shame that things had to come to this, but I'm happy that the video gets to exist mostly intact. It means your work didn't completely go to waste. Thank you for always putting out detailed, soothing, and high-quality content. The moderation team may not appreciate it, but we do :)

[@6.28]

@@TravelWithRipej youtube will censor an hour-long documentary for a 3-second clip but won't do anything about these shitty bots 😩

[@mikeallison5549]

@@6.28 😂😂😂 well said. I think that link will do more damage than those 3 seconds of profanity.

[@user-my9ob9cd7q]

@@TravelWithRipej No

[@rosehirstius]

+

[@kelpfries9042]

@@TravelWithRipej I think you're lost mate.

[@zephyr9433]

Don't worry, we'll do our best to make sure your hard documentation work gets acknowledged

[@grantcactus9973]

Summoning Salt remains posting some of the highest quality content I’ve seen on KZbin and only improves

[@sadaba43]

thanks for your attention to detail and the love you show for these communities, im so glad you're gonna be making more long videos like this i can't wait for more of it keep up the good work my dude❤️❤️

[@some__random__guy]

Glad you were able to get it back up!

[@garyhall7867]

That's what she said

[@yess___]

@@garyhall7867 hilarious

[@migueldelmazo5244]

Phrasing!

[@lenerxs]

💀

[@kaiokendrick]

I mean he did, but at what cost?

[@nathanblood2466]

Can't say I've ever been interested in Mega Man, but just listening to the way you craft + deliver the story of all these speedrunners, plus the way you explain the games + techniques so simply, makes for a hugely engaging vid.

[@peden3222]

It just works!

[@disrealnow9664]

Dunno but mega man always seemed a bit buggy... never really enjoyed it that much

[@simplemindedsage]

@@disrealnow9664 The first three NES Mega Man games definitely have their fair share of jank. Most of the games after that feel way more polished.

[@thewrathofgog6749]

I'm finally caught up, I have to wait for more of your amazing documentaries to release just like everyone else now... I'm honestly speechless. The story telling is so perfect and gut wrenching throughout all the highs and lows. Thank you for your hard work, this video deserved to have more views than any other.

[@RedJoker9000]

Thanks for the opening message as I have the curse of Epilepsy.

[@NoahClevinger]

I’m definitely going to give this video a re-watch just so I can support you, man! Once again, I’m so sorry that you had to go through this whole situation but hopefully this video will get even more attention and support than the original upload. Thank you for all that you do!

[@mikeallison5549]

And I will read comments and engage the whole time while rewatching.

[@rosehirstius]

+

[@kelpfries9042]

King

[@Hammarsand]

1.980.259

[@kyrroti9921]

I can’t get over the tragedy of Ellonija’s run ruined by an outage. I don’t know if that’d feel worse than cyghfer failing at a risky strat at the very end, but it hit me harder, especially with him no longer streaming.

[@FFKonoko]

Yeah, a bunch of comments are talking about cyghfer, but that Ellon run just...ouch. All through the build up, I could feel the tension.

[@randomzero3]

I think Ellonija's is worse because the outcome was out of his hands. Cyghfer was in control and didn't execute. It's easier to accept failure than to have the opportunity taken from you.

[@illusionrenata]

after a quick look at his twitter i think he's returned to streaming and wr attempts

[@squidpw6493]

I feel for him. Like a lot. I’m an achievement hunter and have done extremely difficult achievements. I live in a country where we have a SCHEDULE for power outages. And even this schedule can change unexpectedly. I play on a playstation and was so close to 100%ing a game I’ve been playing for at least a year. The power went out as I was getting the final trophy. My game files got corrupted. Everything was gone. I still haven’t gotten that 100% and it still haunts me to this day.

[@takeaway19]

What's insane to me is you got 600k+ views on a re-upload. You've grown so much as a channel since I first started watching you. Keep it up, you're one of KZbin's secret golden pillars. The entire reason why speedrunning has any popularity on the platform.

[@WolfLykaios]

I love that every time cyghfer returns he has a fuller beard and longer hair, its like a living anime meme.

[@re.liable]

Events like this remind me that the best way to support content creators is by direct means, not through a platform. Unfortunately I'm not yet capable of doing this myself, but I'll be sure to spread the word around. Hope this does not dampen so much your motivation in producing content

[@brycedaugherty9211]

Liking, commenting, sharing are all free. They can actually be more valuable than a direct donation. Do not underestimate the power or the value of your love and support!

[@duelmasteryuya1205]

I'm making this comment merely for the algorithm, but I want to also want to say thank you for making these highly entertaining videos about world records of video games, and also to say that you didn't deserve that age restriction.

[@Poyntlesss]

I dunno if responding to comments also feeds the beast but may as well right? Man makes good content, needs to be rewarded for that.

[@dread_studios]

Yeah, can't hurt! It's a travesty that something like this happens to summoning salt

[@seriomarkj]

additional comment for the algorithm gods

[@williammartiniv5418]

Boosting algorithm

[@empressassassin9975]

I am also commenting. Summoning Salt deserves all the engagement.

[@stephensands3485]

I first learned that speedrunning was a thing when I ran across some AGDQ videos, but never knew anything about the history of the runs and just how much effort was put into finding new ways to save time. I hope you understand your channel and AGDQ have probably inspired thousands to start speedrunning and that your contribution has not only ensured that the speedrunning community will remain vibrant for years to come, but also will lead to many new breakthroughs and discoveries by people who would have never known about the speedrunnning community but for your efforts. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos!

[@Md5offical]

2:04 finally a sponsor has lore

[@KuzcosPoison48]

I love the ending describing the whereabouts of the speedrunners. It really tied the whole thing together with affirmation for what could be coming in a future, as well as providing a bondful feel for the speedrunners and not just looking at them as a name achieving a number. I look forward to more like this, and hopefully next time the video gets its well deserved praise.

[@go-away-5555]

Each video gets better than the last

[@shadowflar3]

This video and your channel in general needs to TREND. I genuinely want to push this towards mainstream, your content is so enjoyable and accessible.

[@orgil.altansukh]

lets gooooooooo (im just commenting to help out the algorithm)

[@MrBrad12435]

He already is mainstream, as far as gaming related content on YT goes.

[@ryno4ever433]

This channel is huge man. His videos go trending every time he uploads.

[@ashrasmun1]

Why are you so aggressive? If it's good, it will get enough recognition. No need to push anything... especially to mainstream. What do you even mean?

[@jaxsonpiwek7537]

Get this trending again, it deserves it

[@donpatch42]

The work you put into these is just insane. Summoning Salt videos are so high quality. The narrative is great. You tell these stories so well.

[@SlyRocko]

Cyghfer's entire arc felt like an actual movie plot with how it all played out

[@littleguystar]

Can’t believe this was age restricted before, such a wonderfully crafted video. Megaman 2 in general is one of the craziest games, and the speed runs continue that trend

[@qwerty3793]

You are an excellent storyteller. It is great to see this tale spin out from beginning to end, with a look at all the highlights and low points of the journey, and it is especially satisfying to see where the main players are today for a look at a possible future. Everything from your careful wording to your music choices is pitch perfect for keeping up suspense and engagement. I only have a casual interest in speedrunning, but I'm always impressed by these videos in particular and have watched every single one so far. All this to say that you're doing a great job with these documentaries, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing more from you!

[@diegoperezsommariva2509]

Ill keep sharing your videos with my friends. Keep up the good work man. Wish you the best.