Aragorn Any% Speedrun Tutorials

Here is my video tutorial for the Aragorn Any% category:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk7zwpSKS-Q

And here is a tutorial video that TexasWarrior and I did together where he attempts to beat the game as quickly as possible having never played it before, with some guidance from me. You can see the difficulty of the game initially, but I can assure you the learning curve to improving your time is very manageable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqlBvdcm2rY

The first  tutorial assumes you already have a set-up to play the game, either on console or emulator. The second video talks briefly about options for set-ups. To sum up, I would recommend the mGBA emulator if you do not have access to or the financial means to acquire a console version of the game that can be recorded/streamed. Emulator is officially recognized for speedruns of this game, and is identical in gameplay to console, so it is a perfectly viable alternative. You will need to download and install the emulator and acquire an NTSC-U ROM of the game yourself.

Note that if you run on the mGBA emulator you will be able to load and make use of my savestates for New Game Plus (NG+) characters. NG+ is far more time-consuming to set up and not as competitive on console, unless you have an actual Gameshark handy.

Known Glitches and Skips

This document will only cover glitches and skips that are relevant for and useful in a speedrun, either Any% or NG+. Please contact me (Nysyarc) if you have discovered a useful glitch or skip and I will add it to this document and give you credit.

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Goblin Skip - Discovered by: Nysyarc (April 28th, 2020) - Can be performed on both console and emulator

In the Caradhras: Moria Gate map area (the area just before you enter Moria and split for Caradhras), you can avoid the trigger that spawns the goblins in the top half of the area. The trigger exists just below the rocky path that crosses the river at the left side of the map. To avoid it, simply hug the river (walk directly alongside it as closely as possible) to the right of the crossing without moving downwards at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0YilfOKkPg

This works and is viable for Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf in both Any% and NG+. It will skip a brief cutscene of the goblins talking, as well as having to fight or move past the goblins. Unfortunately, while the skip works for Frodo, it also results in a broken cutscene and a soft lock when exiting the area, so it can't be done in either of his categories.

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Legolas Overdraw Glitch - Discovered by: Basically anyone who played casually - Can be performed on both console and emulator

As Legolas, simply press A to use Overdraw while you are moving (NOT while standing still) to fire the arrow in the direction of your movement and avoid the charging animation. You should never be using Overdraw while standing still in a speedrun.

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Black Gate Skip - Discovered by: Nysyarc (April 12th, 2020) - Can be performed on both console and emulator

As Frodo, in the North Mordor: Black Gate map area (the third map area in North Morder, after the Dead Marshes), it is possible to exit the area earlier than intended by hitting the exit loading zone from a cliff below the main road. After the main road turns upwards toward the black gate, follow it until you see what looks like a tipped over barrel above it, and go up and to the right above the cliff to the right of the barrel. You will pass a Forge, and a breakable wooden barrel to the right of the Forge. You can hit the loading zone by walking just to the right of the barrel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs3mdP-e-Ns

On top of simply being a shorter route to the exit and avoiding several orcs, this will also skip some dialogue with Sam and Gollum, and is useful in both Any% and NG+ to save time.

Nysyarc's Notes for The Two Towers GBA Speedrunning

Updated Savestates for New Game Plus

The link to the old savestates is no longer active, so here is a link to my savestates that I created and used for my NG+ runs (they're in a zipped folder): https://www.mediafire.com/file/emo6upi65ebvty5/NG+_Savestates.zip/file

The following instructions were copied from the previous guide (still relevant):

You will need the mGBA emulator to load these savestates to use them in-game. You will also need an NTSC-U ROM of the game.

You will have to change the name of the savestate to match the ROM name in order for it to load in mGBA.

Name	Author
Aragorn Any% Speedrun Tutorials	Nysyarc 5 years ago
Known Glitches and Skips	Nysyarc 5 years ago
Nysyarc's Notes for The Two Towers GBA Speedrunning	Nysyarc 4 years ago
Updated Savestates for New Game Plus	Nysyarc 5 years ago