In that case, I'd say any of the Genesis Plus GX based emulators (the standalone version, BizHawk, or RetroArch). However, the guiding principle I go with is "the emulator should be accurate enough to convey no advantage over playing on an original console".

I'll update the rules. Thanks for the questions!

1. Not sure. I've done most of my Genesis speedrunning on hardware. I'd look to the more established Genesis game leaderboards for guidance on permissable emulators.

2. Yes! My leaderboard run of this game was done using an EverDrive (Mega EverDrive x5).

Just checking if anyone is still here. I picked this game up and worked my way to this run:

I've enjoyed Ishido enough that I did runs for Gameboy and Famicom Disk System. While the core game is the same, the UI choices and display limitations change how quickly you can play the game.

Here's my slow play:

Here's the TAS: http://tasvideos.org/2522S.html

My notes so far: Death comes quickly, and losing your power ups adds insult to injury. Oddly enough, the stronger bosses aren't that much harder... except the final boss (OHKO plus faster boss magic). The levels are the hardest part... the patterns are more dense and have harder and hardier enemies.

On September 14th RGLtv will be hosting a one night only tournament for Ninja Spirit. For more info and to join the bracket, go to https://challonge.com/RGLTV_NS_TG16_ONOT

We now have two categories (GBA and Arcade) with two subcategories (10 Wave and 20 Wave). All pre-existing and pending runs have been edited into the new categories.

Hi, new mod here. Since I see no opposition to this proposal, I'll split Arcade and GBA before verifying the pending runs (probably tonight).

Retiming complete. Let me know if you notice any mistakes.

Since there are no objections, I'll start retiming the runs tomorrow. I'll also update the rules.

The rules have been amended.

What's the opinion on what difficulty to play on? The default is 4, and KobePilgram's run shows the option screen to confirm that. The other runs I watched didn't show the difficulty, so I'm not sure what was used.

It'd be nice if the rules could either state what difficulty to play on or that any difficulty (or other settings) are permitted. What have y'all been playing with?

From casual observation, the easier difficulties seem to be more about AI behavior than damage values. On 1 the AI will rarely get in a special move, whereas on 4 you will almost certainly get countered by something during a run (especially during the group fights).

There appears to be an excellent visual cue: when the weapon selection and HP indicators disappear. This happens at or shortly after lethal damage is dealt to the final boss. I checked most of the runs on the board, and this occurs 9 or 10 seconds before the current "last explosion sound" audio cue.

re: the need to retime - many games require this sort of retiming if you wish to be accurate. I've just gotten used to verifying runs (both my own and others) to make sure the posted time is accurate to the standard of the board in question. Since this board is measured in whole seconds, this is less onerous that it could otherwise be.

Just my 2c. I'm curious what other runners think.

I'm willing to be a verifier or a moderator at your discretion.

Here's my attempt at easy difficulty (now sub-8):

Still more to go.

Just checking to see if the mods are still around. Cheers!

Thanks for dealing with this again. I'd welcome a 2FA requirement for super-mods and mods, given that they have the highest abuse potential.

You could remove the bit about "no resets allowed during the run", but my suspicion is that the faster times will not include any save/reloads because of the craps seeds strats.

I'd call it No Event Preloading, since that seems to be the only technique we are looking to prohibit.