Welcome back to another round of Zelda Runners! The main topic of discussion this falls once again to shenanigans concerning Ocarina of Time, which has fallen victim to yet another game changing glitch. There are also plenty of tournaments and events in the running for the next few weeks, and I’ll also be breaking down some of the manipulations found in The Minish Cap. Sound exciting? Let’s get started then!

 

Now Playing

Yes, it’s happened again. The Ocarina of Time Any% category has once again been toppled, this time thanks to the discovery late last year of Arbitrary Code Execution, the ability to alter code which the game uses to trigger various events. Having experimented with this new ability, runners have discovered a setup which allows them to warp to the game’s credits from Kokiri Forest early in the game, requiring only a sword, shield, ocarina, and slingshot, as well as a very specific combination of setups and angles.

Thanks to this, the World Record currently stands at 11:51 (although this could easily change in the time it takes you to read this sentence), down almost exactly 5 minutes from the previous record. This is a fairly recent discovery too, so don’t be too surprised if it continues to drop another 20 or so seconds from this one trick alone in the next few weeks. The game continues to creep closer to the elusive sub-10 minute mark, although that’ll require a few more optimizations. Surely it’s just a matter of time?

Also this week, the A Link to the Past All Dungeons: Restricted Major Glitches Tournament was announced (catchy, right?). As the title suggests, this adheres to the All Dungeons, Restricted Major Glitches category. In an attempt to draw as many competitors as possible, the community has created a massive guide to the category, and will also be hosting multiple Q+A sessions to discuss and demonstrate various strategies and routes. If you want to find out more about the tournament, or perhaps even enter it yourself, head on over to the Discord server! Signups are open now, and will close on 6th March.

Finally, the Twilight Princess WolfDash 2.0 tournament has also begun. This any% tournament features 21 runners, and will run throughout the rest of the month and into February. You can find more information on who is racing and where you can watch on the tournament bracket.

 

Glitch Exhibition

Video games can be tricky beasts sometimes. All you need is 4 more rupees for that Red Potion, but mowing the lawn of every resident of Hyrule only gives you three. Looking for a heart drop before that tricky boss fight? Sorry, Hyrule Pots & Sons only have arrows for you today. Will there ever be an end to the tyrannical reign of the randomness of Zelda games?

Well, yes. There are more than a few ways of manipulating the game in front of you to be more forgiving, especially when the game in question is The Minish Cap. The game’s Random Number Generator (RNG) is determined on every reset, and advances every frame after, and also on various other user inputs. As a result of this, the longer the player goes after resetting the harder it is to determine the RNG settings. As such, manipulations in this game tend to be short and sweet, but they can still be useful!

The first instance of manipulation you’ll encounter is finding a Blue Rupee in a pot right at the very start of the game. Reset the game, mash through the opening text and, once you have control of Link, walk out of his room. Roll twice in the second room and then move into the next room. Mash through the ensuing text, open the 20 Rupee chest, then throw the pot. Inside, you’ll find a Blue Rupee. Easy every time.

Not impressed? Follow the steps above, then roll a further 5 times and throw the other pot. This will drop another Blue Rupee, but I’m not done yet. Leave and re-enter the house, and throw both pots again quickly. What do you know, another 2 Blue Rupees! Both the single and quadruple Rupee methods are used in routes of this game’s Any%.

A grand total of 4 Kinstones are required to obtain the Magical Boomerang. Of course, you could spend a lot of time tracking them all down, but what’s the fun in that? Instead, head on over to the screen pictured here. Reset the game and hold up and left. Slash twice as quickly as possible, then slash the bottom right and bottom middle bushes (from which you’ll receive one Kinstone, the original you might say). After this, hold your sword out to charge a spin attack, and break the middle right bush. Wait for your Clone Bar to fill up until it’s just at the edge of the rocks in the top left corner, then release your spin attack. Hey Presto, a second Kinstone is yours!

This final one’s a bit of a unit so strap in. By following a specific set of inputs, it’s possible to manipulate the Big Octo boss to only shoot rocks during his third phase. This requires certain actions before the fight, and during each phase.

Before the battle begins, unfreeze Big Octo and collect the lantern. Now reset the game. Upon spawning in the dungeon again, hold down and use the Pegasus Boots to dash out of the south exit. In the next room, just use the boots, don’t hold a direction.

Start the fight’s first phase simply by holding up your shield. Reflect two rocks, then move back towards the pillars to reflect the final rock. After this, roll left twice and position Link just slightly left of the corner of the entrance wall. When you hear Big Octo make a noise, activate the Pegasus Boots and hold down and right. Light his tail with the lantern, then retreat back into the corner just above where you were previously positioned. Once the floor unfreezes, walk into the top left hand corner of the room.

For the second phase, Big Octo will use a new suction attack. Avoid this by moving just to the right of it, then reflect the boulder he spits out. He’ll repeat this attack again. For the third boulder, go back into the corner to reflect it. Roll right 4 times, down twice, light his tail for a second time, then retreat into the bottom left corner of the room.

The final phase has a few different outcomes, but you can use the formation of the rocks falling from above to determine which action you should take. The rocks will fall three times – pay attention to the final group, and compare their formation to the image here. Follow these instructions, and Big Octo should go straight into his rock shooting attack. Good luck!

 

Round Up

The Legend of Zelda

Any%, No Up+A. rcdrone – 28:15

 

Adventure of Link

100%. Simpoldood – 54:57

 

Link’s Awakening DX

Any%, No WW/OoB. Sagaz – 50:20
Reverse Boss Order. astronumous – 35:15

 

Ocarina of Time

Any%. Lozoots – 11:58.716
100%, NSR. zfg – 38:23

 

The Minish Cap

firerod%. Semirare – 41:16

 

Spirit Tracks

Any%. as-as – 4:15:17

 

Skyward Sword

100%. Extodasher – 6:55:04

 

Ocarina of Time 3D

Any%. zeldacubed – 29:10
All Dungeons. gymnast86 – 1:21:53

 

A Link Between Worlds

Glitchless. Herreteman – 2:18:55

 

Triforce Heroes

All Levels, Single Player, No Costumes. lustnoel – 2:51:19
All Levels. Holysmith + Moo_Moony + Domdoughty – 3:27:14

 

The Wind Waker HD

Any%. mralberto – 54:03
Puppet Ganon RTA. mralberto – 45:39

 

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

New Game, All Levels. BlissyMKW – 5:24:59
New Game, Main Story, Co-op. LightAvenger + KrazeyMan0 – 4:07:57

 

Breath of the Wild

All Main Quests, Original. Wolhaiksong – 2:46:09.940
All Main Quests, Original, Restricted. Vivoxe – 3:05:04.600
100%, Original. SpecsNStats – 21:32:51

 

Cadence of Hyrule

Any%. udondon – 19:09
Zelda. Gidano – 20:44
Octavo. Gidano – 25:56

 

Link’s Awakening 2019

Glitchless. TGH – 1:41:04

 

Round Up

Columbus Glitchbus 2 – 1st February – Short and sweet, this event contains just over 12 hours of some fan favourite runs, including an Ocarina of Time All Dungeons run (which might be unrecognizable by this point). Raising funds for charity Child’s Play.

 

TCG Marathon – 7th February ~ 9th February – Didn’t get your fill of A Link to the Past Randomizer madness at AGDQ? Then this is the marathon for you. In addition, there are runs of Pokemon Sword, Super Metroid, and Persona 5.

 

RGLove 2020 – 9th February ~ 17th February – There’s lots to feast your eyes on in this week-long marathon, including a Castlevania block and Octopath Traveller. And, of course, no marathon is complete without the traditional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles block.

 

Finally, we’ve probably all seen Zombie Hovering in The Wind Waker by now, but have you seen the new dance fad sweeping the Four Swords Adventures world? It’s called the Death Slide*

*I’ve definitely just made this up

And, with that, I’m fresh out of time! I wish you all well, and I’ll catch you again in two weeks!

 

Euan is the host of Zelda Dungeon’s Speedrunning series, Zelda Runners. He can be found on Twitter and Discord, and one day he’ll hide the nuclear codes in this outro just to see if anyone actually reads it.

 

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