Chess Checker

Tails is a fun character to run in general. Not my favorite, but he's cool. He's definitely one of the easier characters; there's a reason he was my first vanilla full game run character. Millie, the modded character I play the most, is cut from the same cloth; they don't take the same routes in every case, but Millie's multiple "jumps" still make life easier overall, and it doesn't hurt that she's fast as hell. But enough about Millie. Tails is, like I said in the video, essentially a faster Knuckles in regards to how they traverse The-Flour. There's a path Knuckles (and Amy) might be able to use on Pizza Time that Tails can't, but for every other part of the level, Tails just does it better. It's incredibly weird that him, Knuckles, and Sonic all have the same running speed, at least if the wiki is to be trusted. Playing each of them, it definitely doesn't FEEL like they're all going the same speed, but then, when I don't have speed shoes on, I'm trying to avoid a lot of running wherever possible anyway, in favor of taking skips. I'm definitely not playing him to his full potential, here; there's a speedrun technique available to him called "spinfly" that allows him to maneuver through just about any level at speeds that would make Sonic and Metal Sonic jealous – it's singlehandedly the reason Tails (played by Hopter) has the world record for the Any% run in the main categories by a significant margin – but I'm not very proficient with it, and for this run I didn't even try to use it. I'm not actually sure who's fastest among the vanilla cast, but I suspect if it isn't Metal Sonic, it's gonna be Tails. You can download The-Flower here: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/the-flower.7514/ Timestamps: 0:00 Act 1 0:18 Secret 1 0:42 Act 1 1:14 Act 2 1:34 Secret 2 2:01 Act 2 2:35 Secret 3 3:01 Act 2 3:41 Pizza Time 5:30 Lap 2 #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #PizzaTower #ModdedSRB2 #MilesTailsPrower #Tails #TailsPrower

Honestly, after doing this, I thought it was worse than it actually was. It's a few minutes slower than my All Emeralds Millie run from last week, but still faster than my other All Emeralds runs from earlier that week. I can do better than this, but after weeks of not doing anything with Metal Sonic beyond IL runs, I've decided I'm not gonna let perfect be the enemy of done. I'll fix things incrementally in future runs, in both full game categories. Might take a while, though; even though I technically know what to do, mechanically I'm a little clumsy with the game. Timestamps: 0:00 Greenflower Zone Act 1 0:58 Special Stage 1 1:42 Special Stage 2 2:47 Greenflower Zone Act 2 3:58 Special Stage 3 5:21 Special Stage 4 6:40 Greenflower Zone Act 3 7:28 Techno Hill Zone Act 1 9:37 Special Stage 5 10:57 Special Stage 6 12:23 Techno Hill Zone Act 2 14:28 Special Stage 7 16:42 Techno Hill Zone Act 3 17:13 Deep Sea Zone Act 1 18:36 Deep Sea Zone Act 2 20:58 Deep Sea Zone Act 3 21:47 Castle Eggman Zone Act 1 23:37 Castle Eggman Zone Act 2 26:07 Castle Eggman Zone Act 3 27:47 Arid Canyon Zone Act 1 29:08 Arid Canyon Zone Act 2 31:38 Arid Canyon Zone Act 3 32:42 Red Volcano Zone 34:48 Egg Rock Zone Act 1 36:44 Egg Rock Zone Act 2 39:44 Black Core Zone Act 1 40:45 Black Core Zone Act 2 42:39 Black Core Zone Act 3 45:11 Ending #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #MetalSonic

I finally did it; I recorded a full game run for Metal Sonic! God, this guy is hard to play, even though he's my favorite vanilla character. Despite my challenges, though, I did end up slightly faster than my current (as of this posting) Millie Any% run, which surprised me. I opted to take some relatively safe lines in the early part of the game, because among other things, I got sick of trying for the speed shoes in GFZ1 and I just don't think that level of optimization actually matters yet. Maybe I'll hit that and other optimizations in future runs, but for now, no thank you. Timestamps: 0:00 Greenflower Zone Act 1 0:33 Greenflower Zone Act 2 1:32 Greenflower Zone Act 3 2:07 Techno Hill Zone Act 1 3:29 Techno Hill Zone Act 2 5:21 Techno Hill Zone Act 3 5:53 Deep Sea Zone Act 1 7:14 Deep Sea Zone Act 2 9:31 Deep Sea Zone Act 3 10:21 Castle Eggman Zone Act 1 12:12 Castle Eggman Zone Act 2 14:38 Castle Eggman Zone Act 3 15:55 Arid Canyon Zone Act 1 17:24 Arid Canyon Zone Act 2 19:56 Arid Canyon Zone Act 3 22:17 Red Volcano Zone 24:25 Egg Rock Zone Act 1 26:19 Egg Rock Zone Act 2 29:32 Black Core Zone Act 1 30:34 Black Core Zone Act 2 32:36 Black Core Zone Act 3 35:05 Ending #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #MetalSonic

Some of the people I interact with in the SRB2 speedrunning community don't seem to like Knuckles a whole lot, but at least as far as The-Flour is concerned, I think he's alright. A mid-tier option among vanilla characters. My boy cannot jump to save his life, though; an attribute shared by Metal Knuckles, who I also play sometimes for vanilla campaign speedruns; individual level categories thus far, but I'm gonna get that full game run eventually. Anyway, this ain't about Metal Knuckles, this is about the real Knuckles. I took what I believe to be a suboptimal Pizza Time route here because I missed landing on the first speed shoes monitor with my initial jump and couldn't be bothered to redo it, but I believe if I can smash through that wall, Knuckles can save a little more time than I managed to. Hell, Amy might be able to do it, too, though I'm pretty sure she'd still end up slower in the long run. I don't think either of them convincingly take it on lap 2, but I might be surprised. A better player than me is welcome to try. As for the speed shoes that I had Amy and Fang both take in the Act 1 portion of Pizza Time, Knuckles could probably benefit from it a little bit in hindsight. I was concerned it would be too much of a time commitment for him, but apparently him, Tails, and Sonic are exactly as fast as each other when they're just running according to the wiki, so those speed shoes should benefit all three to some extent or another depending on one's pathing. Metal Sonic is also the same speed before Boost Mode kicks in, but it's precisely because of Boost Mode that I'm convinced he's the one vanilla character that absolutely should not go out of his way for that one and just keep going. You can download The-Flower here: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/the-flower.7514/ Timestamps: 0:00 Act 1 0:18 Secret 1 0:41 Act 1 1:10 Act 2 1:30 Secret 2 2:03 Act 2 2:43 Secret 3 3:08 Act 2 3:52 Pizza Time 5:50 Lap 2 #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #PizzaTower #ModdedSRB2 #KnucklesTheEchidna

In observance of Pride Month, I decided to run my favorite character addon, who happens to be transgender, in the All Emeralds category. The results were pretty promising; I actually wonder if maybe I could do better than my current best in the Any% category if I decide to run it again. Of course, with Millie specifically, I'm the only one on the board so far as of this writing in any category, but that doesn't mean I'm not motivated to do better. Haha. Also, happy Pride! In case you haven't figured it out yet, as a viewer from before my current run of SRB2 videos at least, I'm trans! 🏳️‍⚧️ You can download Millie here: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/millie-blueyes-prower.7564/ Timestamps: 0:00 Greenflower Zone Act 1 0:49 Special Stage 1 1:34 Special Stage 2 2:48 Greenflower Zone Act 2 3:51 Special Stage 3 5:20 Special Stage 4 6:44 Greenflower Zone Act 3 7:21 Techno Hill Zone Act 1 9:04 Special Stage 5 10:28 Special Stage 6 11:54 Techno Hill Zone Act 2 13:44 Special Stage 7 16:08 Techno Hill Zone Act 3 16:36 Deep Sea Zone Act 1 17:42 Deep Sea Zone Act 2 19:51 Deep Sea Zone Act 3 20:41 Castle Eggman Zone Act 1 22:24 Castle Eggman Zone Act 2 24:41 Castle Eggman Zone Act 3 25:56 Arid Canyon Zone Act 1 27:20 Arid Canyon Zone Act 2 29:39 Arid Canyon Zone Act 3 30:51 Red Volcano Zone 32:44 Egg Rock Zone Act 1 34:32 Egg Rock Zone Act 2 37:14 Black Core Zone Act 1 38:23 Black Core Zone Act 2 40:25 Black Core Zone Act 3 42:20 Ending #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #ModdedSRB2 #MilliePrower #Tails #Transgender #Pride #PrideMonth #PrideMonth2026

Metal La-Flower is a much better character than regular La-Flower, and the real reason one would probably even bother playing this character pack according to the creator. I'm not even absolutely sure El-fire actually intended La-Flower to beat the game; she has the bare minimum of abilities required to do so. Metal La-Flower, on the other hand, does everything La-Flower does and a lot more, being a more typical player character. It's possible to do significantly better than I did here; I'm just bad. But the optimization potential is overall greater with Metal La-Flower than it is with regular La-Flower, I think. You can download The-Flower Characters here. You should try them; Metal La-Flower is really fun, and while my experience with regular La-Flower wasn't very positive, that doesn't mean she isn't worth trying. You might actually enjoy the challenge of trying to beat the game with nothing but jumping, spinning, and shield abilities more than I ever could: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/the-flower-characters.8587/ Timestamps: 0:00 Greenflower Zone Act 1 0:53 Special Stage 1 1:39 Special Stage 2 2:45 Greenflower Zone Act 2 4:07 Special Stage 3 5:29 Special Stage 4 6:55 Greenflower Zone Act 3 7:28 Techno Hill Zone Act 1 9:21 Special Stage 5 10:44 Special Stage 6 12:14 Techno Hill Zone Act 2 15:04 Special Stage 7 17:24 Techno Hill Zone Act 3 17:58 Deep Sea Zone Act 1 19:20 Deep Sea Zone Act 2 22:24 Deep Sea Zone Act 3 23:17 Castle Eggman Zone Act 1 26:00 Castle Eggman Zone Act 2 29:39 Castle Eggman Zone Act 3 31:08 Arid Canyon Zone Act 1 34:11 Arid Canyon Zone Act 2 36:37 Arid Canyon Zone Act 3 37:48 Red Volcano Zone 40:34 Egg Rock Zone Act 1 42:53 Egg Rock Zone Act 2 46:21 Black Core Zone Act 1 47:47 Black Core Zone Act 2 49:37 Black Core Zone Act 3 51:31 Ending #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #ModdedSRB2 #LaFlower #TheFlower #MetalLaFlower

Not gonna lie, I don't enjoy playing this character very much. She has the absolute bare minimum of abilities required to beat the game, and that means she softlocks in almost every Deep Sea Zone Act 2 path except the one I took. I'm quite positive there's some optimizations to do for a better time than I did, but as things stand... no thanks, I'm good. lol Metal La-Flower is much more fun for me. You can download The-Flower Characters here. You should try them; Metal La-Flower is really fun, and while my experience with regular La-Flower wasn't very positive, that doesn't mean she isn't worth trying. You might actually enjoy the challenge of trying to beat the game with nothing but jumping, spinning, and shield abilities more than I ever could: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/the-flower-characters.8587/ Timestamps: 0:00 Greenflower Zone Act 1 1:01 Special Stage 1 1:46 Special Stage 2 2:52 Greenflower Zone Act 2 4:10 Special Stage 3 5:37 Special Stage 4 7:04 Greenflower Zone Act 3 7:53 Techno Hill Zone Act 1 10:16 Special Stage 5 11:37 Special Stage 6 13:06 Techno Hill Zone Act 2 15:29 Special Stage 7 17:46 Techno Hill Zone Act 3 18:15 Deep Sea Zone Act 1 19:49 Deep Sea Zone Act 2 23:00 Deep Sea Zone Act 3 23:49 Castle Eggman Zone Act 1 26:03 Castle Eggman Zone Act 2 29:33 Castle Eggman Zone Act 3 31:07 Arid Canyon Zone Act 1 35:20 Arid Canyon Zone Act 2 37:48 Arid Canyon Zone Act 3 39:40 Red Volcano Zone 42:40 Egg Rock Zone Act 1 45:14 Egg Rock Zone Act 2 49:03 Black Core Zone Act 1 50:41 Black Core Zone Act 2 52:45 Black Core Zone Act 3 56:06 Ending #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #ModdedSRB2 #LaFlower #TheFlower

Fang was easier than Amy, but by no means did that mean the run was easy. I did take significantly less time to get a good run, though. You can download The-Flower here: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/the-flower.7514/ Timestamps: 0:00 Act 1 0:43 Act 2 1:06 Secret 2 1:30 Act 2 2:28 Pizza Time 4:24 Lap 2 #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #PizzaTower #ModdedSRB2 #FangTheHunter #FangTheSniper #NackTheWeasel

I always forget how many Crawlas are in these old versions of the levels, especially old Castle Eggman in particular. Seriously, they apparently loved to spam Badniks back in the Final Demo years these levels came from. The level designers are much more thoughtful about how enemies are deployed nowadays, so I guess that goes to show how far they've come. Despite being part of the vanilla game like all the other bonus zones, there's no leaderboard for FDZ yet. By the time there is one, I intend to get a significantly better time on it than this. I made a lot of mistakes that I could absolutely do better about. But yeah, it's no mystery to me how the levels got remade in the ways that they did; these versions are kind of awful. Although, the GFZ and THZ represented here were the current versions of those stages when I first started playing this game many years ago; by then, CEZ had already been remade. Then they eventually remade it again, along with almost every other zone. Timestamps: 0:00 Greenflower Zone 0:57 Techno Hill Zone 2:48 Castle Eggman Zone 5:26 Knuckles "boss" #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #MetalSonic #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame

Looks like I just barely managed to get a Lap 2 Amy run after all! It was very, very difficult to do, though. And just because I could, I went through it with every Secret Eye in the level. I enjoyed this so much, I decided I'll do a Lap 2 run with every vanilla character, plus Shadow; since he got a whole other level in The-Flower made just for him and his abilities, I figure for the purposes of what is now a series of videos centered around The-Flour, he's an honorary vanilla character. You can download The-Flower here: https://mb.srb2.org/addons/the-flower.7514/ Timestamps: 0:00 Act 1 0:22 Secret 1 0:42 Act 1 1:13 Act 2 1:36 Secret 2 1:59 Act 2 2:39 Secret 3 3:04 Act 2 3:48 Pizza Time 5:41 Lap 2 #SonicRoboBlast2 #VideoGames #Platformers #Speedrun #Speedrunning #SRB2 #SonicTheHedgehog #FanGame #PizzaTower #ModdedSRB2 #AmyRose #AmyRoseTheHedgehog