Contra III, the runs just keep on coming.

This improvement came about as a joint project of sorts. Joecoolgames was talking to me about some route improvements for the Low% category, but also was undecided about what he wanted to do for a project. So I suggested we both tackle this category, I would do the Death Abuse run and he would do the Deathless.

Death Abuse in Contra III Low% essentially means you get more bombs. You aren't allowed to pick up items, but you respawn with one bomb in stock for each life. So the foundational strat is to use the max lives available, SDA allows this since it's a programmed option, then detonate where optimal.

Pocket Nuclear Warheads...

Stage 1 - Only change here is the point blank Turtle. This allows faster damage and two bombs. The time save at best is half a second or so.

Stage 2 - Standard Spider bomb, no route changes here.

Stage 3 - Pole skip in the beginning to save frames! The first phase bomb on the mid-boss, this isn't necessary but makes the one cycle very consistent. The bomb on the Twins combined with great RNG made for a good fight. Bombing the Boss Robot causes massive lag, more than usual, so I opt for the fire jump and mashing weapon switching instead,

Stage 4 - Basically an auto scroller. I bomb the Acrobats, good thing because he jumped all over and would have taken longer to kill. The Jetpack Ninja gave me the best pattern, lucky! The Carrier could have been a little better if I'd killed the top turret sooner, but still a good fight.

Stage 5 - Probably one of my best stage performances here.

Stage 6 - One of the most treacherous Gauntlets and I execute flawlessly. The Heart and Crawler are destroyed. Missed one cycle Gargoyle by one bullet. Perfect Queen though. Wrong first Orb on the Brain, but no time lost. Good finish with the Blue Orb.

Looking back, I'm very happy with this run. When the run stands up over repeated viewings, you have a winner. Contra III will just never let me go.

All that new Pea Shooting tech though...