Best/worst/easiest/hardest versions of each stage
Mar 2, 2024 15:03:22 GMT -5
zoran and brz0ny like this
Post by dakohosu on Mar 2, 2024 15:03:22 GMT -5
What, in your opinion, are the best and worst versions of each stage, by tournament? Definition of best and worst is up to you, whether being far too difficult or too easy, bad or really good balancing, etc. but easiest and hardest obviously more objective.
Here are mine.
Stage 1
Best - Sasuke 19 or 26: 26 because I thought the difficulty was a bit more warranted at the time and we had some cool new additions like the Step Slider and Rolling Escargot, but the Hazard Swing and Giant Swing weren't great imo. 19's course felt a lot more polished and cohesive, but the sheer difficulty at the time felt a bit OTT.
Worst - Sasuke 29-30: Definitely not as easy as 1-4's course but certainly not as creative or interesting imo. They basically took out everything that made 28's Stage 1 semi-decent, while keeping stuff like the Jump Hang Kai and Ni Ren, and also adding incredibly forgettable obstacles like the Long Jump and Hedgehog. Time limit was also far, far too lenient.
Easiest - Sasuke 1: I was tempted to put Sasuke 3 or 4 because the Free Climbing was actually pretty tough as a final obstacle, but with no Rolling Log and 10 extra seconds, the first tournament's Stage 1 takes the cake for easiest.
Hardest - Sasuke 19: pretty much the hardest versions of every Shin-Sasuke obstacle, combined with an incredibly brutal time limit where unless you were spritely throughout the entire course and got the wall on your first try, that was it.
Stage 2
Best - Sasuke 27: imo the most varied and balanced Stage 2, with a difficulty worth fearing but not immersion breakingly difficult like 29 was. We had upper body onslaughts, balance, raw strength, the works, and the 5-second time limit reduction was cool compared to 25-26.
Worst - Sasuke 29: broken Backstream, unwarranted 45-second decrease in time limit, the fact that the stage was in all intents and purposes unfair, etc.
Easiest - Sasuke 8: probably the most lenient time limit bar maybe 20 or 28 which were much harder courses, with obstacles that were only failable when having to be rushed which combined with the time limit.....
Hardest - Sasuke 29: see above
Stage 3
Best - Sasuke 25: Probably the best first half of any Stage 3 we've ever seen, and I'm more of a fan of the UCH's endurance based approach rather than a do or die move that 90% of competitors end up failing. Flying Bar as the final obstacle too. No wonder ANW based their Stage 3 off of 25's. Only criticism is that the 2cm ledges may have been a bit overkill, but tbh after 24, a brutal overhaul of Stage 3 was much in need. I still remember seeing the course reveal live and being gobsmacked.
Worst - Sasuke 3: pretty much a clear fest with not much to get excited about because of the very low difficulty of the course. At least Sasuke 1 had a couple of shock fails on the Pole Bridge.
Easiest - Sasuke 3: Was tempted to put Sasuke 1 here because no Pipe Slider, but by this point competitors had worked that obstacle out, and the Pole Jump was far easier than the Pole Bridge, while the Hang Move.....
Hardest - Sasuke 33: UCCH+VLK+Pipe Slider with no rest and broken Flying Bar, I need say no more
Stage 4
Best - Sasuke 32-38: I prefer the Spider Climb as the first obstacle, I personally find the rock wall a little bit too slow paced for the Final, as well as the fact that the course was already too grip focussed with Stage 3.
Worst - Sasuke 27: incredibly underwhelming iteration of the Final after 5-17's and even Shin's versions. A straight rope isn't interesting to watch unless it's a complete rush to the finish, which imo with 40 seconds for that rope, it wasn't. No bungee cord like in Shin-Sasuke either.
Easiest - Sasuke 27: I'd argue 27's was actually easier than 1-4's because you could start from a standing position and jump. So it was more like 40 seconds for 17-18 metres compared to 30 seconds for 15 metres, and even when you're fatigued, an extra 2 metres in 10 seconds is more than doable.
Hardest - Current version: same time limit as the previous version but with a rock wall instead of the Spider Climb, which takes more time to complete, and is more taxing on the upper body which compromises the rest of the stage as seen from Tada's run in 40.
Here are mine.
Stage 1
Best - Sasuke 19 or 26: 26 because I thought the difficulty was a bit more warranted at the time and we had some cool new additions like the Step Slider and Rolling Escargot, but the Hazard Swing and Giant Swing weren't great imo. 19's course felt a lot more polished and cohesive, but the sheer difficulty at the time felt a bit OTT.
Worst - Sasuke 29-30: Definitely not as easy as 1-4's course but certainly not as creative or interesting imo. They basically took out everything that made 28's Stage 1 semi-decent, while keeping stuff like the Jump Hang Kai and Ni Ren, and also adding incredibly forgettable obstacles like the Long Jump and Hedgehog. Time limit was also far, far too lenient.
Easiest - Sasuke 1: I was tempted to put Sasuke 3 or 4 because the Free Climbing was actually pretty tough as a final obstacle, but with no Rolling Log and 10 extra seconds, the first tournament's Stage 1 takes the cake for easiest.
Hardest - Sasuke 19: pretty much the hardest versions of every Shin-Sasuke obstacle, combined with an incredibly brutal time limit where unless you were spritely throughout the entire course and got the wall on your first try, that was it.
Stage 2
Best - Sasuke 27: imo the most varied and balanced Stage 2, with a difficulty worth fearing but not immersion breakingly difficult like 29 was. We had upper body onslaughts, balance, raw strength, the works, and the 5-second time limit reduction was cool compared to 25-26.
Worst - Sasuke 29: broken Backstream, unwarranted 45-second decrease in time limit, the fact that the stage was in all intents and purposes unfair, etc.
Easiest - Sasuke 8: probably the most lenient time limit bar maybe 20 or 28 which were much harder courses, with obstacles that were only failable when having to be rushed which combined with the time limit.....
Hardest - Sasuke 29: see above
Stage 3
Best - Sasuke 25: Probably the best first half of any Stage 3 we've ever seen, and I'm more of a fan of the UCH's endurance based approach rather than a do or die move that 90% of competitors end up failing. Flying Bar as the final obstacle too. No wonder ANW based their Stage 3 off of 25's. Only criticism is that the 2cm ledges may have been a bit overkill, but tbh after 24, a brutal overhaul of Stage 3 was much in need. I still remember seeing the course reveal live and being gobsmacked.
Worst - Sasuke 3: pretty much a clear fest with not much to get excited about because of the very low difficulty of the course. At least Sasuke 1 had a couple of shock fails on the Pole Bridge.
Easiest - Sasuke 3: Was tempted to put Sasuke 1 here because no Pipe Slider, but by this point competitors had worked that obstacle out, and the Pole Jump was far easier than the Pole Bridge, while the Hang Move.....
Hardest - Sasuke 33: UCCH+VLK+Pipe Slider with no rest and broken Flying Bar, I need say no more
Stage 4
Best - Sasuke 32-38: I prefer the Spider Climb as the first obstacle, I personally find the rock wall a little bit too slow paced for the Final, as well as the fact that the course was already too grip focussed with Stage 3.
Worst - Sasuke 27: incredibly underwhelming iteration of the Final after 5-17's and even Shin's versions. A straight rope isn't interesting to watch unless it's a complete rush to the finish, which imo with 40 seconds for that rope, it wasn't. No bungee cord like in Shin-Sasuke either.
Easiest - Sasuke 27: I'd argue 27's was actually easier than 1-4's because you could start from a standing position and jump. So it was more like 40 seconds for 17-18 metres compared to 30 seconds for 15 metres, and even when you're fatigued, an extra 2 metres in 10 seconds is more than doable.
Hardest - Current version: same time limit as the previous version but with a rock wall instead of the Spider Climb, which takes more time to complete, and is more taxing on the upper body which compromises the rest of the stage as seen from Tada's run in 40.
