Jest'O'Clock Mixed Arts Review N1: TurboTAStic!

Mind your watches! Everything has to stop, 'cause now it's Jest'O'Clock!

Don't worry, you'll get used to this. I think.

Welcome, my Jesters, to the first installment of the Mixed Arts Reviews! The main reason why this is a thing is because what I'm about to show you really can't be classified as a game nor an animation – and I actually had to ask to be sure – but more like something using a bit of the two. What I'm talking about is a series of amazing videos made by Lolishy, also known as Loli Braixen.

You have NO IDEA how much I love this image.

Concept:

The name “TurboTAStic” refers to two things: TAS, which is an abbreviation to “Tool-Assisted superplay (or speedrun); and Turbo, from Project M's Turbo Mode.

...Too many names, huh. Allow me to give you a little backstory.

First and foremost, many of you know this, but the Super Smash Bros. Series is a series of fighting games with party elements included in the form of items, chaotic stage hazards, and the possibility to play up to four players, and even up to 8 players thanks to the brand new Super Smash Bros game for Wii U.

Lemmy <3

However, our focus here is on Super Smash Bros Brawl (for Wii), because that is the game Lolishy uses in order to create his amazing animations. That, and a fan-made mod known as Project M (M for Melee), AKA a heavy modification of Brawl to make its gameplay more similar to Melee. On top of that, the Project M crew has also managed to create several competitive-driven options to the game, such as the Turbo Mode, a special mode that cancels any move a character decides to undertake (attack, jump, special move, grab, etc.) only to follow it with another one, which allows any player to create a chain of extremely fast combos.

ACTUAL, IN-GAME SPEED.

On the other hand, we have the TAS. It's essentially a bag of tools with slow-motion and frame-by-frame gameplay inside of it, which allows the players who use them to play perfectly. As amazing as that sounds, only players with actual knowledge of whatever game they're using TAS on can play perfectly, so if you're not good at a game, there's no point using TAS.

And trust me, my Jesters, when I say that Knowledge is exactly the power that Lolishy abuses in order to combine the effect of the Turbo Mode with the features of TAS – and some video editing – all this to create what could possibly be some of the single most marvelous fighting gameplay ever produced.

Pattern:

The pattern of most TurboTAStic videos is… actually pretty simple, especially for the recent ones. Basically, we're thrown in a situation of combat, such as one character with three other teaming up against him/her. The one chosen by Lolishy battles against them, destroys them as if it was child's play, and we viewers watch as the massacre unfolds.

The end.

But, as you can imagine, the content is much more interesting than the summary I just provided you with, so allow me to focus on some details.

As an example, let's take the Luigi against three Level 9 Giga Bowser CPU Players video. For those of you Jesters who are not familiar with the Smash world, this is what a Giga Bowser looks like:

Little to no recoil. Three of them. Lv9. Do I need to say more?

I insist on this point because the whole video is about one character doing a specific challenge and nailing it as if it was a cake walk for anybody, when you can clearly see that what he or she is up against is extremely hard to deal with for any casual player. But, unlike the challengers, Lolishy's selected champion uses the power of Turbo Mode combined with TAS along with Lolishy's knowledge of the game to dispose of his/her opponents, and this is what it's all about: a simple challenge executed in an impressive way.

Other TurboTAStic videos contain a showdown between two players, both of them using TAS and Turbo Mode, which, as you've guessed, creates a lightning fast, amazing battle that usually ends in a tie. After the tie usually comes a Sudden Death, and we get to witness the same two fighters having to deal with each other's impossible speed while bombs are raining all around them, and no cover to avoid them.

Ask yourself how the heck did they reach 999% on Final Destination. With Bob-Ombs raining down on them.

Well, no cover, unless both characters end up doing what they usually do, which is fighting next to or under the stage they're supposed to fight on, and all that just for our viewing pleasure.

It's even more impressive than it sounds, especially when you see it for the first time.

Impact:

For any newcomer to video games or to Smash Bros in general, watching a TurboTAStic video only leaves the innocent soul with the question: “what the heck just happened?” simply because the sheer speed and amount of actions going on each second is too fast for anyone to catch them all, especially for an eye that's not used to the chaotic frenzy that is Super Smash Bros. Shock and confusion are usually the feelings taking over newcomers, and with good reason.

Seriously, how do you even see yourself in the freakin' Great Cave Offensive?

But, these videos are usually meant to be watched by people that know Smash at least a little, of course, and even to them, TurboTAStic is a confusing experience at best, and definitely impressive and entertaining gameplay for anyone that plays Smash casually or competitively. Those ridiculously fast combos accompanied with amazing music and silly video edits are simply fun to witness.

Masterful dialogue, am I right? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Personal observations:

The first thing that got me addicted to these videos was the fact that these were some of the fastest and most polished TAS videos I had ever seen, and I really mean it. Before discovering the TurboTAStic Series, I had already watched my fair share of TAS wonders, and I had no idea that someone would be bold and skilled enough to combine both TAS and the newly created Turbo Mode. Combining that with the awesome and/or silly video editing really makes these videos shine, and although they're insanely chaotic, they really do seem just so fun to watch.

I also really enjoy the efforts Lolishy makes in making the Project M graphics as similar to Smash 4 as possible, as well as showing off familiar stages with custom elements that make certain settings all the more dramatic, such as during the Mega Mewtwo X vs Mega Lucario – yes, this happened, and no less than three times.

That rain effect though.

General Opinion:

Originality: The video editing and in-game graphical modification really make up for the utter chaos that unfolds during each TurboTAStic video, and I love it. It really creates a style, a personality that becomes Lolishy's signature, and although he's not the only one who can pull of masterful edits and battle choreographies such as these, the fact that he managed to create his own style is definitely worthy of respect.

^ That one, especially, coupled with Show No Tears by NemesisTheory playing in the background, blew my mind when I first saw it.

Animation: I don't think I need to say much here: the choreography is insanely fast, some funny taunts are thrown in the middle of combos to show how amazing the characters are, the fights UNDER the stages, the two minutes long Sudden Deaths, I mean… Everything's so well polished.

Music & Sound: The videos would definitely be much duller without the custom music added as the characters duke it out, and they especially shine during the epic moments, such as Mario in his final fight against Sonic, or Bowser fighting his Dark counterpart in his own castle, and yes, this is a thing, go watch these videos I tell you!

Graphics: I'm not going to talk much here either. Let me show you this instead:

There. Modified in-game graphics, and they simply look amazing. You have this for pretty much every TurboTAStic video.

Overall: TurboTAStic is definitely a series of fighting frenzy worth watching, if you're into that kind of thing. There is a certain amount of effort put in each video composing the series, and witnessing it on screen is quite the experience, especially for those familiar with the Smash World.

In any case, now's the time for me to say goodbye to you all, my Jesters. As usual, thanks for sticking around, and I hope you'll be entertained as much as I was by Lolishy's chaotic creations.

See you for my next installment of Jest'O'Clock Reviews!

 ~Glyph