Sequence breaking

In computer and video games, sequence breaking is the act of performing actions or obtaining items out of the intended linear order, or of skipping “required” actions or items entirely. Sequence breaking is often used to beat a game unusually quickly, to beat it while only completing a few objectives or obtaining a few items, to obtain useful items early in the game, or to help push a game as far as possible in some other way.

History of the term

Though sequence breaking as a concept has existed almost since the inception of computer games complex enough to have sequential storylines, apparently the first documented action in a video game to be "called" a sequence break occurred in the Nintendo GameCube game "Metroid Prime"Verify source|date=July 2007, in a thread called “Gravity Suit and Ice Beam before Thardus” [http://www.metroid2002.com/sequence_breaking_topics_tbj_V1.0.php] .

The rock monster Thardus was designed to be a required boss before the gravity suit and the ice beam could be obtained, hence the novelty of bypassing the boss while still obtaining the items. This feat was first achieved on January 18 2003 by a gamer named Steven Banks, who posted his discovery on the "Metroid Prime" message board on GameFAQs. The thread attracted a number of interested gamers, and the term sequence breaking was incidentally coined [http://www.metroid2002.com/sequence_breaking_topics_tbj_V4.0.php] . The term has since grown in popularity and is now often applied to unintended shortcuts in any game.

Examples

There are many examples of sequence breaking in computer and video games. The "Metroid" series of games are the most famous example. In "Super Metroid", by using techniques like the Wall Jump, Bomb Jump and Mockball to jump and run into places normally not accessible, players can skip bosses, acquire items before intended, take shortcuts, etc. This is usually done to cut down on backtracking and allow for 100% speedruns.

Some other notable examples are:
*Monsters Inc: In the marketplace level it is possible to bodyslam up to a level that usually requires the trampoline to access and collect all 10 monster tokens, theoretically allowing you to obtain the silver and gold medals without getting the trampoline.
*Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for PlayStation- By jumping as wolf form on the stairs in the medusa clock tower, you can jump to the high platform without the double jump, and essentially do the entire rest of the area backwards.
*"" for Game Boy Advance — using a summon spell while simultaneously exiting a room by its upper exit, causing the game to scroll two rooms up instead of just one, even if a lower entrance to the next room up does not exist.
*"" for PC — completing the Eve of Destruction quest by proxy in a group to get a level 1 character into Hell despite not being a high enough level to enter the Worldstone Keep.
*"" — Using various items in game, a level 1 character can collect two of the three items in the Kagrenac's Tools set, reach the final boss, and defeat him. Use of Kagrenac's hammer without Kagrenac's brace is intended to kill the player, however the Hammer can be quickly used before it's damage over time effect kills the player.
*"Jak II" — In one level, you can swim to the island where you fight Juice Goons if you are fast enough.
*"" for Game Boy — pausing the game during a screen transition, causing the game to scroll two screens instead of one, even into areas that were impossible to reach otherwise. This bug was fixed in later ROM versions.
*"" — Utilizing three major glitches, known as "Escape the Forest", "Door of Time skip", and "Reverse Bottle Adventure", it is possible to beat the game without completing any dungeons whatsoever.
*"Little Big Adventure" — Running through the museum on Proxima Island quickly enough (before being hit by the guard), enabling the player to open the sewer grate without the red access card.
*"Maniac Mansion" for NES — triggering a cutscene in the room with the purple tentacle so that you may freely walk past it.
*"" — The character Deadpool can be used to skip several areas with his teleportation ability.
*"Mega Man" for NES — “zipping” through the ceiling to gain the Magnet Beam in Elecman's stage without either the Super Arm or Thunder Beam.
*"Myst" — By immediately retrieving the white page from the dock switch, the primary puzzle (and thus the entire game) can be completed without ever leaving the main island.
*"Pokémon Red and Blue" for Game Boy — buying a pokedoll to be used instead of the Silph Scope, thus skipping all of the Game Corner. Also, in all the games, players can trade Pokemon that know vital HM moves to other players, allowing them to skip the HM subquests.
*"Prince of Persia" — Luring a guard in the first level out of a narrow corridor and then going around him to the level's exit, essentially skipping most of the first level.
*"" — Buggy sand time portals allow the player to skip greatly ahead of the storyline.
*"Shining Force" for Genesis — In the beginning of the game, it is possible to nudge a villager into the space through which the guards move so that when they try to stop you from leaving Guardiana before talking to the king and getting the first few characters, there is a gap that allows you to leave anyway; this is necessary to finish the game with the minimal party of 12 characters. [http://shiningforcecentral.com/faqs/sf_minparty.txt]
*"Super Mario 64" for Nintendo 64 — Taking advantage of several glitches, including the 'backwards long jump' glitch, one can complete the game with less than the 70 stars required to climb up the endless staircase, even to the point of collecting no stars at all.

External links

* [http://tasvideos.org Tool-assisted console game movies] - Speedruns through various classic console games, made with emulators and utilizing slow-motion and savestates.
* [http://speeddemosarchive.com Speed Demos Archive] - Speedruns through various games, made without the use of tools such as slow-motion and savestates.