The Ultimate Beastmaster – Gaming Edition – Week 8

Only two weeks of regular competition left on the Ultimate Beastmaster Gaming Edition season, based on the Netflix reality show produced by Sylvester Stallone, The Ultimate Beastmaster, where competitors from around the world tackle the most vicious of challenge courses, the Beast. Only 2 more weeks after this and then the grand finale pitting all our beastmasters on a beefed up version of The Beast for the title of Ultimate Beastmaster.

In our gaming edition, there are no coins, rupees or souls to be won, but there is a certain kind of prestige, where one characters steps out of the ruins of the Beast, confident they are the Ultimate Gaming Beastmaster.

New challengers for this week are: Simon Belmont (Castlevania), Solid Snake (Metal Gear), Arno Moriani (Dracula), Jack Cooper (Titanfall), Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Spiderman (Spiderman), Little Mac (Punch-Out!!), Terrry Bogard (Fatal Fury), Heihachi (Tekken), Jade (Beyond Good and Evil), Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden), Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes). They’re sponsored by yours truly, Chris from OverThinkerY and Drakulus

For the competitors, I took note of their skills from across all their videogame appearances, including crossovers such as Super Smash Bros. and other such games, matching these skills to the ones required to best the four levels of The Beast. I also took note of their individual styles, their restrictions and sometimes even clothing. Unlike competitors on The Ultimate Beastmaster, video game competitors bring their own clothing to the table, though they’re forbidden from using the many tools of their trade. Since this episode features the first competitors from fighting and point & click adventure game series, some conversion rules were necessary.

In addition to the above factors, body type, hair, fur, or any other realistic elements were also taken into consideration, as well as the characters’ overall level of athleticism.

For the Beast, the skills required are:

• Climbing: Vertical movement while hanging.
• Ledge Shimmying: Horizontal movement while hanging.
• Running.
• Jumping.

In addition to this, there are advanced skills such as Wall Climbing and Rope Swinging which grant the competitors an edge.

Below is an example of a skill set:

Spiderman Skill Set: Running, Jumping, Climbing, Shimmying. Spiderman Restrictions: N/A. Spiderman Advantages: Spider-climb, super strength. Tools: Web shooter.

Having this in mind, I ran Spiderman and his competitors through the course, noting the obstacles completed, the ones failed, whether they’d go for point thrusters or not and noting the final results. Below is an example of this, Spiderman’s Level 1 run:

Note, starting this week, the highlighted run will include the point breakdown!

Spiderman – Level 1:

His abilities keeping him firmly on the ground, Spiderman dashes up Bite Force (5) without care, swings from the chains up to the first gear of Grinder (5) and makes it across easily (15). Face Plant comes next and between his natural athletic ability and his powers, Spidey keeps his balance and effortlessly leaps (5) to the chain and the Energy Coils (5). With a quick jump he makes it across to the next coil (5) and the first point Thruster (10), then leaps back, using his powers to grab hold of the edge of the coil and pull himself up, a strategy he repeats for the rest of the coils. His climbing, jumping and swinging skills come into play on the deadbolts, where he takes the second thruster before making it to the magwall, the easiest obstacle for the neighbourhood friendly Spiderman.

Course Points 85. Thrusters: 3, 30 points. Level 1 Score: 115. Time: 2.5 minutes.

For the sake of brevity, considering the amount of competitors going through the levels, below are the rankings at the end of each level. Twelve (12) competitors start the competitions, then the top eight (8) make it to Level 2. After that it’s the top five (5) who make it to level 3 and the last two then advance to Level 4.

If you wish to know how a specific character’s run went to understand their score, let me know and I’ll relate their experience in the comments.

Competitors – Week 8:

Not even the Beast can withstand the might of Heihachi!

For Arno, conquering the Beast is just another task on the Path of the Dragon

Jade’s here to get the scoop on the Beast!

Beast, Titan, it’s all the same to Jack!

Leo’s here for the honour of the Ninja Turtles, after the failure of his brother!

He’s studied the beast and the pattern of his movements, so he’s ready to knock this monster out!

Platforming is his game, and he’s putting all his skills to the test!

If Alucard coiuld do it, then a son of House Belmont can conquer the beast as well. At least, that’s what Simon thinks.

Snake won’t need his cardboard box for this one!

He’s here on a bet…with his brother. As long as he makes it to Level 2, he’s earning some free cash!

Course breakdown:

Level 1 – Bite Force, 5 points. Chain to Grinder, 5 points. Grinder, 5 points each, 15 total. Faceplant, 5 points. Chain to Coil, 5 points. Energy Coils, 5 points each, 15 total. Deadbolts, 5 points each, 20 total. Mag-Wall, 5 points each section, 15 total. 3 Point Thrusters, 10 points each. Max Points, 115.

Level 2 – Spinal Ascent, 5 points each, 25 total. Spinal Descent, 5 points. Stomach Churn, 5 points each, 15 total. Digestive Track, 5 points. Jump from Digestive Track, 5 points. Dreadmills, 5 points each, 10 points total. Jump to Chain Reaction, 5 points. Chain Reaction, 5 points each, 20 total. Vertibrace, 5 points each, 25 total. 4 Point Thrusters, 10 points each. Max Points, 155.

Level 3 – Ejector, 5 points. Prism Strike, 5 points each, 10 total. Coil Crawl, 5 points each, 15 total. Hangman, 5 points each, 75 total. Pipeline, 5 points. Wall, 5 points. 4 Point Thrusters, 10 points each. Max Points, 155.

Level 4 – Individual points ignored. Reaching the top is worth 200. If no competitor reaches, then furthest along competitor wins.

Level 1 – Max Points 115 – Rankings. Ties broken by faster times.

1. Spiderman – 115 points.
2. Ryu Hayabusa – 115 points.
3. Solid Snake – 105 points.
4. Leonardo – 90 points.
5. Jade – 90 points.
6. Jack Cooper – 90 points.
7. Little Mac – 90 points.
8. Simon Belmont – 80 points.
9. Terry Bogard – 70 points.
10. Travis Touchdown – 50 points.
11. Heihachi – 45 points.
12. Arno Moriani – 30 points.

Level 2 – Max Points 155 – Rankings. Ties broken by faster times. Scores are cumulative. Now including Level Score between parentheses.

1. Spiderman (155) – 270 points.
2. Ryu Hayabusa (155) – 270 points.
3. Leonardo (135) – 225 points.
4. Jack Cooper (90) – 180 points.
5. Jade (70) – 160 points.
6. Little Mac (70) – 160 points.
7. Simon Belmont (60) – 140 points.
8. Solid Snake (40) – 120 points.

Level 3 – Max Points 155 – Rankings. Ties broken by faster times. Scores are cumulative. Now including Level Score between parentheses.

1. Spiderman (155) – 425 points
2. Ryu Hayabusa (155) – 425 points.
3. Leonardo (155) – 380 points.
4. Jack Cooper (90) – 270 points.
5. Jade (50) – 210 points.

Level 4 – Winner – Spiderman, sponsored by OverThinkerY

The wielder of the Dragon Sword and the man to go through some of the most dangerous platforming challenges in gaming against a super athlete with superior abilities, including being capable of sticking to walls, an ability that gave Spiderman an unbeatable edge against his opponent, for no matter how swift and agile Hayabusa was, his opponent not only matched his speed but his climbing skills made short work of the obstacles, from Recoil to the Ventilator.

The new Beastmaster to join the others in the finale is Spiderman!

That’s it for this week then, we’ll see you on the next edition of The Ultimate Beastmaster – Gaming Edition! Next week will be the last week of normal competition before the finale!