This is my third submission of Wizards & Warriors X. As before, the goal is to complete the game without taking any damage. This movie improves upon the previous submission by 199 frames due to a better route in level 2-0.
- Goal: Complete the game without taking any damage
- Uses VBA 1.7.2 re-recording version 20.0
- Game Boy emulation, no BIOS
- No Left+Right/Up+Down
- No warps or passwords
- Abuses programming errors
- Abuses luck
The Story
According to the dates given in the manuals, this game takes place after Wizards & Warriors III, although it was published earlier. Malkil is back at his evil deeds. He has abducted Princess Elaine and taken her to his Fortress of Fear. It's up to Kuros to save her.
According to the dates given in the manuals, this game takes place after Wizards & Warriors III, although it was published earlier. Malkil is back at his evil deeds. He has abducted Princess Elaine and taken her to his Fortress of Fear. It's up to Kuros to save her.
The Movie
The goal of this movie was to get through the game without taking any damage. It is definitely possible to complete it more quickly if one takes damage, but I decided to go for a no-damage run because it is ridiculously easy to get hurt. Enemies hurt you by draining your life; you do not get pushed back upon contact, you just lose life. Furthermore, you have only a few frames of invincibility after getting hurt, so it is easy to get killed by a single enemy. As in many games, you can also lose life from falling too far. However, I think the programmers overdid it in this case because even normal jumps from one ledge to another that is only a few pixels lower can hurt you.
The goal of this movie was to get through the game without taking any damage. It is definitely possible to complete it more quickly if one takes damage, but I decided to go for a no-damage run because it is ridiculously easy to get hurt. Enemies hurt you by draining your life; you do not get pushed back upon contact, you just lose life. Furthermore, you have only a few frames of invincibility after getting hurt, so it is easy to get killed by a single enemy. As in many games, you can also lose life from falling too far. However, I think the programmers overdid it in this case because even normal jumps from one ledge to another that is only a few pixels lower can hurt you.
I only opened two treasure chests during the recording. The first one contained the Spell of Invincibility. As far as I can tell, that is the only chest from which you can get the Spell in the entire game. It was actually impossible to avoid that chest, since the enemy would have turned around and hit me if I would have tried to jump over it. The spell allowed me to jump through several enemies without having to worry about taking damage. I am not sure how much time it saved, since I had to wait for the screen saying I picked up the Spell to go away. You cannot speed up any of those message screens (chests or level endings), which probably increase the length of the movie by at least 3 minutes.
I obtained the Boots of Jumping from the second chest. They are essential to completing the game without taking damage, since they allow you to jump higher and farther, as well as allowing you to fall any height without getting hurt.
Programming Errors
I discovered one glitch in the game. If you attack with your sword on a moving platform, the attack animation may retain its vertical position even if the platform moves down. You can then jump off of air as soon as the attacking animation is finished. This does not always happen, and I am not quite sure what causes it. I used it twice in level 1-0 and once near the beginning of level 3-1.
I discovered one glitch in the game. If you attack with your sword on a moving platform, the attack animation may retain its vertical position even if the platform moves down. You can then jump off of air as soon as the attacking animation is finished. This does not always happen, and I am not quite sure what causes it. I used it twice in level 1-0 and once near the beginning of level 3-1.
Luck
Enemy spawning is very manipulable in this game. It seems to depend on how quickly you are moving through any level, what buttons you are pressing, how long you are pressing them, and maybe even how much life you have. Some examples:
Enemy spawning is very manipulable in this game. It seems to depend on how quickly you are moving through any level, what buttons you are pressing, how long you are pressing them, and maybe even how much life you have. Some examples:
- If you compare this movie to my first submission, you will notice that there are fewer enemies near the end of level 1-2. This might be related to me jumping more in that level instead of walking.
- At the beginning of level 3-0, I manipulated a second soldier out of existence. I am pretty sure it happened because I started moving to the right as quickly as possible after the soldier that did appear turned around.
- This one actually worked against me. If you turn off the BG 0 graphics layer near the end of level 4-0, you will see quite a few hidden bats that I spend time killing. It is possible to jump over them and save time if I take damage before reaching them, but not if I do not take damage.
Improvements
The only gameplay improvement in this movie is the route change in level 2-0. After getting the Boots of Jumping, I go over the wall instead of under it. This saves 199 frames. The other 47 frames saved come from timing differences in VBA version 20.0. I actually lose 62 frames because it takes longer for the game to load at the beginning. Then I gain frames every time I beat a boss because the "POW" cloud displays more quickly and I can exit the room faster.
The only gameplay improvement in this movie is the route change in level 2-0. After getting the Boots of Jumping, I go over the wall instead of under it. This saves 199 frames. The other 47 frames saved come from timing differences in VBA version 20.0. I actually lose 62 frames because it takes longer for the game to load at the beginning. Then I gain frames every time I beat a boss because the "POW" cloud displays more quickly and I can exit the room faster.
Credits
I would like to thank the following people:
I would like to thank the following people:
- Nach for drawing my attention to problems in the boss battles of the first submission that I fixed for the second version
- Harvey Denton for pointing out the better route in level 2-0 after getting the Boots of Jumping
- Randil, Aqfaq, Frenom, MattyXB, FreshFeeling, Alter, and AngerFist for their feedback on the previous movies
Note: The ROM name for this game seems to have changed, although the ROM is the same. GoodGBx 3.13 and 3.14 say it is (E), while previous versions said it was (UE). There is apparently no (U) version, although GameFAQs only has a US release date for the game.
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