Tom & Jerry: The Movie is a platform game developed and published by Sega in 1992 for the Sega Master System. In each of the 6 levels Tom must chase Jerry to the end, corner him and catch him. It is possible to catch him before reaching the end if you can manage to. The TAS takes full advantage of this.
This game was released in Brazil, so NTSC display type was used.
Tricks and Techniques
When Jerry throws a round bomb he slows down a lot. Usually this would not be useful, but if you take damage beforehand it’s possible to run through the bomb and catch Jerry. This means it’s possible to catch him on flat ground without relying on tricks based on the level layout. This is easy in theory but very difficult to execute. The bomb throws are based on RNG and they are very rare. Furthermore, sometimes if you have to wait for a step to finish before running towards him, you cant get close enough to catch him.
Another useful manipulation stops Jerry from dropping any bombs behind him while you’re running. This can be done by quickly pressing the run button then letting go and then holding it again. This was useful in many places including the upper part of level 2 and the start of level 4 and level 6.
The main movement is running. There are 3 other types: walking (D-Right), small steps (D-Down) and big steps (D-Up). Walking and big steps are useful to manipulate round bomb throws. Most of the time optimizing Tom’s movement is not as important as manipulating Jerry’s movement. Nevertheless, I found some addresses to help with some small sections.
| Tom X | 0x0401 |
|---|---|
| Screen X | 0x0B12 |
| Invincibility timer | 0x042B |
Level Comments
Level 1 was the level that I was least happy with. After many hours of attempting, I couldn’t catch Jerry in the initial stretch. I resort to using the layout of the level to catch him shortly after the start.
Level 2 has some slow movement at the start. This is to manipulate Jerry so that he takes the top path. This allows me to catch him when he falls down. I also use the manipulation to stop him dropping bombs while at the top of the level. This saved a lot of time since I would otherwise fall down to the bottom (slow) path much earlier.
Level 3 was the first of the flat ground catches. I used big steps to manipulate a round bomb throw.
I had to play level 4 fairly normally but I finish it with a flat ground catch. This time I use normal steps to manipulate the bomb. I use the same manipulation to finish level 5 quickly too.
In level 6 I was hoping to catch Jerry near the falling lights. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough space and his movement is strange over the spikes. I haven’t been able to get him to throw a round bomb while on spikes.
Suggested screenshots: 937, 2352, 3111 (in case I'm off by a frame, these are the screenshots with glitchy sprites)
GoddessMaria: Judging.
GoddessMaria: Looking at this movie, the entertainment value isn't quite there although it is technically sound. Because of this, it cannot qualify for Moons. Although, it does beat the game as fast as possible so it does qualify for Vault. Optimization wise, I do not see anything noticeable that says it's not properly optimized. The movie is also quite short enough that it doesn't drag on for too long.
Accepting for Vault.
Spikestuff: A true submission bench is an empty one... Publishing.