Submission #1081: Scumtron's NES Ninja Gaiden in 11:02.47

Nintendo Entertainment System
baseline
(Submitted: Ninja Gaiden (U).nes USA)
FCEU 0.98.12
39748
60
3234
Unknown
Submitted by Scumtron on 5/14/2006 5:09 PM
Submission Comments
Uses FCEU 0.98.15
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Abuses programming errors to save time
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Manipulates luck (I pause one frame before landing a jump in level 1 so the first enemy I bounce off of will be in optimal position)
What you see here is my third attempt at a Ninja Gaiden TAS (or twenty-sixth, depending on how you count) The first was 39886 frames. The second was 39872 frames, and after refining that, I ended up with this. It's 39748 frames (11:02), making it 201 frames (3.35 seconds) faster than Slotermeyer's published run. The rerecord count in the submitted file is incorrect. Actual rerecords were around 5600.

What I did faster than in Slotermeyer's run:

Level 1 (3 frames faster):

  • gained 1 frame by pressing start to bypass the level intro one frame earlier
  • gained 2 frames by not using down+b

Level 2 (23 frames faster):

  • gained 6 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps
  • gained 1 frame by dropping off a ledge instead of jumping
  • gained 16 frames in the second screen of 2-2 by jumping down from the ledge.

Level 3 (75 frames faster):

  • gained 1 frame from faster/more precise wall jumps
  • gained 74 frames from a revised boss strategy (I kill him in just under two seconds)

Level 4 (38 frames faster):

  • gained 15 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps and fewer uses of down+b (most notably in the first screen of 4-3 where i grab the inside of the wall on my way up, saving 7 frames. I do this again in the first screen of 6-2)
  • gained 4 frames in the last screen of 4-3 by using left+b to grab the wall
  • gained 2 frames by taking a hit in the second screen of 4-3
  • gained 14 frames by bouncing off a bullet instead of an axe
  • gained 3 frames in the boss fight due to a friendly timer

Level 5 (30 frames faster):

  • gained 10 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps and fewer uses of down+b
  • gained 20 frames by bouncing off the bird at the end of 5-2

Level 6 (32 frames faster):

  • gained 24 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps, dropping off a ledge instead of jumping and fewer uses of down+b
  • gained 4 frames in the last screen of 6-2 by using left+b to grab the wall (this worked out surprisingly well considering it meant two uses of the spin-slash that i had not planned on)
  • gained 3 frames in the Jaquio battle due to a friendly timer
  • gained 1 mystery frame in the final battle with the Demon

There you have it. The only ways I can see this being improved upon significantly is with a better understanding of how enemy behavior is determined (all I know is that time seems to be the only thing that affects it) or the discovery of new glitches.
Special thanks to BoltR and Slotermeyer. I learned a lot from their runs.
Enjoy.

Bisqwit: Inheriting the accepted status from previous attempt.
Last Edited by on 1/1/2022 6:13 PM
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