Submission #1156: dave_dfwm's NES Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode in 44:40.04

Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode TAS v2 by Dave Brown (dave_dfwm)

This is version 2 of my Golgo13 TAS. It is 4:19 faster than version 1 (cancelled submission), mostly due to the fact that I discovered a glitch that allows Duke to swim through rocks and avoid all underwater ambush attacks. Some of the other smaller timesavers include different attack strategies in some ambush attacks, a slightly different route in the Fangbacks maze, and frame-by-frame precision in all mazes and ambush attacks. I also discovered that part of the cut scene before the jungle can be skipped.

The final battle is 7 seconds faster than the previous version due to a little luck and the discovery that you can manipulate the number of hits required to kill the clone generators based on the first frame you attack them. There is a 20 frame delay between shots.

This run also takes less damage and has 100% kills in the autoscroller levels. An occasional extra bullet needed to be fired to manipulate the appearance place of the jets. There is also much less extraneous input than in version 1.

Below is more information about the game itself.

Golgo 13 is insanely powerful. He can fly a helicopter almost as fast as a plane. He has a vertical jump that is 3 times his height. His sniper accuracy is nothing short of legendary. If you shoot at him, he will kick the bullet away. If he kicks you, you will explode. He does all of this while wearing a suit and tie.

Paraphrase from the game instruction manual: This game begins when a CIA helicopter explodes and Duke Togo (AKA Golgo 13) undertakes to solve the situation as requested.

There are 13 acts in this game and the first 3 are a bit slow -- you are just roaming around Germany. The action picks up after that.

This is the only NES game I'm aware of besides Rampage that uses the B button instead of the A button to jump.

This is also the only NES game I'm aware of that the player has an "encounter" with a woman twice DURING the game. When Golgo 13 spends the night with a woman in a hotel, his health is fully restored.

This game features 4 modes of game play:

During gameplay, killing enemies will restore life and ammunition. Your life is slowly drained automatically except when in mazes.

The reason for 'backtracking' in some of the pan/zoom fights is because certain enemies (usually divers and helicopters) do not appear until your crosshair is at a certain location.

There is no way to skip the cut-scenes. They add up to at least a couple of minutes.

I die once in the movie during the Fangbacks maze. The weapon upgrade is in the second basement, and you don't lose it if you die. It is quicker than backtracking up to the top.

Act VII is my favorite part of this movie. I think it is the part of the game where most players would give up and call it quits.

Truncated: I will reject this.

Reasons:

He walks slowly, he autoscrolls, he does the same actions over and over again, and he looks like he is made out of lego blocks. The ending was way overdue when the guy with the purple skin showed up.

The only places where there was a remote feeling of speed was in the first person mazes. You get 2 bonus points for picking a game where the character is a man-slut though.

adelikat: Unrejecting and accepting for publication to the Vault

Brandon: Publication underway.