Abadox...It's totally gross!
Movie plays back on FCEUX 2.2.0.
Originally recorded with FCE Ultra 0.98.15 rerecording - default settings
No warps/passwords used
Abused collision detection issues, used luck manipulation
No damage taken
Aimed for entertaining levels by collecting ONLY speed powerups, other powerups are shot so viewers can see what they are. bosses are done as fast as possible.
Abadox is a really great shooter for the nes that is overlooked by many becuase of it's relative obscurity and intense difficulty. The game actually has very good graphics and sound, and suffers from little to no slowdown, the controls are very good and...well it's just a good game all around, so there's no one to blame but you when you die, which you will...a lot.
I chose this game after I saw a video on gamespot of a poor sap who had been playing the game for 10 years and never gotten past the first level, I thought a video similar to the gradius videos would be pretty cool for this insanely hard game.
Here is a level by level description of what went into making this
Level 1-1: Sort of the test level. I hated the first few versions and a lot got scrapped. The hero is quite slow to begin with, which limits what can be done, but each level has at least one speed powerup. Many enemies, such as the eyeballs have collision issues, for example the actual eye part of the eyeball doesn't hurt you, but the tail end does. Parts of skulls can be flown through, but if you touch the hair you're dead. I use these to my advantage. The area of your sprite that can be hurt is also deceptively small, allowing me to squeeze in places you wouldn't expect. The boss was easy, Just hit him on the first frame I could and turboed him all the way down.
1-2: Would you believe that the part where I was messing around under the tongue was the hardest thing ever? I died about 30 times getting that right, The framerate in the game is pretty low, so I use that to my advantage, sometimes it takes the game a frame or two to realize that you should be dead, and by that time, I'm somewhere else. The boss battle was no big deal, sometimes shots go through bosses (a problem I had majorly with a later boss) this time it happens once and I let it go becuase it actually looks kind of cool and shows how weird the game can be.
2-1: First down-scroller, which changes many enemy sprites and the hero's sprite, changing the way a lot of things work. The boss was the ONLY boss in the game that I didn't completely scrap and do again, although I used an insane amount of re-records. You would think you could hit his tail, but in fact you can't
2-2: The spiked balls that the boss shoots in this level are a lot bigger than they look, so I had to hang back an extra frame or two while dodging before I coud duck back in and turbo him
3-1: Love this level, this is where it really starts to get fun I think, since the speed is all but maxed out and there's loads of enemies running unpredictable patterns. The boss was a real bitch to TAS, many shots went through him for no reason. I redid the battle becuase it didn't look so hot and shaved off 5 frames, so that made me quite happy.
3-2: Probably my favorite to play, I heavily abuse the collision issues especially near the end (you'll know it when you see it) The boss won't activate until you fire a non-damaging shot into it's "chest" so that "wasted" shot actually starts the battle. It hits on the first frame possible by the way. The boss itself is rather glitchy and sometimes will not take damage unless you're in a specific spot, so sometimes I'm closer than other times. I kill the red blood cells so I could kill the boss faster without having to dodge too much. I do a few frames of movement to manipulate them into going in front of me.
4-1: This level is actually really easy, which is kind of odd. The boss is also a wimp whom I manipulated into staying near the bottom so he could be killed even faster.
4-2: This level took a very long time to complete, in the part where the path splits, I tested both paths quite a bit. I originally wanted to use the right path and then switch to the left, but the right path is just kinda boring, although at the switch point I do go over there for a little bit. The bulging eye/anus boss was very hard to TAS. Basically sometimes he is mysteriously invincible, no matter how many shots you pump into him, he won't take damage. I eventually figured out that if you shoot while he's dormant/invincible, he won't take damage from any shots, regardless of whether or not he is supposed to be vulnerable at the time. So I had to shoot on the frame AFTER he becomes vulnerable. I also have my guy in a very specific place where the lasers mysteriously go through him.
5-1: The tech level, I had a lot of fun with this one, and do a lot of daring moves that no one in their right mind would normally attempt. The collision is abusable, but very specific on the red hopper enemies, so I got rather good at sneaking below them as they hopped. The boss is killed before he's fully on the screen, which glitches the game causing part of the boss sprite to still be there afterwards, even shooting at me (and yes, those shots are just as deadly)
5-2: I had a lot of fun with the beams, exiting on the last possible frame each time, narrowly avoiding death. The boss goes down really fast, as he doesn't really have much health, and the crystals he shoots can only really hurt you if they hit your torso, so I found a spot to shoot in, only having to glide back a bit to avoid crystals.
6-1: A lot of shots on the screen which leads to some cool weaving. The boss was killed extremely fast. You'll notice I move back, this manipulates the flames to miss me by a single frame, rather than me having to move to the side to dodge
6-2: There's a lot of hazards that activate very quickly in this stage making it virtually impossible in real time. The endboss is actually quite easy if you get in there fast and turbo. I was lucky enough to get him dead before the ghosts became a problem.
ending? actually there's one more level
7: This is the obligatory "escape" level, where you carry the anime chick out while dodging walls super fast. At first I just hung back and had fun with some near-misses, but I decided to mix it up some. I got myself towards the front so I could end the movie as soon as it's possible to clear the last wall.
All in all, this movie was a blast to make, and I hope everyone enjoys this.
NOTE: The 515 re-record is innaccurate, as it got reset while I was working on 5-2. I had about 1400 re-records at the time so it should be AROUND 1900 re-records.
adelikat: Rejecting due to poor vote results. In addition, auto-scrollers are usually make poor game choices due to limited variety/repitiveness.