#1632: TGPrimus's NES Heavy Shreddin' in 17:34.95

This is a TAS of the NES game Heavy Shreddin'. It completes all 6 slopes and 18 events as fast as possible.

Movie Plays Back on: FCEUX 2.2.0
Emulator Used: FCEU_16 with default settings
Does not use warps, passwords, or cheats
Does not abuse any errors except for poor hitboxes
No hits taken or deaths suffered
Aims for fastest time

About the Game

Intro

Heavy Shreddin' is a relatively obscure game that requires you to snowboard down slopes and complete various evernts. The game is easy to TAS, but it is not as easy to play as it appears at first. If you want to try to match my time with real time play, go ahead. Even though the game is autoscrolling you can alter your speed in quite a few ways and help you complete the events as fast as possible.

Events

There are 5 different kinds of events. 4 appear 3 times and 1 appears 6 times.

Downhill: Race against the clock dodging trees, rocks, and water.
Slalom: Go through all the gates while dodging rocks and trees.
Halfpipe: Build momentum on the halfpipe, then do various tricks as you are prompted.
Moguls: Race against the clock dodging trees, rocks, and moguls.
Backwoods: Try to survive against a wide variety of obstacles.

Techniques

There are several different speed altering techniques that can be used. Sometimes you will need to slow down to avoid obstacles.

Tucking: pressing right causes the snowboarder to tuck (bend over), which gives him maximum speed. I try to stay tucked as much as possible.
Turning: while untucked, pressing up and down cause the snowboarder to turn sharply. I only turn on the Halfpipe events where it is required to build momentum.
Jumping: jumping is needed to dodge certain obstacles. You retain tucked speed while jumping, but you when you land you automatically untuck for a few frames which causes you to lose a bit of speed. Air time is set, so I don't overshoot jumps or anything-jumps are just always that long.
Ducking: similar to jumping, it is needed to dogde unique obstacles. You do not retain tucked speed while ducking, and it also automatically untucks you for some frames. Duck time is also set.
Moving side to side: while tucked, you move side to side instead of turning. You lose some speed as you move, but you need to move around some obstacles. Sometimes it is faster to jump over something rather than move around it.
360 Spin: a trick performed while jumping. I often do it for fun, but it is required on the Halfpipes.
Mule Kick: a trick that can rebalance you if you hit a log or mogul. I don't hit logs or moguls as it slows you down, but I do the trick for fun sometimes. It is also required on the Halfpipes.
Toe Grab: a trick that extends your jump length. Unlike the other tricks, I need it to get over some chasms. I also do it for fun and it is needed on two of the Halfpipes.
Handplant: unlinke the other tricks, this one stops you completley so I don't use it for fun. One is required on the last Halfpipe.

Possible Questions

I will try to preempt some questions you might have about the TAS.

Q) Some tricks slow you down, so why do them?
A) A couple of tricks appear to slow me down. At this point I'm not 100% sure if they do. I do them just for fun and to make the TAS a bit more interesting, but if people want me to make a faster TAS (by a few frames, mind you) by removing them, I will. Sometimes they don't slow me down at all, so I'm not sure if they ever do.
Q) It doesn't look like you're tucked at all times. What's up with that?
A) The board angle and snowboarder's stance change from time to time along with the invisible slope, but I can assure you I am not untucking. The only times I untuck are when it is automatically done: at the start of each slope, after jumping or ducking, and on the Halfpipe. You can immediately go into tucked position at the beginning of slopes or after jumping and ducking simply by holding right. After completing the Halfpipe requirements, you go down the rest of the event as fast as possible automatically.
Q) Why don't you tuck immediately on the Halfpipe?
A) Everything that happens during Halfpipe events from the beginning of the slope up until when the snowboarder first turns upwards is automatic and cannot be affected by input.
Q) Why do you turn blue?
A) If you are hit by the snow machine you turn blue until the end of the event. This is purely visual and does not affect speed.

Future Version?

This is actually the second version of the TAS. In the first version I had a huge mistake where I took 7 ramps on Halfpipe 3 to get the trick prompts and I slowed down considerably to avoid an obstacle on Backwoods 6. Both of these mistakes are corrected in this version. The only possible way to improve would be to remove the gratuitous tricks. This may save a few frames, but I'm not sure if it actually slows you down or not yet. Other than that, it's pretty frame perfect