Submission #4109: Dooty's Genesis QuackShot: Starring Donald Duck in 20:22.56

Quackshot is one of the best Disney games ever made and somewhat overlooked as well. The movie improves Mitjitsu’s version by about two minutes and is also a good example of how new tricks can put you ahead of extremely optimized movies.

A while back, mklip2001 said to me that an improvement of this game wouldn’t be hard to do, since it is quite an old run and all. At that time I took a really close look into the published run but couldn’t find any mistakes. After working on Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure, I decided to give this game another try, and to my surprise, I was able to save some time right on the menu. So I thought it would be easy to find more mistakes as I played the game, well I was wrong, Mitjitsu made sure to optimize every movement pretty well, bosses being hit on the first possible frame and every known trick abused to the extreme. I was about to give up the project when I decided to take a look at Donald’s X velocity when the glitch to run up hills is active. It took a while to realize that by pressing Up+Down+C Mitjitsu was able to keep Donald’s top speed even going up hills, I was lucky to find out it is possible to use that same trick on flat surface. The other tricks that gave a boost on my motivation to work on this run is the midair jump, found on those moving platforms of Mexico, and the clip trick found on the Pyramid, but I think it’s better to explain those tricks in the next section. Well, once again I hope you enjoy the run and see you on my next project, thank you.

Not really a new trick, the published run and the one obsoleted by that already uses this trick, but I’m using it a lot more on my run. Press Down+C to start the belly slide, as soon as you reach the maximum speed press Up+Down+C and you can keep that speed for 19 frames. Sometimes the maximum speed will last for up to 40 frames, but I still don’t know what the requirement is.

Just run off a ledge, but crouch one frame before that and keep pressing Right+Down if you’re going right, or Up+Down if you’re going left. By the way, Donald can move a lot faster from right to left than left to right.

By pressing Up+Down on ladders you can keep going down even through the floor. It has some other uses like going under the minimum possible height on South Pole for entertainment.

Pretty much like in Megaman, you can start the game faster by pressing buttons in succession; Start at frame 321 and A at frame 322, this way I was able to save time even before the actual game play. A faster combination was also used to select weapons and items, for example to switch from Plunger to Bubblegum I press Down and then Left+A .

This stage must be done first in order to avoid a conversation about the Heroes Key. The trick to run up hills was improved and is now used everywhere. I also changed which enemies to stun by the Plunger to save a few frames here and there. The midair jump trick avoided the need to wait for the moving platforms, so this section was also improved. The Corn, used to stop the blocks on the Pyramid, was kind of on my way, so nothing special here.

It is here that you’ll get the Heroes Key. Nothing new in Duckburg aside from the new tricks, and as you can see, even with the new tricks it’s still worth collecting the Peppers.

I’m back on Mexico, this time to get the Red Plunger. The most notable difference here is the floor glitch used to skip part of the stage, one of the biggest time savers of the new run.

Time to use the Red Plunger on Duckburg to reach the Bubblegum ammo. This is another stage where only the new tricks saved time.

The real treasure map is in Transylvania. The new tricks made it possible to reach some areas a lot faster, but the biggest difference here is on the boss fight. The plunger was avoided on the published run due the amount of lag it creates on the last hit, but surprisingly, it’s faster than any other weapon.

The Sphinx Tear, to open Ra’s tomb, is here. A few improvements here and there, but again the most notable difference is on the boss fight. The new tricks made it impossible to collect enough corns to defeat the Tiger, but the Bubblegum proved to be a pretty good substitute. Switch to the Plunger here is not only for entertainment, like I always thought when I watched the published run; it’s the best weapon for the next stage, and it’s faster to switch to it here.

The Scepter of Ra, to melt the ice in South Pole, is in this stage. I was trying to save my few Corns for the Pete fight when I found out it was possible to shoot Plungers through those solid blocks to collect the Peppers. Later I decided to not use the corns on Pete, but it didn’t waste time to use the plunger here. The midair jump changed the way this stage used to be played forever. The mine cart section was also improved a little.

The Viking Key, to open the Viking ship, is here in this stage. The first difference I noticed between (REV00) and (REV01) of the game; it is easier to skip the last steep slope on (REV00). I was testing the pause trick found by Mitjitsu on the Viking key when I accidentally called the plane and picked up the key afterward, not using the pause trick is faster though.

You’re supposed to get the Viking Diary here, but the guy only gives you the Yellow Plunger. Another difference between the rom revisions; the first guy, the one who looks like Pete, is a little to the left on (REV01). Nothing much new here, a few changes in the strategy here and there, but it’s pretty much the same. The boss of this stage is the only one in the entire game who needs to be manipulated; get too close and personal with him and he stays invulnerable all the time.

The Viking diary is actually here. This stage has the biggest time saver of the new run, thanks to Mitjitsu for writing about a possible way to get the Viking diary early. Donald’s hit box changes considerably if he’s facing left or right, I mean, his butt is smaller than it looks and it’s easier to clip a little into the walls if you’re facing away from them.

Pete took both the Viking diary and the Map, let’s take it back. Another difference between revs; the music of the first area is now in another stage on (REV01). The Up+Down trick works here too, but the effects are different. The strategy on Pete is completely different; his invincibility time does not increase like other bosses in the game when you hit him with the Plunger.

The treasure of king Garuzia and the music you’re supposed to hear on Hideout is also here. There are items on the vine section of the second part of this stage on (REV01). Mitjitsu told me about a possible way to beat the last boss faster using the plunger. I tried all possible combinations of weapons, but the Plunger increases a lot his invincibility period. So I changed the strategy a little to make the boss throw his sword as far as possible. This way I’m able to finish him in just three phases instead of four.

To all the people on the topic of QuackShot on the forum, for support and encouragement. Thank you guys, that meant a lot to me.

Frame 49987

Noxxa: Judging.

Noxxa: Accepting as an improvement to the published movie.

feos: Publishing...