About the Game
Prehistorik Man (not to be confused with the game of the same name on the SNES, which is the sequel) was a platform game for the Game Boy, made by Titus Interactive. This game is actually a port of Prehistorik 2, which was made for MS-DOS and Amstrad CPC. Even with the major cuts out from the original PC game, Prehistorik Man seems to still be a rather faithful port, and pulled off some very interesting technical feats for the Game Boy.
Game objectives
Emulator used: Bizhawk 2.6
- CGB in GBA mode is enabled for console verification.
Categories
- Aims for fastest completion of the game
- Uses warps
- Takes damage to save time
- Heavy lag reduction
- Heavy lag reduction
- Heavy lag reduction
- Did I mention this game lags?
Stage by stage comments
LEVEL 1 THE MOUNTAIN
This level is rather simple, not too much to comment on. There is quite a bit of lag reduction work going on, which is mostly stay away from enemies. There is also a nice warp that sends me a bit further in the level. Note that to progress past the big traffic (?) sign, I must collect a key item in the level. For this level, it is a giant lighter.
WELL DONE NOW FACE THE GUARDIAN
The boss is also rather simple. You need to hit its arms until they are both raised up. Afterwards, there is a waiting period, which I use to do some high jumps to position myself better for the next stage. Some more hits and the boss is done.
LEVEL 2 THE CAVES
Another fairly simple level. There is another warp used that sends me quite a way through the level. Note for moving platforms, once they hit the edge of the screen, they will go back. This is abused to send a platform back to me when I needed it. For this level, the key item is a giant fork.
NEW DANGER APPROACHING FROM ABOVE
This boss is rather boring. Hit it enough times, then you proceed onto the next stages where you ride the flying dino in the sky. Hit some more times, hit the other flying dino, jump around each dinos backs for a while, and eventually the fight is over.
LEVEL 3 THE FOREST FRINGE
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ I HATE BEES.
Afterwards, there is a nice section with a hang glider. This operates somewhat like the cape in Super Mario World; go down then up to gain air. For this level, the key item is a giant spoon.
NICE FLIGHT RIGHT INTO MORE TROUBLE
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LEVEL 4 THE RAIN FOREST
Apparently Prehistorik Man isn't the only man on this earth. This has another hang glider section, although not much to note after that. For this level, the key item is a giant knife.
Also, there is no boss for this level, it just jumps to the next level.
GOOD WORK NOW ENTER LEVEL 5 THE HOLLOW TREE
I go right to collect the hammer before proceeding onto the next level. This item seems to just let me throw infinite hammers at enemies. Along with activating platforms from a distance, which is rather good for this key item, which requires some hidden platforms activated to reach. The key item for this level is another giant lighter.
FINALLY GET READY TO FACE PURE EVIL
Pure evil = a tree with a brain? Nothing a ton of throwing hammers can’t fix!
Note on the emu version: this movie was originally made starting with 2.5.1, but a regression introduced in 2.4.1 ended up making me use 2.5.3 dev (where the regression had been fixed). The movie syncs fine on 2.6, so I'm just going to call it a 2.6 movie.
Samsara: Judging.
Samsara: Setting to Delayed while improvements are being implemented. File replaced with a 249 frame improvement, resuming judgement.
Samsara: Overall, the movie looks and feels optimized. Well done on that, and well done on the entertainment improvements, however the complete lack of feedback since then (and since submission in general) has shown me that it's not enough to save this from the Vault.