Introduction
Ninja Gaiden 2 is the sequel to that ninja game where you have to run fast and kill everything to win. In this case, you also need to run fast and kill everything to win.
This movie was started by Scumtron a while ago, saving 70 frames compared to the currently published movie. The work has continued by eien86, using a bot to analyze all stages of the game to find 4 additional saved frames (plus one false frame).
Software + Hardware
Rom Information
- Name: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (USA)
- SHA1: 951A19474A1D9C2984F3D966FBC41C0F0360105E
- MD5: 2EC92E60E033B4D8AA5CAA6B1F7838B5
Emulator
- EmuHawk 2.8.0 (Core: NesHawk)
Resynchronized from the initially submitted [EmuHawk 2.7.0 + QuickNES] movie by eien86, using Scumtron's DPCM glitch detection tool, available here.
Routing Bot
- Bot: Jaffar
- Routing Core: QuickNES
- Platforms:
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X Processor (64 cores, 128 threads) + 256Gb RAM (Average Exploration Performance: 1.4M States/s)
- 2 x AMD EPYC 7742 Processor (128 cores, 256 threads) + 512Gb RAM (Average Exploration Performance: 2.7M States/s)
Comparison Movie
Here is a per-level comparison between this movie and the currently published TAS:
Timing
Criteria
We use the following addresses for timing:
0x01FE - Game Mode
0x007E - Current Stage
0x0081 - Boss HP
0x04C0 - Final Boss Head Status
And the following criteria:
- Boot: Starting game sequence, including boot, pressing Start, and transitions.
- Stage #: Starting when (Game Mode) == 68
- Transition: After a normal stage, transition starts when (Game Mode) == 147, or; during a boss fight, when (Boss HP) == 0
- Head Dead: Happens when the last boss' death is defeated (Final Boss Head Status) == 16
- Movie End: The frame of the last button press
Time Table
Here is a time table comparing frame timing between this movie and the published TAS:
New Old Diff
Stage Initial Total Initial Total Stage Total
Boot 0 141 0 141 0 0
0 141 1675 141 1675 0 0
Transition 1816 21 1816 21 0 0
1 1837 121 1837 121 0 0
Transition 1958 21 1958 21 0 0
2 1979 279 1979 279 0 0
Transition 2258 200 2258 200 0 0
3 2458 136 2458 138 -2 -2
Transition 2594 380 2596 380 0 -2
4 2974 1982 2976 1982 0 -2
Transition 4956 68 4958 68 0 -2
5 5024 871 5026 871 0 -2
Transition 5895 21 5897 21 0 -2
6 5916 986 5918 987 -1 -3
Transition 6902 20 6905 20 0 -3
7 6922 278 6925 304 -26 -29
Transition 7200 200 7229 200 0 -29
8 7400 91 7429 94 -3 -32
Transition 7491 380 7523 380 0 -32
9 7871 1994 7903 1997 -3 -35
Transition 9865 68 9900 68 0 -35
10 9933 441 9968 442 -1 -36
Transition 10374 20 10410 20 0 -36
11 10394 464 10430 464 0 -36
Transition 10858 21 10894 21 0 -36
12 10879 466 10915 467 -1 -37
Transition 11345 20 11382 20 0 -37
13 11365 476 11402 478 -2 -39
Transition 11841 21 11880 21 0 -39
14 11862 317 11901 318 -1 -40
Transition 12179 68 12219 68 0 -40
15 12247 117 12287 121 -4 -44
Transition 12364 380 12408 380 0 -44
16 12744 996 12788 1004 -8 -52
Transition 13740 21 13792 21 0 -52
17 13761 194 13813 194 0 -52
Transition 13955 21 14007 21 0 -52
18 13976 1134 14028 1135 -1 -53
Transition 15110 68 15163 68 0 -53
19 15178 771 15231 773 -2 -55
Transition 15949 20 16004 20 0 -55
20 15969 455 16024 457 -2 -57
Transition 16424 21 16481 21 0 -57
21 16445 1143 16502 1145 -2 -59
Transition 17588 200 17647 200 0 -59
22 17788 97 17847 98 -1 -60
Transition 17885 380 17945 380 0 -60
23 18265 440 18325 440 0 -60
Transition 18705 68 18765 68 0 -60
24 18773 752 18833 752 0 -60
Transition 19525 21 19585 21 0 -60
25 19546 419 19606 419 0 -60
Transition 19965 75 20025 75 0 -60
26 20040 1158 20100 1158 0 -60
Transition 21198 21 21258 21 0 -60
27 21219 122 21279 122 0 -60
Transition 21341 21 21401 21 0 -60
28 21362 1136 21422 1136 0 -60
Transition 22498 163 22558 163 0 -60
29 22661 77 22721 77 0 -60
Transition 22738 380 22798 380 0 -60
30 23118 620 23178 620 0 -60
Transition 23738 21 23798 21 0 -60
31 23759 88 23819 88 0 -60
Transition 23847 21 23907 21 0 -60
32 23868 1142 23928 1142 0 -60
Transition 25010 74 25070 74 0 -60
33 25084 979 25144 979 0 -60
Transition 26063 200 26123 200 0 -60
34 26263 284 26323 286 -2 -62
Transition 26547 380 26609 380 0 -62
35 26927 772 26989 772 0 -62
Transition 27699 21 27761 21 0 -62
36 27720 112 27782 112 0 -62
Transition 27832 21 27894 21 0 -62
37 27853 601 27915 601 0 -62
Transition 28454 21 28516 21 0 -62
38 28475 69 28537 69 0 -62
Transition 28544 20 28606 20 0 -62
39 28564 430 28626 430 0 -62
Transition 28994 74 29056 74 0 -62
40 29068 830 29130 841 -11 -73
Transition 29898 21 29971 21 0 -73
41 29919 74 29992 74 0 -73
Transition 29993 21 30066 21 0 -73
42 30014 782 30087 783 -1 -74
Transition 30796 21 30870 21 0 -74
43 30817 151 30891 151 0 -74
Transition 30968 21 31042 21 0 -74
44 30989 490 31063 490 0 -74
Transition 31479 162 31553 162 0 -74
45 31641 122 31715 122 0 -74
Transition 31763 467 31837 467 0 -74
46 32230 104 32304 104 0 -74
Transition 32334 468 32408 468 0 -74
47 32802 55 32876 55 0 -74
Head Dead 32857 225 32931 225 0 -74
Movie End 33082 33156 -74
Credits
- Scumtron: Biggest contributor to this movies' saved frames and routing.
- eien86: Added the last 4 frames (plus one false frame), did the resync, the timing, the comparison movie, and wrote these notes
- Previous Authors: J.Y, Aiqiyou, Xipo, Samsara, Josh the FunkDOC, and stx-Vile for their collective contribution to this TAS over the years
- Ninja Gaiden 2 Discord Community who supported this and previous efforts
GoddessMaria: Claiming for judging.
GoddessMaria: Excellent work by the authors in their collaborative efforts to improving a tight movie even more without sacrificing entertainment.
Accepting as an improvement to the previous movie.
EZGames69: Processing...