Submission #791: Baxter's NES Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu in 16:36.17

This movie is 1646 frames (= about 27.5 seconds) faster than the movie that is currently published. There are improvements throughout the entire movie. Here's a list improvements with some notes for each level:

(Note that the game doesn't really count levels. After a boss fight, when the map is shown, I swich from 1-6 to 2-1. If the screen turns black and you start somewhere else I swich from 2-1 to 2-2)

(Other notes: normal hits, kicks, and the 'roll' powerup do 1 damage, other powerups and fireball you can fire do 2 damage)

1-1 Improvements: The main improvement is me taking the 'roll' powerup, that allows you not to lose any time while jumping over the platforms. Notes: It might seem that I lose speed when I land on the platform, but I make sure the platforms don't more backwards when I land on them. The reason why it might look like it's slowing down is because you'll speed up if the platform is moving forward.

1-2 Improvements: None. Notes: I avoid taking damage by performing special moves.

1-3 Improvements: My timing is a little better. Notes: You speed up while walking over the tilting platforms, so you'll want to stay on them as long as possible. It might seem that I'm walking on the first platform for a shorter period of time than on the others, this is true. For some reason, you can't walk as long on the first one, as on the others.

1-4 Improvements: You can't really save anything on the autoscolling part, but I save a great deal on the vertical part at the end, due to more accurate jumping (I took every jump frame by frame, I did this for all vertical parts of the entire game). Notes: You can actually save 14 frames in this stage, by taking the 'roll' powerup, and using it to start at the third platform in the vertical part. But this will make you lose more than 14 frames in the next stages. Taking a stronger upgrade in 1-5 takes about 30 frames, and doing the boss battle with the 'roll' powerup (you would be shooting by holding A) takes about 50 frames longer. So I go up the vertical shaft by just regular jumping.

1-5 Improvements: None. Notes: I miss the enemy on purpose, so you'll see me going through the enemy.

1-6 (boss) Improvements: None. Notes: I kick twice at the last hit. The first, missed, kick was intentionally missed.

2-1 Improvements: Main impovement is using the 'roll' powerup to make the scrolling go faster. Notes: None

2-2 Improvements: This is the only place in the game with ice. One ice you can walk backwards, while going forward. This itself doesn't save any time (it doesn't make you lose time either, if you don't walk backwards too long). I found a neat (little) trick while I was doing this; if you fall of an edge while backwalking, you get a small speedboost. Doesn't save that much time, but it's still noticable...... and cool :) Notes: I try to perform this trick as often as possible (since it saves time). It's not possible to do it more than five times (the 'roll' powerup can't get you to perform this trick more often, I tried this).

2-3 (boss) Improvements: I shoot, then kick, shoot, kick. shoot... you get the idea. This saves time, since shooting twice makes the second projectile appear much slower than it would if a kick was in between. This saves a nice amount of time. Notes: A normal powerup would be faster here, but then you wouldn't have the 'roll' powerup for 3-1.

3-1 Improvements: This level took alot of time... First I checked the fastest routes for each 'height'. I came to the conclusion that the fastest possible way through 3-1 would require 11 'roll' powerups. You can only carry 7, so I had to chose 4 I didn't use. For the right choise, I timed how many frames each of the 11 'roll' powerups would save, and eliminated the 4 that saved the least amount of frames. This is how I came to the route I took. I also saved time by more accurate jumping at left and right sides of the stage. Notes: These jumps might not seem perfect, but this is due to the fact that you can't move horizontally thought the stones. I took every jump frame by frame, and if you have doubts, you should watch the jumps at a slower speed.

3-2 Improvements: There might not seem to be moch to this stage, but there is! It took me quite some time to perfectly understand the mechanics of the water, rafts and stuff, and it took a lot of time. Walking over the rafts if faster than staying in the water. The jumps out of the water are improved, and the falling into the water is also faster. I also don't perform a jump before a waterfall, don't know why the author of the previous movie did this, but it's slower. I saved quite some time in this stage. Notes: The jumping out of the water might seem a bit strange. This is mainly due to the fact that you lose all the momentum you had in the water when coming out. You'll also notice that the jumps out of the water aren't always at the same distace from the platform, the difference is caused by the fact that in front of some of the platforms are blocks, thought which you can't move horizontally.

3-3 (boss) Improvements: I had a powerup with more 'shots' then the powerup that was used in the previous movie. Due to this I have to hit the boss one time less. Notes: None.

4-1, 4-2, 4-3 Improvements: I saved a frame in each stage, not really interesting stages... you can play through them pretty fast. Notes: Note that I hit three objects with one normal kick in 4-4.

4-4 (stage+boss) Improvements: I am a little faster in the stage, and the boss battle is a little more accurate. Notes: None.

5-1 Improvements: I play through the dark parts a little better. I also improve the vertical part by more accurate jumping. Notes: None.

5-2 Improvements: This is also a stage that takes pretty long... I had to play pretty much verything frame by frame. Doing this did make me win a good amount of time. Notes: You can be slightly faster (6 frames) in the vertical part by having the 'roll' powerup, but you lose alot more frames during the battle with the dragon in 5-4 for not having a stronger powerup. Also note that this is the only stage where is it profitable not to jump at the beginning of the stage.

5-3 Improvements: None. Notes: There is not that much I can say about this all-autoscrolling stage.

5-4 Improvements: A lot of frames saved in this long vertical shaft (this also took alot of time ;) ). Also some time saved in the fast-forward-srcolling part. Notes: The vertical part of this stage really looks cool, but note that it is equally accurate played as the vertical parts in 3-1.

5-5 (boss) Improvements: I shoot a fireball for the first hit of the second and third dragon; this saves some time. There are alot of fast-forward auto-scrolling parts in this stage, I have a better strategie for those, than the previous movie. I use all of my 'weapons' on the (1/2) final boss, since the time between hits is greater than the time for the spider in 5-6 (the recovery time is bigger for the boss in 5-5, so I make sure I have to hit him s less as possible). This might be the biggest time saver of the entire movie. Also note where I exit this stage with the cloud, it's way faster than exiting at the bottom (like the creators intended). Notes: After being done with 5-4 I noticed I only had 24 "green bubble" collected. I was intending to defeat the dragons using 2 fireballs and one kick... I thought the old mentor would refill all of my fireballs, but he only refilled 2! To deal with this I needed 29 "green bubbles" in order for a "green bubble" from a dragon to refill my fireballs. I had to redo everything from 4-1 to make those extra five kills. When I reached 5-5 again, and fought those dragons,I noticed that 1 fireball and 3 kicks, is faster than 2 fireballs and 1 kick ARGH (spawning those fireballs takes alot of time). Anyway... taing the green bubles from the dragons also takes a little extra time, so I just kept 29 bubbles untill the end... which is still a good number since it is the maximum number you can carry.

5-6 (boss) Improvements: The fight itself is slower, since I don't have as much special weapons left, but it is played better, so I save a little here aswell. Notes: None.

Also note that every stage is done without taking damage!

Enjoy...

Baxter