I have made this run through Ninja Gaiden 3 using FCE Ultra. Frame advance was heavily used. In this installment, the ninja's girlfriend is killed in the prologue and he is out for revenge. With no jump and slash or ninja doubles, this game is much tougher for a timeattack in my opinion. I am much faster than devindotcom's run and I do this without taking hits. Damage doesn't help much in this game as you don't get thrown, so I decided to do no hits at all. The result looks very smooth and stylish. Without going into specifics, I'd say there's only about 5 seconds to gain from taking damage.
I demonstrate a few glitches: on the forced-scroll 2-2C I hang from midair and get inside the wall. This doesn't speed things up. In 5-2A, my status gets messed up. I don't know how this happens, but I know I've seen it playing on a console. It's back to normal in 5-2B. In 7-3D I grab inside a wall, I think it actually gets me a little time. Graphically, the ninja jumps again without his feet actually touching the ground, and climbs walls without touching them. Screwy, ain't it?
Needless to say, this is 12:12 of nonstop ninja action. I'd like to do another run, but it could be a while before I have a chance. Also, I found a couple glitches that I might have trouble reproducing (5-2A and 7-3D) and my next run will probably take damage. So I decided it would be worthwhile to submit this.
Every special weapon is used at some point, and I obtain the "super sword" extension in each act except 3 where it's just too far out of the way. This is just too useful to pass up. With no jump and slash or ninja doubles, bosses aren't as easy, but I'm able to do a pretty decent job with what I have if I do say so myself.
Major tricks used include jumping to avoid stopping while slashing, and jumping again to interrupt the slashing animation which otherwise continues when you slash in the air and land. Special weapons are not subject to this, and I don't have to worry about this on the ice in 6-1. This can also be used to get extra hits in on bosses, I use it heavily on the final trifecta. Also, it's possible to climb any wall in this game, but jumping is faster. I use my specials to deal with enemies coming from behind. When the going gets tough, I go pretty heavy on the vacuum wave. At the start of every act, you revert to 10 ninja power, windmill star, and regular sword, so obtaining powerups is a must, they're pretty much all useful unless I don't want to switch specials. The only thing that carries over is your maximum ninja power which you increase by collecting the scrolls. Luckily, I'm able to get all but one without going out of my way (3-2C, I just skip it.)
Occasionally, I'm forced to wait a few frames to avoid or kill an enemy, but taking damage wouldn't always be the best solution. In most cases you can't even tell when playing back at full speed. I also have to wait for platforms and spikes. The spikes take off 6 damage bars, which is one reason why there is so little benefit to taking damage.
Speedrunning this game was obviously quite nontrivial, but I think I've got it figured out pretty well and I hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks to devindotcom for a few tips and tricks I incorporated myself.
Phil: Well played, it deserves to be published.
