Run Summary:
- Aims for fastest time
- Played on highest difficult level (3)
- Runs into enemies to save time
- Bug abuse (Level 2-2 ends without actually reaching the exit)
- Contains lots of ninja abuse: kicking them off the ground, kicking them out of the air, tricking them into jumping off of buildings, shoving them off buildings, etc.
(Not my previously planned pacifist run. That's still on hold for now, sorry.)
Game summary:
One of the lesser known Shinobi games, Shadow Dancer is still a solid entry in that series. I had a blast with this game in my teens--three difficulty levels and lots of ninja fighting action. The game sure looks different in a TAS though--there's quite a few enemies that a TASer can run from that a normal player can't.
Weapon notes:
Sword--close range, forces player to stand still, rarely used.
Jump kick--close range, allows player to keep moving forward. You can even glide forward if you do a jump kick that happens to hit the ground. This is used frequently.
Shuriken--Long range. You can keep moving forwards as long you use midair throws.
Dog--can be used to momentarily stun most non-boss/non-ninja foes. Completely unused as it takes too long to set up. (You have to both charge a gauge and wait for the dog to notice an enemy and the dog tends to be slow on the uptake.)
Ninja Magic: Does 2 points of damage to bosses (most of the time), kills everything else. Only used to end the game--just too slow to use in any other situation.
Level notes:
1-1
Lots of jumpkicking. One sniper taken out with a crouching star. This doesn't cost frames as I have to stop for the Manhole of Fire anyways. (I don't want to know what's in that sewer.)
There's some enemies that fail to show up at the end of the stage--the game sometimes drops enemies if there are already several on the screen.
1-2
I have to slow down a few frames at the start or the game gets confused and destroys the first hostage (this phenomeon is later refered to as "missing hostage glitch"), making the round unwinnable. Bumping into the last shieldman gives me invunerablity to get the last hostage without having to stop and fight.
Boss 1
I'm constantly adjusting the distance between the boss and I so that I can time the stars properly. He gets in only one attack--you can't stop the first earthquake.
First bonus round
Boring. Unfortunately, there's four bonus rounds that can't be sped up at all. I shoot a few ninja sequences out of the order in which the appear for an attempt at entertainment.
2-1
Back to the regularly schedules hostage-freeing, jump-kicking action!
This level is pretty much just a nice stroll across the bridge with the occasional jumpkick to keep the riffraff in line. Other than backtracking slightly to pick up hostages, you can run right through this stage.
2-2
I bump the gunman--have to jump to keep him from shooting me and the jump is too big to make cleanly. At 2:44 (on the level clock) I shoot a knifeman--I think a jumpkick would look better, but I just get the missing hostage glitch if I use a jumpkick here. Oh, and I get close enough to trigger the exit before I get bumped away.
Boss 2
Not much to say. I manipulate the boss a bit--where he appears depends on where you stand. His hand attacks can be (and is) manipulated even more.
Bonus #2
Still boring. I get in a few 2-ninja-with-one-star shots, though. Big whoop.
3-1
At 2:50, I jump on a box I'd rather jump over to prevent the missing hostage glitch from occuring.
3-2
Fixed scrolling stage. Can't speed things up, so I kick the ninjas around for fun.
Highlights:
- Four jumpkicks that connect with four targets in one jump.
- One jumpkick that connects with four targets in one jump.
- Little known fact: Ninjas who never figured out the game of Peek A Boo when they were babies are forced to wear yellow. These poor souls are so traumatized by their turbulent infancies that they will jump off the nearest building if you refuse to look at them.
Hope that the people running Ellis Island don't mind a splatted ninja here and there. Look out below!
Boss 3
Special thanks to Neofix for showing how to beat this boss quickly.
I bump into Ms. Buzzsaw at the end (to show that she's still solid) and them jump through her off the stage (to show that she's not solid any more). Since the jump is done at the last second, falling off of the stage doesn't count as a death.
Bonus 3
Yawn. Four consecutive two-in-one shots near the end if anyone cares.
4-1
Have to slow down a bit at the end to get a green guy off a platform but this a pretty much a run-past everything stage.
4-2
You can always see the floor but you frequently cannot see your ninja or enemies. If you use the Game Genie code AAPA-CASG, you can never see the floor but you can always see your player and all enemies. I did the first part without the code and the second part with it. When I turned off the code, the movie doesn't desync. (Note to be 100% clear: No Game Genie codes are needed to play back this movie.)
Boss 4
I kill him as fast I as I can but he's invincible most of the time. Ninja magic doesn't speed things up any so I don't use it. There's a bit of odd jockeying for position to get the last shots in as soon as possible.
Bonus 4
50 ninjas go poof. Big whoop.
Level 5
Lots of running, very little fighting. The sword may be slow but that works to my advantage here, as it damages a large and slightly spread out group roly poly guys.
Boss 5
Another boss that's both invincible unless attacking and takes a long time to attack. This boss is even immune to ninja magic most of the time. Since the boss takes his merry time to attack, even if the ninjas die quickly, I spend most of the stage finding enteraining ways to kick ninjas. I end the game with ninja magic--this saves a bunch of frames as activating the fatal ninja magic clinches the game, allowing me to quit the movie as soon as I release the button.
