I've just reached the 4th town in this game in around 12 minutes by not collecting any scrolls needed for upgrades and just going straight for the orbs & boss. So far it's going pretty well and I even stumbled upon a missing sprite glitch that reduces the constant lagging for a few seconds, but I'm starting to think the extra few minutes needed to unlock additional moves may actually save time in the end.
Whatever route I go, I'll keep this thread updated as I progress.
Joined: 10/28/2013
Posts: 130
Location: United States
I was playing this game recently, and I suspect you're right about the additional skills -- they do make a huge difference in the amount of damage you do per attack, especially the spin kick move. And of course, you can also buy the ability to walk faster.
If you were to pick just one upgrade to get, would it be the spin kick? I'd like to limit an upgrade detour as much as possible. Also, it seems waiting until the later levels to collect scrolls would be fastest as they give out much more in one go than in the earlier levels, but of course there's the trade-off of using only basic attacks until that point. It seems like the most efficient route would be to save just one villager if it means I collect enough scrolls to get the upgrade I need.
Some info from GameFAQs:
Town 1 (2scr)
=2 Thrust - punch and you will hit the enemy twice
=2 Kick - same with 2 Thrust but you kick instead
=High Jump - self-explanatory
=Wolf Move - speed up
Town 2 (6scr)
=3 Thrust - three fists-of-fury in one swift delivery
=Turn Kick - most versatile move in the game
=Wind Jump - jump and hold left/right to do a spin jump
=Tiger Move - more speed up
=Mirage Move - combine with Tiger Mv. for better effect
Town 3 (18scr)
=Mirage Walk - move while crouching
=Dragon Move - whoosh! last speed upgrade
Town 4 (50scr)
=Wind Kick - jump then kick furiously in mid-air to form a spin kick
=Mirage Thrust - punch while crouching
Town 5
=<no>
Town 6 (80scr)
=Jump Kick - hold left/right then kick to see this fantastic move
Town 7 (90scr)
=4 Thrust - most powerful move in the game
Town 8
=<no>
I've just finished watching a playthrough and this is what I've gathered in terms of collecting scrolls:
I may just shoot for the turn kick in Town 3 and see how that works out for me.
EDIT:
I've since changed my mind and went for 12 scrolls in Town 4 in one go. I was then able to purchase:
2 Thrust (2 scrolls)
Wolf Move (2 scrolls)
2 Kick -> Turn Kick (8 scrolls)
I calculated this detour took 7971 additional frames compared to just skipping upgrades, but I already saved close to 2000 frames getting the first orb. So upgrading definitely seems like to route to take since the turn kick seems to do triple the damage, but I still haven't figured out which RAM addresses to watch unfortunately.
Okay, back to the grind...
EDIT 2:
And now the game has been beaten after 127094 frames.
I've learned a few things on how to get through this as fast as possible like setting up enemy placement near exits upon their death and jump kicking to save a few frames when possible. Now I just need to start back at the beginning and implement these ideas better in a few places. I'd consider this run maybe 80% optimized so I can probably save a thousand or so frames before I make it an official submission.
Here's the movie file in case anybody is interested.
And an encode on YouTube:
Link to video
Joined: 10/28/2013
Posts: 130
Location: United States
Sounds like you're doing good work. :) Figuring out the optimal moment to grind is tricky, but it sounds like you've picked a good spot. It's a pity that earning scrolls is never organic to the main quest path.
I've since gone back to the beginning and further optimized each fight leading up to Town 3 Orb 2 by implementing those jump kicks and better death locations I mentioned earlier. I was able to save 2,278 frames, which is way more than I expected, but unfortunately changing any inputs affects the timing of later enemy movements. So I'll have to re-do the rest again, but that's probably a good thing considering I've already saved over half a minute with the first 3 towns.
Here's a chart showing my progress:
