Game objectives
- Emulator used: Bizhawk 2.2
- Takes damage to save time
- Starts from saved SRAM
Diddy has a few important differences from DK. First of all, there are no bananas out in the open. As that is how you get the vast majority of bananas with DK, there are far fewer bananas available to Diddy. Second, Diddy is much floatier than DK. Specifically, when flinging from a peg, Diddy has the same initial speed as DK, but his deceleration is slower. This allows Diddy to make higher jumps than DK is able to. Third, Diddy's charge attack goes about half the length of DK's. And finally, Diddy doesn't have to sit through Cranky's tutorial. I guess Cranky assumed DK didn't know how to walk, and jump, and eat bananas, but Diddy knows all that stuff. Makes sense, right?
Banana Bungalow
Very straightforward first level. Nearly identical to DK.
Contraption Cave
Since there aren't the 5 bananas in the middle in screen 1, I'm able to go around the Kremling to the left, and not have to wait for it at all. In screen 2, Diddy is able to reach the upper pegboard without pulling the lever. In screen 3, I use the tire to make a big jump all the way straight to the goal.
Puzzling Pyramid
In screen 1, Diddy can jump high enough to not need to damage boost. Luckily, because otherwise we'd have beeping throughout pretty much the entire TAS again.
Tropical Treetops
Another really simple level.
Congtazuma's Castle
This strat works by moving to Congtazuma's right, to make him jump in that direction. Since he's already as far to the right as possible, he has no room to jump, and becomes vulnerable right away. Doing this for all three cycles, this saves a whopping 12 seconds! This strat works perfectly good for DK too, but was discovered shortly after the DK TAS was published.
Cactus Woods
Screen 2 is a great opportunity to collect bananas. I need to have 20 bananas by Fire Necky, so it's perfect that this level comes before then. Unfortunately, taking the time to get the second set of 5 lets the bee move directly above me, and I need to kill it.
Madcap Mine
I really like the last jump in screen 1, how I really use both hands to get the optimal position and angle. In screen 2, I take a little bit of extra time to collect 5 bananas. In the third screen, because Diddy can jump higher, I don't need to even pull 2 of the 3 cranks.
Treacherous Twister
This level is also very straightforward, and very similar to DK.
Necky's Canyon
Since I don't have a Banana Boost to use here, I need to use multiple rocks to break through the wall. Even though it usually only requires 4 rocks, I throw 2 more, just because I can. I couldn't manage to break the right spots with 4 rocks in 2 spins, so I threw in a couple extras since it wouldn't waste time. I also collect the last 5 bananas necessary for Fire Necky in this level.
Fire Necky's Nest
Same strat as with DK, but optimized a bit better this time.
Lockjaw Falls
In screen 3, Diddy is able to skip a few sections due to being so floaty, coupled with the insane speed you can get from the spinning pegs.
Ship of Souls
The strategies here are very similar to the DK TAS.
Kremling Kamp
I really like the strat on screen 1. Instead of using the tire to bounce up, it's faster to go all the way to the right, and bounce off of the barrels. In screen 2, Diddy can't quite make the jump to the pegs like DK can while Banana Boosting. So we have to see a little bit of this screen the intended way. Screen 3 uses the exact same strat as with DK
Risky Reef
Pretty much the same strats as with DK.
Davy Bones' Locker
Diddy actually spins ever so slightly faster than DK. Normally this doesn't really affect anything, but it makes a big difference for this fight. For some reason, that change makes it so you can't get as many hits per revolution on Davy Bones. This doesn't change the overall strat, but it does mean I need to take extra revolutions on the second cycle.
Raging Ravine
Screen 1 shows off a new route through the barrel cannons. Diddy's floatiness makes climbing through the moving pegboards in screen 2 really smooth, and it also allows you to skip every single bomb in the third screen. It's technically possible to skip the last one with DK, but it requires a Banana Boost, so it's not worth it.
Ice Castle
Screen 1 uses the same general strat as with DK, but Diddy's floatiness makes the tire bounce much easier. Screen 2, I take 23 frames to collect those 5 bananas. This is much faster than any other place I could get 5 bananas.
Underwater Ruins
Again, very similar to DK.
Cold Cold Forest
Screen 1 and 2 are really similar to DK, but screen 3 can be done quite a bit faster due to jumping higher and skipping some pegs.
Sassy Squatch's Lair
Very straightforward fight. Unfortunately there's no known fast strat for this boss.
Booster Barrel Skyway
Diddy actually goes ever so slightly faster than DK in Booster Barrels.
K. Kruiser III Artillery
Avoiding the cannonball on the left side is pretty tricky to do without losing much time. If that cannonball wasn't there, I'd consider getting 5 bananas from the barrel here. I couldn't figure out a way to get them and not get hit, without wasting a ton of time.
K. Kruiser III Hull
Diddy's floatiness helps a ton in screen 1, and the jump around the medal in screen 3.
K. Kruiser III Engine
Diddy can actually make it to the lever from a simple damage boost, unlike the crazy stuff you have to do with DK. Playing the first part of this screen the intended way wastes no time, as you have to wait for the spike to move to position anyway. I save my last Banana Boost for Engine 2, as that is the second-best Banana Boost in the run. It's lucky that it's so late in the run, and lets me take the entire run to build up enough bananas for it.
King K. Rool
Just having some fun on the race.
Closing thoughts
This is my second TAS of this game. I feel this run is a bit more optimized than the DK TAS, as I now have more experience TASing this game. Note that even though the movie time is over a minute faster, 35 seconds of that is due to Diddy not having a tutorial. Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say. Hope you enjoy!
ThunderAxe31: While this movie could look similar to the
currently published movie, it must be noted that in Diddy Mode the levels feature far fewer bananas, which forces the player to manage carefully the health refills and the invincibility rush move; additionally, the physics of Diddy Kong feature some differences from the ones of Donkey Kong. For these reasons, playing through the game in Diddy Mode results in different strategies and an overall more challenging playing experience.
The feedback for this submission was a bit lacking, but since the response for the previous movie was very good, I assume that this movie is enjoyable enough for the Moons standard.
Accepting for Moons as a new branch.
