Uses FCEU 0.98.15
- Aims for fastest time
- Abuses programming errors to save time
- Takes damage to save time
- Manipulates luck (I pause one frame before landing a jump in level 1 so the first enemy I bounce off of will be in optimal position)
What you see here is my third attempt at a Ninja Gaiden TAS (or twenty-sixth, depending on how you count) The first was 39886 frames. The second was 39872 frames, and after refining that, I ended up with this. It's 39748 frames (11:02), making it 201 frames (3.35 seconds) faster than Slotermeyer's published run. The rerecord count in the submitted file is incorrect. Actual rerecords were around 5600.
What I did faster than in Slotermeyer's run:
Level 1 (3 frames faster):
- gained 1 frame by pressing start to bypass the level intro one frame earlier
- gained 2 frames by not using down+b
Level 2 (23 frames faster):
- gained 6 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps
- gained 1 frame by dropping off a ledge instead of jumping
- gained 16 frames in the second screen of 2-2 by jumping down from the ledge.
Level 3 (75 frames faster):
- gained 1 frame from faster/more precise wall jumps
- gained 74 frames from a revised boss strategy (I kill him in just under two seconds)
Level 4 (38 frames faster):
- gained 15 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps and fewer uses of down+b (most notably in the first screen of 4-3 where i grab the inside of the wall on my way up, saving 7 frames. I do this again in the first screen of 6-2)
- gained 4 frames in the last screen of 4-3 by using left+b to grab the wall
- gained 2 frames by taking a hit in the second screen of 4-3
- gained 14 frames by bouncing off a bullet instead of an axe
- gained 3 frames in the boss fight due to a friendly timer
Level 5 (30 frames faster):
- gained 10 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps and fewer uses of down+b
- gained 20 frames by bouncing off the bird at the end of 5-2
Level 6 (32 frames faster):
- gained 24 frames from faster/more precise wall jumps, dropping off a ledge instead of jumping and fewer uses of down+b
- gained 4 frames in the last screen of 6-2 by using left+b to grab the wall (this worked out surprisingly well considering it meant two uses of the spin-slash that i had not planned on)
- gained 3 frames in the Jaquio battle due to a friendly timer
- gained 1 mystery frame in the final battle with the Demon
There you have it. The only ways I can see this being improved upon significantly is with a better understanding of how enemy behavior is determined (all I know is that time seems to be the only thing that affects it) or the discovery of new glitches.
Special thanks to BoltR and Slotermeyer. I learned a lot from their runs.
Enjoy.
Bisqwit: Inheriting the accepted status from previous attempt.
