Game Objectives
- Emulator used: Started in Bizhawk 1.11.9 and completed in BizHawk 2.4.0 (both with default settings)
- BIOS: ps-30a.bin
- Aims: Fastest possible completion
Brief Description
- Lucky Luke features platforming, autoscrollers, boxing fights, roller coaster rides, button mashing and even a "shooter" section
- You can hold "X" to move faster which is done pretty much all of the time
- Movement speed platforming: High Jumping > Low Jumping > Running > Walking
- Movement speed roller coaster: Jumping = Rolling
- You can purposely die to get teleported back to the last activated checkpoint
- If you have 30+ Dollars at the end of a level you will be forced to go to the shop before proceeding to the next level where you can buy lives (30$ each) and the password for the level that you just completed (100$ once). Entering the shop and exiting is quite slow, therefore this TAS avoids any unneeded shop visits and item purchases
- Most levels contain 4 "B"'s, if you collect all of them you will play a bonus level where you can earn Dollars after finishing the level
Note: The stage names were found in the manual, they are never shown ingame.
Level 1 (Abilene):
You have to go to the end of the level to pick up a key, which can then be used to open a building quite far away from the end and retrieve dynamite that can be used to destroy the obstacle that blocks you from completing the level.
Since there is a checkpoint very close to the end of the level it saves some time to die after getting the dynamite and respawn there.
Boss (Abilene Boss):
Before the boss picks up a log to throw he usually changes his position. But sometimes he will be at a spot where he instantly picks up the next log without moving around.
So I make him move to the left where there is such a spot to minimize the waiting time for the next attack.
Also noteworthy: You can move during the time the "hit" animation is played.
Level 2 (Train 1):
Autoscroller for the most part, only the guys that jump off the train would stop the scrolling if you didn't shoot them.
Level 3 (Train 2):
Boss 1:
The bombs explode faster the more often you shoot them. However if you shoot them twice they will leave the screen and not hit the boss.
Boss 2:
Same bomb mechanics, but this boss throws the bombs back when they are near him.
Usually there is only one bomb at a time but if the boss is currently throwing a bomb and a bomb explodes just at the right distance to him he will be hit and still throw the bomb. He will also "forget" about the bomb that he threw in that moment and throw another bomb after reappearing.
Level 4 (Pueblos):
You need to pick up all 12 orbs and bring them to the sorcerer to proceed to the next level. Only one orb is collectable at a time.
The dog that you see at the beginning will create checkpoints when he reaches a place where you picked up one of the orbs.
Using two deaths here to save time.
Level 5 (Mine Tunnels):
You pick up keys that you need to open doors and you have to pull the levers to activate a section of moving platforms.
I could manipulate the moving platforms to some degree but still have to wait quite a lot to get opportunities to jump onto the next one.
Boss (Buttercut):
You have to pull the lever of the small box to make the machine halt and spawn the ink packages. Then you can jump onto these packages to hurt the boss.
Usually he would go down to another assembly line which you can reach by going through the openings in the wall on the left and right side. But if you hit him twice in a row he will go back up instantly.
Level 6 (Indian Desert):
You have to pick up the 4 totem parts and bring them to the sorcerer to complete this level. Dying always teleports you back to the start of the level (pretty much the center and also the place where the sorcerer is).
Using two deaths here to save time.
Level 7 (Saloon):
In these boxing matches you will have to hit each opponent 10 times to defeat them.
The second and third enemy become seemingly invincible the more you hit them without getting hit by them. The last hit seems to be only possible by allowing them to hit you, otherwise they will block everything or just punch again when they should normally be hit.
Level 8 (Waterfalls):
You need to collect 4 gold nuggets and bring them to the guy at the start. He will give you a key that can be used to open a door that ends the level.
In the PC version you can use a death to teleport back to the beginning after collecting the last nugget, in this version the checkpoints are in different places, and the one furthest away from the beginning is unskippable.
Two of the gold nugget boxes allowed me to break the box and pick up the nugget at the same time, but only when the jump before that was a low jump.
At one point you will see a crate falling down from seemingly nowhere. Normally you are supposed to go into the "hamster wheel" and use it to lower the crate, then you could bring it down by shooting diagonally upwards to cut the rope that is holding it.
However you can also cut the rope by shooting through the bottom of the crate, and if you jump right after shooting up to keep the bullet visible on screen you can hit the offscreen crate and make it fall down.
There is another "hamster wheel" later on that will be used to move the "elevator" to the right. However only 5 partial rotations are needed to be able to enter the "elevator", the "hamster wheel" allows more rotations though.
Level 9 (Wagons):
You have to ride all the way to a checkpoint to be able to turn around, then you can reach the exit of the mine on your way back.
On your way you can pull levers by leaning to the left or right to select one of two possible paths. There are some detours that contain "B"'s that are skipped by pulling levers.
There are also blue lightnings that make you move very fast for a few seconds when collected.
On the top right you see a timer that will cause a death if it reaches 0. It will gain 30 seconds for each "B" that you collect. It stops once you reach the final "room" of the level.
Each "B" you collect will add 30 seconds to the timer, interesting to see that despite collecting two "B"'s (1 minute extra time) there are only 38 seconds left at the end which means you need to collect at least one "B" to complete the level.
This level is for some reason much slower than the PC version, what you are seeing is constant "fast" rolling, if you didn't hold "X" the entire time it would be even slower.
Level 10 (Lumberjacks):
Challenge 1 and 2 are button mashing to fill up the bar and pressing another key to use the "energy".
In the second challenge however every time you use the hammer the game will automatically attempt to use it a second time when you refill the energy bar quick enough.
The third challenge is another boxing fight which is completed very quick, although yet another hit was needed to make the enemy defeatable.
Level 11 (Dalton City):
You have to "kill" every enemy to proceed to the next section.
Most enemy spawns and positions are fixed, some are random such as the places to which the "bomb barrels" move or which enemys spawn at the bank in the second section.
Boss (The Barn):
You have to shoot the boxes to make them swing and hit the bags above the boss. These bags will hurt the boss if they touch him.
If you shoot a box quickly two times in a row it will "react" twice in a row to a shot which allows you to hit the boss while he is in between the platforms that you can stand on.
Also as long as there is a gap between the bags above the boss they will keep moving to the right, also allowing you to hit the boss in between the platforms with the right timing.
After the second last hit all boxes will fall down forcing you to wait for new boxes to deal the final hit.
Also a fun fact: The PC Version ending does not show the list of people that helped creating the game, it just ends shortly after "THE END" is shown.
Noxxa: The TAS quality itself appears fine. However, the movie fails to really entertain, mainly due to the general rather slow-paced action, as well as many tedious waiting segments. Accepting for the Vault.
