Stuff!

  • BizHawk 2.6.1 (Finished with, but works with many versions)
  • Takes damage to save time.
  • Plays on hardest difficulty.
This is an improvement of 610 frames compared to the previous run by Dooty.

Speed management

The way to keep speed in this game is to keep jumping. Each frame you are on the ground will drop the speed. So normally you want to jump as high as possible. By landing at the edge of a platform, you can avoid losing speed while being able to stay longer in the air. Speed will also be kept if you jump into a wall. The speed can be kept while changing direction in midair, you do however need to re-build the speed fully before you land. This was extra tricky in a level like 3-1.

Level by level

1-1

If you jump the second frame of moving after a full stop, you'll accelerate quicker and gain 30 subpixels. This and minor optimisations in the area before the house saved one frame.
By setting up the next enemy boost differently, I could stomp on the enemy and reach up the higher platform without having to rub against the wall. This also helped me keep higher speed throughout the rest of the level, in combination with landing at the edge of platforms to gain further distance without losing any speed.
10 frames saved.
10 frames ahead.

1-2

Jumping at the start would have forced me to grab the block in front of me, which would have changed the RNG for the upcoming miniboss. If you land on steep upward slopes while having high speed, it's possible to get a boost forwards. Doing this a few times got me to the boss 6 frames faster. Throwing an enemy at the boss deals 10 damage, while jumping only does 4. By manipulating the boss to be lower down at the end hits, I can push the enemy back at him to deal 10 damage a second time, while also getting higher boost speed myself and reach the end portal earlier.
91 frames saved.
101 frames ahead.

1-3

Mostly the same, saving a little bit of time at the end.
2 frames saved.
103 frames ahead.

1-4

I got two extra lag frames at the start of the fight, but apparently gained one during the fight somehow?
1 frame lost.
102 frames ahead.

2-1

Different route at the very start to get an earlier boost from the twig-trampoline. Some additional minor timesavers throughout.
8 frames saved.
110 frames ahead.

2-2

Tricky level to optimise... A lot of lag going on, much which is impossible to avoid. Quite a bit of time saved inside the tree thanks to better corner handling and better timing on when to swim upwards. When exiting the tree, you can keep swimming for longer instead of walking. Better kept the speed during the fight saved quite a bit afterwards.
42 frames saved.
152 frames ahead.

2-3

Just keeping high speed further throughout the level.
10 frames saved.
162 frames ahead.

2-4

Oddly enough, if you go quickly up the beginning area, ignoring the magic refill and just jumps straight up, the game will crash. I was suggested to get the refill in 2-3 instead of this level. It ended up being slower, one reason being due to having to avoid this crash, but you also lose quite a bit of speed in 2-3. I can't remember exact difference. In any case, timesaves still occured, both before the boss and the boss itself!
20 frames saved.
182 frames ahead.

3-1

This level was a struggle and I had to redo it several times. The blocks that block your path normally require you to duck in order to destroy the bottom row. However, during part of the running animation, Mickey is low enough to be able to hit it without ducking. This made it possible to keep speed from the slopes all the way to the end.
35 frames saved.
217 frames ahead.

3-2

Slope boost at the start and more kept speed during the level.
16 frames saved.
243 frames ahead.

3-3

I hit the blocks after the fire wall earlier, so that I could get past quicker. Not much more to add!
8 frames saved.
251 frames ahead

3-4

Just some small boss optimisations.
12 frames saved.
263 frames ahead.

4-1

This suit is fun! The midair jumps makes the vertical section really fast paced. I managed to saved quite a bit of time, too.
60 frames saved.
323 frames ahead.

4-2

It took me awhile to get the right pattern down on how to do this section optimally... Best I came up with was to climb up the rope in between the shots, which you can do without wasting time, it's then possible to reach the wall again with the hook without the need to jump, giving me a faster swing!
62 frames saved.
385 frames ahead.

4-3

Swinging under the blocks at the start saved 7 frames. Otherwise, the boss fight is identical. I really love how fast this fight is, looks beautiful.
7 frames saved.
392 frames ahead.

5-1 & 5-2

You kinda get too much speed in these levels, and the camera is too slow to catch up, so you constantly have to jump into the edge of the screen. They are nice and speedy though!
14 + 3 frames saved.
409 frames ahead.

5-3

This dumb boss had me stomped for quite awhile. He doesn't spawn on the same frame and for some reason his hitbox gets messed up, I was initially not able to hit him as low as Dooty did in his TAS. I eventually "solved it" and was able to finish up. The key was when I switched suit, I believe... Who cares... It worked and time was saved... =D
77 frames saved.
486 frames ahead.

6-1

Nothing major here, just a few frames to be saved.
8 frames saved.
494 frames ahead.

6-2

While this level is somewhat identical to past runs, saving no time, it holds a major part for the upcoming levels: RNG manipulation. While falling, you can pick up and destroy blocks without losing any time. Each block will change the RNG. I had to redo it several times in order to test various strategies for both levels in order to, mainly, manipulate the final boss fight.
0 frames saved.
494 frames ahead.

6-3

I discovered that the "spin blocks" can boost you forward. If you turn around and throw it behind you, Mickey gets a 14-15 pixels boost. This can also be used to clip inside walls. Sadly, once in a wall, Mickey can only zip downwards and thus they became useless in a level where I need to go up. The blocks were also used to hit the lantern enemies, another factor that changes the RNG. In favor of manipulating the boss, I had to sacrifice a couple of frames with a worse Cannonball Pete. The first one could have shot the cannon earlier, meaning I didn't have to dodge it. I struggled hard to find a pattern where I could get perfect RNG for both him and the boss, but was unable to do so.
58 frames saved.
562 frames ahead.

6-4

This dumb boss made me give up the run for almost 3 years. He can do several different attacks, and once in the fight, there is "nothing" you can do to affect the outcome. If you had endless magic, it is possible to stunlock him and keep hitting forever. Sadly, the magic will run out eventually and using the fireman suit to hit him does barely any damage. The first step of the fight is therefore to get him to do an attack which spawns the lanterns, which will give ammo refills when killed. I could slightly have changed when the attack occured, but I kept the same as the previous TAS. Once Pete has been damaged a bit, he can start attacking with blue fire. This has a much shorter animation than his other attacks. Manipulating this attack as well saved a lot more than what I lost from the Cannonball Pete.
48 frames saved.

610 frames total.

Thanks

Thanks to Dooty and the previous TASers for this game!
Thanks to Reeve and Le Hulk for support and suggestions!

Memory: I WANT THIS. CLAIMING FOR JUDGING OR SOMETHING
Memory: Optimization looks really good, clear improvement over the previous run.
People really enjoyed this submission! There's good variety with the levels and the various outfits. There's also cool interesting tricks as well!
EZGames69: Ha Hah, I'm Mickey Mouse


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15576
Location: 127.0.0.1
Player (149)
Joined: 4/24/2020
Posts: 36
Location: Pakistan
Seeing the old run and new run. I will give it a yes. Very nice improvements I am seeing. Maybe a comparison TAS video?
Hi me is Shamil Khan. I am TASer and creator (kindof). "Are you kidding me?!" - DSK 2022
Challenger
He/Him
Skilled player (1689)
Joined: 2/23/2016
Posts: 1061
I remember when I watched the old run years ago. It was surprising how Dooty optimized this game very well. The fourth boss is easily my favorite moment of both old and new TAS! RNG sometimes is very frustrating, and after 3-4 years, finally you managed to finish this project. Great work optimizing a very solid game. Yes vote.
My homepage --Currently not much motived for TASing as before...-- But I'm still working.
Zinfidel
He/Him
Player (206)
Joined: 11/21/2019
Posts: 247
Location: Washington
I used to think this game was really freaky when I was young because of the "hell" stage, etc. Looking back, for a Disney product, this game is right-on brand with very questionable imagery for children haha. Anyway, the gameplay is fast and crisp, and the boss fights are quite superhuman. Dancing to the music in the auto-scroller is an appreciated touch. Yes vote.
Joined: 5/12/2009
Posts: 748
Location: Brazil
Been waiting for this. Amazing work! Yes vote!
Editor, Player (175)
Joined: 4/7/2015
Posts: 331
Location: Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Such an amazing run! Yes for all this effort, it was worth it returning after all these years.
Games are basically math with a visual representation of this math, that's why I make the scripts, to re-see games as math. My things: YouTube, GitHub, Pastebin, Twitter
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15576
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [4486] SNES The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse by Tompa in 14:47.42