- Game: Duck Tales (USA) for NES
- Aim: "bad ending": finish the game with exactly $0
- Takes damage to save time
- Luck manipulation
- Hard mode
- Scrooge ends his run with 0 HP (thanks to the newly discovered Zombie Scrooge glitch) and $0
Run explanations
Overall summary
Here is info about how getting the required $6M is done:
| Level | Small Diamonds | Big Diamonds | Red Diamonds | Time left | $ earned (Diamonds + Time left) |
|---|
| Amazon | 3 | 8 | 4 | 429 | 1,328,000 |
| Transylvania | 2 | 5 | 1 | 457 | 1,149,000 |
| Mines | 4 | 10 | 2 | 546 | 1,262,000 |
| Himalayas | 0 | 6 | 2 | 454 | 1,205,000 |
| Moon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 562 | 1,056,000 |
| Total | 9 | 29 | 9 | - | 6,000,000 |
| Previous total | 19 | 37 | 7 | - | 6,000,000 |
We collect fewer Diamonds (47 versus 63), which participates in the time improvement.
Run summary, improvements
| Level | Timer diff | Frames | Frames (obsoleted run) | Frames diff |
|---|
| Amazon | +1 | 5985 | 5956 | +29 |
| Transylvania | +3 | 3962 | 4178 | -216 |
| Mines | +3 | 6036 | 6237 | -201 |
| Himalayas | +2 | 4284 | 4403 | -119 |
| Moon | 0 | 3445 | 3449 | -4 |
| Dracula Manor | 0 | 4395 | 4383 | +12 |
| Total | - | 28107 | 28606 | -499 |
Gliches and tricks exhibited in the run
Discovered by me. If a dialog box opens during the dying animation of Scrooge (after being hit by an ennemy), we regain full control of Scrooge with zero health left and with the flashing animation which occurs after normally taking damage.
Discovered by me. This glitch works on Bats in the African Mines. Depending on the vertical (and maybe horizontal) positions of an enemy and the chest it approaches, the enemy will perform a backwards horizontal zip upon connecting with the chest. Aesthetic uses only, it looks cool.
We gain some horizontal pixels and some frames by grabbing a vine, rope, etc. as early as possible. Also used for Launchpad's aircraft
- Vertical movement invincibility
We can move vertically unharmed through bosses during their 120-frame invulnerability
- Hitting bosses from below
We can damage a boss with the upper part of Scrooge if he connects with the boss as the 120-frame invulnerability ends, without taking damage
Frame-perfect use of the pogo stick enables us to jump at pogo height on the snow
We can land on enemies unharmed with good positioning and speed
- Pogoing doesn't send Scrooge upward
I didn't find a shorter description here! Used to break obstacles quicker and to instantly collect Diamonds dropped by an enemy (they appear for 1 frame)
Level by level summary
Amazon
It's fastest to get the two hidden Red Diamonds than to get the corresponding $100,000 by other means. The vertical transitions lose frames, but it is worth it. No need to go underground for Diamonds.
Collecting the 4 hidden Diamonds on the far right before climbing to the upper stories of the level loses too much time.
Some Small Diamonds are collected before appearing on screen (dropped by Bees and Gorillas).
The rest of the route is the same as for an any% run and the obsoleted run.
We wait a little for the timer to show 429 before collecting the Treasure, in order to get $42,000 from it instead of $43,000.
In spite of the frames lost to wait for 429, the in-game timer gains 1 because it stops during the vertical transitions.
Transylvania
The route is exactly the same than for an any% run, apart from collecting some Diamonds on the way.
Some frames lost to manipulate the last ghost out of the way, and to manipulate Magica De Spell to fly low, in order th land the first hit as soon as possible.
African Mines
The route to get the key in Transylvania is unchanged.
I collect some Small Diamonds unseen from slugs (like in Amazon). Use frame-advance to see them for one single frame.
The bat doesn't want to attack Scrooge and prefer zipping horizontally across the treasure chest, which is convenient, we don't have to care about it.
The Small Diamond dropped by the last slug before the boss room is not worth being collected.
I tried to make the waiting between each strike on the Terra-Firmie King as entertaining as possible, while experiencing bosswalking and corner stuttering (the sound made is hilarious). It's possible to defeat the boss while taking damage and being partway inside the floor, but it loses time and can only be seen in frame advance mode. So not worth it.
Himalayas
Same route as for any%. Some frames lost while killing the first rabbit to get the Big Diamond it dropped. This time we don't get hit by the Mountain Goat, saving time. Also better movement on the ice. Made some antics while battling the Abominable Snowman : vertical zipping, stuck inside the boss, frame-perfect pogoing on snow.
The Moon
We took damage the proper way aganinst the Octopus above the moving platform to avoid getting knocked back. We manipulate the Lunar Rat into running towards us to land the first hit as soon as possible. Somme stuttering while waiting for the 120-frame boss invincibilities to wear off, for cool sound effects again.
Transylvania (3rd visit) aka Dracula Duck manor
We battle Dracula Duck again with $6M in our pockets. During the battle, we take damage multiple times while using the $3,000,000 mysterious healing process. After Dracula is defeated, a bat we manipulated before comes to kill us just before the rope and Glomgold spawns. That's when I discovered the Scrooge glitch, which is shown here at the cost of some frames. Scrooge concludes his adventure with no health and no money.
Possible improvements
It IS possible to save some time in multiple places (it may even be possible to cross the 00:07:40 limit):
- The small waiting at the end of Amazon may be used to collect Diamonds with a different route (and / or enemy drops)
- We may avoid descending the the depths of the Mines to save time, while getting Diamonds by another way
- Some frames were lost to exhibit the Zombie Scrooge glitch. Scrooge clings to the rope a bit lower than by pogoing the bat
- Get more drops from enemies. Especially from Octopusses on the Moon for Big Diamonds (minimum 2 or 3)
Suggested screenshots
18998, 27422
CoolHandMike: This new submission includes better movement, getting hit but moving in the same direction by turning around on the frame he gets hit, and alongside an amusing glitch on the final area with the player having no health and in a zombie state. The reason for the quick re-submission was a simple mistake of submitting an older file.
