Submission #2498: MUGG's GB Kid Niki in 08:49.38

This is the gameboy port of the first Kid Niki game for the NES. It's about the ninja Yanchamaru whose girlfriend has been kidnapped. Now he sets off to rescue her, going through 4 worlds with 3 levels each. He's armed with the spinning sword and can kill enemies with one hit (except for the soldier-like enemies in the fourth world).

I shaved about ~12 seconds off my previous run which I considered submitting back in 2008 but I lost the movie file. So I made a new version and made sure to save frames wherever possible. Well, there's not much more to tell here...

I watched addresses C3C1 (shows where the character is on the screen, in pixels) and C3C0 (subpixels) to optimize most parts. Yanchamaru goes at a speed of 1.0625 pixels per frame on the ground and 0.88671875 in the air. If his ground speed consisted of only additional 0.004 pixels/frame (I'm not sure about the exact amount) he would have been able to cross small pits by walking which would have been a good thing. That's because jumping in this game slows you down considerably due to the lower speed and the delay when jumping and landing. So the best way to move is to jump only when necessary. In difficult parts and parts where you have to break blocks in order to go on, I made sure my X-location was as near to 96.999999 as possible since you walk for 2 on-screen pixels a frame when reaching 97 (which becomes 96.123, then 96,345 and so on).

Whenever Yanchamaru jumps only very slightly below a block, he's pushed forward ~3 pixels.

When beating a boss or completing a level, your subpixel value is kept and won't be cleared for the next level. It only gets changed a little bit during the bonus level sequence. So I made sure to have it be as near to 0.99999 as possible. (I discovered this when I was at the first world's boss, so the first two levels don't make use of this time-saver. Maybe I lost 1 frame, or 2 at most)

At the end of every level there is a big 'B' floating around that gives you the bonus game upon grabbing it. I always made sure to not touch it, so I never played the bonus game. The only instance where you have to play the game by default is after the first three bosses.

When beating a boss, a scroll appears which you will need to get in order to continue. But I can't catch it on the first possible frame because the game somehow delays for the amount of time which you spent in the air. So I get it in the air while having full falling speed, and I spend 4 frames in the air before touching the ground which seems to be the best solution (It's better than touching the scroll standing on the ground).

I get two of these in the run. It takes some time to get them but in return you don't have to wait for enemies such as the Maimai (giant shelled animal) or don't have to beat tons of enemies by having to jump all the time to use your spinning sword.

You can touch ladders early and save ~3 pixels that way. Only used once, in the final level.

There are two different endings that may occur after beating the final boss. Either Yanchamaru doesn't save the princess from falling into the pit and makes an ashamed expression, saying "Sorry Kurumihime!". Or he saves her and gets kissed by her with the text "Thank you Yanchamaru!". Since the endings are dependent on timing, and since I would have needed to delay for 14 frames to get the good ending I first refrained from getting it. I wanted to shave off as much time as possible from my old run. But then it only took me 10 frames after I optimized more, and it didn't look so bad, so I went with the good ending.

Here's a streaming video http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm9131691

Ask when there are questions, enjoy the run, etc.

Nach: Some people think this game is a bit bland, although it looks like a well planned solid run. Accepting.