Submission #8023: Darkman425's GBA Powerpig in 05:22.95

Powerpig is a homebrew Game Boy Advance game developed by Genecyst for the NeoFlash compo 2013. The game is currently available from the developer on their website. The goal of the game is to simply reach the exit goal in each of the 28 stages. This game allows for capturing enemies similar to Tumble Pop, albeit without the ability to then use said enemies as projectiles.

I first learned about this game from Kusogrande, hosted by Brossentia. It was probably there due to the fact that the music is a cacophony and the vertical movement is a bit iffy. Despite those bits I find this game a bit charming to actually play since it's a neat challenge to try to maximize score. This TAS just aims for speed, so the score mechanics aren't too relevant for this submission.

Gravity gun usage

Pressing the B button shoots a short range beam from the gravity gun. Enemies get trapped in a bubble if exposed long enough to the beam, with their size determining the amount of time needed to trap them. Even if they're not trapped, enemies are at least temporarily stunned and can be safely passed during that time. This consumes beam ammo which can be replenished by collecting coins. The beam hitbox also extends upwards and downwards which means enemies can be stunned with the beam to bypass them safely.

A note about the beam stun: sometimes the stun can end for what seems to be a frame which causes Powerpig to lose a life. Normally losing a life would put Powerpig back to the start of the stage but in these brief cases this only loses a life without losing positioning. I have no idea why this happens but this affects the later stages waiting is done to not get hit by this weird period of enemy contact.

Midair jumping

Walking off of edges still allows Powerpig to jump in midair. This is an intended mechanic by the developer. This technique is used for some corner clips, some wall shifts, and a couple of level shortcuts.

Wall shifting

Getting close to walls will shift Powerpig next to a wall. This can be helpful if the shift is in a favorable direction to move forward faster. Other times this can push Powerpig away from the desired direction so inputs are delayed to avoid that.

Corner clipping

Jumping onto a platform but clipping into the corner before landing can push Powerpig slightly further ahead horizontally. This is used frequently for as many minor boosts as possible.

If someone could figure out how and why the enemy stun bug works this could lead to stopping the waiting in certain later stages. Otherwise the main thing would be frames that I may have overlooked in a stage here and there.

If the download from the developer disappears for any reason, here's the hashes for the file I used:

feos: Claiming for judging.

feos: Looks good, accepting.

EZGames69: Processing...