- Used Nitsuja's rerecording VBA version 10, lag reduction turned on.
- Doesn't use warps or passwords
- Doesn't use any blantant programming errors (at least not to my knowledge)
- Uses some minor luck manipulation (mainly for enemies that can spawn from either side of the screen, I made them always spawn from the closest side of the screen. This only applies to a relatively small amount of enemies though.)
- Doesn't get hit, except in 2 VS fights you're meant to lose.
- Plays on Hard difficulty
- Tries to complete the game moderately fast, while showing off different things you can do and getting a high score in progress.
DBAA is mainly a platformer/beat'em-up, with some one-on-one fights with more important characters thrown in. Despite the reputation of DB(Z) games, this one is actually well-made and fun to play.
General notes:
-Doing 1-frame jumps cancels most of the recovery for ground attacks, and keeps you moving, so obviously it's used quite a bit. Also, if you jump at an exact frame you land from a running jump (there won't be a cloud of dust to signify a landing as normal), you retain running momentum even if you turn around, allowing you to save some frames whenever you jump in platform-heavy sections where you don't have to fight any enemies.
-The "rush" special attack serves as an useful way to change directions while keeping you moving at a decent speed while also ignoring momentum. The reason it's not used more often is because it can't be cancelled out of and there can't be any enemies in its path or the actual attack is triggered.
-I chose to collect all 3 optional Ki upgrades to be able to spam the rush special attack on bosses as much as possible, as well as being able to do high-leveled Ki blasts in VS fights, as those do the most damage.
-The dive kick seems to be the fastest way to move, but each kick has around 6 frames of startup lag. If used at a height where it won't be cut short and if it doesn't connect with any enemies, it seems to break even, though.
-As seen many times in the movie, the best way to rack up insane hitcounts and score multipliers as well as killing all bosses in one combo is to use what I call Dive Kick Infinite Of Doom, which involves hitting a (preferably airborne) enemy with a dive kick, cancelling that into the upward kick, cancelling that into dive kick, and repeating as long as the enemy doesn't drop low enough to touch the ground. What's interesting is that doing this combo repeatedly actually lets you gain height, which means its use is only limited by what height the enemy is at when you connect with the first knockdown hit (which occurs either when a grounded enemy dies or a grounded human boss gets hit enough times in a row)
-Obviously running is the main methoid of movement, as running speed carries over to jumps, and the running elbow attack can be used to start ground chains and kill enemies faster.
Stage-specific notes:
-I picked the lower route in Pilaf's castle, as the other route has rolling boulders you need avoid by waiting under ledges which cause unavoidable waiting perioids.
-The cavern has 2 different routes for the first section as well, but I doubt the other route would've been faster, as it involves taking a long detour.
-As the enemies aren't nearly as agressive as in in shmups and because Goku isn't as nearly as manuverable and as small of a target as, say, Vic Viper, and because touching enemies doesn't harm you, trying to do any acrobatics around them or their bullets in the autoscrolling flying stage isn't really that great of an idea. Instead I opted to do what Goku does best, kick a lot of ass.
-You aren't meant to cross the large pit in the 3rd section of the Red Ribbon Base, but I managed to do it regardless. This allowed me to skip a ! fight.
-The ending requires user input to go through the text boxes, so that's why I didn't end the movie any quicker.