Danan: The Jungle Fighter is a platformer game for Sega Master System. The protagonist is a Conan the Barbarian clone who has experience points and "animal powers". None of the animal powers are used in the run, because they are slow and weak. There is minor damage boosting and careful experience point management, but precise boss fights are what make this different from a real-time run. Nothing overly exciting for any TAS veteran, but it is a solid old-school TAS.
- Emulator used: BizHawk-1.11.1
- Aims for fastest time
- Takes damage to save time
- Genre: Platform
LEVEL-UP PLANNING
Killing enemies and collecting stars gives EXP.
Each level-up gives +1 to damage, so EXP needs to be planned for the boss fights.
Thankfully it takes little time to get some extra EXP when required.
Killing enemies also reduces lag, so all is good.
| Level | Required EXP | Current Damage Output |
|---|
| LV1 | 0 | 2 |
| LV2 | 30 | 3 |
| LV3 | 70 | 4 |
| LV4 | 130 | 5 |
| Optional +4 knife | N/A | 5 + 4 = 9 |
| LV5 | 180 | 10 |
| LV6 | 250 | 11 |
| LV7 | 320 | 12 |
| Unavoidable +15 knife | N/A | 12 + 15 = 27 |
Funnily, you need 60 EXP to get from LV3 to LV4, but you only need 50 EXP to get from LV4 to LV5.
Kill count
| EXP GAINED | EVENT | COMMENTS |
|---|
| 1 | bat | A classic video game monster. |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 4 | berserk amazon | These cause lag, so better kill them. We also need EXP from them. |
| 4 | berserk amazon | |
| 1 | giant spider | Another classic video game monster. |
| 15 | small star | Item pickups take about 80 frames. EXP stars are the only items worth the time. Other pickups include health and "animal powers". The animal powers are slow and can't be used in boss fights. |
| 1 | bat | |
| 3 | amazon guard | Total EXP: 32/30 ==> LEVEL-UP! This level-up happens naturally, but I spend some extra effort to get to the next level before the first boss. |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 3 | amazon guard | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 3 | archer amazon | |
| 1 | bat | I sacrificed 2 frames while killing an extra bat for a point of EXP. Not sure whether this is the best place to trade 2 frames for 1 EXP. |
| 3 | amazon guard | |
| 25 | big star | Total EXP: 73/70 ==> LEVEL-UP! |
| 20 | BOSS 1: The Truncated Sorcerer | The sorcerer normally casts lightning and fire, but this time she has no time to do so. |
| 1 | bat | |
| 4 | barbarian | These barbarians have 20 HP, so they take four hits. There might be a faster tactic for dealing with them, if somebody wants to search for it. |
| 1 | bat | |
| 2 | giant bee | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 2 | giant bee | |
| 4 | barbarian | |
| 15 | small star | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 4 | barbarian | Total EXP: 130/130 ==> LEVEL-UP! |
| 1 | bat | |
| 4 | barbarian | |
| 4 | barbarian | |
| 2 | giant bee | |
| 1 | bat | |
| 2 | giant bee | |
| 2 | giant bee | |
| 25 | big star | |
| 15 | small star | Total EXP: 186/180 ==> LEVEL-UP! |
| N/A | knife | This knife gives +4 damage and is not far off track. Easily worth it for the upcoming bosses. |
| 25 | BOSS 2: The Axe Man | Pretty much every boss repeats a specific pattern or maybe two different moves. Precise controls make the boss fights look very easy. |
| 0 | amoeba | What a strange thing. Looks like a mole. Awards no EXP. |
| 1 | fish | We are at a short water level. I didn't like recording this. Has quirky swimming mechanics. Can be improved. |
| 0 | amoeba | Looks like a mole. |
| 5 | nazi | I assume they are nazis, because they have a submarine and uniforms. |
| 3 | turret | |
| 3 | turret | |
| 5 | nazi | |
| 3 | turret | |
| 5 | nazi | |
| 40 | BOSS 3: The Mech Nazi Nach Mezi | The Mech Nazi Nach Mezi normally punches with a mechanical fist and pours down volleys of rockets, but this time he has no time to do so. The final hit needs to be close to the ground to reduce lag. Total EXP: 276/250 ==> LEVEL-UP! |
| 4 | barbarian | |
| 15 | small star | |
| 5 | nazi | |
| 3 | turret | |
| 5 | nazi | |
| 4 | barbarian | |
| 4 | barbarian | |
| 3 | turret | |
| 4 | barbarian | Total EXP: 323/320 ==> LEVEL-UP! |
| 30 | BOSS 4: Obsessive Compulsive Skeletor | This boss has an irritating pattern. Takes a lot of time. Maybe there is a way to make it behave better? Getting one more level-up before this boss might save frames, but I have not studied that possibility. It would require careful planning and many quick kills throughout the game. Worth testing and timing, if anyone wants to try to improve the run. |
| 0 | BOSS 5: Praying Idiot | This uneducated person thinks prayer has some effect. |
| N/A | knife | A strangely placed unavoidable power-up. Just before the final boss. It gives +15 DMG. |
| 0 | BOSS 6: Final Boss | Best piece of graphics in the whole crappy game. Easy boss fight. Very easy game overall. Fun to TAS, though. |
Kills: 59
Items: 2
Stars: 6
POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS
To get something done I decided to take a relaxed attitude, so there's probably minor improvements here and there. You can try reducing lag, if you really want to. Someone like Alyosha could improve this by 2 seconds in no time. The EXP plan is quite good, but maybe not perfect? Oh, maybe I should have killed one barbarian at the knife room in level 2 and omit killing one nazi near the end?
SCREENSHOTS
RAM WATCH
A casual TAS. It was fun to do.
ars4326: Hi, Aqfaq. This was a solid (albeit laggy!) platforming run. Experience management was pretty tight, with convenient kills routed along the way in addition to obtaining the star items. Boss fights were good, too, although the last few toward the end became repetitive (perhaps better AI cycles could be found, in the future?). All in all, a nice effort put forth for an old-school SMS title.
Accepting for publication to the Vault!
Ninja Gaiden 2:
Danan:
