Ikari Warriors 2 (NES)/any% - Revision history

Ktwo: /* Level 3 */

2021-02-23T17:18:40Z

‎Level 3

Ktwo: /* Level 3 */

2020-10-24T11:59:30Z

‎Level 3

Ktwo: /* Level 2 */

2020-10-24T11:56:08Z

‎Level 2

Ktwo at 13:22, 21 October 2020

2020-10-21T13:22:57Z

Ktwo at 11:55, 21 October 2020

2020-10-21T11:55:18Z

Show changes

Ktwo: /* Level 4 */

2020-08-20T18:04:12Z

‎Level 4

Ktwo: /* Level 3 */

2020-08-20T18:01:07Z

‎Level 3

Ktwo: /* Level 2 */

2020-08-20T17:58:54Z

‎Level 2

Ktwo: /* Level 1 */

2020-08-20T17:57:30Z

‎Level 1

Ktwo: /* Level 5 */

2019-05-10T08:03:31Z

‎Level 5

@@ Line 105: / Line 105: @@
 Another potential time saver would be to fly over the fortress instead of navigating through it by foot. However, there is no known location of an additional flying item, so it would then require to walk through level 2. Flying in level 2 saves ~13 seconds (and is very consistent, while walking almost always results in one or two damage), while flying in level 3 only saves ~7 seconds.<br /><br />
-There is a trick to this boss. The boss health loops as long as the "face" is still intact. The the face has to be hit with the blast of a grenade (a direct hit won't do and the Armor power-up won't damage it either). That's the reason for starting the boss fight by walking backwards in the beginning. The boss face can also be destroyed by the bazooka. This speeds up the fight, but it doesn't compensate enough for the time loss from spending extra time in the menu (but maybe useful in a TAS with perfect menuing?).<br /><br />
+There is a trick to this boss. The boss health loops as long as the "face" is still intact. The face has to be hit with the blast of a grenade (a direct hit won't do and the Armor power-up won't damage the face either). That's the reason for starting the boss fight by walking backwards in the beginning. The boss face can also be destroyed by the bazooka, potentially avoiding (or at least reduce) the need for first starting to walk backwards. However, at the time of writing, it hasn't been found a way to use the bazooka to complete the stage faster. In case something has been overlooked, it can't be excluded that there is a possibility of a time save here though.<br /><br />
 Like all other bosses, this one can be killed by the arrow or by the thunder quick kill. However, It's 1.5-2 seconds faster to use the thunder quick kill on the second boss (plus it's an advantage to have the thunder quick kill as early as possible and it's also advantageous to go through the last part of level 3 with the Armor power-up to avoid taking damage).<br /><br />

@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 =Level 3=
 https://vimeo.com/470478173<br />
-Quite easy level. The last part would have been hard to get through without taking hits, so using the Armor power turns out to be very convenient.<br /><br />
+Random bullets can lead to forced hits in a few spots (mostly at the start of the level). The last part would have been hard to get through without taking hits, so using the Armor power turns out to be very convenient.<br /><br />
 There are only two enemies along the route that drop "small hearts". One right at the start and one after activating the Armor power-up.<br /><br />

@@ Line 83: / Line 83: @@
 =Level 2=
 https://vimeo.com/470478094<br />
-The small movement to the left at 0:46 consistently prevents taking damage from the flying enemy.<br /><br />
+Easy level that should be very consistent. No random bullets to worry about and all the enemy movements are predictable. Some care needs to be taken in the flying section to take out the enemies along the way, but the time windows are fairly generous, so it shouldn't pose any problem. The small movement to the left at 0:46 consistently prevents taking damage from the flying enemy.<br /><br />
 The enemies along the route all give "big heart" drops, which means the end-of-level tunnel should always be filled with the same content as the level 1 tunnel.<br /><br />

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Ikari_warriors_2]]
 ==Level-by-level description==
 VIDEOS WITH AN ASTERISK (*) USE FASTER STRATS THAN IN THE CURRENT SDA-RUN<br /><br />

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7esJoA7d0so<br />
 Around halfway (close to the mirror), a boomerang upgrade item is collected from a destroyed pillar. This is a visual glitch, it's actually a thunder power (to be used on the last boss). Visual glitches of this type can be seen in other places as well. In this area, there is a also a dodge to avoid a bullet hit, that costs ~0.2 seconds. It's of course possible to just take the hit if the health is high enough and hope for good patterns in level 5, so it's up to how much risk the time gain is worth.<br /><br />
 Boss HP - 15. The boss can't be damaged by the "robo armor".<br />

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 =Level 3=
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nh79iSQg64<br />
-Quite easy level. The last part would have been hard to get through without taking hits, so using the robo armor turns out to be very convenient.<br /><br />
+Quite easy level. The last part would have been hard to get through without taking hits, so using the Armor power turns out to be very convenient.<br /><br />
 It's slightly faster going through the fortress on the right side. However, it's more or less unavoidable taking several hits. The below video shows the general concept. Overall, it's ~10 frames faster than the solution above. However, not all possibilities have been fully explored (possible to avoid some time-consuming dodges? possible to avoid more damage?). But it still looks like fairly certain that the right route will be very risky to attempt in a real-time speedrun.<br />

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5vtl7W3mA<br />
 Finding the right horizontal pixel when flying can be a little bit tricky. Too far to the left and you will take hits by the flying enemies right before the boss and too far to the right will make you crash into one of the knight enemies. Overall, this is probably the easiest level to clear consistently without unnecessary damage though.<br /><br />
 The boss quick kill has to do with dealing damage on the same frame the boss receives HP. Since the game runs at 20 fps, there is a 3-frame window for launching the thunder attack and achieving the quick kill (see screenshots below).<br /><br />

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 =Level 1=
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFiP94v19tc<br />
-A random level. The enemy behavior in the first stretch is inconsistent and many times enemies will run into you without possibility of dodging (without losing time). Pretty much all of the flying enemies before going into the menu can also give bad bullet patterns that are impossible to dodge or only possible to dodge with time-consuming movements. The part after the menu trip should be consistent (or at least very close to).<br /><br />
+A level that often plays out a bit differently from one time to the next. The enemy behavior in the first stretch can be difficult to control and many times enemies will run into you without possibility of dodging (without losing time). Pretty much all of the flying enemies before going into the menu can also give bad bullet patterns that are impossible to dodge or only possible to dodge with time-consuming movements. The part after the menu trip should be consistent (or at least very close to).<br /><br />
 The enemy that chases you in the first half of the level can't be scrolled off screen. Turning around to shoot it costs around half a second (due to how the game is controlled, turning around and shooting that enemy is quite easy to mess up though). Avoiding tanking the hit obviously makes the rest of the game a bit easier.<br /><br />

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 Boss 1 HP - 10<br />
-Boss 2 HP - 20. Just like for the level 3 boss, there is a 3-frame window for the quick kill (see below). Since the menu is not possible to bring up during the fight, no other special weapon can be used in this fight (and if in robo suit when triggering the fight, it will be lost during the cut-scene).<br /><br />
+Boss 2 HP - 20. Just like for the other bosses, there is a 3-frame window for the quick kill (see below). Since the menu is not possible to bring up during the fight, no other special weapon can be used in this fight (and if in robo suit when triggering the fight, it will be lost during the cut-scene).<br /><br />
 [[File:Ikari2_Lastboss_quickkill_frame1.jpg ]] [[File:Ikari2_Lastboss_quickkill_frame2and3.jpg ]]<br />
 To the left is shown the first frame on which the boss quick kill is possible and to the right the second and third frame. Notice the position of the character's head and the green stuff.