Game:

Shadow Dancer (1989)

Duration: 15:56

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5

Played on emulator (BizHawk v2.2.2). Level 2 difficulty, non-shuriken mode, a.k.a. Medium NoSEB. Video includes timer and input viewer (cuz why not)!

It's a Level 2 non-shuriken deathless run of Shadow Dancer for the Sega Genesis. Ayyyyyyy! I'm sure you're wondering, "What's the difference between this and Level 1 (Easy)?" Hmm, well...

Level 2 has:
- More enemies (which leads to...)
- More lag (which leads to...)
- Greater chance of dropped inputs (AND...)
- More health for bosses (which leads to...)
- Potential for a bigger time loss on the final boss!

So, considering all that, it's not a bad time. Well, it's a BAD time, but not a bad TIME. You know what I mean? Yeah, you know. Still, could use a little more work. A lot of safe strats in play here.

Got 2nd cycle ninpo glitch on the Wall boss, 3 cycle on the Wheel boss, and a reasonably fast Chairman. Sub-13 is definitely possible, but completing a run without dying is pretty tough.

* If this run isn't fast enough for you, check out my non-shuriken run on Level 1 difficulty here: https://youtu.be/7jGcT1qvfYE


ROUTE NOTES

You may notice this route is quite similar to the Level 1 route. Enemies generally appear in the same positions, but more are added to make maneuvering a little trickier in certain spots. Overall, this run was routed to be somewhat safer than the Level 1 run, especially since it's very easy to die due to dropped inputs.

That being said, there's certainly potential to go faster by taking more risks. Despite being slower attacks, sword slashes and standing kicks are used liberally, especially in 4-2. Also, I throw a couple odd sword slashes in Room 4 specifically to reduce lag. In this case, lag is reduced not to make things faster necessarily, but to make it easier to attack the subsequent blue ninjas.

I cast ninpo intentionally in Room 1 to clear the gunmen. It seems to be the simplest solution considering the series of moves I'd normally have to do to advance. Even using the dog, it still would require some very careful movement that's unlikely to be much faster, if it all. If I'm going to use ninpo, it makes more sense to use it in Room 1 than in any other room.

Boss strats are largely the same as in the Level 1 run, except there's more of a time penalty for not getting ninpo glitch/quick kill. Unfortunately, because of the increased boss health, there's more of a random time swing on the final boss. Even with all optimal kills, the Level 2 run would still be about 30 seconds slower than Level 1, with most of that time coming on the extra cycle of the final boss.


GLITCHES AND THINGS

In case you're wondering about glitches, the main one used is the ninpo glitch. If one of your shurikens is hitting either Wall boss or Wheel boss at the same time you cast ninpo magic, the bosses health will drain. It's more useful on the Wall boss since there is a quicker (but more random) way to kill the Wheel boss by using ninpo early.

Another more minor glitch is passing through the fire pillar at the end of 1-1. If you cast ninpo in the air, you will lose your collision but your magic attack won't trigger until you land. However, if you land in the exit zone, your magic attack will be skipped entirely. I also do the same at the end of 1-2 to avoid the roller.

Also, a very subtle glitch you may notice: If you walk off a platform and attack before you land, you will keep your forward momentum during your attack. In this run, it's done most effectively in Room 4 at 10:50. There's also one instance near the end of Room 3, but it's a hardly a noticeable or significant slide.


WHEN'S LEVEL 3?

oh dear god


Twitter: @TascoDLX
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