Flip's newest TAS has a boss skip that's doable RTA. Aladdin must have 1hp left (i.e. take penultimate damage) in order to perform this skip. The skip doesn't work on other difficulties, therefore making Any% Difficult the fastest category.
This post is just a heads-up for everyone!
I just tried it on PC on Disney's Classics to feel things out myself and sure enough, I got it to work (and it seems very reliable too).
How does it work though? I understand that the skip setup requires you to have exactly 2 HP, but why does it work with that amount of HP and not with more (and why only on that difficulty setting as well)?
It works nice, just go to the wall and jump. It's harder to cook this skip than perform.
I understand perfectly how to do it, but my question was aiming more towards why it actually works, which is a mystery to me. Replicating the skip's setup is very easy to do, but I wanted to know why all that setup results in us being able to jump that high and skip the boss.
As for why it works, it's described in the tas submission comments found here http://tasvideos.org/6773S.html
"When taking penultimate damage, Aladdin pauses for a split second, which for some reason can also be used to 'charge' jumps so to speak, for a nice boost to velocity. This can be used to extend jump height from 67 to 85, which can be large enough to overcome certain intended obstacles, allowing new skips. "
Alright, that actually covers most of the inner workings of the skip! Thanks for relaying those comments.
The only thing that'd be missing now is why this pause when taking penultimate damage only happens when playing on the highest difficulty setting, as opposed to happening on all difficulties, given that they aren't all that different aside from this.
EDIT: Took too long to write and tako beat me to the punch :P
Can't really add anything as to why the skip works, but I can definitely say that it DOES work on Normal (credit for the tip goes to Flip, the TAS author, I never bothered to check previously). A bit harder to set up - because those unskippable hearts before the boss now give you 2 HP instead of 1 - but quite doable.
Just not on Practice. -_-
Well, that's actually really nice to know! That's one more point where Normal and Difficult are yet again identical.
While the hearts healing you for 2 HP are actually annoying for this skip in particular, it does mean that you could have a potentially easier time for the rest of the game if you're a scrub like me, so being able to do the skip in Normal too is a bit of a godsend. Thanks for the info! :)
