The Lion King Any% SNES FAFAQs

Fully Anticipated and Frequently Asked Questions:

- I don't remember some of these areas from the movie!
That's not a question, but apparently they were based on cut scenes from the movie! This great video-interview-let's play with creative director Louis Castle has a lot more insights into this and the game's overall development, and is honestly just a great watch: https://youtu.be/kILeyo1iv0A

- How is the cutscene skipped at the end of Pridelands (level 1)?
Grabbing the ledge to the right after killing the hyena (and not letting go) consistently skips the cutscene, provided a smaller jump is used as opposed to a bigger one to reach it. This is because the game uses the same RAM address both for Simba's falling speed and for the flag that ends the cutscene. By grabbing the ledge from below, Simba's falling speed happens to be at the right value to skip the cutscene the moment the ledge is grabbed, and doesn't reset until he lets go.

- Why the two-headed ostrich in Can't Wait to be King? (Level 2)
It's just a fun glitch I perform to pass the time during the ostrich rides. If you crouch, release down and jump immediately after, the ostrich's animation glitches up and it looks like it has two heads.

- How do the clips in Simba's Exile (level 5) work?
There just happens to be a spot at the corner of ledges where Simba can clip through. Contrary to what you might think, it is not necessary to take damage and be in an invulnerability state to clip through. The only reason damage is taken on the last clip of the level is because the enemies are in the way and it ends up being faster to just take damage and be able to go through them than to kill them.
The first clip (the one near the brambles) is purely dependent on button pressure (need to press B for exactly 4 frames to guarantee it will work, but sometimes a 5 frames tap will work as well). The second clip is partially dependent on button pressure (1 frame tap of the B button is ideal) but most importantly it just depends on timing. With my method, it is frame perfect (1 frame window).

- Are the logs in Hakuna Matata (level 6) random?
Nope, they are based on a proximity timer (which means that they start going as you approach the waterfall area of the level) and are completely, 100% predictable.

- How are you skipping the panther fights in Simba's Destiny (level 7)?
Simply by executing a throw move while a cheetah is left of the thin wall. This puts Simba on the left of the wall as well.

- How are you skipping certain ledges in Simba's Destiny (level 7)?
Slashing on certain frames on Simba's jump as adult will help gain some additional height and allow him to reach ledges he normally couldn't. Some skips are pretty precise here.

- How are you clipping into the wall in Be Prepared (level 8)?
It's a similar concept to the cheetah skips in Simba's Destiny, but this time the throw is done after a cheetah has been killed. Provided it was in an exhausted state while dealing the final blow, it can still be grabbed with a throw while in its death animation.

- What's the big deal with the geysers in Be Prepared (level 8)?
Waiting a bit before spawning in the geysers can allow certain geysers to erupts out of order. The way that section works is that the trigger for the level to end is for the leftmost geyser to erupt 5 times. Normally it would be the very last to erupt, but if it does erupt before any others, it can save some eruption cycles. This is determined by random chance. There is a 25% chance to save 2 cycles, a 25% chance to save 1 cycle, and a 50% chance to save no cycles (depending on which geyser erupts second in the sequence).

- What's with the weird kills on the Hyenas in Simba's Return (level 9)?
It's something that I'm dubbing a "remote kill". By jumping on them, usually Simba enters an attack animation where he mauls an enemy. But it's possible to cancel this animation with a slash (this is usually a 4 frame window). If this is done, this will activate a glitch state where the enemy that this is performed on will keep taking damage as long as Simba performs certain actions (usually moving, but also sometimes other stuff like doing a crouch attack. I do not understand this glitch fully myself).
This remote kill is normally done on a cheetah in Simba's Destiny as well.

- What's the deal with the Scar fights?
Remote kills are done on him as well. Turns out that if Scar runs out of health off-screen, the game will skip the usual scene of him running away that locks action for a few seconds, so remote kills are very convenient for this.