Revision as of 15:35, 21 May 2013

Current Fastest low% Time

11:27 by David Heidman Jr.

Stage 1 low%

Some jump manipulation is required to get past the turret that appears just after the second R upgrade. On the boss, you need to walk up to the core and shoot. You can't shoot fast enough to destroy the boss using the any % strategy.

Stage 2 low%

The regular cores take 8 shots to kill. You can have up to 4 peashooter shots on the screen. This means you have to make sure that you don't hit enemies instead of the core. This becomes even more difficult with the core in the last room as that takes 16 shots or 4 waves of 4. You need to focus all shots on the cores and avoid ducking when possible to destroy each core as fast as possible.

After the cores are destroyed you need to move left and right with the boss, but you'll have to be slightly ahead to give your bullets enough time to travel up and hit.

Stage 3 low%

Not having the barrier makes the second half of the climb up the waterfall difficult. You need to kill the bombers hiding the waterfall near the spread pickup on the left before he can shoot otherwise you will lose time waiting for their shots to explode.

The boss is ideally taken out in two mouth cycles. With spread you can attempt to destroy the arms, but in a low % run you shouldn't attempt to.

Stage 4 low%

The second base stage requires the same type of precision that the first base stage does. Focus your shots on the cores, don't hit enemies and don't duck under enemy fire.

The boss fight is difficult in low % when it comes to dodging the snipers as you take out the cores. You will want to get the glitch kill on the boss of this stage. You can refer to the mechanics page for details This is much harder to perform in a low % run.

Stage 5 low%

Watch out for random spawns on this stage. You can see what I mean in the video. The snow plows can be taken out by simply ducking in front of them and shooting quickly. You need to shoot extremely quickly to not die.

Stage 6 low%

Refer to the mechanics page for help understanding the pattern for the timings on the flames and for the fastest strategy to get through the section. The boss fight is entirely random and with bad luck you can lose several seconds.

Stage 7 low%

Refer to the mechanics page for help understanding the timings on the claws. After the last set of claws you have to duck under shots fired by the first gunner, however you can jump over shots from the remaining gunners and take them out without stopping if you mash fast enough. Watch out for bad spawns.

Stage 8 low%

You cannot run through this stage without taking out some of the projectiles the mouths drop. You can follow what the current fastest run does. When you reach the heart, there is no need to jump at it when you have peashooter. This will not help your fire rate and it is dangerous.

Current Fastest Any% Time

10:11 by David Heidman Jr.

Stage 1 Any%

You need to collect Spread and R by the end of the stage. Jump as little as possible. The jump from the high cliff down before the boss is a bit tight. It's a three frame window.

There are a few different strategies for the boss fight and they all rely on a bit of luck. The SDA run uses a quick and reasonably reliable strategy. There are two turrets as you approach the base wall boss. Run past the first turret and drop down to the bottom level of ground and continue moving forward and start building up spread rhythm. After the second turret fires at you jump up to reach ground just a bit above you. Continue moving right until you reach the end of the platform and jump forward while shooting at the core. You will land on the platform right in front of the core. Duck as you land and mash the B button.

Stage 2 Any%

Refer to the mechanics page on getting spread rhythm for these base stages. The boss fight is about timing. Start on the left side and start and move from left to right taking out the cores. The boss will appear suddenly in the middle after the cores are destroyed and move from right to left. It's important to have a straight stream of spread that hits the boss as it moves. You'll need to be jumping in the same direction as the boss (but slightly ahead of it) and fire a straight stream of spread directly upwards to kill it quickly.

Stage 3 Any%

The height of your jumps in this stage is random (refer to the glitches page). This can cause you to reach platforms sooner than you normally do and it may catch you off guard. There is a potentially difficult jump as you reach the bridge. You'll need to jump over the flames that move across and depending on the randomness of your jump height this jump can be extremely tight. The item carrier on the left side of the screen has barrier and you'll need to trigger it so that it lands on the platforms above you so that you can collect it without losing time.

On the boss it's possible to take it out in one mouth cycle, but it requires good spread rhythm. It is recommended that you take out both arms because if you don't kill the boss in one mouth cycle it will open its mouth again immediately.

Stage 4 Any%

Spread rhythm is the key here. Refer to the glitch video on getting the stage 4 boss quick kill. To get it, you need to get the best spread rhythm that you can and hope for the best.

Stage 5 Any%

With good spread rhythm, it's possible to take out the first gunner and run through the first set of bombs without stopping. Refer to the mechanics video on the second series of bomb jumps. The snow plows can be taken out quickly at point blank range. To save some frames you can jump up and forward into them as you finish them. It's recommended that you do this when they turn dark red as they only can take 15 more shots.

Where the boss appears in this stage is random. Shoot up and get spread rhythm.

Stage 6 Any%

Refer to the mechanics video on the timings for the flames. Refer to the Exo strat in the mechanics video for saving a few seconds getting the barrier. The boss attack pattern is random. Mash fast and hope he doesn't jump. You can be a bit more aggressive when the boss turns red as it can only take 14 more shots.

Stage 7 Any%

Refer to the video on the timings for the flames and claws for this stage. While it's theoretically possible to get past all of the gunners after the last set of claws without ducking, getting over the first one is impractical. You want to jump as their first shot gets a bit close to you (but not too close) so that you'll have enough height to make it over their second shot as you take them out. The timing on them gets a bit tricky. It's an eight frame window on the jump.

Stage 8 any%

This stage is pretty straightforward and you should do exactly what the SDA run does.

Categories

Any %- Do whatever it takes to beat the game as fast as possible
Low %- Do not collect any items

Additional Information

Game Mechanics and Glitches- Some explanations about how the game works, specific techniques, and glitches
Casual Speedrunning- Some adjustments to make speedrunning the game easier
Additional Resources- Links to other helpful resources