I wonder why did that happen? What does it do? And why was that needed? Is this some kind of strategy?

Hey Rash!

At the end of each scene, the game gives you 1000 points for every life you have. It takes 9 seconds for the game to count up/down 4000 points. Score count happens four times during the run, so that is a total of 36 seconds. The idea is to lose all your lives as quickly as possible at the beginning of the run, so you can eliminate the 36 seconds later.

The fastest way to lose all your lives is at the start of the boat section in Scene 1. It takes 19 seconds to bring your life count to zero this way, which means you’re netting 17 seconds over the course of the run.

This is also why I skipped the extra life in Scene 2 at 11:08. Doing so saves you an additional 4 seconds in score counts during the remainder of the run.

Unfortunately this strat puts the high RNG pie fight further into the run, but it’s a free 17 seconds, so it’s worth it in the end 🙂

So that's how it does. I'm really surprised. For example, "Metal Gear Solid" has a new strat named "Boba Skip" named after the streamer Boba who has found it. Yeah, speedrun strategies don't end at all. Good found, ZC! 👍

Your compatriot, Nolekins, did the same thing in "The Punisher" on NES. He hasn't killed a lot of enemies. He's got less score, and it saved time.

Thanks! I’m having a lot of fun with this speedrun. I’m still looking for new improvements, but it feels like the strats are getting close to optimal. Optimal time with this new route seems to be about a low 24:3X, which is insane.