So here it is! This is a game I've thought about running myself, but I've been too intimidated to route it myself.
I'm assuming the video has a route, but I can't watch it just yet. Glad to see another of my childhood games finally up here, though.
Howdy! Glad to see I'm not the only one interested in this game. My current run does indeed have a route, but there are no major glitches, so if/when we find stuff the route could change a lot.
As far as I can tell, the power shot (can have 2 bullets on screen at once) is the only powerup that persists between levels, and it saves a bit in most levels, so route is to grab that ASAP then efficiently work your way to the final level
Are you going to work on the second and third missions? I personally only got to them recently, as the version I played as a kid was the shareware version.
Have you made any observations on the platform cycles?
I'm not sure. I'd lean towards "yes" but that's far from a commitment.
So far I regard platform/spike/enemy movement cycles as basically RNG. I think they spawn in the same spot every time and move left/right randomly (enemies/platforms) before being stuck in their cycle
Watching the video, and I like the floppy skips in a few of the levels. There was one where it seemed like you could skip the floppy, but it'd only work if the damage counts if the security radar is far off-screen. I also see that you take care to "damage boost" in certain spots.
The sequence break at the end is fun, too. One of the few speed-running type things I managed to do as a kid.
The route's fairly simple, and it's definitely possible for time to be improved a few seconds, no problem.
Yeah I've been pushing it down from 33min ish to current. There's definitely still some room for improvement.
For the floppy skip you mentioned, I think it's too far off-screen. If it's the one I'm thinking of, you would shoot from the far right, drop down to the telephone wire underneath, and run left to scroll the screen. I've tried that and wasn't able to get it. (Level starts at 13:05 in the 27m59s run)