I don't know if anyone else knows this, but I have the theory that collecting diamonds is slower. I will test the theory but my suspicion is that, when a player collects 1 or more diamonds, an animation plays when you enter the door at the end of each level (the amount of diamonds that you collect, determine the amount that circle you in the animation). If you don't collect the diamonds, the animation doesn't play. I don't know if the animation after the diamond animation is sped up to make the time it takes equal to get to the 'next level' screen but I will test the theory. Again, this might be a very known thing already, but if not, it might help with runs.
P.S. hopefully i explained this well :)
I was thinking the same, but in most levels, it takes longer avoiding the diamonds than just getting them and playing the animation. But you might be up to something.
It doesn’t seem to make a difference if you from 1 diamond to say 5 but it does make a difference if you go from 0 diamond to 1. 0 diamonds is about .2 seconds faster than collecting any diamonds This strat could be useful in: Level 2 Level 4 Level 5 and Level 7 In World 1
Level 5 is the only one that can be done with relatively ease the others are considerably harder