Beginner's guide to running Kid Niki

SETTING UP YOUR TIMER
The timing on the run begins when you gain control of Niki in the Death Breath stage. You can just start your timer when Niki appears on the screen (since you can make him move forward even when he is dropping from the top of the screen). You could also begin your timer at -12.90 seconds and start your timer when you select "1 Player" on the start screen. This will get the timer to be 0 exactly when you gain control of Niki.
Timing ends when you lose control of Niki on Stone Wizard 8 stage. This happens NOT when you get the final hit, but when Stone Wizard begins to freefall on a cut scene. 

USING YOUR SWORD
When you play the game, you should notice that when Niki's feet are on the ground and you swing your sword he will pause slightly in place while performing this action. However, when you swing your sword while Niki is jumping (or in the air) Niki will not pause. For this reason, you will see in the top times that we try to hit enemies while jumping and swinging the sword.

PLAYER SCORE AND MORE - KILL LESS ENEMIES
At the end of each stage, the player's score is added up. Each enemy killed (and certain items collected) increases your score throughout the level. After defeating the boss of each level ( except Stone Wizard 8 ) you receive 25,000 points -- 5,000 just after defeating the boss and 20,000 when you get the scroll. Thus, to save time throughout the run you should try to kill as few enemies as possible while maintaining the most direct path. 
Not only that, the game likes to throw more enemies at you the more you kill the ones on screen. The game tries not to overload the screen with moving enemies, so jumping/dodging enemies will keep your path more direct, keep your score low and keep more enemies from spawning. 

REDUCING LAG (IN DEATH BREATH) - KILL JUST ENOUGH ENEMIES
Lag will occur in the game when too many sprites (enemies) are on the screen -- usually around 5 or 6 depeding on the enemy. This is especially apparent at times in the Death Breath stage since there are stationary birds on the screen that usually contribute to this lag. Therefore, top times should try to kill enough enemies throughout this level to not have lag but also not to boost up the player's score. In Death Breath, this only occurs at 1 or 2 positions on the stage (you will notice them). 
Lag can occur in other levels, but it is usually out of your control or you are killing the enemies on screen anyway because they are in your path. Death Breath stage is the main level you can control the lag, but be aware of killing too many enemies and either slowing down your path or increasing your score too much.

EMENY SPAWNS IN DEATH BREATH (STAGE 1) - WHEN TO START THE GAME
I believe the spawning patterns in Death Breath (and maybe other stages as well) are based on a global timer in the game. I experimented with beginning the game at different times from power-on (or resetting the console) and I found an approximate time to begin the game. It is hard to explain and is probably easier just seen in one of my runs (RandomEffekt), but basically I press Start 2x fast when Niki lands from his first jump on the title screen. This usually produces 1 of 2 patterns, both of which are easy to deal with and get you through Death Breath stage quickly.

ALTERNATE SECRET ROUTE ON GREEN GRUB (SLOWER BUT A BIT SAFER)
When you run this game, you will find that the bubbles in the Green Grub stage (both above and below ground) are dangerous and very RNG. A slightly safer beginner route on this stage (especially if you lose the white gi which gives you an additional hit before death) is to take a slower secret on the platform portion of the stage. As seen in the video below (5 minutes in), this skips 2 bubble portions to put you right near the end of the stage. 

https://youtu.be/jSYg67fUpFo?t=5m5s

Boss Battle Strategies (and Retrieving the sword back)

It was previously thought that getting the sword back was completely random on the boss battles. This is not so. There are some boss battles where it doesn't save any time (or is very difficult) to get the sword back immediately after a hit, but there are a few bosses where it will save lots of time on the battles.

Below is a complete run through of the boss battles: 

DEATH BREATH
It is possible to get the sword back after every hit on Death Breath. It is fairly consistent on the first hit through a combination of timing and attack approach. After entering the Death Breath fight, I count to 2 seconds before jumping, and hit Death Breath at the angle seen in the video to get the sword back. You have to get pretty close to his lower head to get the sword back. It is a little trickier on the subsequent hits but can be done. 
Getting the sword back does not necessarily gain time, but it makes it a lot easier to get a fast fight. I have gotten many great fights without getting the sword back. The trick is to make the sword not fly too far away and retrieve it very quickly. Push Death Breath all the way to the right either way.

FASTEST STRAT (1/23/2017): The current fastest strategy for Death Breath was found by Ouijawii and is outlined in the video below (skip to 0:56 for the boss fight). It saves about 3 seconds on the old strategy. Optimally, you want to get the sword back on the first and second hit (getting it back on the second hit is a necessity for this strat). After getting it back on the second hit, move through Death Breath to the right and get two quick hits in, then back off as he bops his head down to the right. Then deliver the final blow once he jumps. Currently, there is no strat to get more consecutive hits in beyond the two in the video. NOTE: You do not need to get the sword back on the first hit to complete this strat on the boss, but it does help immensely in getting the sword back on the second hit.

https://www.twitch.tv/ouijawii/v/116626876

BACKUP STRAT: The backup strat if you miss getting the sword back on the second hit is the original boss battle strategy developed by myself. Again, losing the sword every hit doesn't necessarily lose you time, but it makes it tougher to get really good times. The video below shows me getting the sword back every time, but if you lose the sword just run back immediately and get it. If you hit Death Breath correctly, your sword will not fly back too far and you can grab it and return to Death Breath for another hit when he jumps.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/87579015

SPIKE
There is nothing new to battling Spike. Wait to strike him until he is between the two stones closest to you or else you will knock him back and waste time. Also, try not to be moving when you attack or you run the risk of knocking Spike back (especially on the first hit). Then just consistently grab the sword and strike again before Spike attacks. In this boss, there is no need to get the sword back quickly as you have to wait for Spike to become vincible again.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88152263

HORNED WITCH
A new quick kill strategy on Horned Witch was found by Twitch user Endy_Endy which can save about 8-10 seconds depending on your fight. As seen in the video below, it consists of moving toward her when entering the screen, then moving back a bit and hitting her just as her "bounce" sound happens. I believe this to be frame perfect (or near frame perfect). If you miss this quick kill but still hit her, she will break apart and you can continue with the old strategy listed below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQjWB0x2mtU

BACKUP STRAT (1/21/2017): If you miss the quick kill, I developed this backup strat which does a fairly quick kill on Horned Witch. Follow the movements in the video, jumping and swinging to kill the small segments. If you do this correctly, you will not get the smallest segments and will save more than 2 seconds on the older strat below.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/116383596

OLDEST AND SLOWEST STRATEGY: This is the oldest, slowest, but ultimately safest strategy. Hit her quickly and she will break into 2 segments. Move close to the left side of the screen to kill one of these segments, then turn around (not moving much) to attack the other segment. Then just attack all the littlest segments as fast as possible (the littlest segments cannot harm you). 

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88152834

GREEN GRUB
It is very difficult to get your sword returned back to you during this fight, and most of the time not practical with Green Grub's movements (however when RNG is on your side, you can get massive gold splits). The way to approach this fight is to get as many "multiple hits" in as possible. You can always get a double hit in on your first attack with proper timing since Green Grub initially spawns in the same location every time. Subsequent spawns are random and so getting double or triple hits become harder. 
It is possible to hit Green Grub's armor directly between segments resulting in 2 pieces coming off with one hit. It is incredibly difficult to pull off in real time and I do not have a consistent method to get this hit.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88146343

If you get lucky with Green Grub, you can get a fight like below (my best ever). See also Ouijawii's 11:10 run for a very fast Green Grub (triple hit...crazy).
https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/97207279

MAD MONK
If you played this game casually, this was probably one of the hardest segments of the game. When you speedrun this game, Mad Monk is one of the quickest and easiest. There are a few slightly different strats that work out similarly: 
(1) Get right underneath Mad Monk, let go of the D-pad and press jump and immediately swing your sword. You will either get the sword back or (more likely) it will be placed right in front of Mad Monk. Rinse and repeat.
(2) Get right underneath Mad Monk, press right on the D-pad into the stone and hit A, then B quickly keeping holding right on the D-pad until you get the sword (avoid jumping into Mad Monk obviously). With this strat you can usually get the sword back immediately and a slightly quicker kill (although in my testing I tend to have the sword knocked away from me sometimes with this strat, be quick with the sword after jump! I actually slide my thumb across A+B for this strat to ensure a quick jump+swing action). Rinse and repeat.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88146658

SAMURAI GUARD
UPDATED STRAT (1/18/2017): This new updated strat saves about 8 second on the old strat listed below and I find it just as safe once you get the timing on the jumps. You want to jump just over his spear head and then hit Samurai Guard in the helmet area with your sword. Go back to retrieve your sword, rinse and repeat. NOTE: I am still working on a way to get your sword back with this strat which would save even more time.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/115648667

OLD STRAT: After entering the battle, go across the screen until the guard starts walking towards you. Wait on the left side until he is very close to you, hit him to have him drop his weapon, jump to get your sword back and hit him all in one action. If you waited enough time on the first hit for him to come close to you, you will not have to wait for him to walk towards you again. Rinse and repeat.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88146973

STONE WIZARD ( Stage 7 )
There is nothing new to this battle and getting the sword back quickly is not necessary due to Stone Wizard's invincibility frames (but it is possible - it may save a few frames). When you enter the battle, stand on the front part of the first step as he will never throw a fireball there. Hit him after the first round of fireballs on the low part of your jump, retrieve your sword from the back and immediately go and hit him again. If you do this hitting and retrieving in the proper amount of time, he will never shoot any more fireballs. Pretty easy fight.
UPDATED STRAT FROM THE VIDEO: By hitting him on a low part of your jump, the sword will appear on the last step instead of the ground. This saves a small amount of time in retrieving the sword and attacking again. Over the course of 4 hits, this can save about 2+ second depending on how far back your sword goes.

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88154760

STONE WIZARD ( Stage 8 )

OLD ALL ENCOUNTERS VIDEO: https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88144182
Refer to Ouijawii's 10:56 for some updated strategies on Stone Wizard 8.

FIRST ENCOUNTER
Easy strat: On the first encounter, run until you stand between his fireball throws as shown in the video. He will make 6 fireball noises (although 6 or less actual fireballs will appear on screen). After the 6th fireball sound/appearance, jump and at the top of your jump hit the top of Stone Wizard's head. You can retrieve the sword back immediately and stand just in front of him. Then just stab him and go back to retrieve your sword. CAUTION: You can jump again (after his i-frames wear off) to hit him on the top of the head and get your sword back immediately but his fireball throws are quite random and you can die easily by attempting this strategy. I would advise just taking the quick hit in front of him and going back to retrieve the sword on the second hit.

Harder strat: On the first encounter, you can actually hit Stone Wizard as soon as he throws a fireball near his feet but getting a quick stab and dodge in. Retrieve the sword and depending again on his fireballs you can get another quick hit in (if he throws a fireball near his feet). This strat is much more risky but once you understand when to strike it can save quite a bit of time. 

SECOND ENCOUNTER
The second encounter (OLD STRAT) is exactly the same as the first, but getting into the correct initial position is a little more difficult and you may die depending on his fireball throws. This is more of a read-and-react situation when trying to get into the initial position and may require you to take a slower kill. But if you get the position, the exact same strategy as the first encounter is employed here.

UPDATE (2/25/2017): There is a new strat on this encounter found by Ouijawii that can save loads of time. Refer to Ouijawii's 10:56 run to see it in action. The strategy works as such: You can jump through Stone Wizard after your first hit. Ideally you will get the sword back, but if you don't, you will have to advance the screen until the sword appears beyond the glitched Stone Wizard. Either if you retrieved the sword immediately or not, an invisible Stone Wizard is actually present on a cloud platform in the next section. You will need to swing at a precise location to get the second hit (again ideally getting the sword back). Be very careful throughout for both flying kites and Stone Wizard's floating head, especially if you don't get the sword back immediately.

THIRD ENCOUNTER
The third encounter is the easiest to get the sword back immediately, depending on the bubbles. Since he does not throw any fireballs, just stand in front, jump to the highest point and swing the sword. Do this both times since you shouldn't be in danger of dying on the second jump.

FOURTH ENCOUNTER
The last encounter is tricky. There are two strats I would go about using for this fight:
(1) My current strat is to leap forward past the half-way mark of the screen so that Stone Wizard teleports to the left side of the screen. Then you have a good position to jump left and get your sword back immediately. You can then quickly swing the sword in front of him to deliver the final blow. However (as seen in the video) it is possible to miss this final hit...If I get the first hit off, it seems to be about 50/50 whether I can get the final blow immediately in front of him before he teleports again. NOTE: If your sword gets knocked back after the first hit, depending on how far back the sword goes on the screen I would suggest waiting for his to teleport before going back to retrieve your sword. This way you can pick up the sword and immediately hit him for the final blow when he appears on the other side of the screen.
I like this strat because it is relatively safe, quick and doesn't really depend too much on where his initial fireballs are thrown since you can leap over any of them to get him to teleport if you are quick enough.

(2) Another strategy that is a bit easier to implement but may not be as quick depending on his fireball throws is employed by Jim Hanson in his 11:39 previous world record video. It consists of avoiding his fireballs to get to the right of the screen as quick as possible and hitting him once. Your sword will fly to the other side of the screen, but wait to retrieve it (don't move) and he will teleport to the left side. Follow him, pick up your sword and make the final blow. Note that this is also the backup strat to my strategy in (1) if I don't get the sword back immediately.

Strats on Spike stage (skipping bombs and the tree climb)

If you have done a speedrun of this game, you know that it is terrible to wait on the guys in the trees to throw bombs down before you advance. In the old WR run of 11:39 (Jim Hanson), he employs an initial stop for about 2 seconds at the first trees with a quick leap through the bombs. Jim's approach will de-spawn one of the subsequent tree-huggers and will allow you to jump through all the remaining bombs from the trees quite nicely.

There is a consistent way to save those seconds with a quick pause (about 0.5 seconds) before you approach the first trees. My current strategy is to jump the water but stop before the enemies spawn in the trees, pause and swing my sword 2 times before proceeding. This way I do not have to stop on any bomb drops from the trees. Not only that, it will de-spawn the next 2 tree-huggers and any subsequent Striped Foxes (blue guys) allowing for less risky jumping through the remaining bombs from the trees and quicker access to climb the tree towards the secret in this level. 

I'm not exactly sure why this works, but I believe the throws are based on a timing mechanism. Note that sometimes a Striped Fox (blue guy) appears before you jump the water. I would jump over this enemy if possible, but the strat does work (at least some times) if you kill this Striped Fox. 

https://www.twitch.tv/randomeffekt/v/88142232

When climbing the tree towards the secret, Endy_Endy found that you can skip the second climb and go straight to the warp point. You do this simply by letting go of the up direction just as the screen transitions to the tree top. This is not a hard strat and can save about 3 seconds on the climb.

https://youtu.be/Pmsi2TzKz6w

Nome	Autor
Beginner's guide to running Kid Niki	RandomEffekt 8 years ago
Boss Battle Strategies (and Retrieving the sword back)	RandomEffekt 7 years ago
Strats on Spike stage (skipping bombs and the tree climb)	RandomEffekt 7 years ago
Video breakdown of most of the major strats in the run	Uncle_Hambone 4 years ago