preface: this isn't every level, because the ones listed here are just the ones that i've developed special strats/routes for. if a level isn't on here, you probably just play through it normally (but faster, because this is a speedrun). this should be a pretty optimized route, but if you think that you know a better way to do a level, try it! this isn't the easiest route in the world, but you could probably do most parts of it consistently with a few tries. good luck!

level 2: if you can land under the spike and over the slide, you can launch onto the last ninja way quicker

level 3: dont use the bouncy shrooms, instead go straight up, on the first ninja, across, down onto the second ninja, straight into the last ninja, and then the exit

level 5: if you can get onto the second to last platform quick enough, jump off of it a second after it starts moving to the left. you should land right on the spinner. if you launch yourself slightly downwards at full power fast enough, you'll hit the last ninja and land on the elevator in one go (i messed this part up but i promise its possible lol)

level 7: just before the earth chi tunnel, launch onto the lower wall and jump straight up onto the first chi, and then onto the highest. jumping onto the upper normal black platform and then onto the middle chi is safer, but a little slower

level 9: at the beginning, jump as soon as the first red spike block goes up. go through the level relatively normally, but use abuse the death respawn in order to get to the last ninja quicker. i've also noticed that if you jump from the last ninja to the ceiling to the exit, it's faster than jumping straight from the last ninja to the exit

level 13: this one's a bit tricky, and i'd say to just found a route that you can consistently do the fastest. there's a few good ones that i've tried, but it's really down to personal preference. just make sure to use the shurikens whenever possible to get multiple ninjas in one jump

level 14: try to avoid using the balloons to get across lava pits whenever possible, all of the jumps are possible without them. to get the last 3 red ninjas, try to angle your launch so you knock the 3rd one into lava and use water drops for the first 2. for the balloons at the end of the level, hit the first one once, the second one twice (time to second one when it's furthest from the spike block)

level 15: at the beginning, jump straight onto the wall and into the wind shaft, no need to land on the platform under it. for the spike shaft, land up in the middle and jump into the second wind shaft. using the bouncy sponges makes you have to jump more

level 16: this is the best route that i've found for the bouncy clouds at the beginning https://imgur.com/a/PxQahDe

level 17: it takes a lot of practice and a good amount of luck, but try to jump from the balloon to the skateboard, and then jump from the skateboard to the exit. i call this a skate jump, and i'll talk a bit more about it at the end

level 18: go through this one as normal, but use the ceiling as a sort of "checkpoint." this wasn't immediately obvious to me, but it makes this level a lot safer. also be careful with the skull at the end because i've messed up a lot of good runs because i slipped on it.

level 19: play through as normally, but jump horizontally to the right after killing the last red ninja. the exit's a lot further away than you think, and it saves time by skipping most of the slide

level 20: for the last red ninja, it's saves almost 3 seconds if you knock the ninja into lava rather than waiting for the platform under him to crumble

level 21: when landing on the surfboard, try to aim for the middle. then do a small jump to get near the front. this'll give it a small but noticeable momentum boost. then at the last second make sure you jump into the exit so you save time and don't risk the board falling short.

level 22: another for the wooden block stack with 1 red ninja and 2 white ninjas, first kill the leftmost ninja and then knock over the tower. this is almost guaranteed to kill all of them on the first try if you knock it over right. for the last platform, try to land on the last ninja and then jump into the exit

level 23: it takes some practice to get the timing, but you can shoot all of the ninjas while you're riding the balloon. to get to the exit, use the black platforms instead of riding the boulder. this saves a good few seconds

level 25: wait for the spinner to do one full rotation, jump right after the red ball passes over you to jump to the right ninja, wait for the red ball to pass over the highest point and jump for the left ninja, then just jump for the exit

level 29: get the first two ninjas above you. go to the right and then get those two. make your way back down towards the original spawn and then get the ninja on the left. get the ninjas underneath the exit, and you're done. this is the fastest route that i've been able to do consistently, although you do have to get a little lucky so that you don't have any of the gold ninjas landing where you have to go back and knock them off

level 30: at the top of the first chi shaft, jump onto the skateboard until you get to the layer beneath it with the 3 kite ninjas. do a skate jump and use the shurikens to kill them. then, land at the back of the last skate board and do a small jump to give it a momentum boost. after you cross the shark pit, do a skate jump and hope that you land right in the exit

useful strats: skate nudge: jump at the back of a skateboard and then doing a small jump will give the board a slight momentum boost

skate jump: jumping off of a board mid-air not only looks cool, but gives you a huge momentum boost. you can also do two skate jumps from the same board if you manage to get it so that the board is facing the way you want to go, jumping in that direction, and then jumping off the board again. i've only pulled this off once on level 30, but it goes really fast

things to keep in mind: -only black surfaces set your spawn when you land on them. this is most prominently used in level 9, and how you give yourself safety check points on level 18. it's good to remember so that way you always know when you're going to spawn if you make a mistake

-avoid bouncy surfaces where you can. they slow you down, and it's almost always faster to just jump.

-it's (usually) better to have two full power jumps than one well-aimed one. aiming precise jumps takes time, and the jump is usually slow. full power jumps are faster and easier to aim