just before Level 5-2, in the section with the multiple ninjas, I take damage intentionally to kill the leftmost ninja as early as possible.
damage taken in order to maintain targeting as well as steady fire.
in the ratship battle, there are somewhat noticeable gaps in the players' streams of fire I could not avoid these gaps, even with the turbo feature.
although player 1 starts off the shooting of the second UFO, player 2 finishes off the UFO so that player 1 can shoot the third UFO as early as possible.
luck manipulated so that the meteor pieces move in convenient directions and so that the UFOs shoot neither player.
In Level 3-3, I intentionally kill player 2 to use his invincibility period to pass through the force fields quickly.
I had no control over the graphical glitch that occurs in the pipe section of Level 3-2.
Also in Level 3-2, after the two whip girls, I move the players so that they both safely pass under the presses as early as possible.
In Level 3-2, I intentionally have player 2 wait for player 1 so that both players can safely pass under the press this is faster than having player 1 wait for the press to rise.
Big Blag is the only boss with no invincibility period I clearly abuse this fact.
In Level 2-3, ramming the front bikers is faster than waiting for them and kicking them.
I intentionally destroy three containers in Level 2-2 the first and third are destroyed to avoid interference in battle, and the second is destroyed for entertainment.
poles not used because then jump kicks cannot be used.
after Abobo is hit by the final kick, he is immediately vulnerable to the finishing move.
laser robots aren't grabbed, because it faster just to kick each robot twice.
running attack used on most of the hanging enemies.
if a jump to a higher platform is timed correctly, the player will "catch" the edge of the platform instead of staying in the air longer.
the finishing moves can be manipulated so that they kill enemies other than the "targets" as well as enemies that weren't knocked down to begin with.
the enemies that hang on platform edges can be defeated with running attacks or jump kicks.
you may notice lag during this run despite my best efforts, I could only reduce lag and not avoid it entirely.
I use the Lee Twins because their jump attacks are more effective than the Toads' and I find they have more range than the Toads.
I figured that a 2-player tas would be faster and I was right, as this run is 3511 frames faster than the cancelled run.