Here we go again, stanski's sonic 2 SS part très . The one thing I would like to explain is that certain things in this game cost a lot more time than it seems like, even if it visually a certain other part where I barely lose time or don't lose time at all looks worse. This especially has to do with the timed elements, which occur in a few different levels. For example, the most asked about level is usually metro 2, about how I get raped all the time in that level. It really doesn't matter how much time I lose in that level since I can't progress until a certain timed element gets to the point to let me progress.

Also have to say that yes, the routes I use are the best known routes available for any given level. I don't change anything from my IL routes really, just few minor adjustments for consistency, the overall route always stays the same though. I've gotten a few random responses about "well this looks slow, couldn't you do something different here?" No, I can't, and if it looks wrong and isn't written about in my comments, it probably is hugely minor or is not a mistake at all.

Big thanks goes out to Upthorn for discovering the Metro 1 and 3 nut glitch and the same people I thanked last time.

Now, the big question: How low can I go? When will I stop speedrunning this game in the any% category? Honestly, I have a lot of fun speedrunning this game, so I probably will improve this time eventually. At this point now though, I really feel like I'll have a lot of trouble replicating this run with just a few improvements though. I really thought my 20:02 run was pretty damn good, and so a run in 18:12 will be a tough one to beat. I'd definitely have more motivation if anyone was even close to beating/challenging this run, but I don't see that happening soon. I will just have to motivate myself further sometime in the future.

Run performance comments:
• Emerald Hill 1: 19 would be nice, but 20 is still a very respectable time for the first level.
• Emerald Hill 2: The only reason this isn't 38 is because I screwed up that roll to the invincibility and ended up having to jump instead. Not a huge deal in my mind.
• Chemical Plant 1: I think this is as close as you can get to 22 without getting it. 23 is still a very good time, let me remind you that many very good sonic 2 runners have never gotten 23 during IL attempts.
• Chemical Plant 2: I screwed up that big jump because I was supposed to be running instead of rolling. What happened was I usually spindash off those accordion blocks, but not doing that threw me off and so I accidentally pressed down to roll, I tried to come out of it but still pressed down for some stupid reason. Costs me about 3 seconds. I restart probably 90% of my runs at the beginning of this level because of that stupid tails pass through the short route glitch. That is basically why I will accept mistakes in the earlier levels.
• Aquatic 1: Obviously the jump over the log was a little short, I was going to salvage it by jumping back on top of the log but for some reason the button jammed, so I just ran through the log instead. Costs me about 1.5 seconds there, even though it looks like a lot of time lost. I lose way more time missing that jump to the top path at the end, probably almost 3 seconds. This level is probably the hardest early on level along with casino 1, so any time from 23-27 i accept.
• Aquatic 2: Finally hit that stupid ass underwater jump to preserve my speed. Everything else goes pretty well I'd say.
• Casino 1: The only part that I was kind of mad about was losing my speed shoes right before that jump at the end and having to take the bottom route. It wastes about 4 seconds. Its pretty hard to get onto the top route consistently in SS attempts, but its really nice when I do get it.
• Casino 2: I don't know how many people will realize how good this time is, which is a shame. A certain other speedrunner of genesis sonic games has never broken 1:05 in this level doing IL attempts. Hell, my first IL of this level was 1:01, and I spent probably 4 hours getting that. This is probably one of my best executed levels in the run.
• Hill top 1: This level was great up until the end, where I randomly just stop on that ramp. I improvised as well as I could, trying to remember how the end of the level actually worked since I haven't been through the lower part of it in about 6-7 months. I think I improvised well, and even though the game fucked me completely, it only costs me 6 seconds or so.
• Hill top 2: Those rising blocks are timed elements, and its very hard to beat them to the previous cycle if you don't do the level exactly like I do in my IL. Problem is the way I do the beginning in my IL is like a 1/5 type thing. Going to the next cycle on the blocks costs like 4 seconds, but keeps my sanity in tact. The level execution after the timed element is basically flawless, very happy with this.
• Mystic caves 1: The only part that sucks is obviously missing the first jump in the beginning (still looks damn close to landing on that crumbling bridge, I think the game just fucked me over again) and missing the spindash at the end. Both add up to 4 seconds of mistakes, not my best efforts for one of the easiest levels in the game.
• Mystic caves 2: Great level besides the boss fight, not sure how I got hit but missing that 3rd hit definitely couldn't have helped. Costs me probably 2 seconds, I'm really happy with the level besides that though.
• Oil Ocean 1: Again, people will not realize how good this level is. I thought :37 was impossible when i first started doing IL's and got a :39 in this level. There are very small issues, but seriously this level is such a run killer that its great I got such a great time.
• Oil Ocean 2: ^^^^^^^^
• Metropolis 1: Obviously had a few issues with that spring, was about 6 seconds slow by the time I got to the nuts and bolts section. It was made up for by the fact that tails magically came back much faster than usual, and the use of the nut scroll glitch (didn't plan to use this unless I thought the run through the beginning of the level was slow, since it only saves 5 seconds). Again I got fucked over by the spike box magically landing a hit without a spike even in the open, but at least the ending was good after that and I didn't screw up the last spindash.
• Metropolis 2: Again, timed elements here (spike box needs to not have the spike come out on top), so getting hit doesn't waste time. What does kind of waste time is having to wait for the elevator platforms to take me up to the switch, had I gotten there a quarter second earlier I could have avoided the 4 or 5 second wait. This time doesn't look very good compared to IL times, but believe me this is a really really good time for this tough little level.
• Metropolis 3: The make or break level in the run, I had a bunch of runs lost here due to failing/dying while performing the pusher glitch and the nut scroll glitch. Got both on the first try, and the boss battle was pretty optimal. Again I really doubt people will realize how good this time is or how hard this level really is, but this is another one of my best levels. Oh, and the reason I don't do the nut scroll glitch as fast as in metro 1 is because I am always nervous about lining myself up properly. So it costs me 2 seconds, I'm doing a trick that requires 4 frame accuracy and saves 10 seconds, it really doesn't seem like a huge issue to me, but what do I know.
• Sky Chase: boring, I get hit a lot because I haven't played this level in a few months, I don't blame you for skipping the boringness. At least I get a break. Seriously when I start out running, I'm always mad about how long the bonus screens take (way to go fucktards, allowing sub 30 second completions in your levels), but as the game progresses, I start thinking "fuck I have no break between fighting the boss fight to now having to start another level," so its nice to have a snoozefest here.
• Wing Fort: This is about as good a time as you can do in an SS. Why do I lose so much time to a somewhat mediocre IL then? Well, when damaging through the plane propeller, you have to wait in an SS for the platforms to line up correctly, whereas in an IL you can spindash jump and hope for the best. This is where all the time difference in the IL comes from, as the rest of the level is basically the same.
• Death Egg: Easy 51 here. I'm amazed by how many people think I must be really nervous or something on death egg when I've played the level thousands of times. This is way far from the hardest part of the run, yet people still think attacking from the back must be the hardest thing ever in a run.

I really would like to see someone else beat this run, but I doubt anyone will have skill and the motivation to do it besides myself. I really don't know if I even can beat this run though, just because there were so many fortunate levels (oil ocean and metropolis in particular) that are usually huge time add ons. This is definitely the best run I have ever done for SDA though, so I think it will be a good watch.

• Emerald Hill 1: The difference between me getting :19 and :20 with this route is basically spindash speed. If you do the exact same thing as the TAS route (good luck with that), you might get a low :19, but I really doubt :18 is possible.
  
  
• Emerald Hill 2: I've tried taking the bottom route underground to get :36, but the boss battle always seems to take a touch too long without invincibility and I end up with a low :37.
  
  
• Chemical Plant 1: Yes, you can beat that block, but I have only done it a couple of times on console and screwed up the ending every time. If you beat it and get a perfect ending, I'd wager you could get :19. :22 is pretty easy for me, I get it 1 in every 10 times or so, making it the only level I can consistently match my best time on this table.
  
  
• Chemical Plant 2: Just optimized the end a bit, very very close to the second border, I can't tell you how many 40.00001's I had.
  
  
• Aquatic Ruin 1: If I spindash faster at the beginning, I could get :20. The rest of the route is optimal.
  
  
• Aquatic Ruin 2: If I hit that spring and take the top route and get the boss glitch, I could get :37, maybe even :36. I suck at doing this though, and was way too lazy to try and get the boss glitch again (I've only had it happen 15 times at most).
  
  
• Casino Nights 1: The only thing wrong with this level is I cannot find a consistent way to do the ending besides rolling on the flipper like I do. If I jump over the flipper instead, I have such a small margin for error, and things pass by so quickly that 99% of the time I screw it up. Perfect run would be :26. This level isn't too hard, but it does tend to knock you around a bit randomly in certain parts.
  
  
• Casino Nights 2: I know for sure I can get :56, as I've done it with death abuse, but I seriously got sick of either having a slightly slow boss fight (here) or getting like 57.00001. This level is one of my favorites though, and one of the toughest to optimize, so its definitely a good watch.
  
  
• Hill Top 1: This level I am very confident will not be easy to improve. If I glitch through the lava like I did in my 18:54 SS, and glitch underneath the earthquake (i.e. you can spindash-jump into the earthquake area and there is an area where the collision box is not there and you can pass under the ground for a short distance instead of having to break that rock), you might be able to save time, but I really doubt the rest of the level would go as good as mine did. The jump after I take damage and spindash has 1 frame accuracy, which is very fun to try to do correctly..
  
  
• Hill Top 2: As you can see, I finally made it to the previous cycle of the rising blocks. I used to find it very hard to do that, but I get it somewhat consistently now. There really are no long stretches at the beginning to spindash, so it looks kind of slow, but it isn't.
  
  
• Mystic Caves 1: I figured this out and there is a possibility for 10-12 time saving spindashes (most with jumps requiring a lot accuracy following them) in this level. Problem is, all of these spindashes save about a quarter to one half second. So, I got sick of missing a few, and picked a few that I wasn't screwing up as much. Skipping the invincibility and just damaging off the spikes would save another .75-1.00, but honestly I got sick of perfect runs being ruined right at the end, which is the spindash that saves the most time. :29 is probably the best with the routes I have in my head, but this level is a bitch and pretty good at :32.
  
  
• Mystic Caves 2: I think this level is optimal for this route, the TAS route actually wastes more time then it saves for real players.
  
  
• Oil Ocean 1: You can skip all 4 of those pillars by spindashing under the first 2, jumping, and then rolling under the next 2. I skip the first one, rolling under it instead. I don't think this wastes any time at all, and would be highly surprised if anyone ever beats this time. If someone could get the timing down on the jumping at the bottom of the platforms like the TAS does, you could really improve this, but I think that is basically TAS only ground. I'd consider this my hardest IL time to beat.
  
  
• Oil Ocean 2: well, here it is, the reason i was so against OOB on SDA. I don't actually know if this level can be improved, but i'm pretty sure its close to optimal. It doesn't really matter, as the scrolling glitch is so hard to pull off in a run, and the boss battle after is also very hard, but i don't think anyone will ever beat this. Feel free to prove me wrong.
  
  
• Metropolis 1: I'm glad Maur told me to improve this, as it is now one of my best IL's. Very smooth, and I kind of figured out how to manipulate tails somewhat consistently.
  
  
• Metropolis 2: The zip at the start destroys a pretty cool level, so i'd recommend watching the previous IL if you want to see a more skillful route. But getting 14 took me a fair amount of time, because you need to start holding right at a very specific time. There are 2 frames of you can hit to get inside the wall, so yea the odds of hitting those correct frames aren't great. There is another method to do this glitch using the other platform but this one is easier.
  
  
• Metropolis 3: That first spindash through that enemy is stupid hard, but it looks so much cooler then jumping over him (and saves about three quarters of a second). Both collision glitches have about a 5-8 frame window, and the rest of the level went as good as I could hope for while getting both collision glitches on the first try. The second collision glitch is very interesting, in that by using the scroll glitch first, the collision detection on the nut goes away, and if you jump right when it comes back, it forces you down into the area that is supposed to be above you.
  
  
• Wing Fortress: Everything up until the spindash-jump onto the cap before the boss chamber went perfect. I wasted about 4 seconds by missing that, getting a 6-2 instead of 7-1 boss battle, and missing the spindash-jump through the barrier at the end.
  
  
• Death Egg: Finally achieved the impossible, 12 hits on Death Egg before he leaves the ground. I ruled this strategy out for being too difficult after trying for a few hours, then randomly Nate told me to try to get 12 hits on death egg. I tried out this strategy with savestates, and found I was very close. It was like something possessed me, because 20 minutes of recording on console later I recorded this. I then tried for 4 hours to do it again without any luck. This is without a doubt the hardest strategy in any IL to date that I have done. I just wish it was 6 frames faster so that it would be a perfect :42.