Thanks to Radix and Nate for all their work on the site, and to Mike Uyama for helping with things during this busyness.

Thanks also to the 'really wonderful people' who helped with this throughout its entirety from the moment I hijacked the thread... that basically extends to Peppyman for consistent supportive comments and general nagging (in a good way), and Galactic for the support, interesting and/or useful tricks and extremely helpful route plans.

This run is several times harder than I first anticipated; my memories of repeatedly traipsing through the game collecting everything with little difficulty are replaced with the hundreds of attempts failed while trying to swerve what is essentially a tank with wings around the various locations. Coupled with the need to smash and break every container/enemy and the disobedience of gems (seeing 499/500 three times in a row on any level is mortifying) meant that every segment pushed me to my limits of persistence and frustration. There are therefore a few more obvious mistakes, but we'll get to those later.

The run (I could have either summarised it or wrote very detailed step-by-step explanations of pretty much everything. I did the latter because it gave me something to do):

• Segment 1
  
  
  • Sunrise Springs
    • this opening gem collection fell apart so often due to falling in streams or missing a gem/box, it was annoying after over a minute of introduction.
    • jumping to the little platform at the side causes Hunter to backtrack, but it's quicker overall because it skips him talking to me.
    • I then skip Zoe's intervention in the cave and collect all I can while in flight. My initial attempts actually missed a green gem at the far end of the cave, which would have been disastrous if I hadn't discovered it then but a few segments onwards.
  • Cloud Spires
    • I skip a conversation just up the first vertical platform by charging immediately, and another one where I glide to a building (which is why I collected the gem so slowly).
    • If I didn't hit any of the enemies first time I would restart because it's still quite early and it leads to all sorts of trouble.
    • I almost charged off the platform where I talk to Zoe, and yes I have screwed up an attempt doing that before...
    • another conversation skip in the sun area, the charging around was good but I accidentally hit a little animal releasing a butterfly, and Sparx won't collect gems for you when he's feeding his face so I had to get it myself.
    • I tried to get the thief in the belfry area while collecting gems, but it's impossible to plan so I just went for whatever seemed best at the time. I'm happy that I got him very soon after collecting all the gems, it can take several times as long depending on my luck.
    • the vortex I use to get to the route with the final gems is only activated when you talk to the final Cloud Spires inhabitant, so I needed to backtrack.
  • Sunrise Springs
    • I now have the 300 gems to release Sheila. I do that now so that I can finish this end of the home world before I progress too far.
  • Sheila's Alp
    • if anything she's harder to control than Spyro; I miss some boxes first time and screw up a jump because of this but it's quickly recovered.
    • at the mushroom houses, the enemies don't give gems but they need to be killed before the goat will progress (who subsequently gives me an egg). There's a blue gem here I missed on my first finished attempt; I almost missed it this time but fortunately spotted it before too late.
  • Sunny Villa
    • I make a big sweeping route through the courtyard to hit all the enemies, but miss some gems since I'll still be here for the next segment.
    • playing with heights this late is no fun, I go one step away from falling off that tall tower before Sheila's area.
    • I hate those ancient military garbed lizard soldier things!! They wait for you to jump up then knock you back before you can possible have a chance to kick. Luckily I only got hit by one out of three possible purveyors of cheap attacks.
    • a bit careful going up the tower, the camera does some funny things.
    • upon exiting the area, that long glide is surprisingly easy to screw up, not nice right at the end. Those thin pillars are nasty too.
    • I don't want to know about the chickens! That sort of thing is not suitable for a 3+ game!
    • the last enemy didn't hit me, woo!
  
  
  
• Segment 2
  
  
  • Sunny Villa
    • last of the gems then on to the skating. I hope you'll agree that this should be at the start of a segment, those lizards can be a pain to catch, especially the ones above the short semi-circular tunnel, and hitting the jumps correctly is hard by itself. My routes are completely different for each egg; the first is focused around collecting gems and purposely includes a wipe-out. The second is focused on speed and also collects any remaining gems, I'd be surprised if someone else has managed a time faster than that. Once I was so elated at finally producing the skating successfully that I forgot those boxed gems I collect before I leave...
  • Sunrise Springs
    • I collect gems... and an egg... not much to see although I pretty much made up the route on the spot and didn't miss anything on those steps which is nice.
  • Molten Crater
    • ergh... the start is awful, I may have been a little hyper. Come to think of it, I could probably have ignored the containers at the start since I return later but I didn't want to forget.
    • the enemies start doing some damage here so I trundle along and pace their demise to avoid death. Hehe, he got trampled...
    • I miss the key, but returning to get it doesn't add too much time due to the positions of the platforms.
    • that glitch into Sgt. Byrd's area is pure awesomeness. Equally awesome is getting in first time. There isn't much to comment on in the actual area, it was good except for that one dropped head and he's fun to fly around.
    • chasing thieves is the bane of my experience with this game, I apologize profusely for the second thief on the super-charged track. Believe it or not I've taken longer to do that before.
  • Sunrise Springs
    • a quick mop around then underwater. Underwater bottles hate me and I hate underwater bottles. It's a mutual understanding we share... but these co-operated for some reason...
  • Mushroom Speedway
    • the time trial is easy, a bit of charging through the dandelions but nothing too daring.
    • the race is a bit boring so I played around and got through all of the boost stars so I can only be happy with that.
    • I'd like to say that I intentionally missed the third egg here so I could do it at the start of another segment and help distribute the easy/hard bits of the game... but in truth I just forgot at the time.
  • Seashell Shore
    • ouch, where'd my health go again? Luckily there was an extra life just through the wall because having no Sparx means being unable to pick up gems from a distance. I'm no good at this extra dimension added by being underwater, but the enemies were dealt with quickly enough.
    • watch me nimbly weave between two bottles in the next water-logged area, it is an act of HATE!
    • failed to skip a Zoe convo just before Sheila, ah well.
    • it's horribly easy to suddenly end up with no health in Sheila's area, or run out of time, but with a little luck it's no problem.
    • the final large underwateryness is done very well, hooray! I usually miss at least one gem so I was checking that just before I proceeded to the end.
    • that opened up a quick route from the start for the following segment, so I'm free to collect an out of the way egg from the surface. Again it's easy to run out of health during the dog(fish?)fight, I played it safe because I needed Sparx for the last gem collection (green is the last colour at which he still follows you).
  
  
  
• Segment 3
  
  
  • Seashell Shore
    • ludicrous objective, the movement is too random to put anywhere but the start of a segment.
  • Buzz's Dungeon
    • I'm not fully certain about how taking damage affects Buzz's actions. Let's just say it's faster to take damage and if anyone asks it's because of a celestial anomaly.
  • Midday Gardens
    • probably should have practiced getting to the next level more... I was glad to get the water tube done first time so manicness is bound to ensue.
  • Icy Peak
    • I was easily at my most nerve-wracked throughout this level, all my practices had ended in falling off or being blown up one too many times or failing to destroy a wall with an exploding box or shot for so long at the same bird without hitting it that I've just keeled over and cried myself to sleep (nah not really). The thieves aren't exactly easy either...
    • It begins alright.
    • after the sub-ice bit it begins spiraling downwards into a bleak abyss where boxes don't break and I take a few seconds too long flaming various enemies (dragons were not made with ice in mind!)
    • just ignore the shooting, I catagorise it under 'FPS' so there was never any way in hell it was going to be any good.
    • blahblahblah
    • thiefy bit was very good! I didn't fall off which makes a nice change, and hopefully some parts look a bit dangerous and exciting...?
  • Midday Gardens
    • lets top off my worst segment by completely ignoring two gems. I'd moved a segment on by then so I had absolutely no desire to re-do it; With hindsight it might have been a good idea...
  
  
  
• Segment 4
  
  
  • Midday Gardens
    • soooo many attempts failed at that thief, too bad it looks so simple.
  • Sgt. Byrd's Base
    • not my best run through this level but the quality varied a lot due to the picky missiles. This is shown in a few places (I got hit by a flowerpot!) but nothing major.
    • flying with bombs is a bit trickier but it didn't cause much worry this time. I drop all of them on a single chest since you lose them when you talk to someone, which I'm forced to do before I need them again.
    • planning a route around the large area was very hard to decide on since I had to compensate for gems falling from balloons and chests. This way I spend all of my time doing something rather than just floating up and down so I reckon it's good. Flew over a gem though...
    • nice and quick through the lava tunnel, ooo bad memories.
  • Midday Gardens
    • I had to adapt my route around here several times because I kept switching my level orders. Backtracking is unavoidable but I tried to minimise it and factor in the fact that I come in and out of levels as well as returning here later on. I didn't need to do the statue egg now, but I needed to get that chest so going out of my way seemed worthwhile.
    • messy getting into the level, I forgot I wasn't lined up with the portal so I just charged into the side instead.
  • Enchanted Towers
    • a bit of unpleasantness near the start, but it picks up! Trust me..! Oh damn and I jumped over the egg too... just completing the segment is a great feat so I'll hear no more of it.
    • ah the skating, I nailed this bit. All the spins first go and beating Hunter while collecting all the gems within the time limit, not too easy.
    • aww, no significant mistakes to comment on. The Sgt. Byrd aspect of the level is retarded in the utmost, the gems get stuck flying through the air and it's taken as long as 4 minutes to receive that final gem. This time it took 15 seconds, I think I can live with that.
  • Midday Gardens
    • I was a bit concerned about a red gem that seemed to go flying off for no apparent reason upon its release from the headbutt-box, but I carried on anyway.
  • Spooky Swamp
    • a little bit overly careful here, there often isn't a way of jumping out the water and being consumed by piranhas is a lot worse than spending an extra few seconds.
    • and then I get put down to a green Sparx, twice! funnnn...
    • I use one of many shortcuts here by jumping in the water; it loses health but cuts out a lot of backtracking.
    • convo skip then wizard! He's very easy, I missed one bomb but it doesn't make much sense as to why, just flukey.
    • Sheila's area of the swamp was as optimal as possible for a Sheila part, you can't go rampaging through then collect all the gems because the 'shrooms spring back up and the rocks are replaced, so I take my time and scoot around to get the last of the gems when I'm done.
  
  
  
• Segment 5
  
  
  • Bamboo Terrace
    • back on form now, messing around at the beginning doesn't matter since I need to wait for the block to be moved anyway.
    • there's a few times I pick up gems in mid-air, this probably caused most restarts because Sparx won't grab them for you if you miss.
    • I kept my speed up by noting which enemy gems I could leave till I had to backtrack. I only slow down at the platforms above the water because the number of times I've jumped straight over the first one is not funny.
    • I got the '?' pot now rather than when I return later since going in the portal resets its position and so I'd have had to do odd things with my routes at a potentially more tricky segment.
    • I also needed to get the thief. If I don't get him on that corner its an instant restart because the only other opportunity to get him I found was when he goes past that corner again.
    • I finished this level with the boat-ride, simply because its so easy that I may as well do it now.
  • Spike's Arena
    • he went well, sometimes I get killed so I'm not bothered by a rock getting destroyed or missing with a blue crystal, the last two hits were speedy anyway.
  • Evening Lake
    • I don't often have Sparx at this point, so I was happy to charge through everything faster than normal. Bentley is needed for the closest level so it makes sense to get him now, after getting a few out of the way bottles.
  • Bentley's Outpost
    • I don't have much to say, I like how he's tall enough to easily catch most gems, and his slow pace is beautifully easy to control. There's only one trick which is hitting a pillar just before a cutscene so it somehow falls all the way down quicker.
    • pushing the boxes that far is necessary otherwise Bartholomew won't follow you. And he still knocked me off the cheeky git!
  • Frozen Altars
    • this level is quite easily apart from one area, so I left it for the next segment.
    • the only problems are the large enemies who need to be frosted prematurely or they'll hit you with their long reach (as demonstrated wonderfully soon into the level), that jump from the top of the ramp that I do twice is easy to screw up this late on, and sometimes I can end up looking like an idiot trying to melt the snowmen, but I didn't do it this time(?)
    • hmmm, Bentley's area is not nice at all. In the second fight I can knock the yeti out late into the second round about 1 in 3 attempts, I would have done so here but my first bout was very unlucky. That's the only thing I could complain about in this segment.
    • killing the mammoths running backwards and forwards in the sunken area is pointless, I realised upon watching it back, but it didn't waste much time. At least I didn't go chasing after any of them.
  
  
  
• Segment 6
  
  
  • Frozen Altars
    • I played a bit defensively through this, if you don't intervene with the opponent he will walk all over you. However I got lucky several times so I'm happy with this.
  • Evening Lake
    • heeheehehehehhhhh......
  • Honey Speedway
    • time trial was fine, not going in the honey when chasing the boats is hard.
    • I'm not too sure what causes you to screw up Hunter's mission. I actually tried a little bit because it's possible to fail.
    • all your boost stars are belong to us.
  • Evening Lake
    • completing another level triggers a cutscene whereby Hunter gets captured. Therefore I didn't do Charmed Ridge (the level straight ahead) now, since I need to speak to him in the level I do next.
  • Lost Fleet
    • there were a couple of 'ahh!' moments; just catching certain jumps, charging into a crab when it could just have easily left me Sparxless later on.
    • sometimes gems get stuck when swimming in the acid for no reason, I managed to spot one doing it on my way to the egg.
    • the skating isn't that bad this time, 6 laps is plenty of opportunity to collect all the gems. Some interesting tactics there, I've surprised myself.
    • Hunter got mushed in the second race, but there were some wipe-outs caused by the dodgy jump-button delay-timing on ramp thing.
    • the area shortly after the skating is so hectic, I always miss a gem But Not This time Woo!
    • more shooting, it's just like in Icy Peak except the missiles arch for extra difficulty, if you know what's good for you you'll skip ahead a bit...
    • there's an enemy just outside the shark's mouth area, huh???
    • the first sub-battle is very well done *except the last one!!* They get stuck in tunnels due to their understandably limited but unquestionably crappy AI.
    • the second battle suffers a similar fate, I swear it just disappeared for about 20 seconds. Ah well, it was worth it to watch the 6th sub destroy itself with its own bomb! (^_^)
    • my route for gem collecting was pretty damn good I think, close too. Watch as I swim straight past a gem (and almost a second) without it moving a inch. Sparx needs a slap.
    • the last gem is bizarrely outside in an enemy I must have flamed because I clearly have the ones from the smaller enemies. This was the only level where I got all the gems and wasn't relieved, I was shocked.
  • Evening Lake
    • most of the remaining gems are gathered, and my apparent hesitation before the power-up gate is simply to avoid talking to Zoe.
  • Charmed Ridge
    • I've come to the conclusion that I'm crazy for doing this level now, considering how much trouble I have with it. It's fairly self-explanatory and I did well so just enjoy.
    • the 'Jack and the Beanstalk' parody is one big headache with those uncooperative seeds, and the bounciness is hard to control. Didn't screw up much at all though, and where I did was mostly out of my control.
    • holy hell I lost Sparx pretty quickly at the end there, it's okay, I'm a mad person!
  
  
  
• Segment 7
  
  
  • Charmed Ridge
    • failed attempts were rampant here, I only get hit once in Sgt. Byrd's area but I can easily get hit two, three or four times with the same tactic.
    • the jump from the bridge is evil, I kill the enemy to give me time to jump and to stop the camera from spinning crazily.
    • getting on the middle platform also requires a lot of dexterity, it must be moving towards you or it'll just push you off. Jumping from there to the '?' pot is also tricksy.
    • finally the jump to the beginning island can lead to you getting stuck and forced downwards for no apparent reason half the time.
  • Evening Lake
    • I appreciate the Jonah reference. I didn't actually plan the whale, so it was fortunate to be just outside the level and it spat me out in a good place to get the few remaining underwater gems.
  • Fireworks Factory
    • takes a lot of effort to do even vaguely well here; I planned it quite carefully to anticipate the crazy ninja movements and made up for the inevitable mistakes. Some ninjas have no gems so I ignore those.
    • the two large enemies on the bridge (after the Matrix jump) are troublesome, you can't walk around them till they lose attention so you need to time it right. Usually I'd just fling rockets off but this time I used common sense and it was much faster!
    • one gem always gets launched off the edge when you blow up that box, so I caught it because that amount of travelling is unacceptible.
    • there's a portal oddly several times longer than the rest, don't scare me like that!
    • and a ninja in the lava... it's worth it for that nice airbourne attack.
    • this area actually went sporadically well, I can lose as much as all my health throughout and I didn't get hit once, and a ninja got shot! Woo, this segment has everything...
    • unfortunately had to skip an awesome Matrix style cutscene.
    • the dragons were fine, they do regenerate so I focus on one at a time, and they don't have a consistent pattern so it all hangs on how well I can predict them. A bit rough in places, the first had some confusing apparent disappearing acts but at least the head went quickish and I got some lucky hits. Purple dragon got annihilated by comparison.
  • Evening Lake
    • this segment really does have everything, I got stuck to the floor then stuck in the launch pad, 'nooooooo... wha? oh, cool...'
  • Scorch's Pit
    • this fight went extremely well, not once were there eggs with crazed things riding exploding boxes or big fire monsters, I just slowly hammered away and only missed one proper attacking opportunity.
  • Crawdad Farm
    • since I'm right next to the rocket it's as good a time as any to get the Sparx worlds done. They must be done in order so here we are.
    • the introductory stage is quite frankly appalling. It shouldn't take that long to charge the beetle. It has just occurred to me that you could probably shoot it and it might flinch so you could catch up, I guess we'll never know... or care...
    • the actual level was great, I'm very happy with my route and Sparx isn't the easiest thing to control so some of those close-call maneouvres are brilliant, yay positiveness!
    • I didn't expect the boss to follow you when he's busy exploding, well... he does!
  • Midday Gardens
    • *sigh* there's the continued affect of the horrible segment 3.
  • Bamboo Terrace
    • caaarefully over those platforms.
    • Bentley may be too slow sometimes, I was a bit worried by Sparx sudden colour change. I could have very easily gotten a life butterfly and been brought back to full health, but I thought it'd look a bit too weedy. Then I lost him at the end *sheepish grin*
    • never had a problem getting onto the ledge at the top before, meh.
  • Country Speedway
    • I wasn't brave enough to try anything else this segment, Hunter's mission is almost impossible to screw up what with the homing laser (....); still if I had messed it up it would've been hilarious in an utterly despairing sort of way.
  
  
  
• Segment 8
  
  
  • Country Speedway
    • I sometimes miss a tractor or a french cow so I did the time trial first.
    • mmmmmm, while watching this back by complete coincidence I was simultaneously listening to 'We Are All Made Of Stars' by Moby, such a strong feeling of well-being and abstract joy... anyway! This was the only time I've ever managed to go through all of the boost stars I intended to go through, huzzah!
  • Spider Town
    • mostly spot-on enemy avoidance. Even when things started going wrong it was handled well. It's so easy to just absorb a huge string of spiders and die, but I didn't even come close this time.
    • the boss was better than I could have hoped for too.
  • Starfish Reef
    • next Sparx level, certainly easier than the last. Most doors will only open when the enemies have been killed so it's quite linear (a very good thing!).
    • got stuck on an eel at one point, that was quite scary, I thought it'd die faster. Luckily health is abundant and not needed too much.
    • the boss was very hard originally, he fires painful homing bombs rapidly, and has a tendancy to crash into me. Once I'd found a way of letting him swerve around while keeping his back to me it was like walking on cake. Or using cake to walk, possibly as a sort of footwear, I've never understood it.
    • is it just me or does that dragon have really cruel parents?
  • Midnight Mountain
    • Bianca is on the side of good and therefore has a new outfit. Say no more, say no more! (is it just me or has this commentary got less and less informative as my minds slowly turned to jelly?)
  • Crystal Islands
    • all octopi must die... preferably quicker than that one.
    • the wizards only create their platforms / vortexes for a brief period of time, so I clear all the gems and enemies before I talk to them.
    • a bit disorientated in the second water area, but at least the octopusesessei died faster.
    • the headbash was an accident, I knew it wouldn't kill the crystal monster.
    • I don't know why I even try, if you don't get the floating squirrels first time they'll just hit you, I'm extremely lucky I didn't die there.
    • now then, the slide was one of the more worrying parts of the segment. Don't be fooled by the run, it's very easy to fall off. It's also impossible (for me) to get all the gems in one go. Just before I get the egg I use a Sparx ability picked up from Spider Town that causes him to locate the nearest gem in the area. That's how I knew I'd need to re-enter.
    • my second time I was going to go all the way down again, but I fell off completely by accident. By some incredible stroke of fortune I'd picked up all the gems by then so I could just leave. I couldn't say how much time that saved but it would have been quite a bit, especially if I'd missed some gems further down the slide.
    • so I entered Bentley's area shaking; whack-a-mole usually takes me an average of three attempts to succeed in simply due to the wide range of the club which often hits one of the wizards. But this was done first time and was a personal best to boot! Couldn't be happier with that!
    • the rest is some easy flying, still possible to crash and burn here but I didn't so I won't dwell any further.
  • Midnight Mountain
    • was a bit elated here so I fumbled the entry to the next level, no big time waster though.
  
  
  
• Segment 9
  
  
  • Desert Ruins
    • this segment took a while, but this level is quite fun so I didn't mind too much. At the start you can't slow down at all or you'll be out of synch with the heated metal floors (which are fine to walk on as long as the enemy is destroyed). Even so, my attempts varied between not being hit once to getting knocked down to a green Sparx twice (like this one)!
    • Sheila's area is a good one, it's very evident that she can't jump immediately after kicking, I fell in the sludge once which is a bit sloppy on my behalf. But everything difficult was done right so no worries.
    • cheating death is fun, and the wall was worrying because it's easy to lose just one life and then I won't be able to collect the gems in the next section.
    • manta ray could have been better, I initially had a route around the sharks planned but that always fell to pieces when I actually tried to do it.
    • everything else was fine. Tara's been raiding tombs... I don't know whether I should laugh or cry.
  • Midnight Mountain
    • blah! It's not even difficult to smash those containers. It's just one of those things where you carry on in the hope that you'll make up for it at a far harder part later on.
  • Sorceress's Lair
    • I'm just grateful her attacks are so easy to dodge generally. But she's annoyingly good at dodging too, so some of the near-misses are quite painful. If she hits you when on a vehicle it disappears so I wait at certain points to avoid this.
    • the ufos make or break this fight. I only got knocked off once so that's good enough for me to continue. *hates ufos*
    • since I'm not being transported to another home world I just exit the level. This skips Spyro walking and disappearing through a vortex as well as numerous cutscenes and the credits.
  • Bugbot Factory
    • last Sparx world, it was the best route decision I could find and it also leaves me with the ability to break boxes from a distance, finally!
    • the level itself is fine. The only vaguely hard aspect are the key-holding beetles but I caught all of them before they started doing annoying avoidance things.
    • the boss is just... disappointingly easy. Believe it or not it does have an attack.
  • Midnight Mountain
    • ahh, Moneybags. It's the most satisfying thing in any of the Spyro games (and I got to do it repeatedly, lucky me!).
    • the egg which the thief had it just sitting there once the Sorceress is defeated so I grab that and another and a box which I couldn't have possibly missed and head to the final new character. Since Moneybags is out of business I can go straight in without waiting for a cutscene.
  • Agent 9's Lab
    • trotting along perfectly happy then I get horriby minced by the same rynoc three times, and he calls himself a monkey. He couldn't climb a tree if it was lying on the ground.
    • the dragon after the birds has a name which sounds like a noise someone'd make if they were throwing up...
    • when I get the egg from the boats it says 'You already have this egg'. I have no idea why, and it's a blatant lie because my egg count goes up and everything...
    • I'm not talking about the actual level because the rest is a matter of remembering where the balloons are and not getting killed trying to throw crazy explody things with no blast radius.
  • Midnight Mountain
    • I get an out of the way egg since I'm warping now (ability gained from final Sparx world).
  
  
  
• Segment 10
  
  
  • Mushroom Speedway
    • there we go, you can see how hard it is to hit sometimes and how close a ufo shot went to me, so I put it at the start of the segment. It isn't my best ever attempt but it's decent.
  • Fireworks Factory
    • ooookay! This is real FPS, and it's not a very good rendition so something hard enough for me already is made harder. The number of tries I made at this is not funny, and strafe-running-whateveryacallit is not easy as it uses the shoulder buttons, but at least I tried!
    • I get the power-up gun obviously; without it the run would end here. It's also a skill point so I get a life-butterfly (full health).
    • the ninjas spawn from boxes, but they don't from the first set once you've gotten the first egg. So it makes sense to run straight through and collect everything on the way back. I finished the first part with full health which is a rarity, and I finished the second part with health which is rarer still.
  • Haunted Tomb
    • it's hard but I actually quite like this level, some interesting stuff here.
    • the timing on some of the doors is a bit tricky to fit in all the gem collection, forgive any excess time I take setting myself up.
    • the first ball-flinging golem usually causes some trouble but not this time so much.
    • and I position myself so that a golem destroys a sarcophagus itself, very sleek.
    • and even the falling rock areas went well; I could give you nightmares with some of the stories I have about this level, but I'll save it.
    • Agent 9's area is easy. Rebounding lasers own, skirting the edges to destroy the spawing containers and whatnot, no problem. Bit closer than normal though...
    • finishing with the slide is pure craziness. I had a very nice segment that failed at the last possible moment, I slid straight past the egg and off the edge... no fun at all!
  
  
  
• Segment 11
  
  
  • Haunted Tomb
    • couldn't really avoid putting the tank section at the start of a segment. Even with practice I got regularly killed.
    • my tactic is to get to the far ends and ignore the tanks in the middle, so you can strafe and shoot while they are no longer hiding behind the pots. Still get low on health though...
  • Dino Mines
    • this is really the first time I use the 'enemies only attack you if you're looking at them' aspect of the game. If the green dinos start shooting, you're gonna get hit. The blue dinos aren't much nicer.
    • seahorses are almost as bad as the octoperuseruses, I had some luck with them though to compensate.
    • it continues like that until I eventually run out of dragonfly. Usually I'd get the final egg then do the rest of it but I would have wasted time picking up gems myself. So I do the swimming and Agent 9 parts first because with Agent 9 your health is automatically restored to gold.
    • the flooded mine is no where near as hard as its similar Seashell Shore counterpart back in segment 3. Well you can see for yourself.
    • I completed the rail-shooter part by reading the locations of the dinos off a piece of paper. It must have worked because I didn't get hit once. I've died there with similar ease so I've no idea how that happened!
  • Harbo(u)r Speedway
    • the race is a bit odd, I've completed it with almost the same time two seperate times and on one I won and on the other I lost. So I decided it was more focused on how much you slowed the competitors down than how fast you went. So I grab the missiles whenever I can because screwing it up on a technicality is very frustrating. Incidentally I GOT THROUGH ALL THE STARS!!! yayz4me
    • Hunter's mission again is easy enough to tag on the end of the segment, I can mostly wing it and succeed but I memorized some of the route anyway just in case.
  
  
  
• Segment 12
  
  
  • Harbo(u)r Speedway
    • here's where it gets somewhat more difficult. I originally planned on splitting this segment but that'd be no fun, instead the shortest one was possibly the hardest due to this time trial and the skating later on, not to mention the final battle.
    • it would be reasonable to say that about 99% of attempts failed here. Not just because of that last fish-in-a-boat but I managed to crash into cliffs and arches and you name it I crashed into it. I also wouldn't continue unless I had a time under a minute. This was one of my better attempts too!
  • Midnight Mountain
    • last gem here before the bonus round, I thought getting it now looked quite stylish myself...
  • Super Bonus Round
    • the thieves here are easier than most, which explains how all of them went according to plan. Believe me I got enough practice...
    • thankfully the sub area has no loose gems. This didn't go as well as some though, there are two toublesome subs that don't give you enough time to track them. One messed around with me for a bit until I did something else. Then the same one messed around at the end until I got it.
    • now for the race! The crux of the segment! Where the future of humanity hangs or something like that! There's a tricky jump within the first 15 seconds that screws everything up if I fail it. The rest isn't as bad as long as I get my charge bar filled without accidentally launching myself off the side, but victory is not guaranteed even by abusing a glitch three times in a row. Getting knocked off the board for no reason by a crab and a slope is not good for the nerves but I won (surprisingly comfortably) so nothing else matters.
    • due to the route taken there are still gems to collect, so I go backwards around the track and scoop them up. I've messed up my run plenty of times on that little bit so it's by no means a break from the terrifying race.
    • Galactic in all his wisdom said that it was possible to retrieve all the gems while coming first in the race without explaining how to do so. I can't begin to see a way to do that so I didn't waste any time trying. Erm, thanks anyway!
    • the UFOs went well, some luck involved but I kept it consistent. I like how the final one looks sort of as if I knew it was there all along, when in fact it was pure fluke!
    • at the final battle so soon? It's a bit anti-climactic if you ask me. It just proves that when I really need to pull it out the bag I can. My attacks... just keep on hitting her! It makes no sense at all! This is by far my best ever attempt ever, what a nice way to end the run!

Unfortunately the secret cutscene is crap. The credits are fairly nice though, and the money-shot right at the end there... Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoyed it! (pretending segment 3 never happened of course)