erm.. i don't know why you did some mistakes.. ? and are you sure what does Real "Tool Assisted Speedrunning" mean... When i watched this movie.. i thinked it's really good.. but when i watched it i didn't like it.. there was so much of mistakes so you must FIX all your mistakes and you must learn more about "Frame Advance" Your run must be near Perfection :)
If the game desych the same as dkc2... Just waring about water level.
easy?? i don't think so, it's hell.
Takes damage to save time? Yes, but when you get smacked down by the large blades, it does a LOT of damage and you need to heal up (slowly) via the tetrad. There's a heart pack you pick up which may justify a single hit, but my gut says that healing up hurts more than it helps.
If I remember correctly, you can move and jump diagonally in ST2 whereas in the original, you were locked to the axis. This may make navigating the dungeons slightly faster when you can avoid fights. That's assuming I remember correctly of course ;)