Submission #2169: upthorn's Genesis Sonic 3 & Knuckles in 02:38.15

I feel kind of bad for doing this, but I couldn't sleep last night, and nineko's submission sparked my curiousity about what an optimized run of the competition levels would look like...

I suspect that Chrome Gadget, Desert Palace, and Endless mine can go lower, but I'd prefer to focus my efforts on something more substantial.

Edit: Indeed, every level can go substantially lower, and it seems as though there has already been some effort made towards that, so I am cancelling this run.