Emulator used: FCEU 0.98.12 blip-win, NTSC, no weird settings.
Uses warps, but not passwords. I might consider doing a warpless version if there's enough interest, but it would almost certainly be well over an hour so I'm not sure it's worth doing.
I take hits to save time in a handful of places, by bouncing off of walls for momentum. Not all that much, though. Also at one point I destroy my pod to go through a wormhole in the spacesuit, which saves a lot of time. This isn't really a case of using death as a shortcut, in my opinion, but others might see it differently. No use of glitches.
Aims for fastest time.
This is a pretty anticipated movie so I assume most people are at least somewhat familiar with Solar Jetman. I'm one of what must be a fairly small number of people to beat this game on the actual console, and it's a favorite of mine. Briefly, it's a space exploration game where the main struggle is dealing with the game's physics and flying your pod accurately. You fly around collecting fuel for your ship, as well as pieces of the Golden Warpship, which is eventually used in the final scene. It's also a game that's a little bit weird to timeattack, because the action is just inherently less crisp than some other games, so even when something is done really, really well it doesn't always have a look that screams perfection. In addition, there are some areas that just aren't that exciting. That said, I think that my piloting in this run is excellent. I use some nice tricks with the tow line in a few spots, take corners quite well throughout, and deal very well with enemies.
Oh, one other thing to note: the bonus stages. I get all the diamonds in the first (using the pod without boosters, which is very hard) and then don't collect any in the remaining bonus stages. I don't need the money, and avoiding the diamonds counting up saves a bit of time. Actually, it's just a few frames, since it hangs on that screen for a while no matter what, but time is time. As a result I kind of fly around like an idiot in the other bonus stages. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing thing, but whatever.
My route through the game is 1 -> 2 -> 3 -warp-> 7 -> 8 -warp-> 13 -> 12 -> End.
I'll briefly describe what to watch for in each level.
1: Short, but because I don't have the boosters yet the pod is very difficult to control and when I'm dragging the fuel I'm largely at the mercy of my own momentum. My flying is nowhere near as smooth on this level as it is the rest of the way, but it can't really be helped.
2: Once I grab the boosters I'm in good shape. A nice tow line trick on the last fuel cell too. I also get past the gravity orbs rather nicely at the end.
3: Nothing really here, I'm just going to the warp point.
7: If you've seen the WIP of this game that was posted in the forums by someone else, you'll be very impressed with how well I rip through this level. Those green things take a lot of damage -- a time bomb plus a few regular shots, but they don't slow me down. The trick is to release a time bomb such that it makes contact with the enemy, this makes the bomb explode immediately. It works like a charm, as you can see.
8: Again just flying to a warp. Dullsville.
13: The planet name (Urownd) tells you everything you need to know about this level. It's a secret level that bypasses a great deal of the game. I use a nice trick with the tow line to drop the fuel in the wormholes here. The item pushes behind me as I pass it if I time it right, so I don't have to fly as high and hit the wall. I use the time bomb trick again here in a few places. The armored green thing can't be hit from the front, so that's why I squeeze past and bump the wall there.
12: A very long level, with ridiculous gravity. I buy the smart bombs in order to get past a barrier later on. You can barely see them explode on the right side of the screen as I'm carrying the second fuel cell. I kind of regret not waiting longer to hit this so it would be clearer what's going on. After the final cell, I ditch the pod because when in the spacesuit the wormhole drops me back at the main ship, which saves a lot of time. After that, it gets tedious for a while as I fly through the very lengthy water section and maze. The ship part room is fun though.
End: The first part is an autoscrolling section, there's nothing I can do to speed it up. I try to keep it somewhat interesting but there's not really much to be done. The last boss goes down smooth and easy. The second eye from the bottom is the toughest because you can't get in as close, but I still take care of it quite efficiently.
Bisqwit: Processing.
Oh and regarding the bonus stages - I support
your decision on how you played them.
