This run was completed under the following conditions:

Technical Information:

• This TAS is comparatively easier to produce than many other games because it mainly uses three buttons: the Left and Right D-pad to control the Vaus, and the Circle button to launch the ball and fire lasers when the Laser power-up is active. Holding the X (or Square) button while moving left or right slightly increases movement speed, which is useful for catching two balls that are relatively far apart. The X button also subtly shifts the Vaus’s position, allowing for more variation in ball angles.
• Aside from a few visible power-up bricks that appear in certain rounds, each round has a hidden power-up stack. When a normal brick containing a power-up is destroyed, the first power-up in the stack appears. Destroying another power-up brick anywhere on the screen releases the second power-up, and so on until the stack is exhausted. For example, if D (Disperse) is the third power-up in the stack, three power-up bricks must be destroyed. I usually target the most easily accessible bricks to spawn power-ups faster. However, only two power-ups can be visible on screen at once. Destroying additional power-up bricks while two power-ups are already visible wastes the opportunity to spawn the next one in the stack.
• At this point, I have completed this TAS three times across two different systems and two different versions of BizHawk. For some reason, the locations of bricks containing power-ups are always fixed. As a result, I optimize this TAS by reviewing recordings of previous runs, noting where power-up bricks appear, and destroying them as quickly as possible. In fact, the aforementioned 'hidden power-up stack' is also fixed for almost all rounds. If at Round 9, the first two destroyed power-up bricks spawned M and D, then it would still spawn M and D in any other runs. I only notice two rounds where the power-ups are generated randomly: Round 33 and 40.
• The game appears to contain frequent "lag frames," occurring every few frames and lasting either one or four frames. In TAStudio, these frames are marked by red lines instead of green, and no inputs can be registered during them. There are many instances where input would ideally occur on these frames, but must instead be delayed until the lag ends. Technically, some rounds could be cleared one or two frames faster if no lag were present.
• Although rare, there are situations where I intentionally delay firing the first ball. Destroying enemies that appear at the top of the screen causes the ball to bounce randomly, and delaying the initial input can sometimes result in a more favorable angle that leads to a faster clear.
• As mentioned earlier, the D (Disperse) power-up splits the ball into eight. I usually manipulate the ball so that it is positioned at the far edge of the Vaus or about to strike a large cluster of bricks—especially silver bricks—so they can be destroyed more efficiently after the split. The G (Giga) power-up functions as a larger version of M (Meteor), and when both appear, I prioritize Giga whenever possible. The L (Laser) power-up allows only two pair of lasers on screen at a time; another laser can be fired only after the previous one hits a brick or enemy. Lasers can be fired even during the Vaus henshin animation, starting from the very first frame after the power-up is collected.
• Although this TAS improves the overall time by four minutes, there are individual rounds that finish slower than in previous runs. Because a different speed setting is used (Speed = 6 instead of 8), some of the fastest strategies from earlier TAS attempts cannot be replicated exactly.

Round Summary

• Frame Start is pointed at the very first frame where the ball can be launched.
• Round Length is calculated between the Frame Start of this round and the next round.
• Power Up displays the necessary power-up(s) to beat the round.
• Improvement measures the frames saved if compared with the previous TAS. Negative number means the time is lost instead.

Commentary of Noteworthy Rounds:

Future Improvements

• As mentioned earlier, playing at a lower speed—especially "Very Slow" (Speed = 1)—allows for more precise angle manipulation and may lead to better results. However, gameplay at the slowest speed may be less entertaining to watch compared to runs at maximum speed.
• With additional experimentation, it may be possible to completely avoid inputs during lag frames. This would likely reduce clear times by several frames across multiple rounds.
• I still do not fully understand how the in-game time is calculated, but the full recording—from the PlayStation logo to the name screen after the ending—runs for approximately 28 minutes. By splicing the previous best rounds where I lost time in this run, they itself would save 1,017 frames - about 17 seconds. With further optimization, I believe at least one more minute could be shaved off the total time.