This is great news adelikat, this game severely needed a new FCE Ultra run. Unlike JXQ, I have a lot to say about this.
The 2 player run should obsolete the 1 player run if it is faster. There is no doubt that the two player run is more impressive looking due to increased action on the screen. Synchronizations between the two players are also very cool to see. Now for example, say someone was to complete Contra 3 for the snes using one player but it was slower than the existing Contra 3 two player run, would it be published? Think about it.
About using the Japanese rom, I am mostly for it. The graphical upgrades are very noticeable and the decreased cut scene times help keep the momentum of the movie up. The downside is that most roms used on this site are (U), I don’t think changing a game to the (J) version for speed alone is a good enough reason. And by the way is the Japanese title screen shorter than the American?
Finally I found a way to improve my level one time by 4 frames. 4 frames are a lot when you consider how close to perfection the level has been completed in. To do this you must put your character on the small ledge right next to the level 1 boss. Put him within 1 frame of falling off the ledge. The frame before you lose control of your character, press right. The character will fall and then jump right inside of the building. This saves an incredible 4 frames.
Movie can be found here:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1711/Contra%20%28U%29%20%5B%21%5D%282%29.fcm
Oh and I don’t think picking up more than 1 Rapid fire upgrade does anything. You should test this first, since it looks sloppy to collect something that does not do anything for you.