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My estimate for a speed run of this game has gone down from 14 minutes, to 5 minutes, to 3:30 minutes, and I now conclude it with a 1:41 minute run. That's some pretty awesome progression :-)

This speed run clearly makes use of major skips. Halfway through the first level, I damage boost onto a van, which teleports me to stage 5-4. Interestingly enough, this trick produces a different result when you play the game on Easy, as it then only teleports you to 5-2.

A trick I use practically everywhere is 'Ninja Rope Cancelling'. This trick involves me using Batman's ninja rope right before I touch the ground, to cancel his landing animation. Throughout the entire run, this probably saves me about a second or two.

With the exception of the first Batman symbol on 1-1 and the final boss, my only reason for attacking enemies or collecting items is to reduce lag. Once a certain number of sprites has come by (including those that are off-screen again), the game starts lagging a bit. Stage 1-1 actually has more enemies in it on Easy than on Hard, making a Hard mode even quicker in comparison.

During stage 5-4, there is a short section where I wait for roughly 1.5-2 seconds for a platform to go down a bit. I tried swinging off that platform with my ninja rope numerous times, but this proved to be slower, as it became impossible to do a good ninja rope swing off the second platform. Another alternative route is to simply jump off the block and glide to the other side, avoiding the platforms altogether. Though this is the easiest way to get across, it is far from the quickest. There are numerous sprites on the other side of this waterfall, at least two of which have to be destroyed to reduce game lag. The lowest platform only has one destructible sprite, and puts the player in a bit of an awkward location, as it becomes difficult to reach the end quickly (partly due to a 'crazy woman' spawning behind you and killing you instantly). The central section allows me to kill the enemy, reducing the lag quite substantially.

The final boss fight consists of three phases. During the first phase, it is quite easy to hit the boss with the ninja rope. Notice that I waited briefly before striking him a 4th time. If one hits the boss at the correct frame, he will spawn very favourably during the second phase, allowing me to get a 2-round second phase, rather than (possibly) requiring three rounds. During this second phase, I manage to hit the boss twice on his first pass, and nearly even struck him a third time. This third strike would not have killed the boss (I've tested it, and he always required a 4th hit afterwards), so no time was lost there. The final phase of the fight is simplified greatly by simply standing behind the boss. It is very easy to miss the ninja rope attacks, and I have lost numerous runs to this final phase.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the result and am currently submitting this run to SDA, where it will sit in verification hell forever (as nobody else has ever played this game).