Right at the start you can do a Cage Skip (the skip is named after this level, but can be used elsewhere), allowing you to skip almost the entire level in Any%
You can do a front flip here to maintain momentum through the dialogue (verify if this actually saves time, and where else it can be applied)
It’s a bit tight, but you can actually directly stomp on the Smash Box in the green Gem cave (video)
When grabbing the green Gem and DAing back to the Save Gong, you have two options:
- grab the heart during the fade-out
- slow, but easy and you get a heart
- video
- grab the green gem during the fade-out
- fast, but you don’t get a heart and you risk missing the gem
- video
You can OoB here like so, fwiw (is this geometry elsewhere? could come in handy for a DA)
You are able to jump the gap around this tree (like in Thief), but in Max% there is a Crystal box you need to grab on the other side.
This seems like a pretty good strat for the blue Gem (wait maybe you can just front flip straight onto the box, maybe that’s faster?)
You can skip the Rope in the Golden Gobbo room with a front flip (video)
You can Gummi Buffer out the final Door with a purple Gummi Jump, but it is a little tricky; kinda like threading a needle. There is a bit of a setup, though: walk straight off the edge (facing towards where the blue Gem was), bounce off the right side of the Gummi, then just hold straight towards the right side of the door (like so)
(rework this paragraph now that you added the one above) In Max%, when returning to the cage after grabbing the Golden Gobbo in the final cave: you can use a purple Gummi, which gives a massive horizontal speed boost, and Gummi Buffer out the door. Perhaps gummi buffering into the golden gobbo room could save time as well??