About longest path: I see what you mean, sort of. You are not specifically going for most levels. What if there are two possible paths in a level, which leads to the same goal then... will you take the longer one then too?
>See, if you fall off a ledge then float, you maintain the falling speed for a little while.
Yep, I know and I did so in my video (USM1, at the slopes before the spikes). Coming to think of it, there might be one place where I missed to use it. (Nightmare Peaks 2). Chalk up another possible improvement for next warping version.
>I had thought about bouncing off of a crystal in this level then flying the whole rest of the way, but the boost doesn't last nearly long enough to benefit you over the hit in USM1.
What do you mean here: does the extra speed from the bounce wear off after a while, or isn't there enough room to use the boost to make up for taking one less hit in USM1? From what I can see in Nifboy's video, the extra speed didn't wear off by time. Were you spinning when you bounced, or did you start spinning afterwards? Nifboy started spinning exactly as he bounced. (Which also gave a strange graphical bug: he turned into a white cyclone helmet for one frame.) For what I can see, he kept the high speed during the rest of the level. Maybe the fact that he fell onto the enemy from a ledge plays a factor. Hmm...
>The other neat trick can be seen in the first half...watch closely to see how I cross these one-block gaps while running.
Known and used, in the beginning of Diamond Edge. It's also listed on the
Kid Chameleon tricks page (very bottom). Have you read it?
The Cyclone tricks and anomalies are not listed though, somehow that fell of the radar. I'll go ahead and add them after this message.
Also I recorded a GMV of the diamond trick, which my ftp host refuses to upload for some reason. Contact me on icq or via email if you want it. As I expected the delay was 2 frames. Your video exits the level at 44:24, mine with diamond trick at 44:26.
Edit: fixed link