I decided to make a TAS of the game, and in the process of making it I discovered some brand new glitches and skips. It turns out that a sub 3:15 is possible in this game, although a time like that is definitely humanly impossible due to the precise mashing and gameplay necessary to achieve it.

Anyways, here is what I discovered:

1.) Checkpoint Warps

If you reset right before you collect a checkpoint, you can respawn at that checkpoint and get teleported forwards a tiny distance. This usually saves 5 frames, but it varies from checkpoint to checkpoint. For some checkpoints, it saves no time or is even slower. The key to saving time with this tech is to time your reset so that you collect the checkpoint at the same time that the screen completely fades out. This is very minor tech, but there are so many checkpoints throughout the game that it adds up to saving a few seconds, and it's not too hard to do if you have good visual cues for where to reset

2.) Glitched Ground Pounds

I actually discovered this glitch a very long time ago, but didn't think it was that useful until I made the TAS. If you hold up to slow fall and down to ground pound at the same time, you can charge up a ground pound and break blocks, but you fall at the normal slow-falling speed. You can use this to skip climbing all the way up the ladder after you get the third orb, and you can skip riding the wind in the following section too. You can also use this tech to make the cycle skip easier in the moving platforms room.

3.) Cutscene Skips

This sounds like a huge deal but it actually doesn't save very much time and probably isn't worth going for in a speedrun. I found a way to regain control of the player during the cutscene that plays after you collect an orb. It involves respawning at a checkpoint, so it only saves time for the first and last orb. The way it works is you reset right before you collect the orb, and you press space to stop the shaking effect thing. When you respawn, press space or enter to immediately save the game at the checkpoint you respawned at, and when you close the textbox you'll be able to move again. This doesn't stop the dialogue from popping up, but you have a few frames to make progress when you'd normally be frozen.

4.) Moving While Textboxes Are Active

I haven't tested this glitch very much, but for some reason it doesn't work if you try to do it with the first orb. It saves time with the last orb, but it only saves 4 frames and is kind of tricky. I don't recommend going for it. The setup starts out the same as the regular cutscene skip, except after you regain control, you move to the side of the checkpoint and then save the game again. Make sure not to close the textbox! The game will try to start the dialogue, but since you already have a textbox open it won't work. You can close the checkpoint's text after a little bit and then you can continue playing the game while there's dialogue on screen.

5.) Hovering

I'm pretty sure you guys probably know about this already, but if you land on the ground while slow falling, you can actually float one pixel off of the ground as long as you keep holding the up arrow and you stay on flat ground. If you maintain the hover, you can climb up ladders one frame faster, so it's a good idea to use hovers when possible.

Here's a video of the TAS, I hope you enjoy!

You can also read my comments about the TAS here: https://tasvideos.org/8840S