My instinct is to say it goes against the spirit of the run...but the category as it is now seems to be more of "intended gameplay". So would doing level 4 first be simple different "routing" of the game? I could see that argument.

The ONLY difference in time is the level choice menuing, since you always start on level 1 in the game menu. Therefore, if one starts on level 4, you save the menu time scrolling to level 4. Very minor considering the RNG in the game.

I am not opposed to letting the runner choose the order of the levels, but how does that also fit with the other Fisher-Price NES games...could we consider to get ALL of them to have level order choice? They are all quite similar in their construct and, at least definitely in Perfect Fit, have similar emphasis on RNG.