In case anyone is interested in running this wonderful (?) game, I wanted to provide a few pointers. This is by no means comprehensive, and I may add to this guide in the future.
- Interactions, O vs △
When interacting with certain objects/characters, you usually have a choice between pressing triangle or circle. Performing actions such as tagging a baby in Chuckie's Glasses, flipping the switch to end Aisle 7, or starting a level in the Pickles' House are examples. Pressing triangle is slower than circle, as an animation of the playable character using their arms will occur. Circle interacts with the object/character immediately.
- Jumping
This is probably the most interesting control aspect of the game. You can do a light jump by tapping x, or a longer jump by holding x. You can also jump in every cardinal direction (N, S, W, E) and intermediate directions (NW, NE, SW, SE). You can also rock your thumb on the d-pad/analog to increase the distance/drift of the jump. This is most apparent with Spike since his character model is much larger in comparison to the babies.
Due to the mechanics of the jumping, you can do a single jump down the staircases in the Pickles' House. Jumping will trigger load/level transitions, which may be faster in certain cases. It is worthwhile to jump when you have to take a step down in levels. There's an animation either way, so might as well cover more distance, right?
- Camera
You'll be fighting the camera at times when playing this game. You can recenter the camera by pressing R1. This will recenter in whatever direction the playable character is looking UNLESS you are too close to a wall. In that case, it will recenter looking at the wall (not good).The camera pans are rarely useful. L2 pans left and R2 pans right. If you want to search a room without re-centering, You could use those pans. The pans are probably most useful in Mirrorland, Egg Hunt or Chuckie's Glasses. L1 pans up, which you should never do.
- Walking
Don't forget that you can hold square to walk! This is useful when you want to avoid bonking on an object/wall, or to avoid falling down on a slippery surface (e.g. Aisle 7).
- Training Level
The Reptar Bars you collect here do count toward your Bar Count during a run. Collect 15 bars and you will gain a puzzle piece. If you are new to Any% and want some easy bars, starting with the Training level isn't a bad idea. Just remember that the timer starts when you select Training from the main menu. You can press x to skip the tutorial text that pops up during the level. Note: You don't need to collect bars for All Levels, so do not bother with Training.
- Chuckie's Glasses
There are a lot of possible hiding spots, most of them are not good for speed. Multiple babies can hide in the same room, for example BubblesDelFuego had two babies hide in the Garage in his Any% run. While I haven't documented all possible spots (honestly I seem to find a new one every play session), there's at least 23 (edit: could be 40+?). Polah Buhr has said to see some spots only on emulator. The only okay baby spawns on the second floor are in the guest bedroom and the Parents' room (can be in the room or the closet) next to the stairs. Just thank your lucky stars they decided not to include the basement in this level.
http://www.speedrun.com/rsfr/guide/xuefg Lucas discovered a manipulation for this level!
- Visitors from Outer Space
You can zap Reptar Bars and cookies with the remote to pick them up. During the elevator portion, you can jump off/walk off the elevator before it reaches the floor. There is an optimal point to do so. If you go too early, Angelica will hit an invisible wall.
- No More Cookies/Touchdown Tommy
Phil and Lil eat and drink the fastest. Tommy is slower; Chuckie is the slowest.
