Saving Time + Optimal Routing & General Tips

# **Skipping Cutscenes**

You can skip the beginning cutscene by choosing 'Load Game' instead of 'New Game' and choosing an empty slot. This will place you on the right side of Earth in your spaceship. You can also click 'New Game', wait for the cutscene to start, then close the game with Task Manager and reopen it. This will achieve the same effect of placing you in your ship on the right side of Earth when you load your save.

You can skip the 'Meanwhile on Planet Sluggeen' cutscene that plays after leaving each planet by closing the game with Task Manager as soon as the cutscene starts playing, then reopening the game and loading your save. This places you in your ship on the right side of the planet. Ideally you would do this after every planet. Having a 2nd monitor with Task Manager and Steam open on it for example makes this very quick and easy

These cutscenes are pretty short, but the time saved from skipping them is significant if you can close and reopen the game quickly.

**NOTE FOR STEAM USERS** - Do not close the game using the Escape key - Steam will continue to say the game is running for a few minutes and you will have to click "Stop" in Steam after the game window closes. Using Task Manager is much faster. At least, that has been my experience.

# **Faster Movement**

Spam clicking in a direction or on an object will cause Lenny to jump forward a bit in that direction, saving you several frames per panel. This also applies while hovering with the jetpack, but has no effect on ladders.

I recorded a walking speed comparison showing a single click vs spam clicking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx-wFwNbe50

In this example, spam clicking sends Lenny off screen about 15 frames faster. In longer panels and over the course of a full run, this saves a lot of time. You don't have to click insanely fast, as there's a short window after Lenny jumps forward that clicking won't cause another one. His little jumps have a cooldown basically, so you can just time your clicks to that. In any case, you'll be clicking non-stop if you are trying to be optimal.

Additionally, when Lenny moves to a new panel, you can maintain his momentum if you click a direction or object after moving to a new panel and before Lenny stops moving. You will notice quickly during a run how much time can add up if you aren't optimal with this.

If you're entering a panel with a lever you need to activate for example, I find its more consistent to spam click the opposite edge of the screen past the lever to ensure Lenny keeps moving, then click on the lever before he reaches it - rather than first moving my cursor to the lever and trying to accurately click it. Basically you want to be clicking a direction or object for the first handful of frames that Lenny enters a new panel, and since your cursor is already on one side of the screen, its fastest to keep clicking that side of the screen where possible and then click the lever after Lenny's first few steps.

# **Planet Order**

Your ship starts on the right side of each planet, which means the most efficient route starts by going to the right and doing Mars thru Pluto, then going all the way left and doing Mercury then Venus. Starting with Mercury means you'd be traveling a little extra distance from Earth to Mercury, and then again from Pluto to Earth. Starting with Mars means you only travel that little extra distance when going from Pluto to Mercury.

![](/static/blob/7z330vqz.png)

# Bomb Tips

After disarming a bomb it displays a red number on the screen. This is part of the code that you use to disarm the Master Bomb on Earth. The number for each bomb is always the same, but you have to actually disarm each one in order to enter the code into the Master Bomb. The final code is 669677437, the 9 being the number for Earth which is already entered for you and unchangeable.

![](/static/blob/ynl90qln.png)

The bombs on Jupiter and Saturn can both be solved in the exact same way, they just have different visuals on the buttons. The solution I use takes 58 clicks.

Neptune is the only bomb that has a different solution each time. It's four rounds of matching symbols that are hidden until you click a square, and their placement is randomly generated. Even if you start the puzzle, click 'Try Later' and immediately try again, their placement will be different on that second attempt. This means this puzzle can't be memorized like the others. Along with Jupiter and Saturn, the Neptune puzzle is my biggest obstacle for improvement in my runs.

# Planet Tips

**Saturn -** The blue and pink aliens in the bottom left and bottom right of the map (inside the big rock in the corner) can be avoided by hovering upward before going toward them. If you don't avoid the area directly in front of them, Lenny will stop and hover next to them for a few seconds.

![](/static/blob/dz4jvjkz.png)

**Uranus -** This planet is all ladders and bridges, with one lever operating multiple bridges at once. If you don't take a specific route you will lose a lot of time here. Here's a crude map that I use in my notes. Yellow = lever

![](/static/blob/3nv2j6yz.png)

Starting from the bottom left you go all the way up and activate each lever in the order I have them numbered. The star labeled 6 is the warp pad that takes you to the bomb.

**Neptune -** You can save about 20 seconds after disarming the bomb by walking off the far left edge of the platform, rather than climbing down the ladder.![](/static/blob/dz4jv5rz.png)

**Pluto -** Remember to turn the power back on after disarming the bomb.

![](/static/blob/wzxrordz.png)

**Mercury -** **Regarding the Tentacle Monster**: if you fall in the first crater after the bomb (not the geyser) on your way off the planet, and you get the best rng of 1 hit from the tentacle monster, you lose about 1 second compared to just walking out. ![](/static/blob/1n8j4jwe.png)

If you're not confident in your movement around the cluster of craters closer to the beginning of the stage, it might be worth it to you to roll the dice and hope for a 1 hit cycle, rather than risk walking almost the whole way and falling in anyway. Be aware though you can take up to 8 hits (that's the most I've seen).

![](/static/blob/3nv2j28z.png)

At least it brings you closer to your ship.

**Venus -** This level doesn't make it obvious what to do after you activate the necessary lever on the far right. Try standing between the mushrooms in one of the empty far right panels and the answer will come to you.

![](/static/blob/rz2488ln.png)