Since being a mod grants me the ability to change the leaderboard's theme, I went ahead and snazzed the place up a little. What do you guys think?

(For the record, I have a static version of the background we can use as well if anyone complains that the animation is too distracting.)

Did some more messing around with the JP version today and was surprised to find out that Terra Tubes is only maybe ten seconds slower than in the US version, completely due to the fact that OOB can no longer be done at the start. If my other predictions are correct, this means JP is definitely faster and more consistent than US for Any% runs, because all the other time saves will more than make up for these ten seconds.

I've played and beaten both games, and so much was changed when the game got localized outside Japan that it's almost a completely different game. Especially the driving stages, which pretty much got a total mechanic overhaul. It's not too hard to see for yourself just by watching the first and second runs on the leaderboard.

I've been messing around with the Japanese version, and the changes made could possibly make it viable for Any%. Warpless and 100%, not so much. I'll try to break it down by level by memory:

Level 1 - Seems to be the same as US. Level 2 - Seems to be the same as US. Level 3 - The second to last weasel before the bikes is removed. The bike glitch still works. The walls in the bike section have been rearranged slightly. Level 4 - Some snowman patterns have changed slightly, and most of the spikes are removed from the post-warp zone area (which doesn't matter in Any%). The ice block after the floor glitch spawns in a different spot and doesn't start out mobile, making it slightly quicker to reach. Level 5 - I think the log part at the beginning is slightly slower. Big Blag has less health. Level 6 - Some spikes removed here and there, and fast snakes have been slowed down to normal speed. Huge timewaster. Level 7 - Good lord, what did they DO to this place? The first part is much faster due to removed weasels and no logs, but the plane section has been slowed down drastically. This level is the prime reason why Warpless and 100% aren't viable. Level 8 - Some robots and fans removed, and some electric holes replaced with regular holes. Robo-Manus takes 16 hits instead of 21. Level 9 - Possible timewaster in Any%. OOB at the beginning is no longer possible because the jumping glitch at the beginning was fixed, but the skippable propellers can still be jumped over, and robots no longer explode when touched. Also, the gears stall for a split second before they start moving, and many spikes were removed from their sections. Everything else seems to be the same. Level 10 - Giblet can still be killed. I haven't seen General Slaughter in this version yet, but I'm assuming he has less HP. Doesn't matter, though. Level 11 - The orb only takes like 8 or 9 hits at the end. Much faster. I'm just assuming the player 2 glitch at the beginning is fixed as well, so for co-op, there you go :P Level 12 - Much faster. All the enemies seem to have half HP (making the infamous troll cloud less of a problem), and some green platforms are replaced with brown platforms. Dark Queen - Exactly the same as US.

I was bored, so I took like ten minutes and made these little badges for the leaderboard. If you're a mod, feel free to add them using "Add Theme".

1st 2nd 3rd

I haven't given up... still practicing on and off here. Probably gonna have a sub-17 time by late October if I stop being lazy and actually make attempts :P