PR2 Speedrunning Guide

[Master Raiden]

Positioning After Rotating
Bumping a Rotate Block on the correct side will allow you reduce the time it takes for you to accelerate in your next intended direction, whether that be falling down somewhere or jumping up somewhere.

The general rule is to bump the Rotate Block as far away from blocks you want to avoid, and as close to blocks you want to land on.

Test yourself:

Positioning After Rotating - Quick Quiz 1

Claustrophobia by JGPrix (6338675)
Which side of the Rotate Block should you bump?

Quiz 1 Solution

After rotating, you want to land on the blocks as quickly as possible so you can begin jumping and moving as soon as possible. So you should bump the Rotate Block on the left because it will reduce the distance you need to fall onto the blocks.

Positioning After Rotating - Quick Quiz 2

Zirconium by JGPrix (6338668)
Which side of the Rotate Block should you bump?

Quiz 2 Solution

After rotating, you want to fall down to the Ice Blocks. Landing on the Arrow Blocks will slow you down, so you want to avoid them.
The Arrow Blocks on the right look tempting, but bumping the Rotate Block on the right side is slightly slower. The amount of time you save from using the Arrow Blocks does not outweigh the time saved from bumping the Rotate Block on the left which allows you to begin your fall to the Ice Blocks earlier.
If the Arrow Blocks were not there, the difference would be even greater which goes to show the amount of time you can save with this simple optimization.

Positioning After Rotating - Quick Quiz 3

Time's Up by December 2012 (6025049)
Which side of the Rotate Block should you bump?

Quiz 3 Solution

After rotating, you want to land on the blocks as quickly as possible so you can begin jumping as soon as possible. But in this case, you need to land on the Arrow Block rather than just any block. Note that the Arrow Block will be slightly to your left after rotating, and that makes a big difference.

In this scenario, it is best to bump the Rotate Block on the right for two reasons:

1. It makes it easier to jump off the Arrow Block
Bumping the Rotate Block on the right will give you the space you need to easily land on the Arrow Block. If you bumped the Rotate Block on left, you would land on the basic block next to the Arrow Block. This means you would need to perform a frame-perfect jump to jump off the Arrow Block the moment you come into contact with it.

2. You can begin rotating earlier
Since rotation happens around the feet, the Arrow Block will be slightly to your left after rotating, which means your intended direction of movement will be left and down. Going too far down without going left enough will not benefit you. Neither will going too far to the left without going down enough.

It is best to bump the Rotate Block at the point that allows you to land on the Arrow Block without needing to reduce your leftwards or downwards speed. So unless you have very high speed and acceleration, it will be faster to bump the Rotate Block a little earlier. This scenario is an example of Diagonal Movement covered in the previous section of this guide.

Carrying Speed through Vanish Blocks
When touched, Vanish Blocks take a small amount of time before disappearing completely. You can use this brief period to reposition yourself and get a run up so that you can carry more speed into the space that the Vanish Block occupied.

It is important that you time your movements precisely. Failing to do so may end up costing you time instead.

Speeding through Vanish Blocks - Example

Lightspeed 2 by mapleleaf (3711604)
The player performs a small jump off  Vanish Block so that they can fall through spaces with increased speed.

Landing on Up Arrow Blocks
Approaching an Up Arrow Block the right way can make it easier for you to jump off it.
If you simply walk onto an Up Arrow Block, you will need to press Up at the exact moment you walk onto it. Pressing Up too early will cause you to miss the block, and pressing Up too late will result in you bouncing on the block before you get the chance to jump.

So it is much easier to land on the block instead so that you can ensure the Up key is held down when you touch the Up Arrow Block with no risk of jumping too early or too late.

Crawling on Up Arrow Blocks
Crawling on Up Arrow Blocks can offer you an opportunity to save some time.
To take advantage of this, ensure that you land on the Up Arrow Blocks instead of walking onto them. You will get bumped upwards by the blocks for a brief moment.

If you continue holding down the Up key, you will repeatedly get bumped upwards by the Up Arrow Blocks. This prevents you from getting stuck in a crawl which will allow you to move faster.

Defying Down Arrow Blocks
You can alter your trajectory when exiting a crawl space while on a Down Arrow Block by holding Up.
When holding Up, the downwards force from the Down Arrow Block is negated (Red arrow).
If you do not hold Up, the Down Arrow Block will cause you to fall sharply (Black arrow).