Thanks Brian, you're right, I love this stage. Even if it frustrates me a lot because sometimes (very often actually) the tubes that suck you in just take half a second longer. I'm not sure why this happens, it probably depends on you position after you've broken the shield.
About your new "cut" Paragod, I was actually doing that the whole time, but it's really difficult to time it right. And the camera not being the greatest doesn't help it too much.
I've also found a new cut, or at least one you haven't used in your 1:41 run. Pretty difficult to explain, I'll just do a quick vid of it later today.
In my 1:45 run, I did pretty much everything you do in your 1:41 run, so I guess it's all about practice now. I've also found quite a few ways of breaking out of the level, but none of them have been of any use.
SM, to be honest, I can't pull your new trick off. The camera gives me such huge problems that I had to give up after 50 lives have been lost. I'll get into it again later, because there's the possibility of it saving some time. I know the best check time at check 5 is 1:20.1 by Paragod, so a landing at 1:09 would have some impact I would guess. I'll see how fast you can cross the space between your landing point and the 5th check.
--> EDIT: Alright, I tried how fast I can cross the distance between SM's landing point and the 5th check. My fastest time was around 13 seconds, so landing at 1:09 and hitting the check at 1:22 would actually result in a loss of time.
But SM, have you tried using that jump at the other side of the big building that has the invisible wall? You're quite a bit higher now, so you might go over the invisible wall or to the right of it.