NG2 1-1

Ninja Gaiden II: Act 1, Stage 1
A short stage with easy damage boosts and timings for all categories. In any%, the goal is to reach the boss with 40 Ninpo, Art of the Fire Wheel, and 1 Shadow Clone.

Damage Boosts
Relevant category: any%, low%, pacifist

Since damage boosts in Ninja Gaiden II do not slow Ryu's movement, most of the enemies in this stage can be easily skipped. Just use some simple visual cues on when to jump - i.e. for the first enemy, simply jump the moment Ryu's sprite passes the first large crack in the ground. Refer to the video for a demonstration of all damage boosts in this stage, and pay attention to the timing of each jump for visual cues to use.

Shadow Clone
Relevant category: any%

After being boosted by the Crawler, you'll see two Clubbers on top off a small building after jumping over a pit. Above them are two Item Orbs, the first of which contains a Shadow Clone. When jumping over the pit, use an Art of the Fire Wheel while in mid-air to take out the first Clubber and break the first Item Orb at the same time. Then, boost off of the second enemy up to the platform to collect the Shadow Clone and proceed. It is necessary to use the Art of the Fire Wheel in mid-air so you don't accidentally kill the second enemy, which would prevent a boost and waste precious seconds.

Shadow Clone with Forward boost
Relevant category: any%

Proceed as usual with the normal Shadow Clone strat, but instead of killing the Clubber on top of the platform, only hit the Shadow Clone Orb above him with a precise Art of the Fire Wheel while keeping the clubber alive. Walk under and past the Clubber a little bit and then neutral jump and slash to gain backwards momentum while you boost off the first Clubber onto the platform and grab the clone in the same sweeping movement. This is slightly faster and enables 215 on the clock at the end of stage.

any%
Make sure to have maximum Ninpo, one Shadow Clone, and Art of the Fire Wheel upon arriving at the boss. With a Shadow Clone positioned behind Ryu, casting Art of the Fire Wheel will do 2 damage per use on the boss.

Regular Strategy
This technique is fast, safe, easy, and repeatable.
 * 1) Slash the boss 4 times and use one Art of the Fire Wheel before getting hit (6 damage)
 * 2) Spam Art of the Fire Wheel until the boss charges and you get hit again (4 shots, 8 damage)
 * 3) Turn around and slash him twice.

Quick kill Strategy
With this technique, if successful, the boss dies the moment he begins to charge, saving 1-2 seconds on top of the Regular Strategy since you never get hit.
 * 1) Slash the boss 4 times. (4 damage)
 * 2) Use Art of the Fire Wheel 2 times, moonwalking backwards with each shot. (4 damage)
 * 3) Use Art of the Fire Wheel three times while standing still. (6 damage)
 * 4) Slash and Jump-cancel into another slash immediately to quickly hit twice. (2 damage)

low%/pacifist
Alternatively, it's possible to kill him slightly faster and without getting hit the first time:  Right before the boss walks into you, cancel your current slash with a jumpslash, back up slightly in mid air, and hit him with downslash. Repeat this, and on the second or third jump, you can jump over his charge and finish him off from behind like normal. This only saves time if your jump-canceling and land-canceling strikes are executed properly; you don't actually attack faster this way (it's about the same amount of damage-per-second as just slashing as fast as possible on the ground), however, it allows you to keep dealing damage instead of taking the first hit.
 * 1) Jump towards the boss and hit him with a landing slash, and slash again once it has canceled for two quick successive hits.
 * 2) Slash the boss until you get hit.
 * 3) Slash the boss until he charges.
 * 4) Keep slashing at him; once he's down to 2 HP, you can slash once, quickly cancel the slash by jumping, and slashing immediately once you've jumped in order to gain two successive hits.