You know what would be an interesting tas?

a minimal-shots run of something like gradius.
-F

@Felthry the routing on that would be really interesting because you would really have to math out what powerups are worth spending shots on to save on shots later by having stronger weapons, hmm

@sharkNserg Yeah!! that's what i was thinking, where do you spend your shots

because obviously you're not going to get through the game shooting only at the bosses, probably way less shots on the boss if you spend a few to get powerups earlier too
-F

@Felthry well-regarded scrolling shooter Ikaruga actually allows you to complete it without ever firing a single shot; even bosses have a timer after the expiration of which they'll just leave, allowing you to move on