This is my very first guide on Steam and I hope it's helpful. I'm making this guide in order to raise interest in Feeding Frenzy 2 Speedrun because I love the game. If any new strategies are discovered I'll update as soon as we figure out how it works.

Credits:
Thank-you to the following users for helping me make this guide possible

• UDUC
  
• Seisen_star
  
• IvanderLatidjan
  
• Patron
  
• ShooberGoose

Feeding Frenzy 2 is a simple arcade game made by Sprout Games and PopCap. The objective of this game is simple:

• Eat Small Fish
  
• Avoid Bigger Fish
  
• Grow

It's as simple as it gets, but it didn't stop the fact that there is a very niche Speedrunning community for this game that is constantly trying to break the limits of this game. So far, the current target milestone is to get more runs that break the 60-minute barrier and it looks possible with a little more luck and effort. If you're interested to try speedrunning this game, then this is the guide for you.

In order to understand the context of this guide better, basic understanding of the game and completing the base game is required.

As Feeding Frenzy 2 does not come with a built-in game timer, it's mandatory to use LiveSplit for speedrunning this game. Keep in mind that LiveSplit will not work if you play the game in Fullscreen in a single-screen device, however fullscreen use in a multi-screen device have yet to be tested. Refer to the links below for a more detailed information about the Autosplitter and a blank splits file for Feeding Frenzy 2:

https://www.speedrun.com/feeding_frenzy_2_shipwreck_showdown/guides/36fpx
https://www.speedrun.com/feeding_frenzy_2_shipwreck_showdown/resources/810ru

(Autosplitter made by plAer2 and Seisen_Star, Blank Splits file made by Seisen_Star)


This is how your screen should look like when you're playing the game if you play the game on one screen.

To start off, you want to choose Time Attack for speedrunning as it removes the chance of Extra Life Bubbles from appearing (you have infinite lives on TA and the clock means nothing when you're speedrunning this game), letting there be more chances for other more useful power-ups to appear.

All the playable fish in this game move at the same speed. Movement speed is not only affected by the in-game settings, but it is also affected by your external hardware as well. Mouses with high sensitivity affects player movement in this game, so it's a good idea to use a good mouse rather than an ordinary mouse, but it's also important to note that too high of a mouse speed makes your control erratic, so keeping your mouse sensitivity at moderate is a good idea.

You can also tune your mouse speed in the Control Panel, it also affects your in-game performance for this game.

Unlike the first game, Mermaids spawn when you perfect a level, even in time attack mode in Feeding Frenzy 2. The time loss from having a mermaid spawn is significant, meaning you must be eaten exactly once per level in order to optimize your run (not that the game have gotten to the point where getting new records are borderline impossible yet). With this in mind, it’s generally most favorable to get eaten with as little growth loss as possible at the largest size possible.

When speedran, Feeding Frenzy 2 demands a lot of split decision making and committing to your actions. Also not helping is the inherent RNG-dependent nature of the game affecting spawns. If you hesitate, you could lose golden opportunities such as black pearls or run into the mouth of predators by accident. Learning about what (and when) things spawn in a level would help with your decision making, more on that in the next segment.

Most of the top runs use the “The Intruder” save file which unlocks after finishing the game once on a normal save file. This is because The Intruder has a smaller hitbox and a larger hurtbox (mouth) than most of the ordinary fish, which makes it the optimal save file for speedrunning.

There is a 1-second grace period when AI fish first enter the stage. In this grace period, they are unable to eat other fish and will not run away from the player or trigger defense mechanisms (for pufferfish and cuttlefish) if they are at the size to eat them. This in tandem with how there can only be a specific amount of larger AI fish in a stage at a time makes corner camping a viable strategy in smaller stages. Barracudas do not have Grace Periods and WILL eat you frame 1.

Oyster in this game cycle between opening and closing, sometimes they spawn pearls that gives a decent amount of growth and rarely black pearls that gives you a significant growth boost. Oysters cycle fairly slowly, so it's a good idea to not overcommit to camping for pearls. Luckily AI fish are unable to eat pearls that are spawned by oysters.

On level 6 oysters open simultaneously, but from level 9 onwards they open and close one by one. Another good tip is to try avoiding oysters at max size as the pearls won't boost you as much anymore (except Black Pearls) and that getting shut in by one would lose you progress and time. It's also important to note that oysters are not a reliable way to force a death, so keep in mind when you're trying to find a good time to die.

Mayflies and Butterflies are worth very little growth for the risks of jumping. You're better off eating fish when possible.

Like in the first game, Poison fish reverses your controls when eaten. Unlike in the first game, they are spat out after being eaten (this also applies to AI fish, but they spit them out almost instantly after eating them). The best way to minimize its impact is to spam click the left mouse button and try not to move unless completely necessary. It’s probably a good idea to practice reverse controls too just in case you need to get out of a predator’s way whilst poisoned.

Even after mastering reverse controls however, the screwy-est part of getting poisoned is the moment when your fish is ready to spit the poison fish out. Not only can you not eat or inhale when that exclamation mark appears before you spit out the pest, your input recovers instantly, possibly screwing you over by making you run into the maws of a predator by accident right after trying to evade a predator whilst poisoned.

Magic Mushrooms is one of the new power-ups introduced in this game, but there’s a bit of a trick in using them for speedruns. Generally, you don’t wanna eat these when you’re almost on your next size as:

• you don’t want to lose out on potential growth value; bigger fish gives you more growth progress.
  
• If you haven’t been eaten on a level, you won’t have to wait longer for another bigger fish to spawn if you don’t shrink them.

A good bonus tip is that shrunken fish would still count for the invisible fish-per-stage counter and you can keep the stage safer for longer by not eating shrunken sharks or other predators alike. Barracudas are immune to the Magic Mushroom but they do help when fighting them.

The Loony Lure is the other power-up introduced in this game, and its usage is pretty identical to the Magic Mushrooms. When eaten, every fish larger than you will be unable to eat you (effective immediately after eating the power-up) before a lure spawns, drawing all of them off-stage. You cannot interact with any fish affected by the lure, which means you can't eat them if you grow large enough to do so or get eaten by them if you need it. Just like the magic mushrooms, it's best to use them when you're not almost on your next size for the same reasons as the aforementioned power-up. Barracudas are also immune to these.

While introduced in the first game, the Shield Bubble sees a rework in this game. Other than a new appearance in the shape of a rainbow herring, you can stack them and have multiple layers of protection from predators, mines and clams. While these are powerful after you have been eaten, these may becomes a detriment when you're still looking to get eaten as you'd need to look for a way to get rid of it before proceeding. You can deal with this by identifying which levels have them and determine what you want to do when you reach these levels, each players have their own preference in dealing with shields, so don't be afraid to go about your way.

Unlike the first game, Barracudas can actually become edible after tail-biting them 4 times. Eating a shrunken Barracuda gives you a significant growth boost, however in practice it’s almost always more optimal to eat the abundance of other fish than focus your efforts to fully shrink and eat a barracuda except in levels 47 and 59 where they spawn even at your smallest size and food is scarce early on (More details on Level-Specific Tips)

For the purpose of the special levels where you have to eat them, fighting Barracudas requires you be extra careful of your surroundings because after you tail-bite a barracuda, it will chase you down and refuses to eat any other fish while doing so. While it is immune to most power-ups (Stun bomb and shield being the only exceptions), the Magic Mushroom and Loony Lure helps clear the stage so you and the Barracuda can have a clean fight. AI Fish are able to eat shrunken Barracudas, so watch out!

Levels 25, 28 and 33 are bonus levels with death skips caused by mines, barracudas and sharks/pelicans respectively. Take them.

In this specific level, there can only be one fish that’s larger than you at any given time and they spawn very slowly, so the optimal thing to do is try to find the very first medium fish and get eaten by it before proceeding because most of the time you can get to your max size before the first Lionfish spawns.

Level 2 VERY RARELY spawns a shark when you’re at your largest size. In fact it’s so rare that it’s not ideal to rely on them spawning just so you get eaten at your largest size, just get eaten when you’re at midsize instead.

These three levels, like level 1, limit the amount of fish that spawns by only spawning the largest edible fish when you are at midsize. However unlike level 1 they spawn them rather early on and there are sharks or barracudas that spawn here so you’re not as pressured to get eaten right in the beginning of the level.

This level introduces the Barracuda, which optimally spawns when you’re at midsize when you’re close to hitting max size. Try to get eaten at your max size by one here, but getting eaten midsize could also work if you don't feel confident enough with Barracuda Spawns. If one spawned earlier you can also try to tail-bite it just to keep it on-screen until you reach max size and then force a death.

This level not only introduces the run-saving Golden Herring, but spawns them consistently enough that you can eat one right after you get to midsize, effectively letting you skip to your largest size. Luckily there are sharks here so you can get eaten at max size, otherwise the gold herring would be detrimental.

In this level, avoid the speed bubbles as they mess up your jump height. Your main goal is to eat the sea of butterflies above the water, not jump into the stratosphere!

In levels where you normally play as Goliath the Shark (levels 38-44), there are no other fish that can eat you when you’re at your largest, so try to get eaten right after getting to midsize in these levels. Level 43 is an exception to this rule as there are mines that can kill you even at max size.

The rules of Shark Levels also applies in the early levels where you first play as Edie the Anglerfish (Levels 17-21) as there are no sharks spawning in these levels. Anglerfish levels at the second half of the game (52-53) however has Barracudas and mines so that you can potentially try to get eaten at max size here.

In this level, there are nothing for you to eat early on but cuttlefish! You can tell this is going to be a slow level since the volume of prey is quite small early on, but since oysters are present in this level you can try to camp them for pearls instead. Barracudas aren't worth the risk if you trust in your oyster luck, but provides an interesting alternative if you feel like the oysters are being mean to you.

That one level in Feeding Frenzy 2. You’re playing in Sharktooth Ridge, the largest stage in the game, with multiple large fish and orcas constantly patrolling the stage and the only thing you’re able to eat at the start are pufferfish and cuttlefish, two of the most annoying prey items to eat. Not to mention the abundance of Poison Fish that can screw over your controls. It’s a very good idea to play this level slowly at first and then pick up your pace as you grow.

Interestingly, all of the larger fish in this stage (and Level 55 - Room to Move) are programmed to move in one direction by default and would only turn away if they were bounced by puffers or were inked by cuttlefish. Use this to your advantage!

Before madhouse is this stage. Unlike previous jumping stages there are absolutely no fish for you to eat here starting on, so you have to eat the bugs above the water to grow. However after getting to midsize make sure to return to a fish-filled diet.

The penultimate level and the second hardest level, there’s very few small fish for you to eat and sharks and barracudas are constantly on the prowl. Like in Tricky Treats, play this level slowly… with the exception of actually trying to fight the barracuda at your smallest size; the growth boost is HUGE in this level where food is scarce at first, but the risk is pretty great so keep your eyes peeled for stun bubbles; these are the only power-ups you get in this stage that affects your fight with Barracudas.

Levels 45, 48, 51, 57 and 60 are all boss battles, each playing similarly to the previous except with a new gimmick introduced after every one. In general you want to avoid death in these levels as they do not spawn mermaids for doing these level deathless.

For advanced tips, try to lure the boss to the nearest mines and time your suction ability so you could snag all the magic mushrooms that the boss generate after being stunned very quickly. In the later boss battles, the cuttlefish and poison minnows in the stage can distract the boss and make it retreat early, so try to lure the boss away from them; eat them if you have to!

The magic mushrooms also spawn in a certain formation after the intruder runs into a mine:

• Generally they spawn in a pentagonal formation
  
• If the boss spawned close to the upper part of the stage (near the top edge), they spawn in a semicircular formation downwards.

The magic mushrooms can despawn if the boss was stunned near the edge of the screens so watch out for that!

As with every game, speedrunning can be very exhausting and can suck away your enjoyment from the game. Don't forget that you're never pressured to reach personal milestones and take a break if you ever feel tired. Once you feel ready to dip back into it, you can always start small, maybe practice individual levels, especially the ones you have troubles with.

This segment is dedicated to showcasing some example runs from fellow runners for Feeding Frenzy 2. Each run have their own strengths and weaknesses, but hopefully you can learn from each run to help your own endeavors.

Level 6 (Precarious Pearls), being the level that introduced oysters and pearls is prime opportunity to gain an advantage by getting a black pearl. The trick is to get eaten right after spawning, that way you may spawn back while the oysters open for the first time. While this isn't a mandatory strategy, getting a black pearl on the first oyster cycle can lose you momentum and diminishes part of the black pearl's value and this strategy helps prevent that.