Any%

Route difficulty, options, benchmark, time save from last route (Base) No Leap of Fox: ~2:11 (Hard) Leap of Fox: ~1:29 (-42s) (Harder/Optimal) Leap of Fox + Cutscene Skip: ~1:23 (-6s)

It is recommended not to attempt a faster route until your time is close to the benchmark time for the current strats you are using. If you are using faster strats and your time is still slower than the benchmark for a route with worse strats, it is recommended that you simplify your route.

Note: Leap of fox can be an intimidating trick. The base route is recommended until you are comfortable with the trick.

Optimal route: 1)Head over to the scientist and tail-whip him to get the key card. You can boost twice before tail-whipping and once after to get out of the lava. You can move during the cutscene, so get out of the lava fast! 2)Move back to the bear's area and up toward the hill. When it comes time to cutscene skip, jump out of the fox, then back into it to activate the cutscene skip. You can boost twice after getting the keycard, unless you picked up the card really fast, then only once. You should start the cutscene skip immediately after the second boost. If you want to use the second boost as a cue for the cutscene skip, then pause a bit before grabbing the keycard to let your energy refill.

-Movement during the cutscene skip: -wait until the new animal cutscene is done and the camera has stabilized its position, then hold up-left for maybe 4 seconds, then switch to holding up. As the camera turns to the right (when it goes past the boulders and looks at the bears), rotate the stick so you are holding left. -You can still boost during the cutscene, do that whenever you have the energy to. -surprisingly, the cutscene skip doesn't save that much time (because it forces the fox NAC). If you can't do it well, then don't do it at all. 3)Go through the boulders, boost through the bears, and do the Leap of Fox³.

Fast route video: soon

DarkAcChess' Optimal Route In-Depth Tutorial

(Base) No Leap of Fox: 1)Move through the three computers, then toward the computer on the left. 2)Pin the dog against the computer and kill it. If you can't pin the dog, do your best to kill it quickly 3)Tail-whip the scientist and get the keycard 4)Switch to the dog (don't go for a cutscene skip) 5)Head into the cave area and hit the switch to activate the bridge. 6)Leave the cave area and loop around to beat the level normally. If you have enough health, you can fall into the lava from the bridge switch instead of going back down the ramps.

(Base) No Leap of Fox:

Techniques

¹Hitbox extension: Using a melee attack extends the animal's hitbox, allowing it to hit things it shouldn't be able to (in this case, the scientist)

²Cutscene skipping: Control over your character during a cutscene can be regained by switching between animals or from Evo into an animal as the cutscene starts.

³Leap of Fox: -Position yourself just to the left of the switch that activates the bridge. -Point your nose to the right side of the teleporter -Back up until you hit the wall -Hold forward and boost a split second after you start holding forward.

Old videos

Old fast route (different cutscene skip movement)