All Bossfight HPs

Any% Beginner Route

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gLYtKYBmHhwRhLeuwYZdt3L9MBfmEzTyT4cEidlK3yM

Basic Routes for Any%

Here are two routes for Any% 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EBjHe1x2MPofdN9eB7WTdvR8RL3cB39f1oNubTnzi_k/edit?usp=sharing

-This is the route used basically for WR attempts at the moment. This is difficult and requires proficiency with Pocket Chomps.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NEdcxzIW8VtwBJi1vzB8wVWl4ArCEYpRaiqBWdc7rOo/edit?usp=sharing

-This route is a little more manageable, but it plays about 45 more minutes of the game to get the Risk Badges. Most of the strats here are used in All Bosses up until Star Shrine as well. I would recommend starting with this one if you are just learning the game and don't want to take any% too seriously.

Current routes

This overview can be read in Google Doc format [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TzVGEYmALDhXXoiAPgaEit4MQC4tMxtePt3VjqD5P_M/edit?usp=sharing), alongside other general notes.



**NOTE:** All routes will assume the game is being played on an international release (i.e. any version except North American) unless explicitly stated otherwise.

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# **Any%**

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[**Optimal** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t5ioYczsHlPCddgj_a7hr-XLbyzdRDsrqQcNleQ8YEg/edit?tab=t.0](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t5ioYczsHlPCddgj_a7hr-XLbyzdRDsrqQcNleQ8YEg/edit?tab=t.0)

- Current WR route, this one takes a detour to Gritzy Desert to get a Risk Badge via a ledge clip (the block normally requires you to come back after learning Baby Spin). This detour does take several minutes, but drastically speeds up the final bosses compared to going to Shroob Castle ASAP with just Big-POW Badges.

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[**Beginner** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gLYtKYBmHhwRhLeuwYZdt3L9MBfmEzTyT4cEidlK3yM](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gLYtKYBmHhwRhLeuwYZdt3L9MBfmEzTyT4cEidlK3yM)

- (These notes are not my own, they were provided by SirRouven.) This is an alternate route that defeats more enemies for extra leveling before the final bosses, and does not do RNG manipulation for a Supreme Slacks drop.

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# All Bosses

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[**International** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xkDwvFDLsjg-G7cfrX-NfKF5X1VyXrJz31nw8pNbJ1k/edit?tab=t.0](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xkDwvFDLsjg-G7cfrX-NfKF5X1VyXrJz31nw8pNbJ1k/edit?tab=t.0)

- Current WR route, this one takes a detour to Shroob Castle after Sunnycide to get Red Shells, Copy Flowers, and Space Trousers early. To make the most of this route, you must be able to take out Shrooboid Brat with just 1-2 Red Shells (ideally 1-cycle to use the other one on Bowser; you only have quick access to 2 Red Shells by this point, so make them count!). Early Risk Badge should make this 1-cycle relatively tame, but if you really don't want to go for it then you can use the archived route below (the one labeled "no Shroob Castle detour") as a reference. I think this route can save up to 2-2.5 minutes overall compared to just going straight to Gritzy Desert.
- **NOTE:** The listed timesave assumes you do the Cobalt Star cutscene skip (after Commander Shroob). On top of skipping the cutscene itself, this saves about 40 additional seconds in this route because this cutscene skip can make the Shroob Castle gate opening cutscene not play, but (as far as I can tell) this will only happen if you've already been to Shroob Castle before and got Stuffwell's "Maybe we should turn back" cutscene.

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[**North American** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xkDwvFDLsjg-G7cfrX-NfKF5X1VyXrJz31nw8pNbJ1k/edit?tab=t.8axf0mj9a7ru](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xkDwvFDLsjg-G7cfrX-NfKF5X1VyXrJz31nw8pNbJ1k/edit?tab=t.8axf0mj9a7ru)

- This is an alternate route that uses the US 1.0 version of the game. There are a few glitches that only work on this version, most notably Thwomp Volcano Skip, and in theory would likely save enough time to make up for the lategame bosses having much higher HP. However, it may be unrealistic to actually achieve that timesave in practice, but it could still be a fun novelty at least.

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### The following routes are outdated, but I am keeping them here for archival purposes.

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[**Any%: Risk Badge** (Toad Town shop) - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FhmzMDBWvwRXYjQP8UWoT6eOpCvtqOmHC50g1n8yNgM/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FhmzMDBWvwRXYjQP8UWoT6eOpCvtqOmHC50g1n8yNgM/edit?usp=sharing)

[**Any%: Big-POW Badge** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W7oshQZAtT0PELZdoekV8Tw58ogwiDEwMUAclj2olY4/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W7oshQZAtT0PELZdoekV8Tw58ogwiDEwMUAclj2olY4/edit?usp=sharing)

[**Any%: Dire-POW Badge** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GdLOOc6u1JtdmnklHb-USIyWOGeojoJpKGhr-zZFmQ4/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GdLOOc6u1JtdmnklHb-USIyWOGeojoJpKGhr-zZFmQ4/edit?usp=sharing)

[**Any%: Dire-POW Badge (US 1.0)** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gh0aOzfRikpTh2ftlWPtZNwU9kjIkduIug8hp0dJIYk/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gh0aOzfRikpTh2ftlWPtZNwU9kjIkduIug8hp0dJIYk/edit?usp=sharing)

[**All Bosses: no Shroob Castle detour** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZe9RPgLLc-FyQlXninBfpLfJxfIrOvjM6IkBl7AKpA/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZe9RPgLLc-FyQlXninBfpLfJxfIrOvjM6IkBl7AKpA/edit?usp=sharing)

[**All Bosses: no early Risk Badge** - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDZS7-EU7dtDvqvr1CzR_LHNguC6N2K6B6suOAVztqk/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uDZS7-EU7dtDvqvr1CzR_LHNguC6N2K6B6suOAVztqk/edit?usp=sharing)

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## Changelog

- **7/31/2025:** Added routes for All Bosses with early Risk Badge, also added some written notes for optimal Any%.
- **3/13/2025:** Rearranged the routes to account for the ledge clip to the Risk Badge in Gritzy Desert (about 2-3 months after this trick was found, oops).
- **9/21/2024:** Updated the descriptions for Big-POW Any% and US 1.0 Dire-POW Any% to reflect some newer strategies.
- **8/18/2024:** Added notes for the US 1.0 Any% route mentioned below, also updated the description for it.
- **7/30/2024:** Added a section for a US 1.0 Any% route with Koopaseum Skip.
- **3/31/2024:** Updated the description for optimal All Bosses to have the potential timesave reflect all optimal strats enabled by this route, rather than having the reader add timesave from other optional strats. Also updated the description for Big-POW Any% to reflect that Mix Flower Lucky hits will not necessarily be run-ending, but still suck. (Also added this changelog, some changes might be missing because of this being added just now lol.)
- **3/28/2024:** Added a note to optimal All Bosses after making a realization about a cutscene skip in relation to another cutscene.
- **3/14/2024:** Added a Risk Badge route for Any% rather than leaving it to the reader to adjust from the All Bosses route.
- **3/11/2024:** Initially put these guides up.

Partners in Time - Trick List

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR0g59HSZDZ4IA5gkDsXTtszu8MT4m8GZeK_crOJsnbB-H4RtcmzNFpeVZov-f7DS7m0AnZNJIO9AXU/pubhtml?gid=0

Regional/Version/Console Differences

For anyone interested in learning the game, here is the ranking of versions at the moment.

Tier 1: Japanese. Japanese is conditionally the fastest version of the game; if at any point you need to soft-reset the game, the title screen takes about a second shorter to load. This matters for any deaths as well as for any soft resets on glitches.

Tier 2: Korean and European. These versions will equal Japanese if you never have to soft reset during the run. For speed purposes, any of these are fine. Run by preference/availability.

Tier 3: North American and Australian. This version is the notoriously inflated one, where enemies have considerably more health (up to 1800 between EPS Phase 2 on NA vs other versions), and things cost more. The former is the big point against it at the moment, there are a few version exclusive glitches but the run is considerably lengthier due to boss fights.

Worth noting, we run on DS/3DS hardware as the WiiU virtual console is harder to region-break, has worse buttons for mashing, and the timing for things is different, laggier and less consistent. Functionally, there is no advantage to 3DS over DS, though some runners find it easier to mash on 3DS hardware.

Name	Autor
All Bossfight HPs	PlayLikeMaxi 6 years ago
Any% Beginner Route	SirRouven 1 year ago
Basic Routes for Any%	GhostKumo 6 years ago
Current routes	SwayNC 2 years ago
Partners in Time - Trick List	Dalton 8 years ago
Regional/Version/Console Differences	GhostKumo 7 years ago