April's my favorite, but I wonder if there are more optimal characters than her for speedruns. What are your takes on this subject?
IMO, April, Raph, and Splinter are the most capable to even get to 1:00 hour flat time.
Edit: Leo can be added to that optimal list now.
It makes me pretty happy that my favorite character is probably the most optimal.
Raph is above and beyond the best character in the game and behind him is Leo. I created a tier list for this in the Guide Section for 1P and Co-Op respectively. The most recent DLC Character Mona could also be S-Tier TBH. The game being around 3 years old now and the Speedrun Techniques and Strategies have evolved a lot especially in this past year. I also made a Speedrunning Guide as well you can check out. Eventually wanna make a Boss Guide for this game but, its gonna be a bit of a project. Maybe I'll also explain the reasons for the Tiers of the Characters as well if we happen to get more interested runners for this game.
Leo is S-Tier just below Raph. Hes great on both Bosses and Stages and handle every type of enemy in the game with efficiency and speed. Builds meter quickly has Great Supers and Solid Toolbox of Moves to deal with situations optimally. I would say harder to use overall compared to Raph but, all characters are nuanced when it comes to speedrunning. In a good players hands Leo is a monster and is a real treat to watch IMO.
Mona and Splinter are also S-Tier as well.
I have not watched any GDQ Videos regarding this game. Sadly there are very few top players around regarding this game and only a few are still active. Which is a shame as the game is has a lot going for it when it comes to speedrunning as strategy and execution are the most important factor to getting great times. RNG is there but, a lot of what was thought to be RNG has been solved as players got better and strategies evolved over the past year especially as far as the S-Tier Characters are concerned.
