Preliminaries

Normally to fully complete the game you have to complete every level three times, and on each of those visits the level increases in difficulty. Between world 4 and world 5 the game will check if you met this criterion and if not you cannot enter the final world. However we will make use of the limbo giltch and the resulting warps to bypass this barrier (see video below)

• For the limbo glitch to activate you enter the Party Mode screen, change the world tab (with L or R) and hold 'A' right after that. If done correctly you should load into a limbo version of the overworld, right at the portal which leads to the previous world. So if this guide says something like "Enter limbo world 3" it means to activate the limbo glitch on the Fire Mountains (= world 3) tab

The other main movement techniques for the overworld are

1. the "menu warp" (which refers to quitting out to the save slot menu and going back in, this will spawn you at the beginning of the respective overworld). Be aware that menu warping also refills your HP
2. the "light menu warp" (quit out to the story mode screen—and not to the save slot screen—and go back in to spawn in at your last checkpoint). The light menu warp is useful if you're about to die because it will spawn you at the checkpoint without losing 10 gems.
3. skipping post-level cutscenes with START (i.e. the same button that opens the menu)

With the limbo glitch the gem route becomes non-trivial. This guide will tell you which overworld gems to get and what to do in certain situations if you're short on gems (e.g., to unlock a mini-game portal). Either way you should try to collect all the gems which are directly on your path

Big thanks to Lovebot, CDRomatron and 7eraser7 for "playtesting" this guide and improving it gradually!

The Run

Be aware that mentioning a level in this guide means you have to beat it only once!

World 1 (first half)

• Collect at least 10 gems on your way to Level: Castle Cruisin'

• Level: Fall in, roll out. After that advance to the second half of Dragon Castles

World 1 (second half)

• Level: Rumble on the Ramparts. Drop down to the right and go to

• Level: Altitude Adjustment

• Level: Castle Chaos (top right of the map).

• Menu Warp and go to the World 2 Portal

• Boss Fight: Crash. Assuming you did not die in the overworld so far you should enter the boss with at least 50 gems

World 2 (first half)

• Go right and fall down to get to Level: Snow Steps

• Menu warp (to spawn at the World 2 portal), go up and take the elevator to enter Level: Blizzard Balls

• Hold right to get to the mid layer. Eventually you will end up at Level: Arctic Attack. Now it is time to set up the first limbo warp

• Exit the game and enter the party mode. Change the tab to the Arctic Cliffs and mash 'A'. This will spawn you into world 2 limbo

• Enter the portal to Dragon Castles and exit the party mode again. Entering the story mode should spawn you at the world portal (connecting world 2 and world 3). Note that this is a light warp so when exiting the party mode enter the story mode right away and do not go to the save slot screen (this would spawn you at the start of the world again)

World 2 (second half)

• Go to the right where the Arctic Riptoc is and fall down left to enter Level: Tread Lightly

• Afterwards fall straight down, all the way to the bottom. A bit to the left is Level: Ice Chopper

• Menu warp and go to the World 3 Portal (top left), make sure to collect the yellow gem on your way there. When starting the boss you should have at least 30 gems

• Boss: Crush & Gulp. The pattern of Gulp's ice balls is 1-4-2-3-2. The optimal route goes: 1-2-3 (Headbutts) 2-1-4 (Flame). It is also documented and shown off in this video.

World 3 (first half)

• Go to the top left as soon as possible to do Level: Fire Fight

• Continue on right (be sure to collect the blue and the two green gems next to the level) and jump up left after the wooden bridge

• Level: Ring of Fire

• Go to the top right (using the upper platforms feat. two yellow gems) until you get to Level: Turn up the Heat. You don't need the purple gem to the right

• Limbo warp into (for example) world 2, enter the portal to the previous world, exit party mode, enter story mode. You should now be at the portal in world 3-2

World 3 (second half)

• Go all the way left (make sure to collect the 2 green gems on your way) and enter Level: Pull of Lava

• Fall down to the right—collecting the purple gem to the right of the portal, but not the left one—and eventually enter Level: Hot Wings

• Go right until the Flamethrower guy, then go up left using the upper platforms. Be sure to collect the five yellow gems on your way to the world portal. You should enter the portal with roughly 95 gems

• Boss: Nina

World 4 (first half)

• Level: Riptocs and Rockets

• Go to the right while collecting the 12 mid-air red gems and enter Level: Treetop Flight

• Go right, collect the purple gem and do Level: Falling to Pieces. Now another limbo warp is coming up!

• Enter world 4 limbo, enter fire mountains portal. Go to the right until you collected the 5 yellow gems. Then exit party mode, enter story mode. You should now be at the portal in world 4-2

World 4 (second half)

• Go to the right (collect the yellow gem to the right above the plant) and fall down the first hanging platform to land at Level: Riptoc Repellent

• Go all the way to the right and take the elevator up to Level: Dragon Assault

• Go left again to enter the boss. Before doing so you should have at least 100 gems

• Boss: Cortex. You can land the first hit despite his shield and save 9 seconds, cf. this video

World 5

After defeating Cortex you will spawn in the room where the game checks if you're allowed to enter world 5

• Go to limbo (any tab in party mode works) and enter the portal where you spawn. Exit party mode, enter story mode. You are now at the Tech Park boss portal

• Fall down to the left and enter Level: Tech Deflect

• After completing the level you should have at least 140 gems. If you for some reason are short on gems you can drop down to the right of the level for two yellow gems, and walk off to the left to get another purple gem. If you got any of those gems light menu warp to spawn back at Tech Deflect. If you are still short on gems do not worry, we will fix this in a second

• From the shop follow the lowest path to the left to get to Level: Tech Tug. After completing the level you should have at least 101 gems. If you do not have 101 gems then play Tech Tug until you do

• From tech tug, long double jump flutter to the top left (not free but also not too hard). This lands you at

• Level: Gravity Well. Top left platform, from there to the top right

• Level: Space Shoot. If you did everything correctly you will exit this level with at least 23 gems. Double jump to the right, collect the blue and the green gem. Portal to the right is

• Level: Sky Walker

• Take the platform stairs up to the top right to get to Boss: Ripto & Cortex. Timing ends as soon as Cortex & Ripto flew off into space