You don't have to do a certain route for a category but there are certain checkpoints/guidelines you have to do in categories, like you can't SBLJ in 16 star you have to use Mips.
If you are new you should try those beginner and/or advanced to have a good basis to go off of, and start watching other speedrunners, near/above the skill level you might be at, and figure out what tricks you can do at that time and optimize your route to your liking.
you can do any route as long as it follows the rules of the category
We would like to announce that VC and EMU subcategories are now active on the Stage RTA leaderboards (under "Levels"). Stage RTA involves collecting all the stars in a given stage including the 100 coin star. Timing starts on star select and ends upon collecting the final star. You are allowed to us
