While there already has been a guide made for the 100% Route, it only works with Upgrades. The effective strategies for No Upgrade runs are radically different from upgrades, and even between 24FPS on the N64, and 60FPS on the PC.
The reason for this No Upgrade run split is that the two pods used for the fastest NU routes on the PC at 60FPS in Boles Roor and Aldar Beedo have traction so low and handle so poorly on the N64 and at 24 FPS that they are too unreliable for RTA runs on the N64 version. In the PC version of the 100% NU run, the goal is to unlock Boles Roor as soon as possible to blaze through the rest of the run as he is the fastest pod without upgrades in the game, and can be unlocked fairly early in the run when Zugga Challenge is 5th track of the Semi-Pro Circuit that already has the bonus of unlocking the safest pod to use in the game in Bullseye Navoir on the very first track of the circuit.
However, the next 3 fastest pods without upgrades in the game in Ben Quadinaros, Sebulba, and Mars Guo are much harder to unlock than Boles Roor. Ben you can only unlock after beating all 3 Podracing Circuits in the Amateur, Semi-Pro, and Galactic in full. Mars Guo you unlock on the final track of the Amateur Circuit, meaning that he is only usable in 100% runs. The exact same unlocking factors with Mars Guo apply to Sebulba too, only on the Galactic Circuit.
N64 and 24FPS Routes:
Because of Boles Roor and Aldar Beedo being too unreliable for RTA Runs on the N64 at 24FPS, you should be aiming to speedrun the Amateur or Galactic Circuit right after unlocking Bullseye Navoir on Sunken City when he is still significantly faster than Ebe Endocott that you start off with, and slightly faster than Toy Dampner that is used on Any% runs after Ebe.
As for which path to take, lets first digress off to the main differences between: Sebulba and Mars Guo before any route plans are mentioned:
Sebulba: Sebulba has the highest raw top speed in the game at 600 that is even higher than Boles Roor’s 590, and can quite literally coast to victory without using his abysmal booster often. (Which only has an 185 unit gain that is worse than all but Wan Sandage.) However, the rest of Sebulba’s stats are average to very poor, and while his traction is poor, he is still relatively easy to control. His abysmal booster though ironically allows him to have more control under boost than almost every other pod in the game. He heats up extremely slowly with one of the longest boost durations, but his cooling and heat to cool ratio are among the worst in the game. His chart topping raw top speed though makes that low tier cooling and heat to cool ratio significantly more tolerable when you are unable to use the booster as often in NU runs compared to upgrade and especially fully upgraded runs by default with every pod.
Mars Guo: Mars Guo is one of the most well rounded podracers in the game even without upgrades. He shares Ebe Endocott’s Traction, Turning, and Handling scores that are all in the top 5, making him exceptionally easy to control. He also has the 4th highest raw top speed in the game at 540, the 6th strongest booster in the game with a 315 unit gain, the 4th highest boost thrust top speed at 855, near Bullseye like Air Brakes and Acceleration, and heats up the slowest with a strong heat to cool ratio despite taking a long time to cool down without upgrades. His major weaknesses are his chart topping width, and a poor repair stat.
Overall, Sebulba is faster, but has a much higher learning curve compared to Mars Guo that still has an exceptionally high raw top speed. Mars Guo is probably the easiest pod to learn in the game after Ebe Endocott, Bullseye Navoir, and Toy Dampner in fact. This makes Mars Guo a much safer and more reliable bet than Sebulba, and especially if you have a tendency to take a bump or two due to Mars Guo’s higher acceleration. Sebulba’s acceleration though is deceptively slow as his speed bulb does not light up green at speeds higher than the bottom third’s raw top speed max that they will never reach.
The result of these speed, stat, and learning curve differences between Sebulba and Mars Guo has resulted in 5 possible routes for the 100% Run, with all of them ending by saving the Invitational Tracks for last. The reason to save all the Invitational Circuit tracks for last is to use the fastest no upgrade pod on the N64 version in Ben Quadinaros for at least The Gauntlet and Ando Prime Centum after unlocking him on Inferno, as he is much faster than both Sebulba and Mars on both tracks. Abyss can use Mars, Ben, Sebulba, or Bullseye on Full Track, or Mars or Wan Sandage for the skip depending on what you want and/or willing to do.
Route #1: Bullseye to Mars Guo Dash Route: Sunken City Amateur Circuit Rest of Semi-Pro Circuit Galactic Circuit Inferno Rest of Invitational Circuit
This route aims to unlock Mars Guo as soon as possible using Bullseye Navoir to speed through the Amateur Circuit and switching to Mars Guo for the Semi-Pro and Galactic Circuits after restarting the game to speed through the victory celebration. Given Mars Guo is much easier to learn than Sebulba, this is easily the safest of the 5 routes as a direct result.
Route #2: Bullseye to Sebulba Dash Route: Sunken City Galactic Circuit Rest of Semi-Pro Circuit Amateur Circuit Inferno Rest of Invitational Circuit
This route aims to unlock Sebulba as soon as possible by using Bullseye Navoir to speed through the Galactic Circuit and switching to Sebulba for the Semi-Pro and Amateur Circuits after restarting to game to speed through the victory celebration and staff roll.
Route #3: Bullseye to Mars Guo to Sebulba Dash Route: Sunken City Amateur Circuit Galactic Circuit Rest of Semi-Pro Circuit Inferno Rest of Invitational Circuit
This route aims to unlock Mars Guo using Bullseye Navoir on the Amateur Circuit, Switching to Mars Guo for the Galactic Circuit to unlock Sebulba, and use Sebulba and/or Mars Guo on the Semi-Pro Circuit.
Route #4: Bullseye to Sebulba to Mars Guo Dash Route: Sunken City Galactic Circuit Amateur Circuit Rest of Semi-Pro Circuit Inferno Rest of Invitational Circuit
Similar Pattern to Route #3, only using Bullseye Navoir on the Galactic Circuit, Switch to Sebulba for the Amateur Circuit to unlock Mars Guo, and use Sebulba and/or Mars Guo on the Semi-Pro Circuit.
Route #5: Any%+ Route: Galactic Circuit Amateur Circuit Semi-Pro Circuit Inferno Rest of Invitational Circuit
Do a full Any% NU run using the regular routine of Ebe on Executioner and switching to Toy Dampner for the remainder of the Any% run, and instead of ending the run at The Boonta Classic, restart the game and switch to Sebulba to blaze through the Amateur and Semi-Pro Circuits. This is probably the fastest route, but it is also the most difficult as Toy Dampner compared to Bullseye Navoir, and Sebulba compared to Mars Guo are much harder to use.
Rejected Route: Amateur Circuit+ Route Amateur Circuit Semi-Pro Circuit Galactic Circuit Inferno Rest of Invitational Circuit
In theory it may seem like a good idea to do just a plain Amateur Circuit Run and continue with it after Spice Mine Run, but there are two factors that significantly compromise the speed of this run over the previous 5.
- The fastest podracer for the Amateur Circuit Run by far in Aldar Beedo is too unreliable to use for NU RTA runs on the N64’s fixed 24 FPS.
- The next best option of Ebe Endocott from Race 1 to 4 and switching to Clegg Holdfast for Races 5 to 7 is still slower than using pure Bullseye Navoir from race 1 to 7, with lower reliability on top of it. For these two reasons, this route will be for certain slower than the other 5 routes mentioned here.
Things to consider: Sebulba saves significant time on the Amateur Circuit over pure Bullseye Navoir.
Mars Guo saves significant time on the Galactic Circuit over pure Bullseye Navoir when he is nearly equal to even faster than Bullseye on Grabvine Gateway, Fire Mountain Rally, and The Boonta Classic with a little extra practice on those tracks, and much faster than Bullseye Navoir by default on Executioner, Sebulba’s Legacy, Andobi Mountain Run, and Dethro’s Revenge. However, Bullseye Navoir is still significantly safer and easier to use than Mars Guo on Grabvine Gateway, Fire Mountain Rally, and The Boonta Classic due to his sheer agility, narrow width, and rapid repairing advantages over Mars. On these three tracks, it is extremely easy to take enough damage to need repairing, and you will be losing a significant amount of momentum on Grabvine Gateway and Fire Mountain Rally by default on every lap. Something that Mars Guo struggles with far more than Bullseye Navoir.
The Amateur Circuit is much shorter than the Galactic Circuit, meaning that the potential gains for Sebulba are more limited compared to Mars Guo on the Galactic Circuit. However, it is easier for Sebulba to make gains on the Amateur Circuit than for Mars Guo to make gains on the Galactic Circuit.
The Semi-Pro Circuit can be often a cross over between Mars Guo and Sebulba. Mars Guo is exceptionally easier to use on Dug Derby and Baroo Coast than Sebulba, and Mars can even follow the most optimal path through the winding parts of Baroo Coast like Bullseye can, only much faster without upgrades. Sebulba has a much easier time unleashing his chart topping raw top speed on Scrapper’s Run and Zugga Challenge that are among the straightest tracks in the circuit. Howler Gorge and Bumpy’s Breakers can often be a toss up between the two. The ice and turns on Howler Gorge make Sebulba much harder to control than Mars Guo on the track, and especially on the ice due to Sebulba’s much lower traction, turning, and handling. Bumpy’s Breakers tons of turns can be hair raising with Sebulba as he swings wide when turning due his low traction, turning, and handling yet again.
On Sunken City, the amount of time NU Bullseye Navoir makes up on the Amateur or Galactic Circuit well offsets the time lost on Sunken City to using NU Ebe Endocott to unlock him on Sunken City. His significantly higher boost thrust at 300 vs. Toy Dampner's 240 along with Toy only being 5 units faster in raw top speed and having much stiffer turning than NU Bullseye makes Bullseye slightly faster than Toy for the rest of the Galactic Tracks too.
Inferno’s long straights are much more optimal with Sebulba than Mars Guo due to his higher raw top speed, but Mars Guo is much better able to handle the bends of Inferno that make up the rest of the track after the two long straights. However, the most optimal pod in terms of boosting without upgrades on this track is Bullseye Navoir due to his rapid cooling and high boost thrust number of 300, but he is much slower than both Mars and Sebulba on the track overall.
Both Mars and Sebulba have poor to very poor repair stats, which means that if you take heavy damage, you may have more luck gutting through the damage until you crash to even deliberately crashing if it gets extremely bad. They also have a tendency to crash on hidden textures in the game.
Mars Guo beats Sebulba significantly in boost thrust top speed at 855 vs. Sebulba's 785, and can hold the booster longer with a far better heat to cool ratio than Sebulba.
If you do not plan to use Ben Quadinaros for Abyss, you should clear it out of the way as fast as possible being the most difficult track in the game. NU Ben is supremely difficult to use on the track in a RTA run setting, and your safest bet is by far Mars Guo when he can recover unlike Ben, Bullseye, and Sebulba.
PC and 60FPS Routes:
There is a notable precedent for this type of run done by Nimputs here: https://www.speedrun.com/swe1r/run/mk9v205z
The route path done on the run was: Semi-Pro Circuit Abyss Amateur Circuit Ando Prime Centrum Galactic Circuit Gauntlet Inferno
Key points on the progression of Nimputs' run: Starts on Sunken City with Ebe Endocott to unlock Bullseye Navior. Uses Bullseye Navior for Semi-Pro Circuit Races 2 through 5. Switches to Boles Roor for Semi-Pro Circuit Races 6 and 7. Switches back to Bullseye Navoir for Abyss. Switches back to Boles Roor for the Amateur Circuit, Ando Prime Centrum and Galactic Circuit Races 1 and 2. Switches back to Bullseye Navoir for Galactic Circuit Race 3 in Grabvine Gateway. Switches back to Boles Roor for Galactic Circuit Races 4 and 5. Switches back to Bullseye Navoir for Galactic Circuit Races 6 and 7 in Fire Mountain Rally and Boonta Classic. Switches back to Boles Roor for The Gauntlet. Switches back to Bullseye Navior for Inferno.
Refining on the 100% No Upgrade PC 60FPS Route with 4 possibilities:
Route refinement 1: Semi-Pro Circuit Amateur Circuit Abyss Ando Prime Centrum Galactic Circuit Inferno Gauntlet
The first part of the run in using Ebe on Sunken City to unlock Bullseye, using Bullseye Navoir on Semi-Pro races 2 through 5, and using Boles Roor on Semi-Pro Circuit races 6 though 7 remains the same. Instead of going straight to Abyss however, use Boles Roor to blaze through the Amateur Circuit so you can unlock Mars Guo who even more reliable than Bullseye Navoir on Abyss due to being faster and able to recover on the track. After using Mars on Abyss, switch back to Boles Roor for Ando Prime Centrum and Galactic Races 1 and 2. At race 3 which is Grabvine Gateway, you have the option of playing it safe by switching back to Bullseye Navoir, or if you have extreme guts and skills switch back to Mars Guo who is faster but has a much harder time regaining momentum on the track. Galactic Races 4 and 5 use Boles Roor, and races 6 and 7 gives you once again the chance to play it safe with Bullseye or be gutsy and use Mars Guo, though Mars Guo is a bit easier to use well on race 7 in The Boonta Classic. On the final 2 tracks in the Gauntlet and Inferno, it would be best to do Inferno first either with Boles Roor who is most optimal but supremely hard to control on the track, or Mars Guo who is far more reliable but slower. The reason to do Inferno first in this case is if you want to use Ben Quadinaros instead of Boles Roor for The Gauntlet. While Ben is slightly slower than Boles, Ben is far easier to use and has a better boost heat safety margin on the critical off road short cut compared to Boles.
Route Refinement 2: Amateur Circuit Semi-Pro Circuit Abyss Ando Prime Centrum Galactic Circuit Inferno The Gauntlet
Start by doing a regular run of the Amateur Circuit by using Ebe Endocott Races 1 through 3, and switching to Aldar Beedo for races 4 though 7, and instead of ending the run there, use Aldar Beedo for Semi-Pro Circuit Races 1 through 5 before switching to Boles Roor for races 6 and 7. On Abyss, use Mars Guo and then switch back to Boles Roor for Ando Prime Centrum and Galactic Races 1 and 2. Then you are up with the same choice between super safe Bullseye Navoir and faster but more difficult to use Mars Guo on race 3 in Grabvine Gateway. Switch back to Boles Roor for races 4 and 5, then use Bullseye Navoir or Mars Guo for races 6 and 7. Once speeding through Boonta Classic, do Inferno first with Boles Roor for speed or Mars Guo for safety in case you want to use Ben Quadinaros for The Gauntlet.
Route Refinement 3: Amateur Circuit Races 1 through 3 Semi-Pro Circuit Amateur Circuit Races 4 through 7 Abyss Ando Prime Centurm Galactic Circuit Inferno Gauntlet
Doing the 100% Upgrade Route acE. pioneered of using Ebe on Amateur Circuit races 1 through 3, detouring to the Semi-Pro Circuit with Aldar Beedo races 1 through 5 so to use Boles Roor on the remaining Amateur and Semi-Pro Circuit tracks. Make sure to complete both the Amateur and Semi-Pro Circuits in full so you you can use Mars Guo for Abyss, and the rest of the run follows the same pattern and pod usage options of the 2 previous routes.
Mad Man Ultimate Speed 100% No Upgrade Route: Amateur Circuit Races 1 through 3 Semi-Pro Circuit Abyss Amateur Circuit Races 4 through 7 Ando Prime Centrum Galactic Circuit Gauntlet Inferno
This route takes speed and difficultly the absolute max, and it would take a mad man to do well when it maximizes using Aldar Beedo and Boles Roor that are the fastest but most difficult to control pods for this run. Start with the Amateur Circuit and use Ebe Endocott Races 1 through 3 to unlock Aldar Beedo, Detour to Semi-Pro Circuit to use Aldar Beedo Semi-Pro Circuit Races 1 through 5, then use Boles Roor the remainder of the run. This is without a doubt the fastest possible 100% No Upgrade Route in the game, but it is also without a doubt the most difficult 100% No Upgrade Route. NU Boles Roor takes practically super human effort to use on Abyss, Grabvine Gateway, Fire Mountain Rally, and The Boonta Classic, and NU Aldar Beedo will probably take super human effort to use on Sunken City, Howler Gorge, Dug Derby, Scrapper's Run, and Zugga Challenge too.
Final note on Nimputs' 100% No Upgrade Run Precedent: Nimputs' run came in at just over 2 hours by a second or two. Odds are that all 4 refined route options here will certainly produce a Sub 2 hour 100% No Upgrade Run on the PC at 60 FPS, and likely by a wide margin.
May The Force be with you.
