RTA Guide/16 Star
The goal of the 16 Star category is to beat the game as quickly as possible using MIPS clipping to skip the 30 star door. It is a popular category for beginners since it is short and the basic route/strats can be learned in a few hours even with no casual knowledge of the game.
Category Rules
- SBLJ is banned
- Any method to skip the 30 star door other than MIPS clipping is banned
Beginner Guide
Suggested Routes
It is important to note that although tricks are featured more prominently in this category than in 70 star, better movement and consistency is still what makes the biggest difference. As a beginner, it is recommended to start with a route that does not do LBLJ and improve on your fundamentals before switching to a less consistent, more reset-heavy LBLJ route.
- Beginner - No LBLJ Route without DW Reds
- Recommended for beginners with minimal experience
- Same as intermediate except replaces Dark World Reds with Swimming Beast in the Cavern.
- Dark World (No Reds)
- Swimming Beast in the Cavern
- Intermediate - No LBLJ Route
- Recommended for newer players around the sub 20 level
- Advanced - LBLJ Route
- Recommended for advanced runners going for low 16/sub 16.
No LBLJ Route
Standard Route (No LBLJ)
- Lakitu Skip
- Bob-omb Battlefield
- Whomp's Fortress
- Cool Cool Mountain
- Bowser in the Dark World
- Bowser in the Dark World Red Coins
- Bowser Fight 1
- Shifting Sand Land
- Lethal Lava Land
- Hazy Maze Cave
- HMC Toad (spawns at 12 stars, get this before entering HMC)
- Emergency Exit
- Rolling Rocks
- MIPS Clip
- Dire, Dire Docks
- Bowser in the Fire Sea
- No Red Coins
- Bowser Fight 2
- Backward Long Jumps
- Bowser in the Sky
- (No Red Coins)
- Bowser Fight 3
Beginner Route (No Dark World Reds)
This route is mostly the same as the standard route, but with the omission of Bowser in the Dark World Red Coins. If you plan on taking this game seriously, it is recommended to learn DW Reds sooner than later as it helps a lot with fundamentals. The differences with the standard route are listed below.
- Bowser in the Dark World
- No Red Coins
- Hazy Maze Cave
- A-maze-ing Emergency Exit
- HMC Toad (spawns at 12 stars, do not get this last or MIPS will not spawn)
- Swimming Beast/Dorrie
- Rolling Rocks
Advanced No LBLJ Route Variations
There are several route variations for the No LBLJ route which are faster but generally much harder. In almost every instance, these variations are only faster if you do the most optimal strats for each star, hence they are recommended only for people running the No LBLJ category extension for top times (i.e. sub 16 minutes). If you are simply looking to optimize your 16 star route for the main leaderboards, it is recommended to switch to an LBLJ route.
WF 100c (CCM Skip)
If you can do the Expert WF 100c cycle, it is technically faster than opening CCM to collect Wall Kicks Will Work and Li'l Penguin Lost.
Replacing Stars
Ignoring lobby (where you are bound by the 8 star door requirement), the slowest stars in the standard No LBLJ route are:
- In the Talons of the Big Bird (16-17s)
- Watch for Rolling Rocks (15-16s)
You can save a few seconds by replacing one or more of these stars with one of the following stars:
- Log Star / Sidehop (12-13s)
- Tama Pless (~13s)
LBLJ Route
Standard Route (LBLJ)
- LBLJ
- Bowser in the Dark World
- Whomp's Fortress
- Shifting Sand Land
- Lethal Lava Land
- Red Coins
- Log Star / Sidehop
- Big Bully
- Choose one of the following two stars:
- Lava Boost (~1.2s faster using optimal strats)
- Elevator Star (recommended unless proficient at optimal lavaboost)
- Haze Maze Cave
- MIPS Clip
- Dire, Dire Docks
- Bowser in the Fire Sea
- No Red Coins
- Bowser Fight 2
- Backward Long Jumps
- Bowser in the Sky
- No Red Coins
- Bowser Fight 3
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||