RTA Guide/45 Star
The goal of the 45 Star extension category is to complete the game as fast as possible while collecting 3 stars from each main stage.
Category rules
- Collect 3 stars from each main stage
- SBLJ is banned
Suggested route (no LBLJ)
- Lakitu Skip
- Bob-omb Battlefield
- Whomp's Fortress
- Jolly Roger Bay
- Plunder in the Sunken Ship
- Through the Jet Stream (open the cannon while doing this star)
- Blast to the Stone Pillar
- Cool, Cool Mountain
- Bowser in the Dark World
- Tower of the Wing Cap
- Bob-omb Battlefield
- Big Boo's Haunt
- Shifting Sand Land
- Lethal Lava Land
- Hazy Maze Cave
- MIPS Clip
- Dire, Dire Docks
- Bowser in the Fire Sea
- Wet-Dry World
- Tiny-Huge Island
- Tall, Tall Mountain
- Snowman's Land
- 50 Star Door BLJ
- Rainbow Ride
- Tick Tock Clock
- Endless staircase BLJ
- Bowser in the Sky
Beginner variations
A number of these stars can be tricky for beginners. Consider swapping them for these slower alternatives:
- Snowman's Big Head can be replaced with Whirl from the Freezing Pond.
- Fall onto the Caged Island can be replaced with Chip off Whomp's Block if you cannot do Owlless, since the Owl will not be there.
- Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow can be replaced with Coins Amasssed in a Maze
Expert variations
Island Hop
Rather than doing Shoot to the Island in the Sky after Bowser in the Dark World, you can save time by doing Island Hop to get all the stars in Bob-omb Battlefield in one trip instead of two. This also allows Tower of the Wing Cap to be skipped.
- Lakitu Skip
- Bob-omb Battlefield
- Whomp's Fortress
- Jolly Roger Bay
- Cool, Cool Mountain
- Bowser in the Dark World
- Big Boo's Haunt (route converges here)
JRB cannonless
To avoid having to open the cannon in Through the Jet Stream, you can do cannonless instead.
LBLJ
LBLJ (Lobby Backwards Long Jump) into Whomp's Fortress or Jolly Roger Bay can be used to get hard stars like Blast Away the Wall or framewalk out of the way early, and save a small amount of time in castle movement.
Lavaboost
A well executed Hot-Foot-It into the Volcano can save time over Boil the Big Bully