I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
Editing this as of 7/13/2014.
A lot has changed, most of this is just my route, but we can hopefully keep updating this.
Also, check out: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HB76c4oam8XNV7iBcZkYJ0zrBrpEMuckcNScNRPAlUU/edit?usp=sharing Shoutouts to Notsonewby for making this, it goes into more detail
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze any% route:
World 1:
1-1: Grab Diddy, as he is the only choice.
1-2: Keep Diddy until the final barrel, as he is faster on water. Switch to Dixie before the 3 grasshoppers near the end to make the jump up to the Finish barrel MUCH easier. You could keep Diddy alternatively, but again, it's harder.
1-3: Switch to Cranky at the start.
1-4: If you lose Cranky at the end of 1-3, don't bother grabbing the Diddy Barrel here, it's an auto-scroller.
1-Boss: You NEED Cranky for the fastest fight, wait on the Cranky Barrel cycle if you don't have him. Cranky can bounce on the spiked enemies, moving the fight along faster.
World 2:
2-1: Dixie is actually faster in this level due to her being able to make a HUGE jump off the slow platform 2/3rds of the way through, but due to the next stage, Cranky is better to keep here. However, if you lose Cranky during any point in 1-Boss/2-1/2-2, you'll be stuck without him until you get to 2-3.
2-2: First big moment of the run, one of the harder levels to learn and keep consistent at. Keep Cranky here, and learn how to store momentum off of swinging platforms. Everyone has different strats on how long to keep Rambi and where to have Rambi. Watch some top times, and find whatever works for you.
2-3: Again, keep Cranky through this level for the best time. Another tough level, all of it's cycles are based on the music.
2-4: Another Auto-scroller, jump up slopes in these.
2-5: Switch to Dixie at the start to cross longer gaps with her hover.
2-6: Switch to Cranky after the large in-door section with the flying penguins. Speeds up the end a little bit, and again, he is basically REQUIRED to speed up 2-Boss.
2-Boss: This boss is brutal and will ruin a lot of runs. Cranky is the man here.
World 3:
3-1: I personally keep Cranky here, but some prefer switching to Dixie at the first rotating barrel, as it can speed up the final section.
3-2: I also keep Cranky here, again, Dixie can save 1 second at the very end on the finish barrel.
3-3: Again, I've still got Cranky here, if you switch to Dixie in the last few stages, then you are stuck with her, and she IS slower. Skip the first Rambi Crate to catch better tornado cycles. Grab him before the tipping tree platforms. I then switch to Dixie with Rambi's charge in the first flying platforms section, and ditch Rambi Yoshi-Style to reach the Finish Barrel faster.
At this point, at the cost of about 20 seconds, you can go the Shop and buy stuff. Theoretically it's faster to skip it, but it makes 4-Boss MUCH scarier and some what RNG reliant. Others have found ways to make it more consistent though, so I recommend looking into it. If you do go to the shop, it's up to you what all you want to get, I get:
x3 Banana Juices(15 a piece, so 45 total Banana Tokens)
x1 Dixie Barrel(15 Banana Tokens)
x2 Diddy Barrels(15 a piece, so 30 Total Banana tokens)
Others buy no Diddy Barrels, more Dixie Barrels, some Green Balloons for 6-5 Safety, it's pretty much up to you, but I recommend at LEAST grabbing the 3 banana Juices, then figure out the rest from there.
3-4: All routes should have Dixie here, but switch to her at the first rotating barrel if you don't. She can hover over a few gaps in this level. Diddy is also acceptable if for some reason you have him.
3-5: You either have to switch to Cranky here or at the start of 3-B. I prefer to grab him here to avoid messing up cycles in 3-B. Dixie/Cranky are REQUIRED to reach the Secret Exit Finish Barrel.
3-B: Cool level, and not as hard as you'd think. Cranky is the man here. Also, while faster in the IL, it's better to make sure Cranky survives the end so you don't have to wait for the rotation at the start of 3-Boss.
3-Boss: Again, Cranky is best for bosses, since his cane can bounce on the spiked helmets of the baboons, and their swinging hammers. Cranky is basically required.
World 4:
4-1: If you sacrificed Cranky at the end of 3-Boss like I do, then enter this level with a Diddy Barrel from your inventory, and you'll get him before you reach the water. Diddy saves a TON of time in the water with his jetpack, so this is his world to shine obviously. If you forgot/didn't want to sacrifice Cranky in the last fight, then it's better to just grab the Diddy Barrel at the bottom of the first water section, which you only have to wait slightly for, but causes you to miss the Dixie Cycle halfway through the level, which is necessary to finish the level fast. You will take the secret exit here, which basically requires Dixie, unless you know how to swim against the current with Diddy, but again, it IS slower to do that.
4-A: Halfway through the level, you'll grab Cranky off the rotating barrel, which if you delay yourself about 1 second throughout the first section of the level, you should grab on the fly. Cranky is required to Cane Bounce off the Spike Balls near the end to reach the Secret Exit to 4-B
4-B: To note, this route of 4-1/4-A/4-B is faster by over 4 minutes to the normal route, so yeah, this is required. In the room you reach with the rotating barrel, you will have to wait until it rolls around to Diddy and Grab him. Again, Diddy is super fast in the water, so it's more then worth it, especially with how long the level is.
4-5: Whether you start this level with Diddy or not is unimportant. Just changes the spacing in the opening room. Grab Cranky off the first rotating barrel(going fast should mean you grab him without breaking stride). After the final Checkpoint, you have the option to break the box at the start of the final section and grab Diddy off the rotating barrel, which will allow you to skip breaking the crates at the finish barrel, as you can drop down and reach the barrel with Diddy's Hover(Super scary strat). Alternatively, you can enter this level with your other Diddy Barrel, and intentionally lose Cranky in the final section, which should give you Diddy before the finish barrels, and allow you to not have to wait for the Barrel Rotation. Either way, just make sure you finish the level with either Diddy or Solo DK, NOT cranky.
4-6: This is where most use their 2nd Diddy Barrel, even if they grabbed Diddy at the end of 4-5. Just allows you to be a little more aggressive throughout the level. To note, losing Diddy at the end of the level before the finish barrel is not important.
4-Boss: Equip 2 Banana Juices, 3 if you not confident in this fight. If you lose all 3 though by the end of the fight, if just makes 6-2 much rougher/a little slower. Grab Cranky at the start and get behind Fugu and Cane hit him until each of his 3 phases finish. Ideally, knock him towards the wall, which will turn him around faster. Practice this fight a lot.
Will finish this later.
A lot has changed, most of this is just my route, but we can hopefully keep updating this.
Also, check out: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HB76c4oam8XNV7iBcZkYJ0zrBrpEMuckcNScNRPAlUU/edit?usp=sharing Shoutouts to Notsonewby for making this, it goes into more detail
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze any% route:
World 1:
1-1: Grab Diddy, as he is the only choice.
1-2: Keep Diddy until the final barrel, as he is faster on water. Switch to Dixie before the 3 grasshoppers near the end to make the jump up to the Finish barrel MUCH easier. You could keep Diddy alternatively, but again, it's harder.
1-3: Switch to Cranky at the start.
1-4: If you lose Cranky at the end of 1-3, don't bother grabbing the Diddy Barrel here, it's an auto-scroller.
1-Boss: You NEED Cranky for the fastest fight, wait on the Cranky Barrel cycle if you don't have him. Cranky can bounce on the spiked enemies, moving the fight along faster.
World 2:
2-1: Dixie is actually faster in this level due to her being able to make a HUGE jump off the slow platform 2/3rds of the way through, but due to the next stage, Cranky is better to keep here. However, if you lose Cranky during any point in 1-Boss/2-1/2-2, you'll be stuck without him until you get to 2-3.
2-2: First big moment of the run, one of the harder levels to learn and keep consistent at. Keep Cranky here, and learn how to store momentum off of swinging platforms. Everyone has different strats on how long to keep Rambi and where to have Rambi. Watch some top times, and find whatever works for you.
2-3: Again, keep Cranky through this level for the best time. Another tough level, all of it's cycles are based on the music.
2-4: Another Auto-scroller, jump up slopes in these.
2-5: Switch to Dixie at the start to cross longer gaps with her hover.
2-6: Switch to Cranky after the large in-door section with the flying penguins. Speeds up the end a little bit, and again, he is basically REQUIRED to speed up 2-Boss.
2-Boss: This boss is brutal and will ruin a lot of runs. Cranky is the man here.
World 3:
3-1: I personally keep Cranky here, but some prefer switching to Dixie at the first rotating barrel, as it can speed up the final section.
3-2: I also keep Cranky here, again, Dixie can save 1 second at the very end on the finish barrel.
3-3: Again, I've still got Cranky here, if you switch to Dixie in the last few stages, then you are stuck with her, and she IS slower. Skip the first Rambi Crate to catch better tornado cycles. Grab him before the tipping tree platforms. I then switch to Dixie with Rambi's charge in the first flying platforms section, and ditch Rambi Yoshi-Style to reach the Finish Barrel faster.
At this point, at the cost of about 20 seconds, you can go the Shop and buy stuff. Theoretically it's faster to skip it, but it makes 4-Boss MUCH scarier and some what RNG reliant. Others have found ways to make it more consistent though, so I recommend looking into it. If you do go to the shop, it's up to you what all you want to get, I get:
x3 Banana Juices(15 a piece, so 45 total Banana Tokens)
x1 Dixie Barrel(15 Banana Tokens)
x2 Diddy Barrels(15 a piece, so 30 Total Banana tokens)
Others buy no Diddy Barrels, more Dixie Barrels, some Green Balloons for 6-5 Safety, it's pretty much up to you, but I recommend at LEAST grabbing the 3 banana Juices, then figure out the rest from there.
3-4: All routes should have Dixie here, but switch to her at the first rotating barrel if you don't. She can hover over a few gaps in this level. Diddy is also acceptable if for some reason you have him.
3-5: You either have to switch to Cranky here or at the start of 3-B. I prefer to grab him here to avoid messing up cycles in 3-B. Dixie/Cranky are REQUIRED to reach the Secret Exit Finish Barrel.
3-B: Cool level, and not as hard as you'd think. Cranky is the man here. Also, while faster in the IL, it's better to make sure Cranky survives the end so you don't have to wait for the rotation at the start of 3-Boss.
3-Boss: Again, Cranky is best for bosses, since his cane can bounce on the spiked helmets of the baboons, and their swinging hammers. Cranky is basically required.
World 4:
4-1: If you sacrificed Cranky at the end of 3-Boss like I do, then enter this level with a Diddy Barrel from your inventory, and you'll get him before you reach the water. Diddy saves a TON of time in the water with his jetpack, so this is his world to shine obviously. If you forgot/didn't want to sacrifice Cranky in the last fight, then it's better to just grab the Diddy Barrel at the bottom of the first water section, which you only have to wait slightly for, but causes you to miss the Dixie Cycle halfway through the level, which is necessary to finish the level fast. You will take the secret exit here, which basically requires Dixie, unless you know how to swim against the current with Diddy, but again, it IS slower to do that.
4-A: Halfway through the level, you'll grab Cranky off the rotating barrel, which if you delay yourself about 1 second throughout the first section of the level, you should grab on the fly. Cranky is required to Cane Bounce off the Spike Balls near the end to reach the Secret Exit to 4-B
4-B: To note, this route of 4-1/4-A/4-B is faster by over 4 minutes to the normal route, so yeah, this is required. In the room you reach with the rotating barrel, you will have to wait until it rolls around to Diddy and Grab him. Again, Diddy is super fast in the water, so it's more then worth it, especially with how long the level is.
4-5: Whether you start this level with Diddy or not is unimportant. Just changes the spacing in the opening room. Grab Cranky off the first rotating barrel(going fast should mean you grab him without breaking stride). After the final Checkpoint, you have the option to break the box at the start of the final section and grab Diddy off the rotating barrel, which will allow you to skip breaking the crates at the finish barrel, as you can drop down and reach the barrel with Diddy's Hover(Super scary strat). Alternatively, you can enter this level with your other Diddy Barrel, and intentionally lose Cranky in the final section, which should give you Diddy before the finish barrels, and allow you to not have to wait for the Barrel Rotation. Either way, just make sure you finish the level with either Diddy or Solo DK, NOT cranky.
4-6: This is where most use their 2nd Diddy Barrel, even if they grabbed Diddy at the end of 4-5. Just allows you to be a little more aggressive throughout the level. To note, losing Diddy at the end of the level before the finish barrel is not important.
4-Boss: Equip 2 Banana Juices, 3 if you not confident in this fight. If you lose all 3 though by the end of the fight, if just makes 6-2 much rougher/a little slower. Grab Cranky at the start and get behind Fugu and Cane hit him until each of his 3 phases finish. Ideally, knock him towards the wall, which will turn him around faster. Practice this fight a lot.
Will finish this later.
Thread title: