I figure we might as well have a post here we can discuss the Any% route and what might be the most optimal. I'll go ahead and start by posting my current route I've been using.

System 1: 1-1: 10 Critters 1-2: 9 Critters + Capsule 1-3: 6 Critters Secret 1-2 1-4: 9 Critters

System 2: 2-1: 0 Critters + Capsule 2-2: 12 Critters + Capsule 2-3: 3 Critters Secret 2-2 Secret 2-1 2-4: 7 Critters

System 3: 3-1: 25 Critters + Capsule 3-2: 6 Critters + Capsule 3-3: 6 Critters + Capsule Secret 3-1 Secret 3-2 Secret 3-3 Secret 3-4 3-4: 12 Critters

System 4: 4-1: 0 Critters 4-2: 10 Critters 4-3: 0 Critters 4-4: 5 Critters

System 5: 5-1: 0 Critters + Capsule 5-2: 0 Critters 5-3: 0 Critters Secret 5-1 5-4: .done

This is slightly different than my current 1:19 run. The difference being the new 2-2 skip and making up the 12 critters lost there elsewhere, which I added in on 3-4 and 4-4 as boss levels don't have moons and the critters aren't out of the way at all. I was already over the 120 critters needed for the final boss, so I didn't need the full 12.

System 1 is pretty much locked in stone so long as the 1-3 skip is used, which is essentially required as it saves a significant amount of time.

My logic behind my System 3 section is that by doing all of the capsule and secret levels, it unlocks the extra fourth stage, which means later on I don't have to pick up another capsule. Not only does this save time by not having to collect it, it also means skipping critters on some stages entirely bypassing moon. This change is seen in 4-3 where the moon is a hard 35 seconds or so with no way to end it early (being large disables damage from spikes and enemies).

Secret 5-1 is chosen as the System 4/5 level mostly because it has one of the quickest corruption points and the level itself taking almost no time to complete.

I'm up for suggestions on how this route could be improved. If anything it's going to come down to testing out different critter rationing and secret levels, but for now I think this is pretty decent. I'll do a couple runs again soon with the new tricks and see if that 1:15 sum of best is possible.

¤Edit¤ - Changed critter count for levels, grabbing extra in 3-4 and 4-4 for less moon time.