INTRO Refer to the "How Routing Works (#1: Terminology + Concepts)" guide before reading this, as it will assume you understand the content of it. This guide will do an overview of the route for some of the categories in the game, taking note of version differences and explaining the logic that goes into the routes. This is meant to be helpful and as a way to apply your understanding of the routing concepts in the aforementioned guide.
ANY% OVERVIEW Any% is one of the 2 categories that have slightly different routes depending on the version of the game you're playing on. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 have the same overall route across all platforms. Chapter 3 has a faster route on PC than on console versions due to the Stone Beetle mission substituting for a story mission.
CHAPTER 1 On all platforms, we need 5,000 opals after chapter 1, which makes the opal routing fairly tight if you want to avoid going out of your way for opals at some point. Metal Menace is the mission skipped in chapter 1, because of how long it takes to walk into and out of Outback Oasis relative to the other missions. The route goes Intro -> Tree Rescue -> That's a Croc -> Ninjas 1 -> Explosive Cargo -> Patchy.
CHAPTER 2 From this point onwards, opals are not a concern for the route, as all expenses are covered directly by the rewards we receive from completing missions. The mission skipped in chapter 2 for Any% is Volcano Rescue, again for how long it takes to get through the level compared to others. Chapter 2 is a frustrating chapter for routing, as it would seem that the route we currently take (Grub Grab -> drive back to the Forest) would be slow, but all other alternative routes are even slower. The route goes Grub Grab -> Canopy Capers -> Dennis Freeway -> Croc Stock Pile -> Ripper Nipper -> Oil Rig/Buster.
CHAPTER 3 (CONSOLE) As mentioned, chapter 3 has a very different route for console compared to PC. On console, we skip Teeter Tottering Inferno in Sulphur Rocks, because it is too slow to go into Sulphur Rocks purely for that 1 mission. The route goes Sheep Dip -> Sub 1 -> Sub 2 -> Tourist Trap -> Crocodile Chaos -> Ninjas 2 -> Bush Fire -> Fluffy.
CHAPTER 3 (PC) The PC route for chapter 3 is ~2 minutes faster, approximately. We discovered in 2019 that the Stone Beetle mission in Sulphur Rocks counts for story progress, which had major implications on the route. This made it faster to go into Sulphur Rocks and complete both Teeter Tottering Inferno as well as the Stone Beetle missions, which means we were able to remove 2 other missions from chapter 3 to skip. It was determined that Bush Fire and Crocodile Chaos were the best options to skip. Bush Fire is by far the slowest mission in chapter 3, and Crocodile Chaos is only faster than other missions when it goes perfectly, so removing Crocodile Chaos technically makes the route not as fast as it could be, but skipping it takes out an extremely inconsistent reset point from the route. The route goes Sheep Dip -> Sub 1 -> Sub 2 -> Tourist Trap -> Ninjas 2 -> Stone Beetle -> Teeter Tottering Inferno -> Fluffy.
CHAPTER 4 The route for chapter 4 also takes advantage of an optional mission (the bird in The Never Never), but this works across all platforms the game exists on. Chapter 4 is notorious for having 3 very slow driving-delivery missions, and having the bird mission allows us to skip 2 of them (Plutonium Panic and Need a Spare are skipped). The route goes Big Bang -> The Never Never (4 missions) -> Ninjas 3 -> Truck Stop -> Truck Tragedy -> Fire Fight -> Boss Cass Bust Up.
