No Major Skips

**No Major Skips** or **NMS**, is a speedrun category which prohibits bypassing shine, key, or star coin requirements. This means that, along many other routing restrictions, the runner must collect 32 shines before entering Bowser's Castle. Since runners only need to get a few shines from each level, the route through each level differs considerably from 100%. No Major Skips has the largest routing variety of the three main categories, with runners often being able to choose to forgo some shines in favor of others without losing too much time.

The No Major Skips world record as of August 2022 is 23:41 by Vertic.

## Standard Routing

Currently, the fastest route involves grabbing the following shines (in this order):

(Q) = Quit game after grabbing all shines

(EL) = Exit level after grabbing all shines

**Peach's Castle:** Eddie shine (EL)

**Bob-omb Battlefield:** "The Five Silver Stars", "Island in the Sky", and "The Secret of the Mountain" (Q)

**Snowman's Land:** "Chief Chilly", "The Snowman's Head", and "The Iceblock Maze" (Q)\*

**Bowser 1:** Tutorial 2 shine (EL)

**Shifting Sand Land:** "Shining atop the Ancient Pyramid", "Trekking for 8 Red-Coins", and "Inside the Pyramid" (Q)

**Peach's Castle:** Frosty Fludd (Q)

**Green Shine:** Green Shine (Q)

**Peach's Castle:** Thwomp's Castle (EL)

**Wet Dry World:** "The Top of the Town" and "The 5 Secrets of the Shallows and Sky" (EL)

**Hazy Maze Cave:** "The Caged Shine Sprite", "The Underground Lake", and "The Secret of the Lake" (Q)

**Bowser 2:** Bowser 2 Reds (EL x 2)

**Tall Tall Mountain:** "Blast off to the Lonely Mushroom", "Scale the Mountain", and "Silver Stars in the Sky" (Q)

**Red Shine:** Red Shine (EL)

**Tick-Tock Clock:** "The Magma Maze"\*\*, "The Pit of Pendulums", and "The Flippin' Red Coins" (EL)

**Rainbow Ride:** "The Cave of Empuzzlement"\*\*\*, "Tricky Triangles", "Cruiser Crossin' the Rainbow", and "The Floating Mansion in the Sky" (Q)

**Bowser 3:** No shines

\* Ideally you perform End of Shine skip and press quit game, however letting the star grab animation play out is only a few seconds slower.

\*\* The Magma Maze shine is a secret shine located in Peach's castle but is part of FLUDD Preserve for Tick-Tock Clock

\*\*\* The Cave of Empuzzlement shine is a secret shine located in Peach's castle but is part of FLUDD Preserve for Rainbow Ride

## Alternative Routing

Listed below are shines and their possible replacements, as well as the time difference.

**Wet Dry World:** Boo's Mansion (Big Boo's Balcony and 'Switch' to the Secret Room) and Secret of the Sky [+12 seconds]

**Bowser 2 Reds:** Hazy Maze Cave (The Toxic Maze) [+8 seconds]

**Rainbow Ride (The Floating Mansion in the Sky):** Tick-Tock Clock (The Top of the Clock) [+4 seconds]\*

\* If you fail the Shine Cancel after the red coins shine, you can do "The Floating Mansion in the Sky" as a backup shine.

## Current Strategies

### Lobby

* Tutorial 1
* Secret of the Mushroom
* Bob-omb Battlefield
* Snowman's Land
* Bowser 1
* Tutorial 2
* Shifting Sand Land
* Green Shine

### Basement

* Hazy Maze Cave
* Boo's Mansion
* Wet Dry World
* Frosty FLUDD
* Secret of the Sky
* Thwomp's Castle
* Bowser 2

### Upstairs

* Lethal Lava Land
* Tall Tall Mountain
* Red Shine
* Tick Tock Clock
* Rainbow Ride
* Cave of Empuzzlement
* Magma Maze
* Bowser's Castle
* Space
* Escape