DK64 Max%

DK64 Max% is a challenge category which goes above and beyond the normal 101%. The maximum percentage we can get in this game is 132%, which displays as -124% due to interger overflow. Because the golden banana counts are stored as 3 bit integers, you can have up to 7 golden bananas per kong per level, which causes the extra 31% to get added on. You end the run with 280 golden bananas.

We are able to get more than 5 golden bananas per kong per level due to a glitch called file duping. File duping uses the Intro Story Glitch (http://dk64.wikia.com/wiki/Intro_Story_Glitch) to allow us to make a fresh copy of an old file. You start as if the file is clean, and the game thinks the file is a new file, but you start with all the golden bananas, regular bananas, and upgrades from Cranky, Candy and Funky from the file you just deleted.

Essentially I can complete the game multiple times only getting the fast GBs and some regular bananas until the final cycle, where I would finish up with all the other collectibles. The rest of the pastebin just details what exactly I'll be doing for Max%, so if you just wanted to know what it was, feel free to stop reading here.

Because regular bananas carry over, I need to be absolutely sure that I do not get banana medals before the final cycle. When I file dupe, I lose banana medals, but NOT regular bananas, so there would be no way to get a banana medal again if I went over 75 bananas in a cycle before the final one.

The optimal amount of cycles for Max% is 3, as it allows us to eliminate most of the slow GBs (usually 2 per kong per level).

It is possible to dupe some golden bananas in the game file itself, specifically the Seal Race GB in Galleon and the DK Lever GB in Fungi. This is possible because you get these golden bananas at places the game doesn't expect you to pick them up, so the flag to remove them never gets cleared. You simply leave the area and come back again to respawn the GB.

Each of the 3 cycles is unique from one another, which is probably one of the coolest parts of the run. The first cycle uses a glitch called Aztec Early ISG, which allows us to open the Aztec lobby door without defeating the Japes boss. It also uses Main Menu Mode, which allows us to get all the upgrades right away, but gets rid of pausing and saving. We need the game to save in order to file dupe, so in this cycle we collect all 40 blueprints in order to play a Snide's bonus game, the only way to force the game out of Main Menu Mode in order to save.

As mentioned earlier, we don't need to collect anything other than some golden bananas and some bananas in cycles that aren't the last one, so this first cycle goes by relatively quickly. Additionally, because moves obtained from Main Menu Mode moves carry over with file duping, there is no need to buy upgrades ever, eliminating a lot of cutscenes.

The second cycle is the fastest cycle by far; Main Menu Mode isn't needed so we can exit levels easily and we can get some golden bananas that we couldn't get before. Because only 7 GBs are needed per kong per level at the end, we collect the lowest amount of stuff in this cycle (most Kongs get 3 GBs per level in cycles 1 and 3, but only 2 per level in cycle 2). We also don't need to visit Aztec a second time due to the way the run is routed.

The third cycle is the cycle where I actually need to collect the banana medals, banana fairies, battle crowns, keys and nintendo and rareware coins as well as the rest of the golden bananas. This is the longest cycle because I actually need to fight bosses and collect some rather long collectables. To end the run, I do have to fight K Rool as well.

Estimated times to clear each cycle:
1 - 2:30
2 - 2:15
3 - 4:15
Total - 9:00