![SM64 - Go to The Secret Aquarium - 0x A Presses (VC Only) [OUTDATED] @pannenkoek2012](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ujLjEbCykOQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded October 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED - SEE A BETTER VERSION OF THIS VIDEO HERE:
youtu.be/7YhJcF9v7QQ
I go to The Secret Aquarium using using 0 A presses. Unfortunately, this method is only possible on emulator and virtual console, and NOT console. This is because if Mario goes to a PU on console without fixing the camera in the main map, the game will freeze. Normally we can get around this by fixing the camera, but this isn't possible in the castle foyer because the foyer has a special camera that automatically follows Mario around. Thus, whether or not this A press save truly counts is up for debate.
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I did this using 1 A press. You can find that video here: youtu.be/mlHzqJn2SMs?t=5m37s. Since then, Tyler Kehne discovered how to exploit PUs and described to me how one could use them to get into the Secret Aquarium using 0 A presses. Consequently, I planned a route, tested it, and ultimately made a TAS that did just that.
So what are PUs? Well, Mario's position is a float, but is treated as a short for testing collisions. Since shorts can only hold up to 2^16 values, some information is lost in this conversion. For example, a float of 1 is converted into a short of 1, but a float of (2^16)+1 is also converted into a short of 1. In other words, the modulo 2^16 operation is performed. This means that in some sense, being at position p + k*(2^16) for some integer k is treated the same as being at position p. Following this logic, there isn't just one map, but a grid of near infinite maps spread out by 2^16 intervals. These other maps are invisible, and are called Parallel Universes (PUs). With enough speed, Mario can travel to these PUs. However, 2^16 speed isn't enough, because the game checks if Mario is above land at each quarter step of his movement. Consequently, Mario needs 4 * 2^16 = 2^18 speed, so that each quarter step point is above a different PU. Thus, 2^18 is referred to as a quadruple PU distance, or QPU. Read Tyler's full description of PUs here: pastebin.com/uH5GhHbp
Here is a play-by-play of what I do in the video. First, I go into HMC and use hyper speed walking to generate a vast amount of speed. Hyper speed walking occurs when Mario walks uphill on a steep slope in shallow water. After 25 hours, I've accumulated enough speed for the rest of the journey. From there, I navigate through PUs to arrive back in the HMC main map's water. I then exit out, and conserve my speed into the castle by pressing Z+C^ and punch to get out of C^ mode. From there, I navigate through PUs to ascend up the foyer stairs and then up the BitDW stairs. See, I needed to get sufficient elevation in order to grab onto the SA entrance, and the BitDW hallway was the only place high enough to do so. Once there, I simply return to the main map exactly at the SA entrance.
Note that platforms with different slopes require different speed multiples to cross PUs from. Thus, when going from a platform of one slope to a platform of a different slope, I must drop my speed until it syncs up with the next available speed multiple of the new platform. Decreasing speed can be done quite quickly by jumping with A, but since this is the A button challenge, the quickest way to decrease my speed is to continuously punch, which can take quite some time.
For viewer pleasure and enlightenment, I also show the route a second time with helpful visuals. The 4 screens I show are:
(1) a Standard View: showing the natural view that the game displays
(2) a Relative View: showing Mario's relative position within each PU, which normally cannot be discerned because each PU is invisible
(3) a PU Map: showing which PU Mario is in out the infinite grid of PUs
(4) a Relative Map: showing an overhead view of Mario's relative position within each PU
Pictures of my calculations: imgur.com/a/05op7
Scale map of what the PU grid looks like: imgur.com/wTHujrX
.m64 stats:
Length: 27 hours and 55 minutes
Re-records: 2936
Frames: 6,030,103 (3,015,000 input)
ABC Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_
ABC Routes: docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED - SEE A BETTER VERSION OF THIS VIDEO HERE:
youtu.be/7YhJcF9v7QQ
I go to The Secret Aquarium using using 0 A presses. Unfortunately, this method is only possible on emulator and virtual console, and NOT console. This is because if Mario goes to a PU on console without fixing the camera in the main map, the game will freeze. Normally we can get around this by fixing the camera, but this isn't possible in the castle foyer because the foyer has a special camera that automatically follows Mario around. Thus, whether or not this A press save truly counts is up for debate.
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I did this using 1 A press. You can find that video here: youtu.be/mlHzqJn2SMs?t=5m37s. Since then, Tyler Kehne discovered how to exploit PUs and described to me how one could use them to get into the Secret Aquarium using 0 A presses. Consequently, I planned a route, tested it, and ultimately made a TAS that did just that.
So what are PUs? Well, Mario's position is a float, but is treated as a short for testing collisions. Since shorts can only hold up to 2^16 values, some information is lost in this conversion. For example, a float of 1 is converted into a short of 1, but a float of (2^16)+1 is also converted into a short of 1. In other words, the modulo 2^16 operation is performed. This means that in some sense, being at position p + k*(2^16) for some integer k is treated the same as being at position p. Following this logic, there isn't just one map, but a grid of near infinite maps spread out by 2^16 intervals. These other maps are invisible, and are called Parallel Universes (PUs). With enough speed, Mario can travel to these PUs. However, 2^16 speed isn't enough, because the game checks if Mario is above land at each quarter step of his movement. Consequently, Mario needs 4 * 2^16 = 2^18 speed, so that each quarter step point is above a different PU. Thus, 2^18 is referred to as a quadruple PU distance, or QPU. Read Tyler's full description of PUs here: pastebin.com/uH5GhHbp
Here is a play-by-play of what I do in the video. First, I go into HMC and use hyper speed walking to generate a vast amount of speed. Hyper speed walking occurs when Mario walks uphill on a steep slope in shallow water. After 25 hours, I've accumulated enough speed for the rest of the journey. From there, I navigate through PUs to arrive back in the HMC main map's water. I then exit out, and conserve my speed into the castle by pressing Z+C^ and punch to get out of C^ mode. From there, I navigate through PUs to ascend up the foyer stairs and then up the BitDW stairs. See, I needed to get sufficient elevation in order to grab onto the SA entrance, and the BitDW hallway was the only place high enough to do so. Once there, I simply return to the main map exactly at the SA entrance.
Note that platforms with different slopes require different speed multiples to cross PUs from. Thus, when going from a platform of one slope to a platform of a different slope, I must drop my speed until it syncs up with the next available speed multiple of the new platform. Decreasing speed can be done quite quickly by jumping with A, but since this is the A button challenge, the quickest way to decrease my speed is to continuously punch, which can take quite some time.
For viewer pleasure and enlightenment, I also show the route a second time with helpful visuals. The 4 screens I show are:
(1) a Standard View: showing the natural view that the game displays
(2) a Relative View: showing Mario's relative position within each PU, which normally cannot be discerned because each PU is invisible
(3) a PU Map: showing which PU Mario is in out the infinite grid of PUs
(4) a Relative Map: showing an overhead view of Mario's relative position within each PU
Pictures of my calculations: imgur.com/a/05op7
Scale map of what the PU grid looks like: imgur.com/wTHujrX
.m64 stats:
Length: 27 hours and 55 minutes
Re-records: 2936
Frames: 6,030,103 (3,015,000 input)
ABC Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_
ABC Routes: docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit
![SM64 - Go to The Secret Aquarium - 0x A Presses (VC Only) [OUTDATED]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ujLjEbCykOQ/mqdefault.jpg "SM64 - Go to The Secret Aquarium - 0x A Presses (VC Only) [OUTDATED]
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED - SEE A BETTER VERSION OF THIS VIDEO HERE:
https://youtu.be/7YhJcF9v7QQ
I go to The Secret Aquarium using using 0 A presses. Unfortunately, this method is only possible on emulator and virtual console, and NOT console. This is because if Mario goes to a PU on console without fixing the camera in the main map, the game will freeze. Normally we can get around this by fixing the camera, but this isnt possible in the castle foyer because the foyer has a special camera that automatically follows Mario around. Thus, whether or not this A press save truly counts is up for debate.
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I did this using 1 A press. You can find that video here: https://youtu.be/mlHzqJn2SMs?t=5m37s. Since then, Tyler Kehne discovered how to exploit PUs and described to me how one could use them to get into the Secret Aquarium using 0 A presses. Consequently, I planned a route, tested it, and ultimately made a TAS that did just that.
So what are PUs? Well, Marios position is a float, but is treated as a short for testing collisions. Since shorts can only hold up to 2^16 values, some information is lost in this conversion. For example, a float of 1 is converted into a short of 1, but a float of (2^16)+1 is also converted into a short of 1. In other words, the modulo 2^16 operation is performed. This means that in some sense, being at position p + k*(2^16) for some integer k is treated the same as being at position p. Following this logic, there isnt just one map, but a grid of near infinite maps spread out by 2^16 intervals. These other maps are invisible, and are called Parallel Universes (PUs). With enough speed, Mario can travel to these PUs. However, 2^16 speed isnt enough, because the game checks if Mario is above land at each quarter step of his movement. Consequently, Mario needs 4 * 2^16 = 2^18 speed, so that each quarter step point is above a different PU. Thus, 2^18 is referred to as a quadruple PU distance, or QPU. Read Tylers full description of PUs here: http://pastebin.com/uH5GhHbp
Here is a play-by-play of what I do in the video. First, I go into HMC and use hyper speed walking to generate a vast amount of speed. Hyper speed walking occurs when Mario walks uphill on a steep slope in shallow water. After 25 hours, Ive accumulated enough speed for the rest of the journey. From there, I navigate through PUs to arrive back in the HMC main maps water. I then exit out, and conserve my speed into the castle by pressing Z+C^ and punch to get out of C^ mode. From there, I navigate through PUs to ascend up the foyer stairs and then up the BitDW stairs. See, I needed to get sufficient elevation in order to grab onto the SA entrance, and the BitDW hallway was the only place high enough to do so. Once there, I simply return to the main map exactly at the SA entrance.
Note that platforms with different slopes require different speed multiples to cross PUs from. Thus, when going from a platform of one slope to a platform of a different slope, I must drop my speed until it syncs up with the next available speed multiple of the new platform. Decreasing speed can be done quite quickly by jumping with A, but since this is the A button challenge, the quickest way to decrease my speed is to continuously punch, which can take quite some time.
For viewer pleasure and enlightenment, I also show the route a second time with helpful visuals. The 4 screens I show are:
(1) a Standard View: showing the natural view that the game displays
(2) a Relative View: showing Marios relative position within each PU, which normally cannot be discerned because each PU is invisible
(3) a PU Map: showing which PU Mario is in out the infinite grid of PUs
(4) a Relative Map: showing an overhead view of Marios relative position within each PU
Pictures of my calculations: http://imgur.com/a/05op7
Scale map of what the PU grid looks like: http://imgur.com/wTHujrX
.m64 stats:
Length: 27 hours and 55 minutes
Re-records: 2936
Frames: 6,030,103 (3,015,000 input)
ABC Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_
ABC Routes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit")
![SM64 - Bowser in the Sky (without Red Coins) - 2x A Presses [OUTDATED]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vHB1ZuHKqRk/mqdefault.jpg "SM64 - Bowser in the Sky (without Red Coins) - 2x A Presses [OUTDATED]
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED - SEE A BETTER VERSION OF THIS VIDEO HERE:
http://youtu.be/4v5SY6rxK4w
I complete the level Bowser in the Sky using 2 A presses. The A presses are as follows:
A press #1: to cross the first two gaps in the beginning platforms
A press #2: to cross the third gap in the beginning platforms
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I did this in 3 A presses. You can find that video here: http://youtu.be/ixgacnmzrnE. Since then, I figured out how to get past the tall pole without using an A press, namely by using several goomba clones to construct a goomba ladder. Though to do this, I did have to overcome a few challenges. The first challenge was cloning the goombas at all. You see, grabbing the bob-omb by holding it off the edge (as I do for the first clone) gives Mario VS9. There is almost no way to manipulate this VS# to be VS1-VS3 given the tiny space Mario has to work with. However, I worked out that I could grind on the edge (randomizing the first 8 VS#s, so it doesnt do anything by itself) while also collecting the bob-ombs coin (randomizing the first few VS#s), and so I was able to lower my VS# and clone a goomba. I could only use this method once (since the coin is gone afterwards), and so I place the goomba off the edge, so that in the future I can grab a fuseless fake bob-omb, giving me VS2 right off the bat, allowing for easy goomba cloning. The second challenge was fitting all the goomba hitboxes in the tiny space on top of the blue triangle. This required precise goomba placement, and so I used a spreadsheet to help position them all precisely, as can be seen here: http://imgur.com/a/TT7rP. The third challenge was not having the game freeze from having so many goomba clones on screen at once. I managed to avoid this by using specific, often inconvenient camera angles that avoided viewing all the goombas at once. Nevertheless, you can still see the HUD flicker at 4:19, since I made dust and had many goomba clones on screen at once, but luckily the HUD managed to recover.
On a separate note, I majorly improved upon the 61 goombas needed to get into the warp pipe at the end (or 63 goombas if you also collect the red coin). The first improvement was using the hitbox of the upper elevators axle to get off of it without needing a goomba bounce, as can be seen at 5:14. This reduced it from 61/63 goombas to 35/37. And then the second improvement was bringing a bob-omb to the end instead of 5 goomba clones. I am able to bring the bob-omb up the steps and use its expanding hitbox to clip me inside of the warp pipe. This reduced it once more, from 35/37 goombas to 11/13.
.m64 stats:
Length: 1 hour and 12.0 minutes
Re-records: 18805
The song I used was a remixed version of Sword Lords remix of the William tell Overture, which can be found at: http://youtu.be/P7svUxY2Gns.
ABC Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_
ABC Routes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit")
![SM64 - Stomp on the Thwomp - 6x A Presses (Commentated) [OUTDATED]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vaJOVyfPaBE/mqdefault.jpg "SM64 - Stomp on the Thwomp - 6x A Presses (Commentated) [OUTDATED]
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED - SEE A BETTER VERSION OF THIS VIDEO HERE:
https://youtu.be/7S5CF1vsDPQ
I collect the star Stomp on the Thwomp in Tick Tock Clock using 6 A presses. The A presses are as follows:
A Press #1: to get past the first rotating block
A Presses #2-3: to get past the 3 rotating blocks onto the mesh floor
A Press #4: to get onto the rotating cogs
A Press #5: to double jump to the top of the clock
A Press #6: to jump onto thwomp
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I collected this star in 7 A presses. You can find that video here: https://youtu.be/5W6_55IDpbU. Since then, Tyler Kehne discovered that there is a pedro spot within the cogs if the clock parts are frozen. Furthermore, he figured out that Mario could reach this pedro spot using a bob-omb. I then optimized the A presses needed to achieve that pedro spot enough so that we ended up saving an A press.
Here is a play by play of what I do. First, I use the crazy box in TTM to set the HOLP to a precise location. Then in TTC I use instant release to place the bob-omb at the HOLP. I then climb up TTC and reactivate the bob-omb to have it snap to me. I bring it to the cogs and use its hitbox to push Mario into the pedro spot. From there, I use the pedro spot to build up speed until I have enough to double jump to the top of the clock, and from there I collect the star.
What is instant release? If Mario both dives into a grabbable object and bonks his head on a wall simultaneously, hell both grab the object and release it on the same frame. The HOLP is a variable in the game that keeps track of the last place Mario has held an object. It updates continuously as Mario holds an object, and its the position where released objects appear. However, when Mario performs instant release, the object is released at the HOLP (as it usually is), but the HOLP has not been updated to where it should be since Mario released the object after 0 frames! This means the object will appear at the previous HOLP, i.e. the coordinates of the last place Mario held an object.
What is a pedro spot? Its a spot where Mario can be airborne and about to move onto a floor that has a ceiling right above it. The game calculates Marios intended position, which is then raised up by the floor. However, the ceiling prevents Mario from moving to that spot. Consequently, Mario will end up remaining in place while able to gain forward speed. His forward speed will increase until the ceiling or floor runs out and he breaks free from the pedro spot.
.m64 stats:
Length: 4 minutes and 38 seconds
Re-records: 2021
Frames: 16660 (8250 input)
Time to TAS: 2 hours
Time to edit video: ~15 hours
Uncommentated Version: https://youtu.be/5t-ZbJsFEwg
ABC Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_
ABC Routes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit")
![SM64 - Pole-Jumping for Red Coins - 2x A Presses [OUTDATED]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wkat3kxJcjA/mqdefault.jpg "SM64 - Pole-Jumping for Red Coins - 2x A Presses [OUTDATED]
THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED - SEE A BETTER VERSION OF THIS VIDEO HERE:
http://youtu.be/2irYbgBSppU
I collect the star Pole-Jumping for Red Coins in Dire, Dire Docks using 2 A presses. The A presses are as follows:
A Press #1: to jump from one pole to another pole, to swim to the shell, to swim with the shell to clone a pole, and to swim with that pole clone to a desired spot in the water
A Press #2: to jump off of the pole clone onto the platforms above and to swim to shore
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I collected this star in 2.5 A presses. You can find that video here: http://youtu.be/NUSnl0F4d_4. Since then, I was informed by Tyler Kehne that a technique known as the 207 dive recover might very well be able to ascend the cork boxes in the submarine room. Thus, I tested it and eventually got it to work!
If youre wondering about the 207 dive recover, it is a technique to use a dive recover to ascend at most 207 units by taking advantage of poor object collision testing. Essentially, the sides of the cork boxes push Mario outwards, but these walls are misaligned at the corner. Therefore, Mario can do a dive recover into this misalignment, allowing him to get under the top without being pushed away by the sides. The top then clips Mario upwards onto it.
If youre wondering what a half A press is, read this before commenting to ask. I use a special notation that allows for half A presses. Specifically, if you enter a level already holding the A button, then that A press only counts as half. Its actually pretty important to distinguish between the A button being PRESSED and the A button being HELD. While pressing A allows Mario to execute several kinds of jumps, the holding of A allows Mario to swim in water, do little kicks up slopes, grab the owl, and twirl slowly. So if a star requires the A button to be held, the pressing of the A button could have been done at some point in the past, and just held until that moment. For instance, lets say there are two stars: one that requires the A button to be pressed (x1 A presses), and another that only requires the A button to be held (0.5 A presses). Individually, these stars would both require a full A press. But if these stars were collected one after the other, then the A button could be pressed during the former, and held all the way through to the next star to be used in the latter. In this manner, these stars together would only use 1 A press, whereas they would take 2 A presses if done individually. So during a 120 star run, you would round these half A presses down, but on a star-by-star basis you would round them up.
ABC Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_
ABC Routes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit")
