Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This used savestates, but is not too difficult for someone to do it without them.
If you go inside the mansion, the doors will shut behind you, blocking your exit.
However, you can use P2 to break Yoshi's egg while standing outside the mansion, and as it turns out, you can also have P2 hit Yoshi, and Yoshi will act as if it was hit by an enemy, running out the door.
From here, infinite flutters - aided by grabbing Blimp Fruits from outside the 2D boundary - can make it up to the roof and over to the second planet, thus skipping the launch star.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2
This used savestates, but is not too difficult for someone to do it without them.
If you go inside the mansion, the doors will shut behind you, blocking your exit.
However, you can use P2 to break Yoshi's egg while standing outside the mansion, and as it turns out, you can also have P2 hit Yoshi, and Yoshi will act as if it was hit by an enemy, running out the door.
From here, infinite flutters - aided by grabbing Blimp Fruits from outside the 2D boundary - can make it up to the roof and over to the second planet, thus skipping the launch star.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Upside Dizzy Green Star 1 in 12.96s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rw64kFfrQNg/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Upside Dizzy Green Star 1 in 12.96s
Luigi flips around gravity planes to collect a Green Star in 12.96 seconds [IGT, 778 frames].
This is the IL strat that has been known for years, optimised to beat the 13 second mark.
The strat is very janky. For some reason - possibly an effect of the bonk - Luigi twirls after changing gravity, and this makes his wallkick angle go whatever way it wants, including backwards.
Interestingly, delaying the first long jump and getting a slightly higher bonk allows the camera to follow Luigi up to the gravity change, and it *seemed* to affect the angle and speed of the backwards wallkick too, although Im not convinced that thats the case.
This could be improved by 3 frames if this same fast wallkick can be done with the earliest long jump, with which I had no luck after many attempts (I was stuck with a 13.16 for a long time). In contrast, I got this fast wallkick after only a couple of minutes with the later long jump.
A frame of neutral joystick is used just after wallkicking - holding right straight away delays the acceleration to top speed for a few frames.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG2: Wild Glide Green Stars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s1fLQyWmg2k/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Wild Glide Green Stars
Green Stars TAS WIP
The movement on the map uses an IR click and is one of the bigger differences of using IR, about 0.2s saved.
As there arent any cycles and the start is the same, there is no significance to star order.
For those that care, language difference is 28 frames from Japanese, 46 from Chinese.
Movement: I had done a Fleet Glide GS2 TAS a while ago, finding that the most optimal consistent speed was when the Y axis of the Wiimote gyro was at 498, a little bit above being completely level, which is the highest tilt that will accelerate.
But nemi had already noted (https://youtu.be/VmpawoTiNjI) that this wasnt necessarily indicative of speed, and that the best movement appears to be alternating between accelerating and lifting up.
Using the first straight section at 0:53 as a testing ground, I found that alternating between 498 (accelerate) and 496 (lift) every 44 frames was optimal, although, compared to other alternating times, it was only by fractions of a unit across 3 seconds of gameplay, so theres not much difference to RTA runs.
Compared to not alternating, though, it was 60 units further ahead at 12.15 on the timer, so about 1.3 frames faster.
The average speed went from 47.27 to 47.4.
The issue is that, particularly for GS2, this movement is too high for the star and some obstacles, so at some point I needed bigger downward tilt which lowered the average speed of the whole run and lost a lot of that potential timesave.
Green Star 2 - 1:04.65 IGT - 35:28.88 real-time split (2:00.75 segment)
The first level longer than 1 minute IGT.
Turnaround double jump was 4 frames faster than running to Jibberjay.
As stated earlier, I had to start tilting downwards a lot more nearer to the end, but a frame was saved by going further down to lift up with more speed into the Green Star. This animation also brings Luigi further forward which helped in the frame save.
Green Star 1 - 35.38 IGT - 36:47.35 real-time split (1:18.47 segment)
Backwards jump saved 8 frames here.
This star didnt need as much downward tilt so the optimal movement was more helpful. I did a slight lift up into the star but it didnt save any frames this time.
#supermariogalaxy2 #toolassistedspeedrun")
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy: Dusty Dune 3 in 1:55.43 [Luigi]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/saMCD7QtOAQ/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy: Dusty Dune 3 in 1:55.43 [Luigi]
Luigi ascends the sunbaked sand castle in 1 minute 55.43 seconds [6926 frames].
This emulates a full game run watching cutscenes, which is a deficit of ~12s to IL runs.
I couldnt find a way to get a land cancel at the start, despite trying 20 different frames and different angles too.
The autoscroller skip was first attempted by SamuelJH: https://youtu.be/iT_MJ_5e2ew
The bounciness of the button added momentum to the backflip.
To emulate a full game run, I avoided the coin. The detour loses 9 frames, but would save time on menuing after the star.
At the top of the autoscroller section, I did a megasideflip, which needed a certain Luigi position and camera position to go so high which is why it took a small run-up. It isnt necessary for Luigi, as a triple jump + 2P jump is barely possible, but it is faster.
The megasideflip was first done here: https://youtu.be/wsh07wMnjRk?&t=62
Spinning out of the sand on the next planet was 3 frames faster than jumping out.
I was originally going to do the star chips skip: https://youtu.be/dVHRYC7NwA8
But when messing about, I found that it was possible to escape the sand at the edge of the planet by using an ABC technique of facing away from the wall, spinning to get knockback, and holding backwards into the wall to get a second higher knockback. This let me grab the wall so I could walljump onto the rim.
This trick alone saves 1 second, but in the process of finding it, I also found that, by long jumping onto the secret stars planet, you can long jump all the way to the Pokey-coconut section, completely skipping the spiny plants planet, saving another 6.5 seconds.
I had to carefully change the angles for the few frames before spin cancel long jumping into the coconut to get a trajectory that ended up close to the Pokey and didnt get pulled back by the quicksand current.
A spin cancel long jump into the Pokeys head was 6 frames faster than bouncing on it.
As the launch star takes some time to be usable, I did a co-star jump for fun.
Inside the glass castle, spin cancel long jumps dont break the boxes so I had to get a little creative.
Spin cancel jumps were useless as they got knocked back all the time, but spinning just before reaching the box avoids knockback, so this was the way forward.
For the first one, I did a backflip spin to have backwards momentum onto the second step, from which I could do a backflip 2P jump up to the higher ledge before the cutscene.
Another important thing here was doing spin cancel ground pounds (aka frame perfect ground pounds) to be able to do 2P jumps next to walls without getting knockback.
Some of the movement here could use some more work but overall Im satisfied with it.
At 1:51 I did a long jump spin to get on the ramp earlier, as a long jump on this ramp lands right in the front of the box. Squeezing a fast long jump in like that was fast.
At 1:58 I pressed Z when spinning to get a sort of spin-cancel crouch-uncrouch thing that prevented knockback and allowed me to backflip as soon as possible.
Spinning into the star saved 1 frame.
#SuperMarioGalaxy #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG2: Beat Block GS1 in 0xA Presses [Luigi]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/szymKcrHmJM/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Beat Block GS1 in 0xA Presses [Luigi]
Triple bouncing off a Goombeetle means you dont have to press A in the level to grab this Green Star.
This was already proven as Mario by Bloopiero: https://youtu.be/VrkH-Vz2PVU
But we like to have videos of both characters performing a level, so I made this.
The Goombeetle freezes in place when the blocks change, and then drops to the ground when it reappears, which makes it easier to get it in position from its starting block, but makes the overall play much slower.
Interestingly, you can land on it just before it turns back over and it wont get squashed.
Also, a technique I used in this was ground pounding inside a thin floor to regain my spin.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #AButtonChallenge")
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Space Storm Green Star 2 in 15.11s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tT7OmwDp0vg/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Space Storm Green Star 2 in 15.11s
Luigi ascends part of the Topmans tower to collect a Green Star in 15.11 seconds [IGT, 907 frames].
Continuing on with the backlog of unrecorded TASes, this follows the IL route (https://youtu.be/M_gzDrRwpG8).
The first cutscene played as part of cutscene cycle testing, although aside from the Amps (dealt with by P2) and pull star circle, cycles didnt affect this star. Letting the second cutscene play out is faster as you can grab the pull star planet just before the in-game timer starts.
The pull stars could do with more work (at the time of writing after uploading this, I improved it by 9 frames). I didnt spend much time on them before as this run was for cycle tests and the cycles of the pull stars and amps have no difference between GS2 and GS3.
Momentum was carried from the scrolling floor, which meant a lot more braking was needed from the second long jump to avoid going too fast to get an instant backflip.
Neutral walljump strain was used on the backflip to be closer to the ledge, and though the landing looks a bit slow, the edge of that ledge isnt good for walking on, so it meant later long jump times.
An instant backflip into the star was 3 frames faster than a single jump or long jump spin (spins can cause unusually late star grabs when too close, as well as sometimes unusually early ones).
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Gravity Gauntlet Green Star 2 in 22.50s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t_XlCtFpokg/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Gravity Gauntlet Green Star 2 in 22.50s
Luigi lavaboosts towards a Green Star with P2 playing healer in 22.50 seconds [IGT, 1350 frames].
This is an interesting level for overall routing.
The usual strat is to use only the coin to heal and just do 3 boosts and land near the first Whomp. But, there is a way to pull back far enough to get an extra boost, allowing for fast lava boost speed up towards the star.
Because of the use of the Life Mushroom, this strat is ~0.7s slower in in-game time than the usual one.
However, this strat would mean no coins required, which would save 0.88s in menuing post-level, but specifically in a 242 run; a Green Stars run starts on a file with 9999 coins so coin textboxes never appear.
Ideally, we could try to get a second coin mid-boosting, however, the Magikoopa takes too long to kill. The coin I grabbed is the only other coin that is accessible, but it goes off camera literally 1 frame before P2 would pick it up, and theres no way to manipulate the camera in that scenario.
Moving further down or up to get a different coin would cost too much time.
Why cant P2 just grab multiple coins smh
Oh, as for the other strats, this is not optimised for in-game time as hitting the fireballs at the start would be slightly faster than the triple jump if they were a bit further in their cycle.
The weirdly low spin before the lava boosting was a mid-air Z spin cancel except it didnt cancel the spin animation but did cancel the properties so there was no knockback against the wall and not as much height gained.
The tilted triple jump to the star was ~0.2s faster than long jumping on and backflipping.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG: Freezeflame Secret reaching the summit without Fire Flower](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t_c1OOvRAG0/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG: Freezeflame Secret reaching the summit without Fire Flower
I will note here that Nim (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG_b-lywDked3HfbZQXU8Gw) had spent several hours TASing this challenge with different methods, and that his last attempt did reach the sloped area at 0:46 before having to stop. As this was a simple final stretch, he already had it in the bag but hasnt had the ability to TAS recently.
Skip to 0:28 for the good stuff, I messed about with different slope jump ideas for a little bit beforehand.
Freezeflame Secret was the next most likely star to be proven itemless/transformationless, with walljumps being really close to getting up to the secret area to skip the sling star.
Freezeflame Purple Coins is free as there is no black hole covering the easiest route (slope jumping up from Baron Brrs arena). But there is a black hole here.
The main tricks here are an outer corner walljump and a hard-angled walljump, both aided by neutral walljump strain.
An outer corner walljump mirrors the well-known inner corner/90 degree walljump trick - rather than straining left or right to angle a walljump *towards* a 90 degree wall to grab it, you instead angle the walljump *away* from a 270 degree? wall.
By going neutral on the joystick after walljumping, you bypass a fixed speed and can strain harder than before.
The hard-angled walljump is done exactly like a 90 degree walljump.
Getting through the secret area itemless is the common speedrun route. For fun, I tried a weird route from the snowman, managing to get three walljumps off the same wall - first was normal, but the second was an adjoining walljump aka double walljump, where you grab a wall right at the joining between two perpendicular (inward corner) walls. You kick off one wall, but the game likely reads you as kicking off the other wall, as you can then regrab the kicked wall, which led to the third walljump.
#SuperMarioGalaxy")
![[TAS] SMG2: Flip-Swap Green Stars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/thBX2MD5tpA/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Flip-Swap Green Stars
Green Stars TAS WIP
Star order has no actual time difference, however, the cycles of the electric fences are slightly different, being further behind with cutscenes.
This has no time difference because it can be manipulated by turning the camera away or freezing with P2, but to make things easier, I chose GS1 first so the cycles dont need manip for GS2.
Green Star 1 - 6.56 IGT - 8:45.50 real-time split (1:03.17 segment)
Nothing big of note here if youre used to the speedrun strat; the spin cancel jump setup is slightly faster than spinning off the edge, as it gets the flip panel jump earlier and gets a lower jump to touch the star earlier.
Green Star 2 - 16.71 IGT - 9:45.68 real-time split (1:00.18 segment)
Buffered crouch acceleration is used at the start - this is where you hold Z until the first frame you gain control. Luigi quickly crouches and stands back up, getting a little bit of a kickstart in running.
As Mario, this would allow you to long jump 1 frame earlier, but that doesnt work for Luigi (which is why it isnt particularly useful in a lot of stars), however he does get up to top speed a bit faster. This helps to run to the optimal long jump spot 2f earlier.
From there, its simply a long jump to the next set of red panels, and a chain of flip-panel jumps to the star.
P2 was used to hit the checkpoint so that Luigi wouldnt lose speed hitting it with the spin to panel jump.")
