Uploaded July 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This focuses on overall A presses instead of just gameplay, using 2 jumps and a cutscene skip that are unnecessary to complete the level but are done to avoid dialogue.
The cutscene skip and backflip avoid the Luma at the start who has 3 textboxes, so this combination is a profit (or loss?) of 1xA.
I then perform an Odme textbox skip, where I land inside the second Luma's cutscene trigger and then get pushed out of it by the edge of the ledge while holding neutral, which sets up the cutscene but doesn't actually start it, and then I press A (as seen with the jump) which seems to press an invisible textbox that triggers the Luma's transformation. I guess this could count as a dialogue press? But it's done in gameplay. This is also a profit of 1xA.
So overall, this goes down from 5xA (0x gameplay) to 3xA (2x gameplay).
As for the rest of it, I hold that last A press to see what kind of fun I can have with a bit of extra spin height.
To bounce on the Octogoomba, I use Annoying's tech of a spin knockback cancel - hugging the wall, holding Z and spinning which gets the benefit of a knockback without keeping the spin - so I get the height to bounce but don't hit it with a spin.
Running up the slope is something Nim found, as the camera's distance from a slope affects its slipperiness somehow: youtu.be/7gjMQlb7KZY
LUMA BOUNCE STAR GRAB POG
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #AButtonChallenge
This focuses on overall A presses instead of just gameplay, using 2 jumps and a cutscene skip that are unnecessary to complete the level but are done to avoid dialogue.
The cutscene skip and backflip avoid the Luma at the start who has 3 textboxes, so this combination is a profit (or loss?) of 1xA.
I then perform an Odme textbox skip, where I land inside the second Luma's cutscene trigger and then get pushed out of it by the edge of the ledge while holding neutral, which sets up the cutscene but doesn't actually start it, and then I press A (as seen with the jump) which seems to press an invisible textbox that triggers the Luma's transformation. I guess this could count as a dialogue press? But it's done in gameplay. This is also a profit of 1xA.
So overall, this goes down from 5xA (0x gameplay) to 3xA (2x gameplay).
As for the rest of it, I hold that last A press to see what kind of fun I can have with a bit of extra spin height.
To bounce on the Octogoomba, I use Annoying's tech of a spin knockback cancel - hugging the wall, holding Z and spinning which gets the benefit of a knockback without keeping the spin - so I get the height to bounce but don't hit it with a spin.
Running up the slope is something Nim found, as the camera's distance from a slope affects its slipperiness somehow: youtu.be/7gjMQlb7KZY
LUMA BOUNCE STAR GRAB POG
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #AButtonChallenge
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Melty Monster Green Star 2 in 36.46s
Luigi jumps the lava waves with P2 helping to collect a Green Star in 36.46 seconds [IGT, 2188 frames].
The pull star section has room for improvement as I only tested one other route - there could be better ways through that first half to lead into the final couple of pulls.
Its worth noting that you can skip the first launch star but its yet to be done faster: https://youtu.be/ESACxGIBFbE
The main show is in the second planet.
Nemi43 found that the very front of the lava waves make a short wall, which gives you a fast horizontal lava boost (a lava wall boost), and the speed cap doesnt reset for the following lava boosts despite them being normal vertical boosts: https://youtu.be/A2DOqAVK-uo
As P2 can grab and hold a Life Mushroom from earlier, I was able to get the lava wall boost much earlier without worrying about health. This saved ~2.5s over Nemis 1P method.
I had to delay the backflip a few frames as an instant backflip wouldnt have hit the wall. Despite this, backflipping was 8 frames faster than long jumping, single jumping, and instant backflip + spin.
Delaying the first cutscene skip for a few frames would have saved in-game time for this, but this TAS was part of real-time testing of cutscenes vs no cutscenes.
I did also try combining a jump cancel with something, but I found you can only jump cancel if you delay activating the previous launch star - this might be to do with tilt. Launch stars are weird.
For the lava boosts, I started to strain to the left near the end to try to cancel or at least shorten the running animation, as you can only single jump or long jump out of this. I tried cancelling by running off the edge, but it was too slow getting back on far enough to do anything useful.
I first thought I had shortened the running animation, but on review, it didnt actually do anything. But with the leeway of where I needed to be for the final jump, it didnt lose any time.
Single jumping out of the start of the animation only lets you backflip 4 frames later than letting the animation play out itself.
Backflip spin saved ~0.85s over triple jump spin. The leeway mentioned above is that the lava wall Luigi backflips towards is very close, so going straight backwards wouldve got burned too soon.
I had managed to get the spin directly into the tornado to avoid a lava boost, but this loses time as the resulting instant tornado spin is too low to grab the star.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun [TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Melty Monster Green Star 2 in 36.46s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ig1Qc9T3mCE/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Honeybloom Secret in 14.93s
Luigi and P2 find the Secret Wall Jump secretly, thereby secretly adding another secret star to their secret collection of secret stars, secretly. In 14.93 seconds [IGT, 896 frames].
The fly-in cutscene is 11 frames faster for in-game time, as the timer starts ~30 units further into the level, and Luigi grabs the vine further on, having flying speed for a few frames into the timer.
I had not-so-secretly done this star a few months ago, looking to improve on Sonicpackers 15.16 (https://youtu.be/_kzoAt4X5Uc), but could only manage to tie this time with a different wall jump route (https://youtu.be/c8orefszdIU). But with better understanding of walljumps and techniques like neutral walljump strain (going neutral on the joystick when walljumping to allow for earlier strain), I went back to it.
2 frames were saved in the first half leading to the first walljump after the swing.
This took a lot of experimenting, but the eventual result was using neutral walljump strain from the second walljump to hold back before the spin onto the Goomba, and using P2 to freeze the Goomba into a certain mid-air position from its jump. And also letting go of A a couple of frames before the peak of the spin to bounce off a specific part of the Goomba.
This combination grabbed the swing 1 frame earlier, and at a specific height (1931.436157 Y position) necessary for the part below.
The height and speed from the following swing jump had enough height to allow me to let go of A at the peak of the following spin, which gives a significant speed boost (14.49 horizontal speed compared to 8.74 holding A). This grabbed the wall 1 frame earlier.
Then came learning that holding different directions in walljumps can have a very slight effect on vertical speed, slight meaning from tenths to thousandths of units. Holding the direction away from the wall (the walljumps direction) will lower the vertical speed while having faster horizontal speed, and holding towards the wall (against the walljumps direction) will raise the vertical speed.
Neutral walljump strain pushes the differences further.
While that wallgrab had been 2 frames faster, it was also 12 units lower than the previous TAS, so I used the higher walljumps holding back towards the wall - as well as a better spin from the first walljump to the second - to try to claw back some of the lost height. This resulted in just 1 frame saved overall (after 6 hours of work).
I then went on Sonicpackers route with the knowledge of slightly lower walljumps.
The first walljump and spin had to be higher than what was possible as otherwise the third walljump wouldnt make it to the wall above the crystal, so a Wiimote spin holding A for 2 frames was used, followed by higher walljumps to get high enough to barely grab the bottom of that wall.
Lower walljumps were then used, however, these werent necessary as they didnt lead to an earlier landing.
But for the final walljump, neutral walljump strain was useful for straining up towards the star and also getting further left to set up a straighter line to the star, saving 3 frames.
Holding neutral just before landing kept momentum to allow for an earlier long jump, followed by another long jump to the star.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun [TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Honeybloom Secret in 14.93s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/isFyMAXZtao/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy: Snow Cap in 1:07.52 [Mario]
TAS by Xander and PurpleSun.
Xanders channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL8JNpJkmcX43bxcWhsXfAA
Mario catches bunnies in snow in 1 minute 7.52 seconds [4051 frames].
Snow Cap was the setting for the first SMG TAS competition; you can see the results video here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/852960154
Xander started out by picking up the shell with a spin cancel skid, 6 frames faster than backwards bouncing off the shell in mid-air.
He then held neutral just before throwing the shell so that Mario would tilt down, throwing the shell into the bottom of the chest to open it 1f earlier.
NOTE: We did try using mid-air shell bounces - as well as weird long jump momentum - to skip the chest, but its not close enough, and by the time youd reach the planet, the sling star would already have reached it.
For the flipswitch route, going left ended up slightly faster than going right (I dont remember the exact numbers, but no more than 1s). Xander used P2s IR cursor to clear the snow in front of Mario so it wouldnt slow him down - long jumping is slower for that second flipswitch.
While long jumping after the second switch, Xander uses the IR cursor to clear the snow on a rabbit-hole to set the first bunny up. It jumps away from Mario to the Fire Flower side of the planet, ready for later.
I took the reins on the fourth switch, doing a long jump around the edge and holding back for 3 frames before going over the edge so that Mario would stay close to the ground as he curved over. This saved 10 frames over running around.
I do a single jump so that I can land on the Fire Flower and run earlier than walking into the pit, which is helpful for the fireball strategy.
While Xanders strat of using P2 to move the bouncy bulb to hit the bunny can catch that bunny earlier, a better fireball strategy can come from delaying the bunny catch, hitting it with a precise starbit to send it on a more diagonal trajectory.
I throw a fireball out of the hole before catching the bunny (this was why I needed to start running earlier, to get to that point near the edge), and then jump and fireball out of the hole again to have two quick fireballs melting the next bunnys snowman disguise.
However there may be a couple frames of improvement here, as I had to hold left while jumping to avoid an instant ledgegrab - holding right the whole time would mean more speed overall.
Then two spin cancel jumps send fireballs to the shells snowman while keeping momentum, with the second jump curving around the edge.
While long jumping, I shoot the snowman bunny with a starbit so that it goes backwards into Marios immediate direction, spin cancel long jump the shell (delaying the long jump for a frame to pick the shell up earlier), and throw the shell just before catching the bunny - the shell self-destructs if you catch a bunny while holding it/while its spinning to you.
This suspends the shell in mid-air during the cutscene, and it then continues into the chest once the dialogue is over.
I long jump again, holding backwards for 2 frames before getting over the chest so Mario would stay closer to ground and grab the bunny as soon as it is grabbable, wrapping up the chase with 134 on the countdown clock.
Finally, Xanders buffered crouch acceleration (hold Z before gaining control, let go after first frame of control) was used to long jump 1f earlier, and spinning into the star is a couple of frames faster.
#SuperMarioGalaxy #ToolAssistedSpeedrun [TAS] Super Mario Galaxy: Snow Cap in 1:07.52 [Mario]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j0Uo4HQZ3-c/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] SMG2: Beat Block Green Stars
Green Stars TAS WIP
Star order matters here due to the beat block cycle. Since GS1 mostly doesnt touch them, its GS2s route that matters, and the no-cutscene cycle has slower blocks midway and near the end, making it 0.5s faster to do GS2 first with cutscenes.
Green Star 2 - 13.58s IGT - 1:07:56.55 real-time split (1:09.44 segment)
Due to how close it is to the edge, the crystal at the start has no way to setup an extremely fast zipped slope jump, so it is faster to be left alone.
In the long jump sequence, running speed can be kept to speed up the single jump-double jump up the block, and then keep speed for the crystal.
This first crystal slope jump is a little slower than the others due to the limits of a quick setup, plus aiming the right trajectory with a good facing angle, which would minimise turning time and speed loss to jump straight to the next crystal.
With the next crystal jump, I get 60hspd and a great trajectory to land safely on the yellow block. Landing safely is important so that landing with neutral joystick can conserve speed into the following single jump (capped at 25spd). Landing on the edge in neutral causes 0spd.
The facing angle is also important as I can easily strain the single and double jump to set up the last crystal jump.
This last jump gets 73hspd, finishing with a single jump straight onto the green block and instant backflip spin to the star.
Green Star 1 - 9.51s IGT - 1:08:49.16 real-time split (0:52.51 segment)
My hope with this crystal slope jump was a facing angle and trajectory that could lead to a conserved speed single jump onto the side of the last crystal to conserved speed double jump into the star.
But I couldnt get that to line up. Good angles led to bad trajectories off the map, and good trajectories had not so good angles.
So I had to make do with a 71spd slope jump and quick turn to long jump onto the side of the crystal for a long jump spin to the star.
#supermariogalaxy2 #toolassistedspeedrun [TAS] SMG2: Beat Block Green Stars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jX5mFAbKoA8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] SMG2: Freezy Flake GS2 in 37.95s
Green Stars TAS WIP
37.95s IGT - 60:59.31 real-time split (1:34.05 segment)
Freezy GS1/2 were two of the few stars I hadnt tested prior to starting this TAS, as star order didnt seem like itd matter (more about that later).
The first launch star is a balance of optimisation for the earliest statue break (not waiting so long for the launch star to activate) while still being able to get to the launch star on its first active frame.
While other routes looked cooler (e.g. getting turned backwards in mid-air to have more speed), the fastest by 29 frames was how RTA runners do it (used Pottowws IL as a blueprint: https://youtu.be/QWP7saYcBaw?t=10).
An instawalk from the launch star is common here, but interestingly, entering the launch star while turning ends up getting landstun, and entering while standing completely still gets faster and earlier acceleration.
1-flower cycle was attempted but failed (https://youtu.be/6GEkxIaaQ-k), missing out by around 0.6s.
With certain movement, conical slopes (e.g. the mountain, some crystals) can cause some very buggy fast slides for a frame or two, leading to glitchy slope jumps.
The consequence of slope jumps being patched in SMG2 is that they now stay at a constant speed and trajectory.
It is difficult to control the trajectory, and the jump in the 1-flower attempt has a much more wayward and slow setup after getting the 2nd flower.
As with the Tall Trunk slide, you dont lose any time with whatever movement you do provided you dont jump a lot.
However, exiting the tunnel without jumping is a little slower and doesnt let you spin/throw fireballs. Also, the gravity you leave the tunnel at will have an affect on your angle, sometimes changing angle mid-air.
Backwards exit with a mid-air fireball was 35 frames faster than the RTA method: forward exit, jumping on the lower brick block and fireballing around the corner.
Star order almost mattered at the end. The fastest regular route (by 6 frames) was to long jump onto the flying ? block, and its cycle changes with cutscene skips.
But another glitchy slope jump was found on the Goomba statue, getting a 67hspd jump that barely misses the lava geyser. Unfortunately this kind of jump couldnt make it onto safe ground, but the lava boost and movement on the sloped boundary was 20 frames faster than holding it back onto the ice platform and long jumping.
#supermariogalaxy2 #toolassistedspeedrun [TAS] SMG2: Freezy Flake GS2 in 37.95s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j_J_UWSEdpM/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Beat Block Green Star 2 in 22.16s
Luigi eeeeeyahs to the beat to collect a Green Star in 22.16 seconds [IGT, 1330 frames]
I started on Green Star 1 as I was testing both stars for cutscene effects. Havent actually done a cutscene run with either yet, so Ill update this with results later.
This isnt fully optimised, but its certainly fast. At the start, theres a good use of a short spin that doesnt lose too much speed so that the next long jump can happen earlier than normal.
I did have to slow the penultimate long jump on the green block cycle at 00:25 to be able to land for the last long jump in that section.
The second long jump up the steps was a frame-perfect long jump on the very edge, which let me conserve running speed when I landed, which was useful in getting a faster line-up to long jump to the corner of the last green block.
I landed awkwardly on this, which caused Luigis backflip to be stuck in a walking pose.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun [TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Beat Block Green Star 2 in 22.16s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jkGB2xNf978/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Tall Trunk Green Star 1 in 10.35s
Luigi keeps kicking a tree to collect a Green Star in 10.35 seconds [IGT, 621 frames].
UPDATE: This has been improved to an 8.83: https://youtu.be/qshjDR8ch4M
At the start, I jump backwards off the tree stump to get in the position to pull off a tilted triple jump. While uploading this, I found that I couldve easily saved 9 frames by just changing the angle of the jump so I didnt have to jump as high to get over the edge, but oh well, add that improvement to the full game run.
The tilted triple jump lands on the planets hard curve in such a way that Luigi keeps the gravitational tilt of the rounded half while running onto the flat half, so hes almost running on his head. This causes a jump to go much higher than normal, and this triple jump spin wallkick spin can reach a high ledge.
This saves ~3s over triple jumping straight to the lower ledge on the left and getting to the higher ledge from there, and saves ~3.5s over the IL route that gets on the lower ledge and long jumps around the left side.
Almost every wallkick in this used neutral frame wallkick strain; if you go neutral on the joystick for even just a single frame after wallkicking, you can get significantly harder strain which can help go further sideways or backwards.
The following backflip was aimed sideways so that I could hold up and get lots of strain to make the angle of the wallkick much more sideways than normal.
I changed angle when landing to be flush with the tree when backflipping, since I didnt want to strain very hard for an angled wallkick here (but I did still go for a soft strain to avoid spinbonking against the ledge above).
On the last ledge, I performed a Z sideflip - before landing on the last ledge, I held up slanting left (opposite the facing angle), pressed and held Z (above the floor so it didnt do a ground pound) and then pressed A. A sideflip here was better than a backflip as it jumps 1 frame earlier.
This tilted triple jump route is ~0.6s slower than the IL route for Green Star 2 and the regular star.
Interestingly, it is a little bit faster to do GS2 first in a full game run, because the angle you land in after the cutscenes is really bad for setting up the tilted triple jump for GS1 - its the complete opposite angle to the optimal backwards jump.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun [TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Tall Trunk Green Star 1 in 10.35s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jraRdYBEKbc/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove Green Stars
Green Stars TAS WIP
Green Star 1 - 20.58 IGT - 38:03.86 real-time split (1:16.51 segment)
For a more in-depth description, see the individual video here: https://youtu.be/XMDBlu3_u48
Brief notes:
- The start doesnt have any jumps in order to preserve hard landing state, which allows
the penguin launches to have uncapped horizontal speed.
- The launches work by clipping into the penguin, and then getting clipped out while spinning. If the clip-out reaches the surface of water, you get a spinny dolphin jump with all the clipping speed.
GS2/GS3 star order used to matter before new GS3 strats, as the cycles of the moving water blocks are different between cutscenes and no cutscenes. Neither of the two have water blocks sitting in the way of the shore launch, so there is no difference now.
Green Star 2 - 1:04.71 IGT - 40:03.76 real-time split (1:59.90 segment)
Ice-skating mechanics:
- Skating coasts at 18hspd, and spinning adds a boost of 9.25 to whatever the current speed is, but doesnt boost if current speed is above 18.75
- Long jumps have a fixed speed, while standard jumps are based on ground speed, while adding a small boost on top. Ground speed is conserved through jumps.
- There are two different deceleration rates of spin-skates. No full list of what causes what, but the lesser rate kicks in when youve been on ground for a short time. This is why I wait to jump at the start.
- Also for some reason uncrouch spin gained more speed than a regular spin for that initial one.
In the cave, 2P brick break + backwards slope jump + landing on the slope
just before entering water (so that holding Z will give a water long jump) ended up 0.4s faster than the nearest challenger (backwards sliding).
In the last section, double jump would be faster but this would prevent being able to long jump later on (even if Z is held during the jump), so a long jump spin is much better.
For the long jump, you can barely clip into the corner of the ceiling, and this causes a weird push out of the waters surface that lets you instantly long jump. This saved 0.8s over the normal water lj method, and 0.9s over a really cool backwards long jump.
For the star grab, a similar corner clip wasnt useful as water walls dont act like surfaces. Auto-ledgegrab is faster by 8 frames over backwards spinning out of the water.
Green Star 3 - 1:11.00 IGT - 41:58.10 real-time split (1:54.34 segment)
I was able to compare to a 2020 IL TAS I did with this one: https://youtu.be/FB2KuYX9OZo Saved 0.53s in the first section,
and another 0.91s in the cave.
The corner clip somehow conserves double jump state, giving a triple jump out of water. This saves 0.3s over the strat done in 2020 (jump & spin onto the curved ground, backflip into the water).
The Goomba launch works the same as penguin launches.
To get it high enough for the clip-out to reach the surface, some A Button Challenge tech came in handy: Goomba raising. When stunned by a spin or starbit, Goombas recoil up into the air. Spamming them with starbits can gradually lift them up.
While this causes a lot of hitlag, it was faster than the strat used in 2020, and also meant the Paragoomba could be 2P frozen higher up to make the next trick quicker.
The only downside to the launch is that when it hits the water above, Luigi immediately dives down. Fortunately not too much for 2P to let itself go of the Paragoomba.
Because Goombas immediately explode upon touching water, a Goomba launch isnt possible with the Paragoomba (it only clips Luigi down), but it can clip Luigi into the wall, where a shore launch is possible.
This is enough to reach the star; holding neutral during the launch allows for a spin once Luigi has reached the peak.
#supermariogalaxy2 #toolassistedspeedrun [TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove Green Stars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jzX9etyV_Gw/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TAS] Bonsai Barber Perfect Day in 1:53.36
Bonsai Barber is a WiiWare barber-sim made by Zoonami, a team led by the director of Goldeneye N64. Inspired by the Japanese art of bonsai and the barbershop experience, it involves giving charming anthropomorphic plants a fresh trim, with styles ranging from simple shapes to bizarre structures.
The game has a real-time mechanic where you can only cut up to 5 plants per real-world day.
This TAS aims to make an entertaining and fast run to complete the Perfect Day achievement on the first day. Due to bottlenecks in the games reward system, absolute speed isnt of the essence, so theres enough time to mess around with painting, birds, and apples.
10060 rerecords
april fools, lads, the joke is that i spent time on this instead of finishing galaxy [TAS] Bonsai Barber Perfect Day in 1:53.36](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kwX_I9qlvIM/mqdefault.jpg)

![[TAS] SMG2: Flip-Swap Green Star 1 in 0.5xA Presses [Luigi]
Goomba manipulation and triple bouncing into the star all while holding A.
This isnt a new strat but I made this as there wasnt yet a video of the star in 0.5xA. Its a difficult strat so having a video for proof is helpful.
This wasnt the fastest or cleanest completion but it worked so thats all that matters.
P2 was just chillin, ready for speed tests.
Aiming the starbit and timing the spin to stop the Goomba from falling is the most precise part, but there is also some precision to the triple bounce, as you have to specifically land on the middle of the Goomba - the sides make the bounce a bit too low.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #AButtonChallenge [TAS] SMG2: Flip-Swap Green Star 1 in 0.5xA Presses [Luigi]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l9m2kxQx2MI/mqdefault.jpg)