PurpleSun | [TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Beat Block Green Star 1 in 12.90s @PurpleSunTAS | Uploaded 4 years ago | Updated 1 hour ago
Luigi leaps off a crystal to collect a Green Star in 12.90 seconds [IGT, 774 frames].
This one had been done before GS2, but I had wanted to go back to see if I could get to a better point in the block cycle, as I had to slow the long jump onto the green block at 0:16.
Being able to go to the yellow block instead and then having the blocks change from there would be a tiny bit faster, however, this is not possible to get in a fast run.
The cycle always starts on fly-in cutscene (when the level's music starts), so delaying the intro wouldn't help, and in terms of skipping the fly-in cutscene, the earliest skip is 1.8s too late for the cycle, and the latest skip is 1.3s too early.
But this is the best possible outcome of what is available, and the strat of long jumping off the crystal (which is only possible by having enough horizontal speed to not end up with a slope jump) is 6 frames faster than an instant backflip off the ground (again, because of speed, trying to get a backflip off the crystal would get a slope jump instead).
Also, cutscene tests are done - it is 3 frames faster to do Green Star 1 first, as the cycle with the fly-in cutscene benefits it more than it does Green Star 2. Also, while it is slower than the IL in terms of in-game time, skipping the cutscenes straight away for Green Star 2 is much faster in real time.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun
Luigi leaps off a crystal to collect a Green Star in 12.90 seconds [IGT, 774 frames].
This one had been done before GS2, but I had wanted to go back to see if I could get to a better point in the block cycle, as I had to slow the long jump onto the green block at 0:16.
Being able to go to the yellow block instead and then having the blocks change from there would be a tiny bit faster, however, this is not possible to get in a fast run.
The cycle always starts on fly-in cutscene (when the level's music starts), so delaying the intro wouldn't help, and in terms of skipping the fly-in cutscene, the earliest skip is 1.8s too late for the cycle, and the latest skip is 1.3s too early.
But this is the best possible outcome of what is available, and the strat of long jumping off the crystal (which is only possible by having enough horizontal speed to not end up with a slope jump) is 6 frames faster than an instant backflip off the ground (again, because of speed, trying to get a backflip off the crystal would get a slope jump instead).
Also, cutscene tests are done - it is 3 frames faster to do Green Star 1 first, as the cycle with the fly-in cutscene benefits it more than it does Green Star 2. Also, while it is slower than the IL in terms of in-game time, skipping the cutscenes straight away for Green Star 2 is much faster in real time.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Beat Block Green Star 1 in 12.90s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YmJuFbggTjY/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Beat Block Green Star 1 in 12.90s
Luigi leaps off a crystal to collect a Green Star in 12.90 seconds [IGT, 774 frames].
This one had been done before GS2, but I had wanted to go back to see if I could get to a better point in the block cycle, as I had to slow the long jump onto the green block at 0:16.
Being able to go to the yellow block instead and then having the blocks change from there would be a tiny bit faster, however, this is not possible to get in a fast run.
The cycle always starts on fly-in cutscene (when the levels music starts), so delaying the intro wouldnt help, and in terms of skipping the fly-in cutscene, the earliest skip is 1.8s too late for the cycle, and the latest skip is 1.3s too early.
But this is the best possible outcome of what is available, and the strat of long jumping off the crystal (which is only possible by having enough horizontal speed to not end up with a slope jump) is 6 frames faster than an instant backflip off the ground (again, because of speed, trying to get a backflip off the crystal would get a slope jump instead).
Also, cutscene tests are done - it is 3 frames faster to do Green Star 1 first, as the cycle with the fly-in cutscene benefits it more than it does Green Star 2. Also, while it is slower than the IL in terms of in-game time, skipping the cutscenes straight away for Green Star 2 is much faster in real time.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG2: Clockwork Ruins Green Star 3 in 1:24.51](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yp_QK_nZUa8/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Clockwork Ruins Green Star 3 in 1:24.51
Luigi and P2 go on a temple run through the ruins to collect a Green Star in 1 minute 24.51 seconds [IGT, 5071 frames].
Apologies for the choppy framerate at parts - the framerate kept fluctuating when dumping frames. Need to learn to limit FPS to 15 or something.
Input display: https://youtu.be/lQepNs1deL0
This TAS isnt the greatest in optimisation as it is - the main issue of optimisation is in the first section. Both intro cutscenes affect the wheel cycles in different ways, the first one mostly changing the second half of wheels.
There is much to keep testing with judging the best balance of cutscene skips along with understanding movement across these wheels when on different cycles.
I started my testing by copying Nemis ideas (https://youtu.be/OzivXwVp3Rc?t=262) and then adjusting from there.
I also tried to adjust the skips and movement to reach the rising arm of the final wheel when it was level with the ? block, rather than having to jump to the middle, but barely missed out on it.
Interestingly, in terms of real time, GS1 is faster if you delay cutscenes compared to instant cutscene skips, whereas GS2 (and presumably GS3) is faster the other way around.
On the second planet, the backflip wallkick from the cage was 0.3s faster than backflip ledgegrab. Interestingly, the backflip ledgegrab up to the gravity arrow was 4 frames faster than backflip wallkick, because the latter strat would have to either land late with a weakspin to hit the arrow or wait for Master Luma to replenish the normal spin.
P2 cannot hit the arrow.
Long jumping and pressing the button midway through the ground pound animation ended up being 0.3s faster than a single jump with a normal ground pound hit, and still faster than a long jump-spin-ground pound, even if the spin is cancelled immediately to avoid a homing ground pound.
A textbox skip may be possible using a proxy off a Goomba/Jack OGoomba (a set up known to work elsewhere), but I have had no luck with it yet, and it would take a lot of starbit hitlag or waiting for a Goomba to run along to the Luma, potentially diminishing the timesave to 0.
On the third planet, delays between long jumps were necessary to align the long jumps past the final wheel.
Neutral wallkick strain was used to help get up to the top from a lower backflipping position.
I held forward (left) on the second-to-last pole to go straight into the last, saving a few frames over continuing to the right and wallkicking.
Long jump-backflip-wallkick was 0.4s faster than triple jump-wallkick.
P2 saved a small bit of time (0.25s) clearing the crates so Luigi could land right next to the elevator and activate it earlier.
The elevator trick is another point of low optimisation. From what I tested, the fastest method was getting a double wallkick off the extended wall (done by instant spin knockback back into the same wall, seen commonly in Honeybloom runs) as it meant the wallkicks were closer together compared to the spaced out angled wallkicks in speedruns.
But there could be better movement between wallkicks that changes that conclusion.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove GS1 in 24.65s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YvSP9w-LQcY/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove GS1 in 24.65s
[TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove GS1 in 24.65s")
![[TAS] SMG2: Supermassive Green Stars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z5AFvSz7VAs/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Supermassive Green Stars
Green Stars TAS WIP
Star order matters due to the Thwomp cycles as will be explained later. Camera movement can manipulate the coins cycle to work with both cutscenes and no-cutscenes. As all three stars use the coin, land cancel has no difference.
Green Star 2 - 8.56 IGT - 1:12:12.75 real-time split (1:06.69 segment)
At the start, the awkward-looking long jumps are necessary to get to top running speed (15hspd). The second long jump has to happen immediately when landing, and must be on safe ground away from the edge of the ledge.
Camera is turned to keep the coin off screen enough for it to be in the perfect position for the zip jump.
The zip jump works here because of both the shape of the slope and the running direction when approaching the slope, coming more across than down. The subsequent slide zips sideways from this, at 64hspd. Overall this saves 2.34s.
The weakspin at the end grabbed the star 1 frame earlier.
Green Star 3 - 18.46 IGT - 1:13:14.55 real-time split (1:01.80 segment)
This managed to be an IGT improvement of my previous TAS that used an IGT-pausing checkpoint abuse strat: https://youtu.be/0k-eeiC9gss
Zip jumping is used again to get a tight wallkick strat that was previously done with a long jump (https://youtu.be/KwHCkBmDdJU).
The reason for star order mattering here is that the Thwomp cycle without cutscenes, when manipulated with the same camera movement for the coin cycle, is perfect for the fastest way to the launch star.
With cutscenes, the cycle has the Thwomp high up in the air as you pass under it. However, it is actually 7 frames faster to have the Thwomp push Luigi down to backflip earlier, and the cycle without cutscenes achieves this making it faster to do GS3 after one of the other two.
At the end, the backwards bouncing off the Koopa saved 2 frames over the previous strat bouncing from a long jump.
Green Star 1 - 7.65 IGT - 1:14:05.53 real-time split (50.98 segment)
The coin cycle is manipulated to gain a momentum boost for the backflip to the star.
#supermariogalaxy2 #toolassistedspeedrun")
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy: Gusty Garden Comet in 1:05.88](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_Ivqaw5BtdI/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy: Gusty Garden Comet in 1:05.88
Mario ruins Major Burrows career in a Daredevil run in 1 minutes 5.88 seconds [3953 frames].
This emulates a full-game run, watching the intro cutscenes that means it has a deficit to IL runs of ~11s.
The land cancel at the start had an interesting effect: the cutscene started 2 frames later but I gained control on the same frame as if I didnt land cancel. Doesnt save or lose time but its a thing. Allows for earlier movement but that doesnt make a difference overall.
As the RNG aspect of this fight is easily dealt with by finding where Burrows pops out and reloading a state to go straight to that spot, the key part of this run is getting the fastest hits.
(Also, if youre familiar with the RNG of when Burrows first pops out, which was a big thing in Boss Blitz TASing, in this star it is not really random since you always land on the planet at the same time)
The first two hits are done instantly by doing a spin cancel ground pound (Wiimote shake for 2 frames, press Z on the second frame) right next to Burrows as he pops out. This ground pound carries the hit properties of the spin, so as Mario touches Burrows when he pops out, it registers as a hit.
The third hit could do this, but you always have to do a second ground pound, so its slower to set up that instant hit.
Instead, I get the earliest second ground pound and starbit stun Burrows so he doesnt run away, while also jumping backwards and bouncing off the dirt mound to fling back into Burrows for the spin. This saved 8 or 9 frames over long jumping.
Potential improvement: For the first ground pound of the third phase, Burrows jumps directly away from you, no matter what path he was on, so we could try ground pounding to the side of him so he jumps into the tree and is closer for the hit.
Interestingly, ground pounding after the third hit and jumping just before the final cutscene was faster than doing nothing, as it let me move as soon as possible.
Spinning into the star saved 2 frames.
#ToolAssistedSpeedrun #SuperMarioGalaxy")
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Cloudy Court Green Star 2 in 19.10s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_K_sa1GU4DY/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Cloudy Court Green Star 2 in 19.10s
Luigi cloud long jumps from the drum to a Green Star in 19.10 seconds [IGT, 1146 frames].
The single jump at the start looked slow, but it sets up a long jump route that is a couple of frames faster than long jumping all the time, due to how long jumps become slightly faster and longer when wearing Cloud Suit. Less straining is needed to get to the edge of the square platform where the first cloud long jump is performed.
This cloud long jump is set up with a ground spin that is quickly cancelled by falling off the edge, which regains running speed sooner than letting a ground spin continue.
Forming a cloud on top of another was faster than jumping from two separate clouds as cloud long jumps stay at top speed after the peak, so there is higher speed for longer instead of cutting it short in the middle.
Normally, you get up to the hi-hat cymbal and cloud jump from there. However, you are able to do 3 cloud long jumps all the way to the Green Star from beside the topmost drum if you can get the highest long jump speed (accelerating up to 34 hspd) from the first cloud lj, which is something that continues to confuse me, as it tends not to work without some sort of movement (e.g. in Shiverburn GS3, I couldnt get it until single jumping beforehand, or holding a specific direction, and when testing jumps from the hi-hat for this star, I also had to single jump or long jump beforehand).
In this case, it seems that holding up from where I formed the cloud will always get the highest speed. Holding right doesnt seem to get it, which is strange as I am facing right when forming the cloud. Holding down doesnt either.
From there, getting the first frame of both the cloud spin cancel and the long jump for the last two cloud ljs results in much higher jumps than later inputs, enough to get up to the Green Star.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG1: Hurry-Scurry in 49.43 [Mario]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_pNG6OP_DTs/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG1: Hurry-Scurry in 49.43 [Mario]
Mario skips the launch star to complete Shrinking Satellite in 49.43s [2966 frames].
This emulates a full-game run by watching cutscenes. This is a deficit of ~10s compared to ILs.
Yet another level showcasing Mario doing a skip that was previously thought to be Luigi-only. Although, in this case, Mario could do the skip, but it was thought to be 2P-only and slower than the normal route.
However, the launch star skip can be done without a P2 mid-air jump, and despite Mario landing later than Luigi does, it still turns out to be 0.3s faster than the normal route for the red plumber.
There might be a slightly better route with this later landing, but Luigis route still worked out.
There is room for improvement in the skip itself with earlier possible HGPs and better angles available, but Ill let The Boss optimise that :) (TAS playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHIywL2labQ&list=PLX-UHl4lUQzuLyU9SC6AolZW4odODr5Wf )
#SuperMarioGalaxy #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG2: Boo Moon 1 in 0.5xA presses [Mario]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_wULtm4-R_g/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Boo Moon 1 in 0.5xA presses [Mario]
This run hasnt improved the levels A press count, but it confirms that Mario is equal to Luigi here, meaning we can avoid the menuing A press for unlocking the Luigi ghost.
Potentially possible 0x, but getting below 1x is the important thing for now.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #AButtonChallenge")
![[TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove Green Star 1 in 4xA (5xA) presses [Luigi]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aVFTzFi3UtE/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Cosmic Cove Green Star 1 in 4xA (5xA) presses [Luigi]
Luigi leads some Skeeters to waterfalls and then freezes them for bouncing material in 4 gameplay A presses (plus 1 dialogue A press).
The A presses are to walljump on the ice walls (and the dialogue).
This is an improvement of 1xA, saving the backflip used previously by triple bouncing off a frozen Skeeter to get enough height for only 4 walljumps to be necessary to get to the top.
Could a shore launch or penguin launch work out like this one?: https://youtu.be/YJITzoG5I0A
Maybe. But the surface of water is so painful to work with in SMG2 that I get too easily frustrated testing it. Skill issue i guess.
Not much to say until the manip, using a lot of shell braking with Z to help out, as well as bumping the Skeeters into each other and using a couple of starbits to stun them.
A spin knockback is just enough to get onto the first frozen Skeeter without kicking it.
I didnt intend to grab and slide down the wall into the triple bounce but it looked funny so I kept it in.
During the walljumps, neutral walljump strain was used to get a little bit more height and keep far enough away from the walls to spin without bonking. This is done by going neutral on the analog stick on the first walljump frame, which allows for more control with straining the jump in different directions.
The huge jump out of the ledgegrab was automatically done by the game, no A presses needed, something known as a mega ledgegrab.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #AButtonChallenge")
![[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Lava Lair Green Star 1 in 35.20s](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aoIfO_7HST8/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Galaxy 2: Lava Lair Green Star 1 in 35.20s
P2 provides medical support while Luigi burns his bum on the way to a Green Star in 35.20s [IGT, 2112 frames].
The start needs more experimenting but I used a single jump to carry some long jump momentum to get to the edge quicker - although checking back on this after rendering, I somehow kept running speed here so jumping didnt do anything.
The delayed long jump was done to get across the lava and set up the next long jump to bounce directly on the Luma - this also needs more experimenting as perhaps an earlier long jump onto the moving platforms could long jump again and then do something else like a single jump + bounce or backflip to the next planet.
Copying nemis IL (https://youtu.be/ayMijUx-x4w), I held back before bouncing on the Luma to have more control during the gravity change and get a backwards gravity swing to land further up the next planet.
In the next section, a jump cancel spin to swing around the corner was only a few frames faster than a camera cancel that runs around and has another long jump.
As Luigi faces down-left when landing, the jump cancel was slightly faster going to the right than to the left, as it gained more backwards speed, landing further along and only needing one long jump to get to the edge, whereas going left needed either a delayed long jump or long jump and single jump.
It is barely possible to long jump and get an angled wallkick combined with neutral wallkick strain (holding the same angle as facing angle to get more speed) that gets over the edge of the lava, however, for setting up the main trick, this is 0.5s slower than wallkicking up to the top (also helped with neutral wallkick strain getting less distance away from the wall) and long jumping from the top.
The main trick is a lava-wall boost, a technique used in RTA speedruns of Gravity Gauntlet and SMG1s Freezeflame. Getting hit by a wall of lava results in the usual vertical speed of a lava boost being horizontal speed instead, and as theres no friction to slow the horizontal speed, it continues to accelerate. Getting continuous lava boosts resets the speed but conserves this state of acceleration, meaning you can cover a lot of ground from a couple of boosts.
Also, you can land on normal ground once and keep this state as the first collision with normal ground is a bounce that is still part of the fire damage state. Its only when you land again and are running on the ground that the state is finished, even though Luigi is still burning.
Most of the dark lava wall doesnt have lava collision - you can even wallkick off it - but at the bottom, there is lava collision, and where it spills onto the lighter lava, there are small walls.
P2 grabs a couple of coins to help keep the boost going. This would lose time in a full-game run getting the coin textbox if there are other extra textboxes such as Galaxy Complete, starbit counting, or New Ghost. However, this strat saves 1.6s, which may be a bigger timesave than the loss of extra menuing. A Life Mushroom might be a better option, though, which P2 could get in the first section.
At the end, I land on the edge of the rock and I briefly drop onto lava, but was able to jump up onto the rock and land on the slippery slope to slip very quickly down to the star.
This was 1 frame faster than my other idea. As I ended up with no speed when hitting the rock, I was able to run on the lava, similar to how going neutral works like this: https://youtu.be/W28X4lLB2nY
I tried running around the rock and long jumping into the star. But as stated, this was 1 frame slower than jumping. I tried other kinds of jumps at different times but the single jump worked best.
#SuperMarioGalaxy2 #ToolAssistedSpeedrun")
![[TAS] SMG1: Gusty Garden 1 in 0xA (2xA total) [Mario]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bCg7ksrzZ2k/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG1: Gusty Garden 1 in 0xA (2xA total) [Mario]
Bunnies in the Wild completed without pressing A during proper gameplay (2 presses are required for the bunnys dialogue).
This saves 1x for Mario, and can save 0.5x for Luigi - the green guy had been able to get onto a crystal and float over to the floaty fluffs, but it is possible to instead get the uncrouch bump up the side of the crystal and spin and bounce off the Goomba, and then bounce off a bunny on the other side.
Sorry about the weird shaky camera during the first floaty fluff - I dont know for sure but I think it got moved about by the windmills.
As you have to press A to force letting go of a fluff, its a bit trickier to figure out how to get to the next one.
For the first transition between fluffs, I was able to carry the first all the way to the second, where reaching the floor with the first lifted Mario into the air enough to spin and grab the second.
For the next fluffs, I used a double bounce off the Piranha plants, which is much harder than it first looked - the gravity pulls about in weird ways so the double bounce ends up much lower and veers off to the left, but theres enough distance covered to spin into the third fluff.
For the giant purple Piranha, I did a spin cancel skid to hit it back up, and then crouched under where it would come back down. This will cause Mario to get ejected from beneath the Piranha when it slams down.
Like uncrouching with the crystal, uncrouching while being ejected puts Mario up in the air. Mario is still on the ground for a few frames so I do a ground spin to hit the Piranha again, and then an air spin and ground pound to bounce on its head.
The bunny is easy to catch but I forgot that the ABC strat is to catch it by the hedges to spin knockback off a hedge and bounce off the bunny.
But instead of going back, I spun up onto the little fence and spun onto the hedge to spin again into the star.
#SuperMarioGalaxy #AButtonChallenge")
![[TAS] SMG2: Bowsers Lava Lair Green Stars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bUfa2qqVZK8/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] SMG2: Bowsers Lava Lair Green Stars
Green Stars TAS WIP
Star order matters due to the Flomp (flippers) cycles for lava boosts and the Mattermouth (Dry Bones head) cycles for GS2.
GS1 first is faster.
Green Star 1 - 35.18 IGT - 46:46.73 real-time split (1:31.05 segment)
Despite not having running speed out of the ground pound, the squeezed backflip from the Magikoopa saved 15 frames.
Due to the shape and gravity of the long planet, long jumping early ends up getting lower hspd and a lot of airtime with it too - running to the edge and long jumping saved 3 frames because of better gravity.
The big strat is the lava boost. Theres a small lava wall in the darker jaggedy lava starting the Whomp section, and hitting the wall causes a horizontal boost which doesnt stop accelerating, and this state is conserved (although speed is always cut down) when hitting lava again, and also with the little bounce on normal ground.
Hitting the rock at a certain point causes a fall state with 0 speed, which, like falling off in neutral (as shown here by Joselle: https://youtu.be/W28X4lLB2nY), allows Luigi to briefly run across lava.
From this, a single jump and slide down the rock was 1 frame faster than running around and long jumping.
Also, due to this Greens run having a file with 9999 coins, there is no textbox at the end.
Green Star 2 - 46.70 IGT - 48:16.53 real-time split (1:29.80 segment)
With the 2nd Flomp out of the way, and P2 breaking the question block, the lava boost strat can make it out to the rock named finger and bounce to the Lumas steps.
Attempts to skip the gate were either too slow (using the well-known strat with jumping up the front of the gate and over) or didnt work with everything I tried (hyper slope jump off a falling Whomp couldnt get angled right).
Glitchy slope jump off the crashed meteor saved 3 frames. Going directly forwards would get the glitchy speed, but jumping would immediately stop to 0, whereas jumping further off the side kept all the speed, although it goes off to the opposite side too.
#supermariogalaxy2 #toolassistedspeedrun")
