The Absurd History of Level 8-2
Summary
TLDRThe video script narrates the intricate history and evolution of level 8-2 in Super Mario Brothers, a game renowned for its challenging speedrun dynamics. Once deemed impossible for a perfect run, the level saw a transformation within a year, shifting from an unattainable feat to a prime target for record-breaking attempts. The narrative unfolds through a series of peculiar events, including a 20-minute title screen wait, millions of simulations, and even a solution inspired by a dream. The story highlights the dedication and ingenuity of the speedrunning community as they tackle frame-perfect tricks, phantom bullet bills, and the infamous coin toss mechanic. Despite the complexity and the numerous strategies explored, including a rare plant despawn and a double Bullet Bill jump, the essence of the narrative lies in the pursuit of simplicity amidst absurdity. The journey from an initial time-consuming and complex approach to a more streamlined and efficient strategy is a testament to the continuous innovation and exploration within the speedrunning community.
Takeaways
- š® The history of level 8-2 in Super Mario Brothers is filled with surprising developments and strategies that have evolved over time.
- š At one point, achieving a perfect run in level 8-2 was considered impossible, but within a year, it became a key area for improving world records.
- š” The evolution of strategies involved odd sequences, such as waiting on the title screen and running millions of simulations to find solutions.
- š A significant change involved a discovery that allowed for more precise control over the game's frame rules by manipulating power-ups and taking damage.
- š The 'Double Bullet Bill' strategy was developed, which potentially improved the speedrun time but required a lengthy wait on the title screen.
- ā±ļø Despite the potential of the Double Bullet Bill strategy, it was not widely adopted due to the initial long wait time and slight increases in difficulty in other parts of the level.
- š Kriller 37's innovative thinking led to the realization that the fast acceleration at the start of the level (fast Excel) might not be necessary, which simplified the strategy.
- š The culmination of these strategies and insights led to a new world record time for Super Mario Brothers speedrunning, achieving the long-awaited time of 45:45.
- š§ The story of level 8-2 showcases the dedication and creativity of the speedrunning community, as they continuously push the boundaries of what's thought possible in a game.
- š The process of discovering new strategies often involves complex and sometimes convoluted methods before arriving at simpler and more efficient solutions.
- š The constant refinement of strategies and the willingness to challenge established methods are what make speedrunning an engaging and dynamic competitive scene.
Q & A
What is the significance of level 8-2 in Super Mario Brothers?
-Level 8-2 is significant because it is one of the hardest levels in the game, especially for speedrunners. It has a history of being considered impossible to complete with a perfect run, but over time, strategies were developed to achieve this.
What is the 'coin toss' phenomenon in Super Mario Brothers?
-The 'coin toss' phenomenon refers to the game mechanic where Mario can only interact with enemies every other frame. On one frame, he can stomp enemies or take damage, but on the next frame, he will pass through them without interaction until the second frame of overlap.
How did the initial strategy for a perfect run of level 8-2 change over a year?
-The initial strategy evolved from being considered impossible to becoming the best place to improve the world record. This change was due to a sequence of odd events, including waiting on the title screen, running simulations, and discovering new tricks like the fast acceleration and the Bullet Bill glitch.
What is a 'Phantom bullet bill' in the context of Super Mario Brothers speedrunning?
-A 'Phantom bullet bill' is a bullet bill that never appears on screen but shows up in memory for one frame. This phenomenon can affect gameplay, and it is used in the strategy to despawn the piranha plant in level 8-2.
Why was the Double Bullet Bill strategy not widely adopted by speedrunners?
-The Double Bullet Bill strategy was not widely adopted because it made early parts of the level slightly harder and required waiting on the title screen for an extended period. Speedrunners preferred the three-frame jump setup, which was more consistent and less time-consuming.
How did kriller 37 contribute to improving the strategy for level 8-2?
-Kriller 37 discovered that a precise jump from the top of the staircase could achieve the necessary height for the Bullet Bill glitch without the need for a fast acceleration at the start of the level. This simplified the strategy and improved the success rate of achieving a perfect run.
What is the 'fast excel' at the start of level 8-2, and why was it initially thought to be necessary?
-The 'fast excel' is a technique where Mario accelerates faster by jumping backwards in the air than running forward on the ground. It was initially thought to be necessary because it allowed for a slight speed increase at the start of the level, which was crucial for achieving the perfect run.
Why did the initial strategy for level 8-2 require waiting on the title screen?
-Waiting on the title screen was a method to manipulate the frame rule timer, allowing access to more patterns that could potentially lead to the despawning of the piranha plant and other advantageous outcomes.
How did the discovery of the 'Phantom bullet bills' impact the strategy for level 8-2?
-The discovery of 'Phantom bullet bills' led to the realization that they could be used to despawn the piranha plant, which was a significant obstacle. However, the conditions required for this to happen were extremely rare and difficult to replicate consistently.
What is the frame rule in Super Mario Brothers speedrunning, and how does it affect the game?
-The frame rule in Super Mario Brothers speedrunning refers to the specific frame on which a player can arrive at a certain point in the game. It affects the game by determining the enemy patterns and other in-game events, which can significantly impact the strategies used by speedrunners.
How did the speedrunning community react to the various strategies developed for level 8-2?
-The community showed a mix of fascination, experimentation, and skepticism. While some runners tried out the new strategies, others stuck with the more established methods. The pursuit of a perfect run in level 8-2 led to significant innovations and a deeper understanding of the game's mechanics.
Outlines
š® The History of Level 8-2 in Super Mario Bros
The paragraph introduces the history of Super Mario Bros' level 8-2, which is considered one of the hardest levels in the game. It discusses how a year of change transformed the level from an impossible perfect run to a record-breaking one. The story involves odd strategies, simulations, and even a solution found in a dream, highlighting the absurdity of the level's history.
šļø Perfecting Level 8-2: The Three-Step Challenge
This paragraph breaks down the three parts of achieving a perfect run of level 8-2. It details the fast acceleration start, the precise jump over the piranha plant and pipe, and the Bullet Bill glitch. The paragraph also explains how a runner named Tav managed to combine these elements to achieve a near-perfect run, with the only issue being the plant despawning glitch.
š± Despawning the Piranha Plant: A Rare Glitch
The focus is on the unusual phenomenon of the piranha plant despawning in level 8-2. The paragraph explores why this happens and how it's related to the game's sprite management. It also discusses the concept of phantom bullet bills and how they contribute to the plant despawning at a specific time, adding a layer of complexity to the level's strategy.
š The Search for the Perfect Pattern
This section delves into the effort to find a pattern that allows for the plant despawn and a perfect Bullet Bill shot. It explains the use of scripts to test millions of combinations and the rarity of the successful outcome. Despite the difficulty, the search continues, highlighting the dedication of the speedrunning community to mastering the game.
š The Time-Consuming Strategy and Its Drawbacks
The paragraph discusses the impracticality of the plant despawn strategy due to the extensive waiting time on the title screen. It also mentions the discovery of a more consistent method to start the game at the right time using power-ups and taking damage. However, the method's inconsistency and the high chance of failure make it unsuitable for top-level speedruns.
š” Innovations in Level Strategy: Simplified Solutions
This section describes how Kriller 37 questioned the existing strategies and found simpler solutions to the level's challenges. It covers the discovery of a new Bullet Bill jump technique and the realization that the fast acceleration at the start of the level could be skipped without losing the frame rule. The paragraph concludes with the current strategy for achieving a perfect run of level 8-2.
š The Evolution of Level 8-2 Strategies
The final paragraph recaps the evolution of strategies for level 8-2, from the initial complex and time-consuming methods to the more straightforward and consistent approaches discovered later. It emphasizes the journey of speedrunners from finding a possible method to refining it into a practical strategy and the excitement in witnessing their innovative solutions.
Mindmap
Keywords
š”Super Mario Brothers
š”Speedrun
š”Level 8-2
š”Frame Rule
š”Bullet Bill Glitch
š”Phantom Bullet Bills
š”TAS (Tool-Assisted Speedrun)
š”Power-Up Animation
š”Title Screen Demo
š”Piranha Plant Despawn
š”World Record
Highlights
Summoning Salt's video on the history of level 42 in Super Mario Brothers is well-known, but level 8-2 has an equally fascinating and absurd history.
Level 8-2 was once considered impossible to complete with a perfect run, but within a year, it became the key to improving the world record.
Glitch Hunter, known as 'nobody calls me tubby,' demonstrated a perfect run of level 8-2 in three segments, showing each part of the puzzle could be done.
The 'fast acceleration' at the start of level 8-2 is critical and can be achieved by Mario jumping backwards in the air.
To clear the piranha plant without frames to spare, runners must land on the edge of the pipe and time their jump and acceleration perfectly.
The Bullet Bill glitch on level 8-2 requires landing on the very front of the bill for maximum speed, which was achieved through a unique jump method.
Tav Webb managed to combine the fast acceleration, perfect pipe jump, and Bullet Bill glitch in a single run, marking a significant advancement.
GT, while attempting a perfect 8-2, accidentally caused a piranha plant to despawn, which was later understood to be due to 'phantom bullet bills'.
Phantom bullet bills are a quirk where bullet bills show up in memory for a frame without appearing on screen, affecting gameplay.
The plant despawn strategy requires an incredibly rare pattern involving two phantom bullet bills and the plant spawn frame.
Mr. Tubby discovered a method to break the 21-frame rule by pausing the game before the run starts, allowing access to more patterns.
Threecrepio found a way to start the run on different frame rules using power-ups and taking damage on the title screen.
Kriller 37 improved the Bullet Bill glitch by finding a method that didn't require the complex three-frame jump, simplifying the strategy.
Kriller also discovered that the fast acceleration at the start of the level could be skipped by timing a jump through the piranha plant.
These innovations led to the first world record using the TAS 8-2 frame rule, and eventually, the long-awaited 4:54 completion time.
The evolution of level 8-2 strategies showcases how complex and sometimes less efficient methods can precede simpler solutions in speedrunning.
The story of level 8-2 is a testament to the creativity and persistence of the speedrunning community, always seeking the most efficient paths.
Transcripts
summoning salt ever heard of him of courseĀ you have and if you're watching this you'veĀ Ā
probably seen his video about the history of 42Ā in the original Super Mario Brothers that levelĀ Ā
has quite the history and has continued to haveĀ interesting developments even after that videoĀ Ā
was made you may be familiar with all of that butĀ there's another level in this game which has itsĀ Ā
own storyed history an absolutely absurd historyĀ that level is 8-2 one of the hardest levels in theĀ Ā
the game in general and especially in speedunsĀ if we go back in time just a few years it wasĀ Ā
considered impossible to do a perfect run throughĀ this level the strategy we were doing which was aĀ Ā
third of a second away from perfect was theĀ agreed upon limit and that was as good as itĀ Ā
was going to get but over the course of justĀ one year everything changed this level wentĀ Ā
from impossible to improve upon absolutely neverĀ happening to instead being the obvious best placeĀ Ā
to improve the world record how did that happenĀ well it was through a very odd sequence of eventsĀ Ā
today you'll learn why someone waited 20 minutesĀ on the title screen before starting a run howĀ Ā
people were running millions of simulationsĀ to try and find a solution potential ideasĀ Ā
coming to one runner in a dream we'll talk aboutĀ frame perfect tricks on the title screen PhantomĀ Ā
bullet bills and more if all of that seemsĀ a little absurd and way too involved for oneĀ Ā
level in a 40-year-old video game you're exactlyĀ right stick around this is the story of level
82 before we move on I have to take one minute toĀ tell you about this video sponsor rayon they justĀ Ā
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shipping all right let's take a trip back in timeĀ to the year 2019 the world record speedrun of thisĀ Ā
game is 45.7 n by some West this is what 82 looksĀ like in his run he clears this piranha plant WaitsĀ Ā
on the stairs for a Bullet Bill and then performsĀ the Bullet Bill glitch I keep re-explaining thisĀ Ā
flag pole glitch every video so I'm going to haveĀ to skip it this time if you're not familiar withĀ Ā
this trick I recommend this video by bismuth forĀ the best explanation one crucial detail of it thatĀ Ā
you must understand for this video though is thatĀ it's only possible because of a specific quirk inĀ Ā
this game you can only interact with enemies everyĀ other frame half the time you'll stomp enemies orĀ Ā
take damage from them on the first frame you touchĀ them but the other half of the time you'll just goĀ Ā
through them on that frame and nothing will happenĀ until the second frame you overlap with them weĀ Ā
call this coin toss because there's a 50% chanceĀ each frame that you'll interact with an enemy orĀ Ā
not anyway in this run by some West his 82 was oneĀ frame rule slower than the perfect tool assistedĀ Ā
run this was one of just a few areas in the runĀ where we knew you could go faster but at the timeĀ Ā
it was considered totally unrealistic impossibleĀ and why was that I don't know I really don'tĀ Ā
know why that was the consensus back then I thinkĀ those who were familiar with the requirements justĀ Ā
decided they were probably too hard they relayedĀ that message to everyone else and we took theirĀ Ā
word for it after all we were having a hard enoughĀ time getting past the stage without making thingsĀ Ā
even harder on ourselves so looking into thisĀ wasn't really a priority but around the middleĀ Ā
of 2019 it started to make more sense to look intoĀ it multiple people were getting runs with all theĀ Ā
wellest Lish tricks and it was time to push theĀ game further we knew we could save time in 81 butĀ Ā
that alone wasn't going to be enough to get theĀ record down to 454 it was time to find out if 82Ā Ā
was possible even if just hypothetically in JulyĀ of that year the runner and glitch Hunter nobodyĀ Ā
calls me tubby you may know him by another nameĀ comes out of nowhere with this video a perfectĀ Ā
82 in three segments it's not a perfect run ofĀ the ENT high level but it does show each pieceĀ Ā
of the puzzle can be done let's go ahead andĀ break down exactly what a perfect 82 is thereĀ Ā
are three parts to it hence the three segments inĀ his video he tried each part a bunch individuallyĀ Ā
until he got it and then put them all togetherĀ to show what the whole level would look likeĀ Ā
step number one of a perfect 82 comes immediatelyĀ at the start of the level you need to do a fastĀ Ā
acceleration Mario accelerates faster jumpingĀ backwards in the air than he does running forwardĀ Ā
on the ground doing a perfect turnaround and jumpĀ at the start of the stage you can accelerate justĀ Ā
a tiny 1 to two frames faster depending on theĀ level but that extra bit of speed is going toĀ Ā
make all the difference here once you get theĀ perfect acceleration to start the level it'sĀ Ā
smooth sailing for a bit until we reach this bigĀ gap now we have the next obstacle this big pipeĀ Ā
is in the way normally you could jump clean overĀ the pipe and the piranha plant but not with theĀ Ā
giant pit that comes just before this one there'sĀ not enough space to gain height before slammingĀ Ā
into the pipe to get past here we're going toĀ have to slow down at least a little bit this isĀ Ā
the main reason doing the level perfectly isĀ hard it's easy enough for skilled Runners ofĀ Ā
this game to maneuver Mario around the pipe andĀ over the plant but doing it absolutely as fastĀ Ā
as possible it requires a different approach youĀ can't just wait until Mario is above the piranhaĀ Ā
and then speed back up you have to land on theĀ edge of the pipe and do another jump so you canĀ Ā
clear the plant while speeding up earlier thereĀ are absolutely no frames to spare on the frameĀ Ā
rule here normally it wouldn't be a big dealĀ if you jump a little bit after you land orĀ Ā
don't land right at the very edge or slow downĀ slightly more than absolutely necessary but toĀ Ā
get a perfect 82 there are absolutely no framesĀ to spare on the frame rule here you have to landĀ Ā
on the very edge jump as soon as possible slowĀ down as as little as possible to avoid bonkingĀ Ā
the pipe release your jump at the perfect timeĀ so you land on the pipe as soon as you can andĀ Ā
jump off the pipe as soon as you land on itĀ it's a harder thing to do a whole series ofĀ Ā
inputs like this than it is to just hold rightĀ and time some frame perfect jumps like with mostĀ Ā
other tricks this whole sequence is pretty toughĀ but by spamming attempts at it tubby was able toĀ Ā
get past the pipe two steps down one to go theĀ final step was of course course the Bullet BillĀ Ā
glitch but again we have to do it perfectly weĀ can't just land anywhere on the bullet we haveĀ Ā
to land on the very front in order to be fastĀ enough the usual approach is doing a big jumpĀ Ā
off of the staircase to land on the bill but forĀ some reason tubby was always one frame too slow toĀ Ā
get the frame rule he started messing around withĀ other ways to jump on the bill to see if it madeĀ Ā
any difference and he figured out that doing thisĀ really weird jump onto it it came out fast enoughĀ Ā
so that that was it he had demonstrated that eachĀ of the three difficult parts of a perfect 82 couldĀ Ā
theoretically be performed now if something hasĀ proven possible at all in this game you know it'sĀ Ā
bound to happen sooner or later within one week ofĀ this video being posted Tav web is already gettingĀ Ā
close he got the % world record of 45.74 a fewĀ days after Tubby's video and now he's messingĀ Ā
with 82 first he posts this video showing himĀ due the fast acceleration and the perfect pipeĀ Ā
jump he stumbles a bit with the weird Bullet BillĀ glitch method but this was really close he got theĀ Ā
first and second steps right at least a few weeksĀ later he posts another video where he starts fromĀ Ā
a Save State before the pipe jump and nails thatĀ and the perfect Bullet Bill glitch now he's gottenĀ Ā
part two and part three together he just needs toĀ add the fast excel at the start and one week laterĀ Ā
he did exactly that fast Excel pipe jump BulletĀ Bill glitch I got it I think I got it we did it weĀ Ā
got it that's it it's been done 454 is officiallyĀ on its way not really I mean it's been done onceĀ Ā
but we're going to need to put in some more workĀ before we can pretend this strategy is ready forĀ Ā
use in runs another Runner GT starts trying it outĀ he's just tinkering with it seeing what he can doĀ Ā
and then he posts this on Discord this is massiveĀ don't you see the plant despawned it's gone Mia aĀ Ā
pced out on vacation this plant being gone forĀ runs would be massively useful as long as thisĀ Ā
isn't some weird one-off glitch that can never beĀ replicated with the plant out of the way you couldĀ Ā
get past this section so much easier is it realĀ though no one has ever seen this before why didĀ Ā
it happen when GT was trying to do a perfect 82 heĀ actually messed up a little bit on the first stepĀ Ā
the inputs weren't quite what they needed to be toĀ get a perfect fast acceleration normally you justĀ Ā
restart after this and keep loading save statesĀ until you get the perfect start but again he wasĀ Ā
just kind of messing around so he kept runningĀ he was now moving through the stage at a slightlyĀ Ā
different speed than anyone normally would he's isĀ going to get different enemy patterns than anyoneĀ Ā
normally would and this plant despawned whichĀ normally would not should not ever it doesn'tĀ Ā
make any sense I'll explain why in just a secondĀ but let's take a minute to appreciate that thisĀ Ā
is the same guy who was doing runs of Mario theĀ Lost Levels when something very similar happenedĀ Ā
uh uh uhuhuh what he accidentally jumped into thisĀ block that has a Vine in it then he tried to swagĀ Ā
on these Koopas with this fun stomp plus FireballĀ combo but he missed fireballing the second oneĀ Ā
and somehow all of that accidentally despawnedĀ the flag at the end of the level this guy is theĀ Ā
king of accidentally despawning stuff shout outsĀ to GTA for finding these things for giving me twoĀ Ā
video topics to talk about and for helping a lotĀ with the research for this video anyway despawningĀ Ā
is actually extremely common in this game butĀ it's very rare to despawn something completelyĀ Ā
brand new we already regularly despawn certainĀ enemies to speed up the Run we hit the vine inĀ Ā
42 to make sure that no plant appears in thisĀ pipe we stomp on these Koopas in 81 to despawnĀ Ā
one of these three Goombas and make this sectionĀ A lot easier and in 84 we make sure not to stompĀ Ā
on this Buzzy Beetle otherwise there will beĀ a plant in the way in this pipe all of thoseĀ Ā
examples work because there's so many Sprites onĀ the screen already all the available Sprite slotsĀ Ā
are full and there's nowhere for the next enemyĀ to spawn into so it just doesn't spawn at all butĀ Ā
look at this example in 82 where GTA managed toĀ despawn the piranha plant there's hardly anythingĀ Ā
on the screen there is one piranha plant here andĀ if we rewind a little there's also a parupa that'sĀ Ā
two Sprites but we need five one important thingĀ to note here is that things try to load in a lotĀ Ā
earlier than when they come on screen and theyĀ Stay Loaded in even after they go off the screenĀ Ā
a bit to the left so if we rewind a a littleĀ bit more we can see this Bullet Bill shoot outĀ Ā
of the cannon and it's following us just off theĀ screen still loaded in at this point okay thatĀ Ā
makes three Sprites but what else maybe this plantĀ is loaded nope fun fact piranha plants and HammerĀ Ā
Brothers actually have specific checks in placeĀ to delete them sooner after going off screen thanĀ Ā
every other enemy I'm not positive why this is theĀ case but if I had to guess maybe because there'sĀ Ā
just so many piranha plants in all the pipes inĀ this game and they don't want them hogging all theĀ Ā
Sprite slots as much and Hammer Bros I guess theyĀ probably don't want them chucking hammers at youĀ Ā
from off screen or something but yeah this piranhaĀ plant in 82 is not going to help us because itĀ Ā
despawns nine frames too early as far as I can seeĀ there's only three Sprites out of the five we needĀ Ā
here but let's go to the exact moment the plant inĀ the tall pipe tries to spawn in and take a look atĀ Ā
what's loaded into each Sprite slot we've got thisĀ piranha plant we've got the parupa we've got theĀ Ā
Bullet Bill we've got two other bullet bills whatĀ all right my fellow Mario speedrun enjoyers let meĀ Ā
introduce you to Phantom bullet bills there's aĀ really odd Quirk with the Bullet Bill cannons inĀ Ā
this game here's how they work as you go throughĀ a level once you see one of these launchers itĀ Ā
initializes a timer the timer starts at 14 andĀ ticks Down based on the random number generatorĀ Ā
so once this timer exists the game is constantlyĀ doing dice rolls to decide when to decrement theĀ Ā
timer once it takes down all the way it Loops backĀ to 14 and a Bullet Bill shoots each Cannon has itsĀ Ā
own timer and they're all waiting independentlyĀ for their chance to shoot in the case of 82 thereĀ Ā
is a lot of bullet launchers so we can get theĀ maximum of six timers going at once here's theĀ Ā
goofy part though the timers stay in memory andĀ keep working even after the cannon has gone offĀ Ā
screen as soon as you encounter a bullet launcherĀ the the game will continue trying to fire bulletĀ Ā
bills for the rest of the level even after you'reĀ well past it whenever it's time for a Bullet BillĀ Ā
to shoot the game will first check to see if thatĀ particular Cannon is still on screen if it is thenĀ Ā
a bullet will of course fire from it but if it'sĀ not the bullet just gets deleted instead thereĀ Ā
is however one frame where the Bullet Bill existsĀ the Bullet Bill ID will show up in the Sprite slotĀ Ā
list for a single frame before being deleted theĀ value for bullet bills is 33 and even though thereĀ Ā
are no bullet launchers on screen right now youĀ can see the number 33 popping up very briefly hereĀ Ā
and there this is what we call a phantom BulletĀ Bill a Bullet Bill which never really exists onĀ Ā
screen but does show up in memory for one frameĀ at a time a Bullet Bill which though invisible canĀ Ā
affect gam playay now that you get the basic ideaĀ of phantom bullets you probably understand whatĀ Ā
has just happened here in 82 with the plantĀ despawning and if you start to put togetherĀ Ā
the finer details you'll realize just how insaneĀ this all is let's review we need five Sprites toĀ Ā
fill up all the Sprite slots so the plant doesn'tĀ spawn we get two for free the piranha plant in theĀ Ā
little pipe and the parupa we need three bulletĀ bills to fill in the rest and three is actuallyĀ Ā
the maximum number of bullet bills that's possibleĀ at a time so this works out perfectly in our plantĀ Ā
despawn example we have one bullet build that shotĀ out of a cannon and is following behind us stillĀ Ā
barely loaded and not even visible on screen atĀ this point we need two more bullet bills to fillĀ Ā
the remaining Sprite slots and the only way we'reĀ going to get them is through the Phantom BulletĀ Ā
Bill phenomenon let's take a second to thinkĀ about what we're really asking for here we needĀ Ā
the cannon timers of previous offscreen cannonsĀ to expire so they try and shoot a Bullet Bill andĀ Ā
it fills up a Sprite slot we need two PhantomĀ bullet bills here remember Phantom bills onlyĀ Ā
exist for one frame so we need two Canon timersĀ to expire on the same frame but they'll also onlyĀ Ā
remain in the sprit lless for one frame so weĀ need two Phantom bullet bills we need them toĀ Ā
appear on the same frame and we need both of themĀ on the same frame that the plant tries to spawn inĀ Ā
it all sounds crazy and bizarre but that's whatĀ we're dealing with here we need a pattern whereĀ Ā
one Bullet Bill shoots to the right and two moreĀ try to shoot at this exact moment from offscreenĀ Ā
launchers I did say that there are six timersĀ available though they're going ham trying toĀ Ā
spawn bullet bills constantly so how rare couldĀ it really be to get two of them to shoot on this
Frame oh some West wrote a script to go throughĀ every frame rule you could arrive on 82 and checkĀ Ā
for plant despawns he factored in things likeĀ stomping certain enemies which changes whatĀ Ā
pattern you'll get his script tested millionsĀ of combinations and in the end it found 13 outĀ Ā
of all of them he found 13 frame rules youĀ can get the plant to despawn on that's notĀ Ā
a lot and it shows just how rare this isĀ but it's enough we only need one after allĀ Ā
so that's it problem solved we can despawnĀ this plant and make this part of the levelĀ Ā
easier let's go to the leaderboard now andĀ see how many runs on there make use of this
strategy that one all of that work and the onlyĀ person using this is in 334th place shout out toĀ Ā
yzr by the way legendary NES speedrunner butĀ why is he the only one using this the issueĀ Ā
is that when we're trying to match the task andĀ do a perfect 82 there's already a somewhat rareĀ Ā
pattern in place that we have to manipulate allĀ of this plant despawn stuff has been focused onĀ Ā
part two of the level getting past the pipe butĀ part three the Bullet Bill glitch also requiresĀ Ā
a Bullet Bill shot and not just a shot not even aĀ fast shot you need the fastest shot once again weĀ Ā
have no time to spare when trying to perfect thisĀ level we need this Bullet Bill to shoot as soon asĀ Ā
possible and if you're too close to the launcherĀ when it's timer expires this is another case whereĀ Ā
the Bullet Bill will just be deleted insteadĀ of shooting it seems they didn't want them toĀ Ā
shoot you when you're standing right next to themĀ which is fair so the earliest this Bullet Bill canĀ Ā
shoot is right here we need this Cannon's timerĀ to expire at this exact moment so we can use itĀ Ā
for the Bullet Bill glitch as soon as possible andĀ that's the bad news of the 13 plant despawn setupsĀ Ā
that some West found none of them also gave aĀ perfect Bullet Bill shot that's really unfortunateĀ Ā
but it was really unlikely with how many bulletĀ timers we need to line up here I guess this StratĀ Ā
is dead we weren't able to find anything evenĀ though we searched through literally every patternĀ Ā
wait what if we didn't search through everyĀ pattern the script ran tests on every frame ruleĀ Ā
you can arrive in 82 but frame rules only allowĀ you to arrive every 21 frames the random patternsĀ Ā
we get in the level are based on how much time hasĀ passed if all of our tests are arriving 21 framesĀ Ā
apart that means in theory we're really onlyĀ testing about 5% of all of the possible patternsĀ Ā
out there if we're going to make this happenĀ we need a way to make more patterns possibleĀ Ā
we need a way to break the 20 1 frame Rule andĀ this is when Mr tubby had a dream his brain isĀ Ā
working on this problem he wants to despawn thisĀ piranha plant and his mind solves it in his sleepĀ Ā
he wakes up hurries to the NES to test out hisĀ idea this gift that his dreaming brain gave him heĀ Ā
loads into Super Mario Brothers and it works butĀ it's kind of a huge meme the idea is simple justĀ Ā
pause the game before the Run starts the frameĀ rule timer pauses but time in general doesn'tĀ Ā
you can wait any number of frames like this thenĀ unpause and play out the rest of the run likeĀ Ā
normal you can still only arrive at each levelĀ 21 frames apart but you can start on any frameĀ Ā
you want meaning you get access to any of theĀ other 20 sets of frame rules this Strat worksĀ Ā
we have millions more patterns we can searchĀ through using it but again it's kind of dumbĀ Ā
you would have to unpause the game with frameĀ perfect timing to get the right pattern youĀ Ā
want in 82 and you wouldn't even know ifĀ you did it right until you got to 82 andĀ Ā
this is all just a big technicality inĀ the rule set anyway the rules say thatĀ Ā
time starts when 400 appears on the timer inĀ the top right corner because that's when youĀ Ā
gain control of Mario you can pause a coupleĀ frames before that happens and wait around butĀ Ā
it's pretty silly it probably wouldn't fly on theĀ leaderboards even if it was a good option for runsĀ Ā
okay back to the drawing board this was a goodĀ start at least now let's jump over to LegendaryĀ Ā
Mario scientist three creepio he's also working onĀ this problem he knows if you can pause the frameĀ Ā
rule timer you can gain access to more patternsĀ but how can we pause the frame rule timer withoutĀ Ā
pausing oh wait powerups whenever you get a powerĀ up the frame rule timer freezes and this actuallyĀ Ā
holds true even when Mario grabs the mushroomĀ during the title screen demo in regular gameplayĀ Ā
this can offset the frame rule timer by 59 framesĀ but on the title screen you can interrupt theĀ Ā
PowerUp animation at any point by pressing startĀ meaning you can use this to freeze the frame ruleĀ Ā
timer for anywhere from 1 to 59 frames this isĀ yet another way to start the run on a differentĀ Ā
set of frame rules and it also doesn't land inĀ a weird gray area with the rule set like pausingĀ Ā
after booting into one one does but it stillĀ has one of the same problems as that Strat toĀ Ā
get the exact pattern you want an 82 you'd haveĀ to press start with frame perfect timing duringĀ Ā
the PowerUp animation and you wouldn't know if youĀ got it until 82 we're so close back to the drawingĀ Ā
board again is there any other way to freeze theĀ frame rule timer I guess there actually is oneĀ Ā
more option taking damage in exactly the same wayĀ that powerups can offset the timer by 59 framesĀ Ā
taking damage offsets it by 55 frames in additionĀ to getting a mushroom Mario also takes damage onĀ Ā
the title screen creepio realized we can useĀ any combination of the power up and power downĀ Ā
animation that we want to start the game onĀ all sorts of intervals this is it finally theĀ Ā
solution to our problem a very consistent wayĀ to start the game at the right time except it'sĀ Ā
still not entirely consistent I've mentioned inĀ a previous video video how the title screen demoĀ Ā
can desync because of the way enemy CollisionĀ Works this is that coin toss phenomenon atĀ Ā
Play Again check that previous video for a fullĀ explanation but yeah this means he doesn't makeĀ Ā
it over here to take damage every time the firstĀ time through he never makes it to the glomba andĀ Ā
each time after that there's a 50% chance that heĀ does depending on which frame you interrupted theĀ Ā
previous demo on with that headache in mindĀ creepio has found a setup using this he madeĀ Ā
his own tools to search through all the differentĀ patterns and combinations in 82 and found a prettyĀ Ā
good setup All Things Considered but you may haveĀ realized by now that using this strategy is goingĀ Ā
to mean spending quite a while waiting on theĀ title screen the best currently known solutionĀ Ā
that gets a plant despawn and perfect Bullet BillĀ shot requires spending 40 seconds on the titleĀ Ā
screen to let Mario get two mushrooms and takeĀ damage once that's not going to cut it this wouldĀ Ā
make the Run Easier by getting the plant out ofĀ the way but to put things in perspective you'dĀ Ā
spend 11 hours on the title screen every 1,000Ā attempts top level runs of this game are goingĀ Ā
to require hundreds or thousands of attemptsĀ and you're probably just going to reset one orĀ Ā
2 minutes in it's just not worth it this is theĀ real reason that yzr is the only one using thisĀ Ā
strategy he was just aiming for sub five not worldĀ record Pace he could make it here a lot more oftenĀ Ā
and when he did he didn't need to go for a perfectĀ 2 or bullet B glitch or anything like that he justĀ Ā
did it to make the jump past this pipe easierĀ in general and because it's awesome all rightĀ Ā
at some point we have to admit defeat at leastĀ for now maybe in the future some setup will beĀ Ā
found which doesn't require waiting forever on theĀ title screen and this plant despawn can be usefulĀ Ā
in world record level runs even though we weren'tĀ successful at making part two of the level easierĀ Ā
maybe there's still something we can do maybeĀ we can improve one of the other other parts ofĀ Ā
the level enter kriller 37 you'll hear killer'sĀ name coming up in a lot of my videos at this pointĀ Ā
he's helped find setups and improve the quality ofĀ life for a lot of tricks in this game and in 2020Ā Ā
he set out to do exactly that in 82 he took a lookĀ at the current strategy for the level and wonderedĀ Ā
why do you have to do the Bullet Bill glitch soĀ weirdly what magic is going on here that let youĀ Ā
save the frame rule when doing it like this butĀ not when you do it the regular way kriller figuredĀ Ā
out that the core of this issue is Mario's heightĀ when doing it the normal way if you stomp on theĀ Ā
Bullet Bill from this distance Mario will be tooĀ high when he reaches the pole and you won't getĀ Ā
a full flag pole glitch but if you have a preciseĀ height value before stomping the Bullet Bill MarioĀ Ā
will stay a bit lower and he'll be low enough toĀ trigger it essentially this lets you stomp theĀ Ā
Bullet Bill from farther away while still gettingĀ the glitch that means slightly less time is spentĀ Ā
waiting for the bullet to get close to the pole soĀ if the key here is Mario having a specific heightĀ Ā
is there any other way to make that happen kerĀ did some searching and figured out that if youĀ Ā
press jump for exactly three frames When jumpingĀ from the top of the staircase that gives the magicĀ Ā
height value you would still need to do a perfectĀ jump height and time things frame perfectly toĀ Ā
land on the very front of the bill so doingĀ this isn't like free or anything but at leastĀ Ā
it's not all Wiggly weird that begs the questionĀ are there any other ways to get the magic heightĀ Ā
value kriller kept messing around with things andĀ then This brilliant idea hits him maybe the bestĀ Ā
solution isn't a specific jump height maybe it'sĀ not a jump at all maybe we can use a second BulletĀ Ā
Bill to bounce on he tests this crazy idea and itĀ just so happens that you can get the specific jumpĀ Ā
iine needed by running off the steps and bouncingĀ on two bullet bills in a row just a frame PerfectĀ Ā
Right press to run off and get the glitch asĀ soon as possible this is awesome I don't thinkĀ Ā
an optimal Bullet Bill glitch can get easierĀ than this this is it 454 is happening let'sĀ Ā
go now to speedrunner hits crits who is about toĀ do the first ever official 454 attempt using this
strategy yeah so the setup for the Double BulletĀ Bill shop pattern has us waiting 24 minutes onĀ Ā
the title screen hey but once he waits this outĀ he's got a better shot at 454 than anyone elseĀ Ā
ever has ah so close Okay that was of courseĀ a little silly but the first setup for thisĀ Ā
really did require waiting around for 24 minutesĀ no worries though just one day later more setupsĀ Ā
were found that only involved a few seconds ofĀ waiting you'd think at this point everyone wouldĀ Ā
jump on this cool new Double Bullet Bill strategyĀ but surprisingly that never really happened all ofĀ Ā
the setups for it seemed to make earli parts ofĀ the level slightly harder and people had gottenĀ Ā
comfortable with the three-frame jump setup in theĀ meantime so they just stuck with that this is aĀ Ā
really cool strategy though that people could useĀ instead if they really wanted to up to this pointĀ Ā
kriller has been quite successful at improvingĀ the success rate of Tas 8 2 but he's actuallyĀ Ā
not done yet so far we've only looked at attemptsĀ to try and improve part two of the level and partĀ Ā
three but what about part one kriller was onceĀ again thinking about this level and why it allĀ Ā
works why each piece is necessary we have to do aĀ super precise Bullet Bill glitch because there'sĀ Ā
zero frames to spare to get the perfect 82 frameĀ rule we have to do a super precise jump past thisĀ Ā
plant because there's zero frames to spare on theĀ frame Rule and we obviously have to do this fastĀ Ā
excel at the start of the level because thereĀ are zero frames to spare on the frame rule it'sĀ Ā
not even a question of course we have to do theĀ fast Exel there's zero frames to spare of courseĀ Ā
we have to do the fast Excel wait do we have to doĀ it it's a crazy idea that doesn't even make senseĀ Ā
to consider or at least it didn't make sense untilĀ kriller came along if we combine all of our SuperĀ Ā
Mario Bros knowledge it may actually be possibleĀ to skip this fast Excel just as a quick recapĀ Ā
doing this exact movement from a standstill makesĀ Mario accelerate faster and generally allows himĀ Ā
to move enough extra distance to save two framesĀ so if this saves two frames we definitely need itĀ Ā
to save the frame rule in 82 but that's the thingĀ it doesn't always save two frames it kind of savesĀ Ā
1.8 frames it can often let you reach somewhereĀ in a level two frames earlier like entering aĀ Ā
pipe or stomping an enemy but sometimes the extraĀ distance only gets you there one frame earlier itĀ Ā
just depends on exactly which part of the level isĀ significant for example it only lets you reach theĀ Ā
axe in the final room of 84 one frame sooner theĀ significant point that we need to reach in 82 isĀ Ā
this ground right here the limiting factor forĀ getting past this pipe is how soon you can landĀ Ā
on this bit of ground and start your jump to getĀ over the plant as it turns out fast accelerationĀ Ā
at the start of the level only lets you land hereĀ one frame sooner he's really close to gettingĀ Ā
there two frames sooner but doesn't quite make itĀ all right big deal this fast Excel only saves oneĀ Ā
frame there's zero frames to spare on the frameĀ rule we obviously still need it ho not so fastĀ Ā
that's where kriller had a light bulb moment onceĀ again we have coin toss Shenanigans at play thisĀ Ā
piranha plant can only hurt Mario on every otherĀ frame even though we got here a frame slower weĀ Ā
can get past the plant a frame Faster by goingĀ through it on the frame it can't hurt us it turnedĀ Ā
out that all this time you didn't need the fastĀ excel at all you could just skip it and still getĀ Ā
past the plant at the same speed kriller didn'tĀ just improve part one of the level he removed itĀ Ā
thanks to his efforts now Runners just needed toĀ do the fast pipe jump and then use his much moreĀ Ā
straightforward jump onto the bullet pill thisĀ is the current strategy for matching the Tas inĀ Ā
82 just a few months after these Innovations nifyĀ got the first world record with the Tas 82 frameĀ Ā
Rule and 5 months later he managed to include aĀ perfect 81 as well resulting in the legendary andĀ Ā
long awaited 454 yes it's crazy how much thisĀ level changed in just one year it went fromĀ Ā
impossible to a really hard strategy done one timeĀ in practice to a pretty consistent strategy thatĀ Ā
was implemented into runs before other known timeĀ saves even were let's recap everything it took toĀ Ā
get here we looked into an exceedingly rareĀ plant despawn something that works because ofĀ Ā
phantom bullet bills these Phantom bullet billsĀ have to appear on the same frame as each otherĀ Ā
and the same frame that the plant tries to spawnĀ in we searched through millions of combinationsĀ Ā
to try and make this a useful strategy and inĀ the end the only person to use it is in 334thĀ Ā
place the strategy requires waiting 40 secondsĀ on the title screen there's a 50% chance itĀ Ā
doesn't even work after waiting all that timeĀ at top level you cannot afford to deal withĀ Ā
all of that so we try something else this otherĀ very rare Double Bullet Bill strategy turns outĀ Ā
we're not happy with that solution turns out youĀ just need a particular jump onto the bullet pillĀ Ā
turns out you don't even need to do a fastĀ excel at the beginning of the level at allĀ Ā
you can just jump through the piranha plantĀ it's all just so ridiculous all of theseĀ Ā
things combined together for what I consider toĀ be the most absurd strategy in Super Mario BrosĀ Ā
speedrunning this is the Absurd history of levelĀ 82 it's amazing how often a simple solution isĀ Ā
not the first one found people find a method thatĀ could be possible and work really hard to make itĀ Ā
happen until it becomes real and then somewhereĀ down the road a much easier simpler approachĀ Ā
is discovered I don't know why this happensĀ but it really keeps things interesting it'sĀ Ā
always amazing and entertaining to watch BrilliantĀ Minds at work as they push into unknown territoryĀ Ā
and fascinating to see what trinkets they bringĀ back from their voyages there that's all for nowĀ Ā
thanks for watching And subscribe if you enjoyedĀ I've got a lot more videos like like this coming
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