Submission #3194: MrGrunz's N64 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask in 1:29:32.02

Nintendo 64
(Submitted: Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
baseline
mupen64-rr 8
322321
60
260890
Unknown
Legend of Zelda, The - Majora's Mask (U) [!].z64
Submitted by MrGrunz on 6/25/2011 9:58:13 PM
Submission Comments

Introduction:

Emulator: Mupen64 Rerecording Version 0.5.0
I'm glad this run is finally complete. Many people gave up their hope for a new Majora's Mask TAS months ago already, but after 2 years of slowly working on it, it eventually got finished. Overall, this TAS saves 44 minutes and 31 seconds over Mukki's run. This huge improvement comes from many new techniques and sequence breaks, a completely new route and better optimization.
Swordless Link actually started this project to improve Mukki's run in 2008 already and then let me take over in July 2009.
For me, everything started in february 2009 when the new Majora's Mask hype started thanks to the newly discovered Fairy Fountain Wrong Warp Glitch (more information about this later on). After some months filled with even more discoveries and many long IRC conversations about route-planning with Slowking, Swordless Link told me he was burned out from TASing Majora's Mask (due to route changes he had to re-do the first 3-day cycle 3 or 4 times) and said that I should try to finish this project instead.
I also have to write some words about Abeshi's Majora's Mask TAS which wasn't submitted here. I'm very sorry for my reaction in the first place. Without him this TAS wouldn't be as good as it is. He finished his run at a time I was very unmotivated, I hadn't TASed anything for a few weeks so thanks to him I regained all my motivation again. But this is not just limited to the motivation, I was also able to compare times with his run which especially helped a lot at the Gyorg battle.
In the end I ended up being 3:40 minutes quicker compared to Abeshi. I can't really tell how much time the Japanese ROM saves over the US one (the difference is less compared to Ocarina of Time) but due to the run containing many cutscenes it probably is quite a bit.

General Explanation Of Tricks:

Infinite Supersliding / Hyper Infinite Supersliding

  • This trick extends a regular superslide and allows full control of its direction indefinitely. There are various ways to begin this trick -- In this run, I usually use the Hyper Infinite Superslide, also called HISS (done by blocking damage at a certain frame while rolling). ISS was discovered by Swordless Link, HISS was discovered by me.

Super Swimming

  • You can keep the speed you have while entering the water by using certain input combinations. There are three different ways of doing this trick, of which all of them have different characteristics. Which of the three ways is prefered depends on the place where you do the trick. I'm not going to explain in detail how those 3 input combinations work because this would be too much text for one single trick. This works infinitely as Zora Link and temporary as normal Link. Discovered by me.

Infinite Sword Glitch (ISG)

  • Interacting with an object while crouch-stabbing will cause the sword to attack infinitely.

Hovering

  • If the ISG is activated and you block damage with your shield while being in the air, you keep standing in the air. With this trick, you can cover large distances and enter places you are actually not supposed to reach. Discovered by Fiercelinkmaster.

Mega Flip / Mega Hover

  • By backflipping after getting hit at a certain frame while rolling you can a backflip with full Superslide speed (-18). As this can be done out of a hover this trick saves many bombs and bombchus over the whole run. Discovered by Petrie911.

Recoil Flip

  • Blocking damage while jumping/backflipping gives you full superslide speed until you touch the ground again.

Z-Slide

  • This slide works by using constant Z presses to maintain Link's recoil speed. This is used to travel in a straight line from one point to another. Discovered by me.

Bottle Duplication

  • At the Curiosity Shop you can pause between selling your item and receiving your money. By putting any item on the c-slot of the bottled item you are selling, the item becomes a bottle. This can be done as many times you want. As this skips going to Romani Ranch, doing the Goron Race and extra trips to both Pirate's Fortress and Pinnacle Rock this is by far the biggest improvement over Mukki's TAS. Discovered by GlitchesAndStuff.

Cutscene Skipping

  • Right before a cutscene (CS) starts, you are able to play the Song of Double Time (SoDT) in order to skip this cutscene. This applies do the "Mikau walking CS", the "Turtle Awakening CS" and the "Great Bay introduction CS". This can only be done by going from daytime to nighttime. Discovered by me.
  • Petrie911 discovered that you can also skip the "New Wave Bossa Nova" Cutscene by warping away right before it starts. This only applies to this one CS, however, as you have the song already in the inventory once you pull out the ocarina to start the CS.

Fairy Fountain Wrong Warp (FFWW):

  • As all 4 Fairy Fountains are on one single map, the Hover Glitch allows us to travel from one fountain to another. By leaving the fountain you hovered to you can reach places like Ikana Canyon much quicker than before. Discovered by me.

Broken Deku Stick / Infinite Deku Stick

  • After you break Deku Stick you can interrupt Link while he tries to put the broken stick away. This is done either with damage or a CS which gives you a broken deku stick that can be used as many times as you want. In order to swing it you have to have at least one Stick left, that's why I end the game with 1 Deku Stick left.
  • Deku Sticks do double damage compared to the normal Kokiri Sword.

Boss Key Skipping

  • By getting out of bounds in a temple, you can reach the boss room without collecting the Boss Key.
  • This is possible because Boss Rooms are not on the same map as the rest of the temple, so there's a loading zone behind every Boss Door.
  • By touching that loading zone you can load the Boss Area without using the key.

Notes On The Run By Section:

First of all the entire first 3-Day Cycle was done by Swordless Link. He did some brilliant rupee manipulation there, so I'm glad that I didn't have to struggle with this.

Pre Clock-Town

  • Not much to say about this section. There are known improvements (1 second) here which couldn't have been implemented because Swordless Link came up with them when I was already very far into the run. Hex-editing doesn't work well with Majora's Mask, so I ignored them.

First 3-Day Cycle

  • This section is done completely differently compared to Mukki's run. As ingame time is the major factor in this section, you want to avoid as many loading screens as possible. This is the reason why we escape Clock Town and collect the rupees on the outer fields. This is done twice to use the time we have to waste as effectively as possible.
  • The Big Wallet is obtained.
  • In the end, the Moon's Tear quest is skipped entirely by using a well-angled backflip to grab the ledge in front of Clock Tower.

Preparing For The Journey

  • After reaching the 2nd 3-Day Cycle the first thing to do was learning the Song of Healing and activating the Owl Statue.
  • Afterwards I buy 20 Bombs and 20 Chus which I need for my long way to the Woodfall Temple.

Let The Party Begin

  • In Terminia Field a HISS followed by Hover is used to bypass the gate and reach Great Bay early.
  • Before I enter the water I do a Recoil Flip followed by a short Super Swim.
  • After hitting the Owl Statue a Recoil Jump enables yet another Super Swim.
  • Playing SoDT right before Mikau starts to walk out of the water allows me to skip this short CS.
  • A Leveer is abused for a HISS to South Bay.

South Bay + Fairy Fountain Wrong Warp (FFWW)

  • This is the first time you see the Infinite Super Swim. This saves a lot of time over normal swimming.
  • Afterwards, the "Flying Zora" glitch makes it possible to reach the Fairy Fountain without the Hookshot.
  • At the FFWW I clip on to the pillar to save a lot of explosives.
  • Hover is used to reach the Ikana Fairy Fountain which is located on the same map. Leaving it brings you to Ikana Canyon.

Ikana Canyon

  • Here I activate the last Owl Statue. Now I am able to warp to all key places of the game whenever I want.
  • ISG + Superslide enables Link to travel during the cutscene of the Owl Statue.
  • Sliding all the way down the river brings me to the Swamp Area. Not many people are aware of the possibility of going to the Swamp this way.

Southern Swamp:

  • As Bottle Duping requires at least one own bottle, it is quickest to get the witch's Bottle because it can be obtained easily on the way to Deku Palace.
  • I enter the Deku Palace from the transition that is usually used as the exit. This is done to skip the Deku Palace Introduction scene.

Deku Palace:

  • Probably the best section of the whole TAS.
  • By manipulating the guards it is possible to slide past them without getting caught.
  • I backflip on top of the doorway (no idea why this works) and then jump on to the moving platform.
  • A sideways backflip is used to grab the upper ledge next to the platform in front of the chamber.
  • In the end I hover to the platform, enter the chamber and learn the Sonata of Awakening
  • Deku Palace is left through the normal entrance

Southern Swamp 2 + Woodfall

  • It turned out to be possible to jump onto the little hill next to the palace and skip the Deku Flower flying.
  • A Recoil Flip off an enemy is used to skip yet another Deku Flower flight.
  • On the way to the Woodfall Temple I collect 4 Deku Sticks, a Fairy (no more beeping, yay) and Deku Nuts. Manipulating the 2nd Deku Stick was a nightmare. It took 2 weeks to make a Deku Stick drop into Link's direction while still killing the Scrub with ISG and being in a good position to start the backwalk over to the next Deku Scrub.

Woodfall Temple

  • The trick in the first room makes no sense to me nor to anyone else I talked to. Link somehow clips into the tree (requires a special angle and position) and then accelerates 3 times Superslide speed. Sadly, this speed is facing away from the door so the speed has to decrease at first until you can go on moving.
  • A Recoil Jump + Damage Boost is used to cross the gap and break this temple completely.
  • After collecting the bow, I head to the boss room directly without collecting the Boss Key.
  • Odolwa doesn't seem to like Bomb Flowers. The explosion does 16 damage and as he has only 20 HP, this is pretty disastrous for him.

Clock Town 2 + Pre Pirate's Fortress

  • The Bremen mask is obtained so it can be used for Bottle Duplication
  • In the Curiosity Shop I transform the Bremen Mask, Deku Mask and Deku Nuts to Bottles. Afterwards I have 4 useable bottles which allow me to clear each Pinnakle Rock and Pirate's Fortress in one trip.
  • Thanks to the money from Bottle Duping I can now fill up my Bombs and Bombchus again.

Pirate's Fortress:

  • Swimming speed is kept by going into an ISS when leaving the water
  • Afterwards, the bomb is blown up by a bombchu. It turned out to be possible to barely make it to the other end of the room without getting caught when leaving the water. That's why the Super Swim has to be started as early as possible.
  • Hovering on to the bridge skips climbing the ladder.
  • When leaving the tanks, it is quickest to jump out of them. By pressing Z to target the wall you can get a huge boost which speeds everything up even more and just looks badass.
  • I skip every pirate fight by reaching the door/loading zone by reaching the exits of the tank room from the outside.

Pinnacle Rock

  • Before going to Pinnacle it is best to deposit only 3 eggs to save one pause.
  • On my way to Pinnacle and into Pinnacle itself it is best to enter the water with a Jumpslash Recoil which enable a Super Swim without the use of any explosives.
  • I have to swim downwards normally to all the holes because Link's diving speed is too slow while Super Swimming.
  • After killing a Deep Python, it is quickest to backwalk over to the egg

Trip to Great Bay Temple (GBT)

  • A lot is going on here that needs explanation. First of all I skip the "New Wave Bossa Nova" CS by pulling out the Ocarina right before the CS starts, which allows me to warp away with the Song of Soaring while still "learning" the song.
  • The next step is skipping the "Turtle Awakening" scene. This is done by playing SoDT.
  • Afterwards SoDT is played one more time to prepare for another CS skip
  • I hover on to the Turtle and damage myself down to half a heart. I switch masks in order to get twice the damage by each bomb.
  • I step on to the loading zone of GBT (which is on the turtle itself) and play SoDT to skip the GBT Introduction scene. This can not be done by hookshooting on to the Turtle because the cutscene immediately starts loading once you gain control over Link again.

Great Bay Temple

  • This Temple is broken to pieces. Slowking and I got this idea while I was TASing this temple and after many, many hours of trying to get this new "Ledge Clip" trick to work, I eventually got the idea of dying while clipping the ledge. Fortunately, Nintendo was nice enough to put a walkable platform under the ramp so it is possible to do a Recoil Flip from there and reach Gyorg after 20 seconds and with only 2 bombs.
  • Gyorg is done without leaving the water a single time. I have to let Gyorg swim close enough to the platform so he reaches the platform after dying in as few hops as possible.

Trip to Snowhead Temple:

  • Now that I have the hookshot, there's no need for any "Flying Zora" Glitch anymore to reach the Fairy Fountain.
  • I collect 4 Deku Nuts which I need for the Garo's Master fight later on in Stone Tower.
  • FFWW is done the same, just mirrored this time. I hover to the Snowhead fountain, leave it and immediately activate ISG. What a convenient way to set up the "Goron's Lullaby" skip.
  • A HISS is used to slide up to the temple.

Snowhead Temple

  • Pushing the block can be skipped by clipping into it with a sidehop. The text, which usually appears here, is skipped by pulling out items rapidly.
  • After collecting the bombs, the wolf is abused for a Z-Slide.
  • It was discovered that you can hookshot up to the torch without Scarecrow which saves a significant amount of time.
  • Wizrobe is beaten with a Deku Stick, because it is the strongest weapon I have at this point.
  • A Triple Staircased Mega Hover (awesome name, isn't it?) is used to to get over to the snowballs without blowing them up. Afterwards I slide just through them.
  • In the end I do the Boss Key skip once again, probably the coolest out of all of them. By doing a Recoil Flip into the corner, Link clips it and then magically jumps over to the Boss Door thanks to the icy ground.
  • Goht is beaten with the old arrow strategy, but there's a huge difference, though. By delaying the last shot Goht starts to run over to you and thereby the blue warp appears right next to Link.

Ikana + Stone Tower Temple

  • Snowhead needed quite a few bombs so Mountain Village is a good place to collect some more.
  • In Ikana I collect 5 more bombs and some arrows.
  • Stone Tower can be climbed with very few explosives now thanks to the Mega Hover. Just for comparison: Mukki used more than 20 explosives to get up to the Owl Statue whereas I used only 11.
  • Up at the Owl I use a crazy strategy to clear the last gap. I hover over to the hill on the right and then slide all the way over to the Tower.

Stone Tower Temple

  • At the Block Hover the "bombchu enemy" to the right turned out to be quite helpful. By carefully manipulating it (this took a long while) you can use it for a hover and save one bombchu. In the end, the block is grabbed with a forward backflip.
  • Yet again Super Swim is used to travel through the water quickly.
  • In the Mirror Room I clip onto one of the mirrors and hover onto the block on the right. This saves 1 bombchu and looks better than the old way for sure.
  • The Updrafts allow me to clear the room with 2 Recoil Flips. This speeds this room up a lot.
  • Garo's Master is beaten with the help of Deku Sticks and some Deku Nuts. Although the Nuts take pretty long to collect they save enough time at the battle to be worth it.
  • Dying is the quickest way to leave the temple. It saves 6-7 seconds over warping.
  • By doing a Mega Sidehop I'm able to clip the corner of the ramp at the Stone Tower entrance and then shoot the Emblem from behind without moving the blocks.

Inverted Stone Tower Temple + Clock Town 3

  • A Recoil Flip saves half a second on the way to the temple. This was only done because I had 2 more bombs left to spare.
  • A Long Jump + Jumpslash replaces the old hover strategy in the first room of ISTT and saves a lot of explosives.
  • To skip the rest of the temple, I execute another Boss Key Skip. As the loading zone is very huge and reaches very far into the depth this Boss Key Skip requieres only 6 explosives.
  • Using arrows on Twinmold is the faster solution because getting the Giant's Mask takes a while. It's important to know that Fire Arrows do 1.5x damage on the Blue Twinmold. Another good thing to know is that you can only damage Twinmold with arrows on the tail.
  • As both Twinmolds came out of the ground next to each other, I was able to place a bomb directly in front of them which hits them both at the same time. This also skipped the delay you get after shooting a Fire Arrow.
  • In Clock Town you can skip climbing the platform in front of Clock Tower by using a Recoil Flip up the slope next to it.

Moon + Majora's Mask Battle

  • A forward Superslide turned out to be the quickest solution and also gave by far the best camera view.
  • Shooting Fire Arrows at Majora's Mask is the fastest way to beat it because it's the strongest weapon I have collected throughout the run.
  • Don't ask me why and how this happened, I have no idea what caused it. Majora's Incarnation basically runs against one of the masks and then falls to the ground without me doing anything. I didn't even manipulate Majora's Incarnation, it just happened on its own. I was simply damn lucky. Crouch Stab with the Broken Stick are much quicker than quick spins and can also prevent Incarnation from running away.
  • Majora's Wrath is beaten pretty much the same like Mukki. The only differences are using the Deku Stick instead of Gilded Sword and alternating between normal slashes and jumpslashes instead of just doing normal slashes.

Special thanks to...

  • Slowking: Although he didn't TAS a single input of this run, he is actually worth being mentioned as the co-author of this run. Slowking and I started planning the route together in early 2009 and kept discussing new strategies and route ideas almost on a daily basis until the day the TAS was finished. Many strategies I use in this TAS were his idea - A great example is the GBT Boss Key Skip. He checked all my WIPs, he kept motivating me all the time (this was damn necessary) and of course he has always been a cool guy to talk to. Without him, the TAS would have never been finished and would be far away from being as good as it is now.
  • Swordless Link: He was something like my mentor when I started doing TASes, because he always gave me great tips and was always up for helping me. Without him, I would have never been able to become as good at TASing this game as I am now. There are also many other reasons why I have to thank him. Whenever I needed a hex-editor, I knew he could help me and of course he also made a lot of good discoveries I made use of in this TAS such as the Infinite Superslide. On top of that the whole first 3-Day Cycle was done by him, so his huge influence on this project is still visible.
  • Petrie911: I think most people know that Petrie is probably still the greatest MM expert. Many tricks used in this run were discovered by him. He also provided great help when it comes to memory hacking software. He told me how to use it and showed me many useful memory addresses.
  • Abeshi: I think I've written everything regarding Abeshi on the top already. Once again sorry for my reaction.
  • GlitchesAndStuff: He discovered the biggest improvement over Mukki's TAS, the Bottle Duplication Glitch. Without him a sub 1:30 would have never been possible.
  • Jiano: He helped me a lot, especially in the beginning of the run. I can still remember struggling heavily at the Flying Zora Glitch until he gave some very useful tips. He also discovered a few tricks used in this run.
  • Azorae: He provided many nice ideas when we were still planning the route. Sadly, he lost interest in the planning after a while, but his help was very useful, though.
  • Olivebates: The awesome Woodfall Temple trick in the first room of the temple was discovered by him.
  • Zeldaspeedruns.com Community: For always being cool guys to talk to, providing nice criticism on the WIPs and running the best website and IRC on earth.
If I forgot somebody, I'm very sorry. Just contact me and I'll put you on to the list.

adelikat: Claimed for judging

adelikat: Accepting for publication as an improvement to the published movie.

Aktan: Processing...
Last Edited by adelikat on 9/22/2023 2:44 PM
Page History Latest diff List referrers