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Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii Any% in 1:34:32.42 by Unknown394

Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii, a famous hack of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, is created by NewerTeam. Although it is a hack, it has a very high IGN review score and is in fact a lot more fun than the original NSMBW. The levels are carefully designed, the artwork is beautiful and new sprites are added. This run is meant to beat the game as fast as possible, which has never been done with TAS before.

Here is the Youtube Video of this TAS: [dead link removed]

Game objectives: to beat the game as fast as possible

  • Emulator used: Dolphin 5.0

Comments

This run is meant to beat the game as fast as possible, which has never been done with TAS before. In NrSMBW, there are eight regular worlds and five hidden worlds, and by completing World C, Sky City, skips Worlds 5 and 6, which are the most time-consuminng worlds. The run also skips as many auto-scroll levels as possible, although some cannot be avoided.

To play this movie, Dolphin's Dual Core and Idle Skipping should be disabled.

Stage comments: There aren't many glitches to utilize in NrSMBW, so only the stages that utilizes certain skill(s) will be explained. The rest of the levels are regular speedrun without special technique.

1-Tower
Skips 1-4. In this level, nets are replaced by honey hives. This is a vertical level, and the goal is to go up as fast as possible. During the Boss fight, Big Fuzzy is invincible while he rolls on the ground, and the fastest way to finish the fight is to hit him as soon as his rolling state is over.
1-5
Uses propellar suit to save time.
1-6
Uses Penguin Suit to swim faster
1-Castle
Avoids hitting switches (release spicky balls) and rushing through the parhana plants with invincible time after getting hit to save a lot of time. Same boss fight.
1-Ship
stomps the boss as soon as he gets out of the shell.
2-1, 2-2
Ice power freezes enemis and creates new ground to land on, and also defeats fire snakes, which saves a lot of time. In 2-2, the water draining down the pipes can both accelerate and decelerate Mario, so I walked on the ones that go forward and jump on the frame of landing on the ones that go backward.
2-3
change to fire powerup to defeat enemis blocking the way (like vertical pirhana plants) and saves time
2-Tower
This is a vertical level. A propellar suit is given at the beginning, and using it to fly upward saves a lot of time. The boss is a thomp that smashes a layer of the floor as it tries to hit you, and the fastest way to finish him is to stand at the corner so it will hit the same spot twice in the shortest time.
2-5
A secret exit is located at the top of a tall cactus, leading to 2-A.
2-A
A fast route is located at the top of the level, only accesible with a propellar suit. It basically skips the entire level.
2-Castle
Some routes have to be opended by stepping on switches that brings enemies to live.
3-1
Hills that roll forward gives Mario a speed boost, so walking on them helps save time.
3-2
Uses a star at the end to run faster and save time.
3-Tower
Another vertical level, but the second half is auto-scroll. Entering the pipe on the left saves time. In the boss figh, the location big mole is determined by a variable that stays far from Mario's location, so I have to wait till the location of the mole is set and then go and ground pound him. He is invincible when he has a spike on his head. And, if you attempt to jump around while he is invincible, the location he appears will be random and will waste frames as well.
3-6
This is a water level, so you might think playing 3-7 might be faster, but 3-7 has a section of maze and wastes a ton of time, which makes 3-6 faster.
4-1
The second half is auto-scroll.
4-3
The lst jump of a triple jump is higher than a regular jump, which can be used to reach areas without falling into water.
4-Tower
Another vertical level. The boss fight with Shy Guy is similar to a koopaling fight. Stomping him as soon as he has his sword down saves time.
4-A
The secret exit in this level leads to World C, Sky City, a short world that skips Worlds 5 and 6.
C-3
This is an unavoidable auto-scroll level.
C-Tower
Another vertical level. There is no boss fight.
7-2
Another unavoidable auto-scroll level. Playing with koopa shells like in SMW for stage effects.
7-3
The only non-tower vertical level in this run.
7-4
In space, low gravity. Mario can jump very far and proceed through the level quickly.
7-Tower
A regular gravity vertical level. The boss fight is a space enemy from Super Mario Galaxy. Just let him hit the electricity net three times.

7-Castle: Important Explaination!

Regular Speedrun, same boss fight. You might notice that after this level, I saved my progress and returned to the title screen and re-entered the world map. The reason is there is a bug in the system here. If you do not go back to the title screen, the game crashes as soon as you complete the ship level. The re-entering action is done as fast as possible.

8-1, 8-2
Auto-scroll levels
8-Tower 1
Vertical level, no boss fight.
8-Castle
This is a trick the NewerTeam played on the players. This is not the final level of the game, but rather a entrance to the other half of World 8. No boss fight.
8-Train
Auto-scroll level
8-6, 8-7
Uses the propellar suit that has been kept all the way to fly through big parts of the level to progress quickly.
8-Tower 2
The lava chases you upward. Uses propellar suit to progress quickly. Again, Kamek's loaction is controlled by a variable that is far from Mario's location, so I have to wait till Kamek's location is determined and then stomp him.
8-A
This level takes less time to complete than 8-9.
8-Final
To get to the Bowser fight, you have to hit three switches in three diferrent areas. During the first phase of the fight, I used the propellar suit that I got way back in 2-Tower to fly over Bowser and hit the switch. Unlike the original NSMBW, you have to hit four switches instead of one to finish the first phase of the fight. In the second phase, you're given a clown car with a cannon, and the fight is finished after you hit Bowser 25 times. There is a long delay before you can make your next shot, so I used the time to position myself for the next shot. Due to the management of the obstacles, I have to switch between hitting Bowser from the front and from the back constantly to avoid getting hit, which looks like it wastes time, but in fact it saves time. The movie ends on the frame Bowser starts falling.

Other comments

This run is an hour and a half long, and there are some intersting stage effects to see. Hope you enjoy this movie.
Some entertaining moments:
1-2 underground section
1-Castle "Pirhana Rush"
2-1 "Freeze them All"
2-5 Autoscroll section
2-Castle "Boosting to live"
3-1 "Hammer Bros Party"
3-Castle "Fun with Fire"
4-1 Autoscroll Section
C-3 "Fun with Parabeetles"
7-2 "fun with koopa shells"
8-1, 8-2 "Cannon Game"
8-Train "Hot Rush"
8-6 "Dangerous Actions"
8-A "Let's Ride the Dry-bones"

Samsara: Judging.
Samsara: Since there are serious problems with optimization, known glitches are not used, and the author is working on a new run to implement known improvements, I'm rejecting this run in favor of the upcoming one.

Unknown394
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Joined: 6/5/2016
Posts: 97
Location: United States
doicm wrote:
I'm refraining from voting, since I'm posting about a technical aspect and haven't decided on the entertainment value of the run. There are two things that I've seen on the run so far: (1) There is a lack of understanding when it comes to advanced real-time speedrunning strats for even New Super Mario Bros. Wii. For example, in 1-7 with the penguin suit, you can use it on land to boost your speed in short spurts (even when you're not on ice). However, the runner does not use this to their advantage. Watching some ILs of the original or maybe the hack (I'm not entirely sure) may have made the runner aware of this in advance. Because they did not, it is absent from the run. Link posted of an IL from New Super Mario Bros Wii for an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3BGl3v3tts (2) There are some moments that feel like real-time speedrunning as opposed to TAS. One specific example that comes to mind is 2-T's Pipeline Tower with the use of the Propeller Cap. When using the Propeller Cap, there is some delay before you can use it again. You want to minimize that delay as much as possible so that you can move again immediately after when landing on the platform. This is key in saving frames in regular RTS/RTA runs and especially so in TAS runs, but the runner here does a jump or hop before spinning, adding some delay before the next Propeller spin. Basically, what I'm saying here is that after initiating a propeller spin, you want to land right on the platform at the peak of your spin without dropping at all. This is very doable in a TAS run (I would think). I have yet to watch the rest of the run, but this is less than 20 minutes into the run, and it's not very favorable from a technical stance. As far as anything extra entertaining besides that, nothing has been very show-off'y either to impress me. That is all.
Seems like you know a lot, man. Why not join TASVideos sooner? Sliding on the penguin suit forces you to jump a lot lower and I can't make certain jumps with it. Yes, I'm aware of the propeller issue. In NrSMBW, the design makes it hard to do. In Soig's run for NSMBW, he constantly moved left and right to time the next take-off, but in NrSMBW, the space provided is too narrow to do so, not only because of obstacles, but also because where the hollow pipes are located. The jump is used to control the height of the flight+jump.
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Active player (434)
Joined: 2/5/2012
Posts: 1690
Location: Brasil
bad hack choice,though i don't know if there are better ones,i didn't find it interesting to a tas,the run is clearly well made though
TAS i'm interested: megaman series: mmbn1 all chips, mmx3 any% psx glitched fighting games with speed goals in general
Unknown394
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Joined: 6/5/2016
Posts: 97
Location: United States
grassini wrote:
bad hack choice,though i don't know if there are better ones,i didn't find it interesting to a tas,the run is clearly well made though
Unfortunately, the answer to your question is no. This is the best hack of NSMBW you can find. You can find the other hacks on Rivolution.net Thanks for your comments on the run.
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hellagels
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Looks not so optimized, but entertaining, weak yes vote.
Current projects: Castlevania - Order of Ecclesia (NDS)
Samsara
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Senior Judge, Site Admin, Expert player (2122)
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Posts: 2793
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This submission: My low-effort test attempt: I'll keep testing, but this doesn't bode well for the rest of the submission. Even just watching the encode, I can see numerous moments where things could be done a few frames faster.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | Cohost
warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Unknown394
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Joined: 6/5/2016
Posts: 97
Location: United States
Samsara wrote:
This submission: My low-effort test attempt: I'll keep testing, but this doesn't bode well for the rest of the submission. Even just watching the encode, I can see numerous moments where things could be done a few frames faster.
I found more improvements as I collected Feedback this week. I will redo.the entire run and resubmit as soon as possible.
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GoddessMaria
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Reviewer, Experienced player (849)
Joined: 5/29/2009
Posts: 514
Location: Hell...
While improvements can come up due to new discoveries, please make sure that it is fully optimized the first time. Multiple submitting of a run of the same game by the same author with suboptimal play can harm your credibility a bit in the future. ...Just a heads-up! As for my thoughts on the submission, I already suspected that there were issues with optimization due to lack of using using tricks such as corner boosting and properly utilizing power-ups... I hoped to be wrong, but having looked at it myself and my suspicions were correct. On the entertainment side, I wasn't too impressed or entertained as from a moment here or there. Abstaining from voting.
Current projects: failing at life
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Posts: 11269
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Unknown394 wrote:
resubmit as soon as possible.
Not the best idea really. It's always better to take your time and make sure it's optimal.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Unknown394
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Joined: 6/5/2016
Posts: 97
Location: United States
feos wrote:
Unknown394 wrote:
resubmit as soon as possible.
Not the best idea really. It's always better to take your time and make sure it's optimal.
So that's why I wrote down all the possible improvements on a piece of paper and planned to do the run over and over again to optimize it. I have already done it once today and ended up with a 9 frames improvement, although I'm going to scratch it due to new flaws found in the new run. I'm probably going to do more research on the final boss fight.
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TASVideosGrue
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om, nom, nom... want more!
BigBoct
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Unknown394 wrote:
feos wrote:
Unknown394 wrote:
resubmit as soon as possible.
Not the best idea really. It's always better to take your time and make sure it's optimal.
So that's why I wrote down all the possible improvements on a piece of paper and planned to do the run over and over again to optimize it. I have already done it once today and ended up with a 9 frames improvement, although I'm going to scratch it due to new flaws found in the new run. I'm probably going to do more research on the final boss fight.
I applaud your attitude here. You're taking the feedback in stride and making plans to improve, which bodes well for your future as a TASer. Some people just melt down and freak out.
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More tips regarding the attitude: http://tasvideos.org/TasingGuide/TASArt.html
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Unknown394
He/Him
Joined: 6/5/2016
Posts: 97
Location: United States
boct1584 wrote:
Unknown394 wrote:
feos wrote:
Unknown394 wrote:
resubmit as soon as possible.
Not the best idea really. It's always better to take your time and make sure it's optimal.
So that's why I wrote down all the possible improvements on a piece of paper and planned to do the run over and over again to optimize it. I have already done it once today and ended up with a 9 frames improvement, although I'm going to scratch it due to new flaws found in the new run. I'm probably going to do more research on the final boss fight.
I applaud your attitude here. You're taking the feedback in stride and making plans to improve, which bodes well for your future as a TASer. Some people just melt down and freak out.
After taking the Chinese GAOKAO absolutely nothing can melt me down for the rest of my life.
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EgixBacon
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Submission wrote:
7-Castle: Important Explaination! Regular Speedrun, same boss fight. You might notice that after this level, I saved my progress and returned to the title screen and re-entered the world map. The reason is there is a bug in the system here. If you do not go back to the title screen, the game crashes as soon as you complete the ship level. The re-entering action is done as fast as possible.
Sorry if this seems like a low-effort, needless post, but thank you! This very glitch is what prevented me from attempting single-segment playthroughs on this game (I actually thought it was a defect on my end only). Now that I know there's a simple way around it, I can finally get back and re-play this hack!
FanFiction|Youtube Still on Win7! Take that, Microsoft!
Unknown394
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Joined: 6/5/2016
Posts: 97
Location: United States
EgixBacon wrote:
Submission wrote:
7-Castle: Important Explaination! Regular Speedrun, same boss fight. You might notice that after this level, I saved my progress and returned to the title screen and re-entered the world map. The reason is there is a bug in the system here. If you do not go back to the title screen, the game crashes as soon as you complete the ship level. The re-entering action is done as fast as possible.
Sorry if this seems like a low-effort, needless post, but thank you! This very glitch is what prevented me from attempting single-segment playthroughs on this game (I actually thought it was a defect on my end only). Now that I know there's a simple way around it, I can finally get back and re-play this hack!
No problem:) I optimized the run and will resubmit it. If you found my explaination helpful please give me a yes vote on my new submission:)thanks
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