Dear friends, I'm more than proud and excited to present you with my latest work of art - an 101 frame (1.68 second) improvement over the published SMB2J TASv2 of mine. This run is finished in a month, which is pretty short to me as the time in needed to make a TAS is increasing, while my spare time is decreasing. Thanks to the week missing school caused by my foot accident that has saved my TAS projects. It is my passion of TAS that conquers the pain, and without other mishaps, SMB warpless TASv4 will be finished by the end of the year.

Surprising improvements

This run is more than just an 101 frame improvement, it's also an attempt to challenge the speed limit of this game. This version of the run (TASv3) did not copy any inputs from TASv2, so there would be plenty of improvements too small to be mentioned here. A comparison video is needed, I think.
  • 1-1: Shell glitch, 84 frames saved. It was all started a year ago, when andrewg told me about his fresh idea of getting the mushroom and going through the ground in 1-1Bouncing on a shell and going through the ground. It wasn't easy, but with the help of memory watching, I somehow achieved it. Including the 21 frames saved from 1-2 due to the advantage of big Mario, it could save 63 frames tops. With the improvement founded by andrewg, everything went well until 8-4, because the fireball (Podoboo) block the way so hard, that I couldn't decide what to do. So I started to find new improvements from the beginning, and there I found one just right, which makes very good use of the red Koopa Troopa in front of the hole. Stamp on the Koopa Troopa, kick its shell, bounce into applicable height, and there we go. At first this new trick that I've found could just save 63 frames. It needed 2 frames to beat the 21 frame rule, but no matter how I tried, no matter how further I tested, there were no chances to gain that 2 frames. Coincidently, one day when I felt bored testing the right Cheep-cheep for my SMB warpless TASv4, I did a casual test for the shell in 1-1, and then I came up with the idea that I could cut the shell from its left side instead of stamping on its head. Problem solved.
  • 1-2: Different route, 21 frames saved. We used to go through the wall until Mario's deep enough to catch up with the final lift, but I was puzzled that few one had tried the more normal route that requires a wall jump at the high pipe. Due to higher bouncing in SMB2J, to skip the narrow wall without going through it, you have to loose speed after stamping on the Goomba and hitting the wall. What seems strange to me is that loosing speed 2 times is still about 10 minutes faster than loosing speed just once in the wall, so I guess the lesson is, don't always follow the usual path. It beats the 21 frame rule far enough, and adds a lot of entertainment to this run.
  • 8-4: Bad luck on the Podoboo, 5 frames lost; better job in the water stage, 1 frame saved. Still because of bad luck, 5 frames have to go to avoid the annoying fireball on the way. But I did a good job calculating the perfect position to dodge the last firebar, and saved 1 frame.
In total, 84 + 21 - 5 + 1 = 101 frames.

Tricks used for entertainment

Entertainment is also of importance in this run, so I not only did the following tricks, but also manipulated luck several times to change the conditions.
  • 1x2-powered fireball for browser It was used in order to kill the browser faster in 4-4. It took only 4 fireballs to end up the battle (the one aiming at the wall is just to show Mario's anger, which doesn't count), actually, it can also be done with 3 fireballs. Please visit my personal page for more information about this trick.
  • Stamping on 2 enemies at the same moment; killing 2 enemies using 1 fireball A nice way to improve the entertainment. There are lots of enemies in SMB2J, so I often did it in this run.
  • Rolling shell clearing the way I found the beginning of 5-1 a good place for performing this trick, so I slowed the speed a little and used a beetle's shell to clear the way. Nice effect, by the way.
  • Mario, the music playing musician I managed to play the music using the sound effects of Mario 2 times. One at the beginning of 8-2 and one in the 4th stage in 8-4. The one in 8-2 was copied from 4-1 of my SMB warpless TASv4, I was unable to do the first notes more accurate due to the delay of level start.
I tried really hard to improve the entertainment this time, and I hope you love this run. Thanks for andrewg for giving me the first idea of the improvement in 1-1, and Mars and GAP for supporting me all the time.

Suggested Screenshot

[dead link removed]

Nach: Judging.
feos: Added YouTube HD module.

Nach: Very nice run, I loved the shenanigans. The killing two enemies with one fireball, or in other surprising manners was very entertaining. Accepting as improvement to existing run.
sgrunt: Publication coming right up.

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3287: HappyLee's FDS Super Mario Bros. 2 in 08:05.28
Expert player (2448)
Joined: 12/23/2007
Posts: 822
Hi, everyone! Hope you like this one!
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Synahel
She/Her
Joined: 1/19/2011
Posts: 259
Location: France
Ooooooh can't wait to see this one! EDIT: Here is your pic: http://i55.tinypic.com/104m51j.png
Noxxa
They/Them
Expert player, Moderator (4131)
Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4083
Location: The Netherlands
Awaiting encode. Then again, it's HappyLee with a Super Mario Bros. TAS, so I could almost just go and vote yes already. Almost.
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Experienced player (760)
Joined: 12/20/2009
Posts: 120
Nice, especially improvement of 1-1. Yes
Joined: 7/20/2010
Posts: 25
waiting for encode
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11251
Location: RU
Encoding HD.
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.
sgrunt
He/Him
Emulator Coder
Joined: 10/28/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
Already working on the rest of the encodes. EDIT: Downloadable encode. 512kb is streamed up in the submission text (for now).
Editor, Experienced player (607)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
Looks great! I like the new improvements and the new music making for entertainment. Yes vote!
Joined: 7/7/2011
Posts: 140
Location: Germany
Do I really need to put a statement?
How should I know what I think before I read what I post?
Joined: 8/31/2009
Posts: 236
That was incredible! Easy yes vote!
Editor, Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 2081
Wow, great improvement over the previous run. I think my favorite moment was when you changed direction in tune with the background music. I find that sound to be very annoying, but here, you put it to great use. Yes vote.
Joined: 2/7/2006
Posts: 55
Easiest yes vote ever, great work!
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11251
Location: RU
The best TAS I've seen lately, entertainmentwise!
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.
Noxxa
They/Them
Expert player, Moderator (4131)
Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4083
Location: The Netherlands
Well, I watched it. It's like a typical HappyLee work: Super Mario Bros. TASing brought to an art form. Very entertaining run. Yes vote.
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Joined: 6/4/2009
Posts: 570
Location: 33°07'41"S, 160°42'04"W
Very entertaining, HappyLee is a guarantee of high quality Mario action.
Joined: 3/10/2011
Posts: 136
Location: Inside the FCEUX emulator
This is AMAZING! YES VOTE!
Blah Blah Blah... Why I'm writing this?
Warepire
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2174
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
Great improvement to the published run. Yes vote.
TRT
Joined: 5/13/2009
Posts: 132
Wow...this is brilliant. Great improvement. Great entertainment. And it looks awesome as well. Yes vote from me.
Joined: 12/19/2010
Posts: 126
that's an easy YES vote for me
live life
Player (116)
Joined: 5/13/2009
Posts: 700
Location: suffern, ny
good Job! Yes vote!
[19:16] <scrimpy> silly portuguese [19:16] <scrimpy> it's like spanish, only less cool
Joined: 6/25/2011
Posts: 15
Awesome work HappyLee ! Very entertaining !! Cannot vote, but I don't think my "YES" will be needed for publication :)
ALAKTORN
He/Him
Player (99)
Joined: 10/19/2009
Posts: 2527
Location: Italy
marvelous run, as always :) loved the music-synched action, there should be more! just one thing: at 7:33 is jumping through the wall slower than going around it or am I missing something?
Player (98)
Joined: 3/20/2008
Posts: 466
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Watching Adelikat's tutorial TAS videos made me appreciate this a lot more. There's clearly a lot more going on than running right for justice, and it was great to watch. Booyaka vote.
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
HappyLee, you've gotten very good at using entertaining stunts in a Mario run mixed with incredible precision. Great job! I really appreciate the extra effort you used for things like landing on two enemies at the same time. The skidding-music in 8-4 was also great. Just one minor note: you mean to say you "stomp" the enemies instead of "stamp" them.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.