I'm sorry if this has been asked millions of times before. I searched and couldn't find anything, so don't bite my head off if that's the case.
Now, almost all of the 2D side-scrolling Mario runs I've seen feature Mario running backwards either for the entire run, or for most of the run. I can't for the life of me figure out why. I'm assuming it's one of those "it doesn't slow down the run, so why not?" things, but I can't be the only person in existence that finds it incredibly annoying.
I wouldn't mind it if it's only for a few minutes, but the whole frakking run? Really? Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. If, God forbid, there was a button that let you change colours of the character, would you press that five billion times during a few frames as well?
I don't expect there to be a good reason for this, but I'm all ears if there really is one. I really don't expect anyone to say that it's actually faster, because that just wouldn't make any sense to me. Granted, I've never done a TAS before, but I know the fundamentals and it just doesn't look like that's the case.
Any info is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I think it’s like you said “can do, so why not”
I don’t remember ever watching a Mario run where it was done for the whole run, and if so I might agree that’s eccessive… but when it’s done every now and then it’s funny
Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
In Super Mario 64, it really is faster. ;)
I disagree that it's excessive. To me, it's always fun to watch Mario move backwards. He's more pro than other game characters because he can move at full speed backwards.
HappyLee makes him switch directions all the time. I enjoy that.
In the end, this is all a matter of opinion. What matters most is what the TASer decided when making the run, I think, and what matters most about the TAS itself is the completion time and whether the goal was legitimate.
Do you refer to Genisto's SNES Super Mario All-stars: Super Mario Bros 3 glitchfest run, by any chance? The SNES and GBA version of Super Mario Bros 3 allow you to run at hyper speed by holding left+right - it's faster so it wouldn't make sense not to do it. I think there's a ton of glitches that could be showcased in an NES run now, however, so hopefully we get a glitchfest run without backwards running someday.
I don't know whether this is related to my movies, but what you said doesn't make sense to me. We do not just aim for the fastest time on TASes, we preform, and we create entertainment. Sorry if you don't find backwards jumping entertaining, you can watch regular runs instead to avoid "crazy" things only seen in TASes.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Do you refer to Genisto's SNES Super Mario All-stars: Super Mario Bros 3 glitchfest run, by any chance? The SNES and GBA version of Super Mario Bros 3 allow you to run at hyper speed by holding left+right - it's faster so it wouldn't make sense not to do it. I think there's a ton of glitches that could be showcased in an NES run now, however, so hopefully we get a glitchfest run without backwards running someday.
Okay, that I didn't know, and make a bit more sense now. In the event that it does actually save time, of course. Thanks for the info!
I don't know whether this is related to my movies, but what you said doesn't make sense to me. We do not just aim for the fastest time on TASes, we preform, and we create entertainment. Sorry if you don't find backwards jumping entertaining, you can watch regular runs instead to avoid "crazy" things only seen in TASes.
I wasn't referring to anyone's run in particular, but of all of the runs I've seen, most of them employ this is one way or another. It wouldn't bother me if done a few times, but any more than 10% of the entire run doing that just bothers me.
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11475
Location: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
Actually we are not very creative here. Gotenksgeto, please make a run that would teach us true entertainment.
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.
I've heard this been brought up before actually. It's all a matter of opinion really. I'm not a huge fan of the constant jumping that goes along with mario moving backwards, but it doesn't really matter. It's all subjective.
Super Mario Bros. console speedrunner
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