...take a deep breath.
Astral World is a sci-fi themed Super Mario Bros. ROM hack created by the XAsteria Group (Peppermint Patty, StudsX, and Hellfire (as well as Eden GT for the logo artwork)). I really hope I got the capitalization right here ._.
Originally dating back as a graphical test in June 2017, it would eventually be reworked into a proper hack three years later before finally receiving an upgrade in its music and coding, courtesy of StudsX. In this hack, Mario finds himself lost in an alien planet and is now on a quest to find his spaceship to return home.
This hack features four worlds with four levels each, for a total of 16 levels, designed for those who have mastered the original game. There are no proper warp zones.
It's worth noting from a TASing perspective that since
Astral World is mostly a vanilla hack (meaning no major gameplay changes other than higher enemy bounces), most of the glitches seen
in the original game also apply here, including warping in upside-down warp pipes in The Lost Levels. Note that the majority of upside-down pipe warps available in hack will not provide any extra benefit, as they may either send you back to the start or crash the hack.
World 1-1 - Arrival at the Planet
Getting the Fire Flower here is faster than getting it in World 1-2; not many optimal powerup spots exist.
I can't make the powerup grabs any faster; at my fastest, I was only 3 frames behind from saving the next framerule, so I delayed a bit for entertainment.
World 1-2 - Under the Surface
Double duck jump clips is faster than a wall climb or a walljump at beginning.
- Running on the first platform when it starts moving right allows Mario to move 2 pixels ahead, which is faster than slowing down to make the first duck jump clip.
The last upside-down warp pipe works as a wrong warp to the area with the flag, which is faster than reverse L pipe. I'm only 8 frames away from saving the next framerule but just can't get it...
So I delayed to entertain instead.
- Going under the beginning upside-down pipe without slowing down too much is tricky, requiring precise X subpixels and a precise slowdown method.
- Even though I killed the last Piranha Plant, I didn't earn the 200 points because the "200" sprite didn't appear long enough.
World 1-3 - Island Hopping
It's possible to enter upside-down warp pipes here, and they will lead to a different bonus area which is slower unfortunately.
Duck-jump clipping over corridor is faster than going through normally in the main area.
Double duck jump clips is the fastest way around the bonus area. I had to really scrutinize the shimmies for regaining speed the fastest.
I also needed to fix Mario's subspeed before the FPG (flagpole glitch) so he could walk faster to the castle.
All of this allowed me to barely save the next framerule.
World 1-4 - The First Lair
A tricky beginning. There is a very awkward starting acceleration, and it's faster to make it over the top corridor than under later.
Much of the level though is difficult to TAS. And like in most of the castles in the original Super Mario Bros., you can't just run across the ceiling; you can't get back down to touch the axe.
In the middle of the level, I duck-jump clip on the upside-down pipe with the platforms (faster than clipping below) and let Mario move a tad closer to the right edge of the screen. I make another one after jumping off the Bullet Bill Blasters and make one last maneuver.
- With an on-screen X of 122, I'm able to make it from the platform to the tall corridor with the coins in one jump, which is faster than going under.
Afterward, I killed Bowser with fireballs, which is faster than going without the Fire Flower and going through the bridge cutscenes, like in the original game.
- I did the axe remains glitch seeing as though I still had plenty of frames to spare; this fortunately doesn't cost me a framerule.
World 2-1 - Waterfront Stronghold
Finally, a major skip with a single glitch warp. The first upside-down warp pipe allows for skipping to flag area.
I was already as fast as I could be throughout, so I slowed down a bit to collect two coins.
World 2-2 - Waterfront Cave
First area
Entering the fourth pipe is the only way to proceed; the last pipe further ahead leads back to the start.
The beginning area wasn't fun; I can't make it over the gap with coins to reach the warp pipe without activating a hidden block.
I performed ridiculous subpixel manipulation in an attempt to minimize input clipping through the ledge; the intentional delay earlier somehow made it better without me knowing until later.
It's faster to use the vine-warp glitch here, with the delay making no difference in when I touch the vine.
It's also faster to make it over the ledge than clip through it, as I would find out later before proceeding to do World 2-3.
The Final result ended up being 26 frames faster than my first successful attempt without the vine-warp glitch, just enough to save two framerules.
In the bonus area that follows after, it's obviously faster to use the first vine for the vine-warp.
Second area
Nothing special here... other than another glitch warp with the second-to-last upside-down warp pipe, which leads to the flag area.
World 2-3 - Starry Paradise
The last upside-down warp pipe works as a wrong warp, but I need to be a little closer to the right of the screen to achieve it (on-screen X of 133) or else it won't work; it's otherwise faster than getting the vine block. Just one duck jump clip, then delayed before jumping after.
World 2-4 - Firebar Fortress
Had to brainstorm the fastest route for this.
So first, on screen 2, it was slightly faster to go under with the two Green Koopas which, coincidentally, also allowed for more entertainment.
Then I duck-jump clipped on screen 7 (with the empty S). There were a few different strategies from here onward, and for all of them, I had to figure something out about the firebar in screen 10.
- I would eventually try clipping through the earlier structure to go over the firebar, which ended up being considerably faster than waiting after spawning it. It actually allowed for a framerule to be saved, but I wasn't quite done with that part yet.
- I found out that it was a little faster to wait inside the structure on screen 7 and wait for Mario to get closer to the right edge of the screen. Long story short, an on-screen X of 163 was barely enough to save a second framerule, requiring a minimal slowdown getting over that firebar.
Suddenly, though, as I was going around and adding the entertainment (including killing a few enemies and collecting coins), the screen 10 firebar suddenly shifted its rotation upon spawning, so the tip was now closer to Mario. Thus, the "let Mario get closer to the right edge of the screen" strategy couldn't work anymore. BUT... it amazingly allowed me to go over the firebar without getting closer to the right edge and with only one minor slowdown on the earlier jumps!
So even though all the hard work trying to successfully implement that earlier improvement idea was for nothing, it opened up an even better opportunity with the fact that none of that was required to finish quickly. Final result is now 31 frames faster, only 11 frames short of being able to save a fourth framerule.
I loved how the level turned out in the end, don't get me wrong; I think it might be my favorite of this TAS.
World 3-1 - Amethyst Ice Cave
Surprisingly enough, it's faster to do a duck jump clip in the beginning than to go through the entire level. That means a long straight road for me to entertain on from here...
Hitting the last ? Block didn't slow me down; I needed to jump later anyway for the optimal FPG. Not many frames to spare.
World 3-2 - Abandoned Underworld
A slightly awkward beginning, but everything after was smooth sailing.
I originally thought of doing a glitch warp (enter the warp zone pipe before the ★SORRY NOTHING ★ message appears), but it turned out to be slower than running through the level normally.
Unfortunately, at my fastest, I was one frame behind from saving the next framerule. For entertainment, I messed around with the last Buzzy Beetle and did the skating glitch.
World 3-3 - Pink Velvet
As much as I like to say that the wrong warp in the first area would be faster, it isn't. It works, but uh... yeah.
Two variants.
- Don't scroll in the beginning, and it'll take you to the flagpole, but you spawn above a pit; it's impossible because of how far you are from the flagpole (and there is nothing over it to help you).
- Scroll in the beginning (on-screen X of 48), and it'll take you to screen 3 of this area; that's what I tried.
At first, it ends up being eight frames faster (with a three-frame delay in the wrong warp itself required to avoid fireworks for the FPG), but I still have 15 frames to spare.
I can't warp sooner, as the hack will give me the impossible flag screen.
- On the frame you press Down to warp, Mario's X speed must be 11 or higher and the X pixel must be higher than the previous frame for the screen to scroll while he is warping down; this is if your intention is to scroll the camera.
And I can't just manually scroll the camera before going for the warp, that's just slower. There is just no faster way to do that wrong warp.
The worst part? Because there is an extra lag frame, by the time I make it to World 3-4, the entire wrong warp actually ends up being slower than doing the entire level normally. By a single frame. No good!
Nothing I can do about that, though... So I moved along, sniping enemies as I went.
The bonus area is the same as in World 2-2; still faster to do the vine-warp glitch.
The funny thing about the last area is that it's much like the end of World 8-3 in the original game. Had I used the wrong warp, it would either come down to grabbing the top of the flagpole and ending with 344 in-game seconds remaining, or trying the FPG and getting fireworks.
- But even after slowing down slightly to perform the "low gravity" glitch, it's not quite enough to lose a framerule. So I'm fine there.
World 3-4 - Convoluted Citadel
This... is not a fun level.
THE BEGINNING. Faster to go under, then faster to not bonk on the wall going up. Tricky...
SCREEN 4. A long firebar in the way. It's very obvious that you just can't go under it without slowing down, but the structure that came with it wasn't helping matters either. I needed to hit the bottom-right corner without the firebar hitting Mario; thankfully, the previous enemies I killed helped to speed up the firebar's rotation.
SCREEN 13. Good grief, another firebar in the way. I tried sparing two Piranha Plants, then killing them; didn't change the firebar's rotation. I tried with and without an extra coin; no change. I even tried duck-jump clipping at screen 4's firebar and the wrong warp in the previous level, but still not a single difference for that final firebar.
In actuality for the latter, it wouldn't have changed anything for this level even when combined with the duck jump clip (which I haven't tested, but definitely a likely outcome). I unfortunately had to slow down to avoid taking damage there, thus losing a framerule.
- And yes, the duck jump clip would be slower if it were over the last firebar instead.
It felt as though this level was not made for speedrunning at all. Damn firebar. >_<
My apologies in advance to the original hack authors (especially StudsX) for that last comment, sorry! D:
World 4-1 - In the Pink of the Night
Fittingly enough in the beginning, it's faster to use the springboard to scale the wall.
And finally, another time-saving wrong warp. This one takes me to a simple bonus area, which leads close to the flag.
It's awkward getting out, but facing left while jumping was still very much faster than facing right here. I can't make it over the hidden blocks in one jump though despite how close I got, so I had to weave between them. I can't make it under either.
Plenty of frames to spare, but I didn't really do much with them.
World 4-2 - Night-Time Madness
Another wrong warp being put to good use here. Glitching in from the left is faster than glitching in from the right, but I wanted to optimize the right jump so that it didn't lose the framerule, so I did just that. I was also able to kill a second Hammer Bro in the meantime, so that surely helped entertainment-wise. Definitely left me without any frames to spare afterward...
World 4-3 - Heavenly Stronghold
Not that crazy of a level to be honest. I assumed you needed a Scale Lift to make it over the door (takes you back to screen 3 of this level). When TASing, it turns out that it wasn't needed, just a Paratroopa bounce. No clips, no walljumps, no slowdowns.
However, the iffy parts about the entire level were the two "wall and springboard" combos.
- The first one felt a tad worse than in 4-1; I needed to slow down to 25 speed, and I had to face right because of the Koopa sitting on top. Tricky, but not that bad compared to the second wall.
- At the second wall, I needed to bounce on the airborne Paratroopa in a way that I land on the edge of the Springboard. Then, before I began to scale the wall, I needed to turn left, duck, and veer around the blocks to avoid hitting them. Definitely a brutal and difficult final obstacle, but thank goodness I got that done and over with. All the while I was worried about the intentional loss of subpixels having a negative effect on the run.
No wrong warps.
World 4-4 - Maze of Freedom
The last level, and since my run ends after touching the axe here, speed is now more important than ever (as usual, at least).
First area
Another tricky beginning. There is a long firebar blocking the bottom path with coins (screen 2), so I needed to make my way to the top.
- At first, I made really tight maneuvers around the wall and the firebar. Soon after, I found it to be faster to duck-jump clip instead.
The rest of the area was alright though. You need to enter the top door (screen 4) to proceed to the next area.
I was barely able to bounce on one of the Paratroopas from the edge of the pipe to get me on the top path to the door.
Second area
In the middle of this area here, I needed a walljump and a duck jump clip to make it through this particular structure. All is fine otherwise.
You need to enter the second door (screen 11) to proceed to the next area. Can't wrong warp with the first door (screen 9).
Third area
A pipe, a gap, and a wall. A pretty iffy starting accel here...
Then a duck jump clip later...
...and another firebar rotating towards me! Oh no! D:
- Had to wait before making my move again...
- The best outcome that I got was making it under with an on-screen X of 126; also did some shimmies to get better subpixels. They weren't required, but they helped me enter the door faster. The next two jumps afterward needed to be at a specific height so that I wouldn't incur any further slowdowns.
There's only one door here, and that's at the end. No use in attempting a wrong warp.
Fourth area
You need to enter the last door (at the end) for this area to proceed to the next area. I can't wrong warp with the first two doors or any of the upside-down warp pipes.
Ah, another puzzling point in the level here... Eventually, I figured out that I can go under the first firebar, then over the next, then across the middle corridor.
This is the only area without any slowdowns required :) (Besides just the very minor one for the starting accel)
Final area
Man, this one's a doozy.
It's slower to do duck jump clips here. Instead, I spawn the firebar, slow down, then duck-jump under the first structure. Then on the next, I make another duck jump, but I slow down to the point where I'm able to move between the ceiling and the wall. Of course, though, I needed to slow down more to avoid bumping into the Koopa. Then one more slowdown and a duck jump to avoid losing speed, and that's that!
I also killed Bowser a fourth time just for the heck of it. Why not?
Possible improvements?
Maybe better spots for stars and/or powerups in blocks, but I practically looked everywhere in the hack (I couldn't use SMB Utility because this is a more extensive hack than the others; I played through it in FCEUX); that's the best I could find. I honestly doubt there's a better powerup route for World 1 from here...
- Collecting a star increases your maximum X speed to 48 for the duration of the powerup.
I found only one in World 2-1, but it was too far to be deemed usable for the run.
An improvement somewhere in World 3 would be beneficial. However, I'm also worried that it might be undone by the World 3-4 firebar, but of course, to avoid being slowed down by that, I'd need to find a lot more improvements than just in that world alone.
I have admittingly exhausted my efforts to finding witty improvements and game-breaking tricks to get through the hack faster, and I'm sure that this is the best that I can make out of those efforts. I certainly doubt that I missed any special details, regardless of how obvious they could be, but I'm not scrutinizing on perfection here. Just glad and relieved to have finally finished a TAS for this brilliant hack. :)
Something else...
There is also a secret level (created by Eden GT) only accessible in Hard Mode, found in World 1-2. I plan to TAS that next, but I have doubts on it being publication-worthy; it's not even part of the main game.
If you'd like, you may check it out here:
Special thanks + shoutouts to StudsX and the gang for the hack, they're all awesome ROM hackers. You should definitely check out their other stuff too.
Suggested screenshots?
2859, at World 1-2
6632, at World 1-3
11670, at World 2-2
16173, at World 2-4
16857, at World 2-4 (again)
20657, at World 3-2
21392, at World 3-2 (again)
23885, at World 3-3
25611, at World 3-4
29443, at World 4-2
31778, at World 4-3
32203, at World 4-3 (again)
33504, at World 4-4 (first area)
34553, at World 4-4 (third area)
eien86:
takes a deep breath...
Actually not much to say other than this is a masterfully executed movie. Astral World is a visually stunning hack (given NES standards) and the level design isn't bad at all either. The movie goes through the levels abusing all kinds of glitches and clips (though notably, no warps in this game), which makes it a very entertaining watch.
Accepting to standard
