Here is our take on the "warpless" version of Super Mario Bros 2. It is 2056 frames (34.4 seconds) faster than the published movie by Donamerdragon. The gain comes from optimized movements, different routes, different character selection, optimized battles and some new glitches.
Level 1 - 1: The frame rule of birdo rules out any possible improvements here. 0 frames gained. 0 frames ahead.
Level 1 - 2: 97 frames gained, better carpet riding and Birdo-mashing being the prime reasons. 97 frames ahead.
Level 1 - 3: 313 frames gained. Toad is used instead of Luigi, due to Toad being a lot faster in the first and last part of this level. Those frames gained makes up for the frames lost in the middle of the level. The bomb timers are active while taking damage, and taking damage against Mouser saves a few frames of lag, so taking damage is the fastest way to deal with him. 420 frames ahead.
Level 2 - 1: 28 frames gained due to skipping the pause to manipulate Starman, better disposal of Birdo's Crystal Ball and some other things. 2 frames were gained before this level as well due to using Toad in the previous level. 450 frames ahead.
Level 2 - 2: 10 frames gained in the first part due to vine zipping, 89 frames gained during the digging-session and 61 frames gained on the Birdo-fight. 610 frames ahead.
Level 2 - 3: Some major level ownage saved 144 frames up until entering Triclyde. 16 frames saved on the boss, putting us 770 frames ahead.
Level 3 - 1: What better way to start a new world than with a new route? 244 frames gained, 1014 frames ahead.
Level 3 - 2: Bye bye Princess. 129 frames gained, putting us 1143 frames ahead after this level.
Level 3 - 3: Toadsie's winning streak is finally broken. Luigi does the trick here. The level up until Mouser is 384 frames faster, and the boss is killed 32 frames faster. The waiting before Mouser appears on screen was essential to get Mouser's movement pattern correct. 1559 frames ahead before the chilly world 4.
Level 4 - 1: 11 frames gained, 1570 ahead.
Level 4 - 2: 28 frames gained, 1598 ahead.
Level 4 - 3: 13 frames gained here due to better manipulation of Birdo. No frames were gained against Fryguy because of his stupid movement pattern which both of the authors consider to be homosexual. 1611 frames ahead.
Level 5 - 1: Birdo's diet of veggies has been replaced by mushrooms this time around. 176 frames gained, 1787 ahead.
Level 5 - 2: Stupid Birdo's frame window messes everything up, 9 frames gained in the end. 1796 ahead.
Level 5 - 3: We had a bit of better luck with the first bomb so we got a lot more 43-speed to our disposal at the beginning of this level. That and minor optimizations along the way gained us 168 frames, 1964 ahead.
Level 6 - 1: 39 frames gained here, making the difference 2003 frames ahead.
Level 6 - 2: 9 frames jumped and fought away, 2012 frames ahead
Level 6 - 3: 24 frames gained, 9 on Birdo and 15 on Triclyde, 2036 ahead.
Level 7 - 1: 10 frames gained. Most improvements were negated by the frame rule of the rocket and birdo.
Level 7 - 2: 10 frames gained. Lag reduction, and better boss fighting.

New Tricks and Techniques

TODO

Special Thanks

  • All previous authors of smb2u movies for their contributions.
  • JXQ for being in the game.

NesVideoAgent: Hi! I am a robot. I took a few screenshots of this movie and placed them here.

Truncated: Well made. Accepted.

Player (51)
Joined: 10/6/2005
Posts: 138
Location: Oregon
Any reason why this tactic wasn't used, or were you just not aware of it? Super Mario Bros. 2 is a little less close to my heart than it was two years ago, so I won't vote no based on the fact you didn't optimize as much as you could have. Also, voting is a hassle. Oh, and the movie was sexy, too. I liked 3-1 in particular. Nicely done.
Joined: 7/28/2005
Posts: 339
Is this run PERFECT?
Tompa
Any
Editor, Expert player (2142)
Joined: 8/15/2005
Posts: 1934
Location: Mullsjö, Sweden
Another neat run guys! I liked when you entered the door before the screen scrolling, lol. Wasn't really prepared for that one. And thanks JXQ because they could use you as a tool to run faster.
Player (84)
Joined: 3/8/2005
Posts: 973
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Wow. I didn't think the old warpless run could have been improved by so much. This run looks really nice, and smooth. Nothing else much to say. Entertaining for 19 minutes. Great job guys. Yes vote.
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Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
I haven seen the movie (and thus can't vote), but I'm looking forward to seeing it. Sounds superb.
jaysmad
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Experienced player (834)
Joined: 12/1/2006
Posts: 629
Location: Mom's
Yes vote for insanely great optimization and the coolest moves the game has to offer.
Former player
Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA
I generally have found every SMB2 run to be somewhat boring. This one wasn't so bad. Yes vote. However, I don't think this should get a star. I also don't feel that the other SMB2 runs deserve stars, but that's just me.
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Mitjitsu
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Joined: 4/24/2006
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Zurreco wrote:
I generally have found every SMB2 run to be somewhat boring. This one wasn't so bad. Yes vote. However, I don't think this should get a star. I also don't feel that the other SMB2 runs deserve stars, but that's just me.
Finally something we agree on at least for just now
Joined: 4/3/2005
Posts: 575
Location: Spain
Booring, but with entertaining parts spread among the game. Vote yes but I enjoyed more the warp run.
No.
Skilled player (1637)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy
Crying laughing at this. Haven't watched the video yet, but thanks for the laugh.[/img]
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Player (79)
Joined: 2/8/2005
Posts: 130
a yes for the excellent ostrich handling
Joined: 1/14/2005
Posts: 216
Thanks to this thread, I learned that it is cool to say SMB2 is boring. Thanks guys, I'll keep that in mind! Also I love how tmont is being ignored because his postcount is too low. It's a great feeling, my 2nd favorite part of this site. ;)
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upthorn
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Enhasa wrote:
Thanks to this thread, I learned that it is cool to say SMB2 is boring. Thanks guys, I'll keep that in mind! Also I love how tmont is being ignored because his postcount is too low. It's a great feeling, my 2nd favorite part of this site. ;)
Actually I have it from a reliable source that he is ignored because he has been harping at people to do that for 2 years and never actually produced an fcm himself to test and/or demonstrate whether it actually is faster.
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Active player (278)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
tmont wrote:
I have played the first five seconds of level 2-3 faster than what is supposed to be perfect hundreds of times on a console in real time.
So I guess he did test it. But a demonstration would be nice.
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Former player
Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Finland
Enhasa wrote:
Also I love how tmont is being ignored because his postcount is too low. It's a great feeling, my 2nd favorite part of this site. ;)
What makes you think he's being ignored? Maybe adelikat and Carboard just haven't seen his post yet. They are the ones his comment was directed to, and they are the only ones who can answer.
Player (29)
Joined: 9/23/2006
Posts: 207
Location: Moreno Valley, California
Screw the rules, I have an emulator. ^_^ Easy yes vote, if just for leaving the Princess in the dirt at last. (Way cool trick in that level, btw)
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Mitjitsu
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Is that method tmout brought up the same as Charmale's method when you combine two enemies and they shoot up to the top of the screen, I definitley thought there would be a use for it in a warpless run. I can only assume that it was tested and no use was found for it :(
Editor, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
AKA wrote:
Is that method tmout brought up the same as Charmale's method when you combine two enemies and they shoot up to the top of the screen
No, how about read what he wrote.
Joined: 4/3/2006
Posts: 269
As with the warp version, this one is very entertaining as well. It's interesting to watch Luigi (or any char for that matter) fight the mouse boss on it's platform. I was surprise to see Toad take the short cut that normally is only available to the princess. Very nice discovery & execution! Definitely a YES vote for this one!
Player (51)
Joined: 10/6/2005
Posts: 138
Location: Oregon
upthorn wrote:
Actually I have it from a reliable source that he is ignored because he has been harping at people to do that for 2 years and never actually produced an fcm himself to test and/or demonstrate whether it actually is faster.
*sniffle* I'm no longer harping. And I only harped once a year. I can indeed verify that it's theoretically faster, since you'll be carrying an enemy for a longer amount of time; I've done it hundreds of times on a console. Whether or not that throws off some random crap further on in the level that might turn out to bite Toad in his delicious ass is something I'm not equipped to test. I can't afford to take that kind of chance with Toad's ass. I'm sure you understand.
Banned User, Former player
Joined: 12/23/2004
Posts: 1850
I'm voting yes. All the little details here and there added up well enough to make it a little less than "Here's the character running though the level without doing anything again". So, yes.
Perma-banned
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 804
Location: Canada
Some interesting glitchiness. Voted Yes. I'd prefer that the warped run get the star because it's shorter. 19 minutes of this game gets a bit boring.
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Chamale
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Joined: 10/20/2006
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Location: Canada
I tossed in a quick yes vote for improvement, however, note that I do not consider this optimal. I did note a spot or two where it was improvable by a frame or so, but the glaring error was the one pointed out by Tmont. At 6:02 in the [urlhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=ksNkFdMgogU&mode=related&search=]Youtube video[/url] of the SDA run, you can see the trick used. I'm going to produce a short video fairly soon that shows the worth of the trick.
adelikat
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Yes, we missed one. Tmonts trick saves about 30 frames. I had I found that warpless discussion thread, it would have been in our run. Oops. Having said that, this run is very optimal otherwise. I call bull on chalame's statement and think that someone would need to show proof with an .fcm or two before accusing of such. More likely, we made some seemingly odd choices which turn out to actually be faster and you have interpretted this as inoptimal.
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Chamale
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4-3 seemed unoptimal, but now I know why, and there was a slow part near the end of 2-3 which doesn't matter anyway because you have to wait for the bird's head to open.