The recent Awesome Games Done Quick marathon served as a fantastic example of speedrunners demonstrating their practiced skill with impressive results. In the wake of its conclusion earlier this month, we've got just the video for anyone still needing their fix of game-breaking talent on display.
While not exactly speedrunning per se, YouTuber Pannenkoek2012 has been working on a ridiculously complex playthrough of Super Mario 64, where he completes the game using as few button presses as possible. It's about as nightmarishly difficult as it sounds, and given that one of the techniques to get around jumping involves running into a wall for 12 hours straight, it takes quite a bit of dedication too.
Over the course of 25 minutes, this video from a little earlier this year goes into intense detail about some of the elaborate techniques involved in collecting just one star of 120. His casual references to parallel dimensions and quantum tunnelling - combined with diagrams worthy of a PhD in Mushroom Kingdom mathematics - make it a challenging watch, but it's an amazing example of what total mastery of a game can accomplish. Warping through reality and freezing time all to avoid a single jump is hilariously impressive in its own strange way.
You might even remember Pannenkoek2012 as the player who offered a $1000 bounty to anyone who could recreate a strange Super Mario 64 glitch, so check out the video below and brush up on your skills. If you can understand a single word of it, that is...
Comments 37
You gotta remember that what he's doing is tool-assisted.
He did not actually sit there holding a controller like that for 12 hours.
I could probably beat the game without letting go of the B button....
Same thing for almost any SNES platformer, except it's the 'Y' button.
Technically that's still not half a press. It's a button release.
The idea is that he is holding the jump button the whole time, never releasing it. Still, these insights into the inner workings of Mario 64 are fascinating.
Tool assisted speedrun can be fun at times, but this much dedication comes across as complicating one's own gaming life for no reason.
Genius? Insanity?
Ah, yes! It's that new meme on the block!
@AlexSora89 I view it as a way of finding new value in an old favorite. Kind of like a 3 Heart run in Zelda, a Nuzlocke run in Pokemon, or a Low % run in Metroid.
I learned quite a bit about Super Mario 64 watching this, and there were some amazing memes to be made.
Reminds me of a TAS I saw of SM64 which collected all the possible stars without jumping.
Another person with way too much time on their hands...
So...did i just lean quantum physics ?
These people are absolutely amazing. Its insane what these people perform just for the end result of "hey, i completed a video game really fast".
I mean, really, this one one stupid star in Mario 64 and what have we talked about ? Parallel Universes, relative speed...
aLl ThE mEmEs
@Danrenfroe2016
Yeah... We should round em up and put them in prison. How dare they spend time on what they want to do with their life instead of doing something that you sir would find to be "productive".
(might be wondering why i put that in quotes. Its just that nothing humans ever do is actually necessary in the grand scheme. But dangit thats why this judging of 'too much time on their hands' really makes me cringe. Our existence unnecessary but we got it so let's do what we want with it and not compain about what other people do with their excessive time.)
@RupeeClock Haha, what a casual.
@Fidu It's not just a release though. You didn't get the full picture. They had actually pressed the button a long while ago but carried that hold through until that level (in theory). They are still holding that button and releasing it when necessary. That hold is a very key point of what they are trying to do as the effect comes from the hold, not the release. Honestly, he explained it quite succinctly in the video. It makes sense.
In any case, the "half A press" term is probably just a term they came up with anyways so they weren't saying a really long phrase every time. The community knows what it is, so that's all that really matters.
This might be the dumbest video of all time, even watching and understanding the ideas behind it...
@Fidu Yeah, an a press is an a press. You can't say it's only a half.
This is crazy and I approve.
if anyone remembers the $1000 bounty on a Tick Tock Clock glitch (which is still unclaimed), this is the same guy who was asking about that. This guy really wants to know everything there is to know about Super Mario 64.
Very cool
@RupeeClock Ah, is it? I recently finished the book I AM ERROR, and it increased my appreciation for tool-assisted stuff many times over. I may have to watch this video.
Did anyone else watch the whole video? When he got to the parallel universe part and was explaining it I was beginning to forget that he was playing a videogame.....
i can't believe I watched that whole video... my head hurts.
@Arcanum lol. I'm cool with him doing it... It's just I funny see how he has evict time unless he is doing it all day every day... I bet he is not married
This has taken a step further than I thought possible. Once we've left this dimension and the universal sphere inside the bowl we lay in, what more is there?
Boring!
@Arcanum If I had the know-how, ability, free time, and desire to do something like this, then maybe I would, too. But then I'd think of ALL the other things I'd much rather do with my life (or at least free time) and it would be put on a list of projects that I'll most likely never get around to. I don't think that @Danrenfroe2016 meant "what a waste of time" as an insult so much as something along the lines of "out of all of the possible ways this person could spend his free time, there is apparently nothing higher on his list than doing this, which is kind of a shame because he's clearly a very intelligent person, and it seems like there are other more rewarding ways that he could use that intelligence (personally or otherwise)." At least, that's how I see it. Because to me, even typing a comment feels like a waste of precious seconds out of my life, but I was surprised to see someone so very angrily defending this guy's use of his free time that I felt it was worth wasting a few seconds of my own. Now to go back to doing things with my time that I don't consider meaningless...
Great stuff
I can't believe I watched the whole video
I was skeptical at first, but I surprisingly enjoyed that. Most of it was okay to understand, and although the challenge could be viewed as pointless, his dedication is admirable!
This guy is OBSESSED with Mario 64!
Wow, what an interesting and amazing video! I enjoyed it a lot and didn't find it too hard to follow. I really like how pannenkoek2012 thinks and approaches things.
@3792M Not really. Have you watched the whole video yet? He uses the term "half press" just for simplicity. Actually, it's a third press.
@HawkeyeWii Yep, I watched the whole video and although sometimes it indeed felt like a math/physics lecture, I never lost track of what he's actually been doing. I love how much dedication he puts into this.
@Arcanum I couldn't agree more!
@kurtasbestos "Because to me, even typing a comment feels like a waste of precious seconds out of my life" Wow, then you have a really strange and narrow definition of life. How can it be wasting your life when you do something that you like? Life is short, so the way I see it, this guy doesn't waste his life, but lives it to the fullest. Because he's doing what he likes to do.
I guess in your definition we should dedicate every second of our lives to making money? Or what's your point exactly?
@kurtasbestos amen
@kurtasbestos
Before I even argue with your main point, I'll start with this - Do you know him personally? You seem to be certain that his entire life is dedicated to SM64. How do you even know this is all he does?
Secondly, if he were living his life the way that you want, it'd be your life, not his. Frankly, if you want to be realistic, there is essentially nothing that we do that really matters. It is all about finding our own meaning in life. If he masters SM64 and you earn money or work hard, who's wrong? No one. You both did what you wanted.
Living your life the way somebody else would want is like the exact opposite of living, lol.
When does he mention tunneling? I watched it but missed that part.
That was insane - I love it
I understood all of those words individually....
How does one even begin to start figuring this stuff out - impressive, certainly.
Wowzers... this is insane. It amazes me the amount of time/effort that some people put into a single game.
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