SM64 - Stand Tall on the Four Pillars - 0x A Presses

I collect the star Stand Tall on the Four Pillars in Shifting Sand Land using 0 A presses.

This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I collected this star in 1 A press. You can find that video here:    • SM64 - Stand Tall on the Four Pillars...  . At that time, I knew that if Mario could somehow get on top of the wire mesh, then this star could be done in 0x A presses. I also knew that, using the goomba, Mario could get very close to getting onto the mesh, but he couldn't quite make it. It wasn't until Tyler Kehne popularized the star dance clip that a breakthrough was made. Interestingly, after Tyler informed me of the star dance clip, Tyler and I both independently realized that this star could be done in 0x A presses!

So what is the star dance clip? The star dance clip is a technique where Mario collects a star, thereby allowing him to get onto ledges he wouldn't normally be able to get on. You see, when Mario collects a star, he enters a state where he is able to grab onto ledges. But when he grabs on in this state, instead of entering the grabbing on animation, he just appears at the top of the ledge and does his star dance. So the reason that this is useful is because after we use the goomba's knockback to gain height, we are high enough to grab onto the mesh, but not in a state where Mario is allowed to. It is only by collecting the 100 coin star that Mario becomes able to grab onto the ledge and gets up successfully.

The goomba bounce was actually very precise, done in such a way as to maximize Mario's height. You see, the peak height of a goomba bounce is directly related to the height of the goomba, and so before bouncing on him we raise him up higher. We do this by first scaring the goomba (making him jump up) and then knocking into the goomba (making him jump up again from midair). It is only after these two jumps that Mario bounces on the goomba, thereby allowing a very high bounce.

One last note is that in order to perform this strategy, we need to collect 100 coins for the 100 coin star. However, there aren't 100 coins accessible to Mario without pressing A. Therefore, I make use of the breaking/disappearing cork box glitch. You see, a cork box disappears after 30 seconds of inactivity (and respawns), and a cork box breaks if it comes into contact with anything (in this case a larger box). If these two things happen simultaneously, then the box will explode AND respawn, thereby creating 3 coins without destroying the box. I perform this trick over and over until I have enough coins to reach 100.

.m64 stats:
Length: 12 minutes and 18 seconds
Re-records: 9222

ABC Playlist:    • Super Mario 64 - A Button Challenge  
ABC Routes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y...