Only A Computer Could Do This Super Mario Bros. Trick -- Until Now - Kotaku Australia

The Super Mario Bros.

In 2018, speedrunner HappyLee used a computer assist to demonstrate a new method to shave a few frames off of Super Mario Bros.

The speedrunning community had assumed a full, perfect run of 4-2 using this “top clip” trick could never be performed by human means due to the sheer precision required, and luckily, it has since discovered alternate, easier methods for min-maxing 4-2.

But on Monday, a speedrunner named Tole managed to perform the “top clip” 4-2 trick without computer assistance.

Here’s what’s happening: Through precise inputs, Tole made Luigi clip through the corner of the top block, touching the ground inside of the wall for one frame, and then jump out from inside of the wall.

This doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s particularly important in world 4-2 because of a Super Mario Bros.

In Super Mario Bros., the program only checks for level completion every 21 frames.

Therefore, if you enter an end-of-level castle just after the most recent check, you’ll have to wait up to 20 frames for the next level to begin.

Imagine that the castle at the end of each Super Mario Bros.

Catching the first possible bus in level 4-2, as was first demonstrated by computer-assisted runs, is sometimes called “Lightning 4-2.” That’s why HappyLee’s computer-aided trick, in which Mario saves a few frames by clipping through the top block in level 4-2, made waves: It was another way for runners to beat the frame rule and theoretically catch that first bus.

Current Super Mario Bros.

The difference was that he jumped underneath the block and ran inside the wall — a different method entirely, and much more practical for humans to use in real runs.

Since there exist easier Lightning 4-2 methods, the “top clip” Lightning 4-2 Tole pulled off will probably just be for bragging rights.