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{{A Button Challenge infobox}}
{{A Button Challenge infobox}}
The '''A Button Challenge''', '''ABC''' for short, is a [[challenge]] in which the number of [[Button press|press]]es of the [[A button]] is minimized, whether on a per-mission or a per-file basis. Because the A button makes Mario jump, great creativity and precision are required to progress in the game without using this "vital" function. The ABC is often connected to the discoveries of new glitches and techniques that can be used more generally throughout the game. Much of the material on the [https://www.youtube.com/user/pannenkoek2012 pannenkoek2012] and [https://www.youtube.com/user/pannenkeok2012 UncommentatedPannen] channels is related to the A Button Challenge, with only 24 remaining A presses (18 unique A presses) left to optimize.
The '''A Button Challenge''' (initialism: '''ABC''') is a [[challenge]] in which the number of presses of the [[A button]] is minimized, whether on a per-mission or a per-file basis. Because pressing {{button|A}} makes [[Mario]] [[jump]], which is intended to be the main gameplay mechanic of ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', great creativity and precision are required to progress in the game without using this "vital" function. The ABC is often connected to the discoveries of new [[glitch]]es and techniques that can be used more generally throughout the game. Much of the material on the [https://www.youtube.com/user/pannenkoek2012 pannenkoek2012] and [https://www.youtube.com/user/pannenkeok2012 UncommentatedPannen] channels is related to the A Button Challenge, with only 13 remaining A presses (10 unique A presses) left to optimize.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yssoTbplI_42LgjTbERd6UuSt0gaI0iOtp-5muS5hKw "SM64 120 Star ABC Route" spreadsheet]</ref>
== A Presses Left ==
 
A '''unique A press''' refers to a single circumstance under which the A button must be pressed during a run. This circumstance may occur multiple times, leading to multiple A presses; if a workaround is found for the unique A press, all of those individual A presses may be saved.
==History==
{{main|History of the A Button Challenge}}
Although much of the progress in the ABC has been made since 2013, the challenge existed for over a decade earlier. Pieces of what would become the ABC were present in different terms, as early as 2001 on Walton Dell's site on multiple level pages.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020614010118/http://www.wdell.com/videogames/sm64/course01/ An archive of A Button Challenge on Walton Dell's site]</ref> Curtis Bright, who runs sm64.com, was keeping track of the ABC at least as early as December of 2006.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061209073313/http://www.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cbright/sm64/a-presses.html An archive of A Button Challenge on sm64.com]</ref> Thiago Trujillo had what is the earliest, nearly complete count for the game (that we have access to) with a total count of about 263 presses.<ref>[http://www.oocities.org/thiagotrujillo/abut.html A Button Challenge on oocities.org]</ref> (This list is missing all navigation presses, two of the [[DDD]] stars, three of the [[TTC]] stars, one star in [[RR]], and [[BitS]].)
 
Pannenkoek's first ABC video was for 5 Itty Bitty Secrets, and was released in August 2013.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy7XDStV5WE "SM64 - Five Itty Bitty Secrets - 0x A Presses (OUTDATED)" by pannenkoek2012]</ref> The count at this point was about 212 presses, although this number dropped fairly quickly. Within the first 4 months, the count had fallen nearly 100 presses, and was down to 118. Over the next five years, many different people have worked on removing as many A presses as possible, and the number has dropped to only 13 A presses in a 120 star run, as well as 0 in any% on WiiVC.
 
==Remaining A presses==
A ''unique A press'' is a single circumstance under which {{button|A}} must be pressed to progress during a run. The same circumstance may occur multiple times, leading to multiple A presses; if a workaround is found for the unique A press, all of those individual A presses may be saved.


For example, if entering a course requires an A press, the case of entering the course is a unique A press, even if said course must be visited multiple times over the course of a run.
For example, if entering a course requires an A press, the case of entering the course is a unique A press, even if said course must be visited multiple times over the course of a run.


Below is a table of unique A presses in the [[A Button Challenge]].
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
 
|+Unique A presses
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 50%;"
|-
|-
! scope="col"|A Press #
!scope="col"|{{abbr|#|Number}}
! scope="col"|Stage
!scope="col"|{{abbr|&times;|Multiplicity}}
! scope="col"|Purpose
!scope="col"|Course
!scope="col"|Purpose
|-
|-
|#1
!scope="row"|1
|JRB
|style="text-align: center;"|2
|To collect the chest star
|[[SSL]]
|Get out of the pyramid elevator / Get past the [[pole]]
|-
|-
|#2
!scope="row"|2
|LLL
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get to the Elevator Tour star platform
|rowspan="2"|[[THI]]
|[[Double jump]] to a higher platform to collect [[red coin]]s
|-
|-
|#3
!scope="row"|3
|SSL
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get out of the pyramid elevator
|[[Dive]] to the upper platform and grab the high red coin
|-
|-
|#4, #5
!scope="row"|-
|THI
|style="text-align: center;"|3
|To collect red coins
|rowspan="2"|[[TTC]]
|Jump past the pole using [[Hyperspeed Grinding]]. [[Wii VC]] only.
|-
|-
|#6
!scope="row"|-
|TTC
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get out of the treadmill grinding spot
|Jump out of the [[Pedro spot]] on the pendulum box to gain vertical speed. [[Wii VC]] only.
|-
|-
|#7
!scope="row"|4
|TTC
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get to the moving bars star (possibly saved)
|[[PSS]]
|Collect the [[Power Star]]
|-
|-
|#8, #9, #10
!scope="row"|5
|TTC
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get from the rotating boxes to the top of the clock
|rowspan="2"|[[WMotR]]
|Shoot out of the [[cannon]] after talking to the [[Bob-omb Buddy]] to reach the next cannon
|-
|-
|#11
!scope="row"|6
|TTC
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get past the thwomp
|Shoot out of the second cannon to fly around and collect the seven remaining red coins
|-
|-
|#12
!scope="row"|7
|PSS
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|
|[[BitFS]]
To collect the star
|Get past the pole. Saved on [[Wii VC]].
|-
|-
|#13, #14
!scope="row"|8
|WMotR
|style="text-align: center;"|3
|
|rowspan="3"|[[The Castle|Castle]]
To collect red coins
|Enter [[TTC]]. On all versions except [[JP 1.0]], this must be done 6 times instead of only 3.
|-
|-
|#15
!scope="row"|9
|BitFS
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To get past the pole (saved on Wii VC)
|Go to [[RR]]
|-
|-
|#16
!scope="row"|10
|Castle
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To enter TTC
|Go to WMotR
|}
 
Also, some levels require {{button|A}} to be held, but not necessarily to be pressed within that specific mission. These can be held from presses in previous levels, but take an extra press in single-star runs. Such A presses are notated as ''half A presses'', and result in A press counts such as 2.5&times;.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses]</ref> Only one half A press can be required per star.
 
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Half A presses
|-
|-
|#17
!scope="col"|{{abbr|#|Number}}
|Castle
!scope="col"|{{abbr|&times;|Multiplicity}}
|To go to RR
!scope="col"|Course
!scope="col"|Purpose
|-
|-
|#18
!scope="row"|1
|Castle
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|To go to WMotR
|[[JRB]]
|Gain [[hyperspeed]] from kick landing
|-
!scope="row"|2
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|rowspan="2"|[[DDD]]
|[[Clone]] the pole
|-
!scope="row"|3
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|Clone [[coin spawner]]s for [[100 coins]]
|-
!scope="row"|4
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|[[TTC]]
|[[Kick]] the [[wall]] and get spawning displacement on the [[spinner]], for 0&times; re-entry after [[Get a Hand]]
|}
|}


Additionally, some levels require the A button to be held for the level, but not started on that specific star necessarily. These presses can be tied to earlier presses to lower counts in longer runs.
==Version differences==
There are many different versions of ''Super Mario 64'' that have slightly different physics or glitches. These can change the A press and star counts.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IEhqUAuCY The 14 Remaining A Presses]</ref>
 
On N64 JP 1.0, spawning displacement can be performed to save 3 A presses in TTC. On Wii VC, floats are rounded differently, which causes the rising platforms in BitFS to converge towards the center of the stage saving 1 A press, but also removes the glitchy ledge grab in TTC adding 4 more.


Below is a table of all levels that require half an A-Press.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;"
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="0" cellspacing="1" style="width: 50%;"
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Version
! colspan="2" scope="colgroup" |A press count
! colspan="2" scope="colgroup" |Stars obtainable
|-
! scope="col" |[[120 Star]]
! scope="col" |[[70 Star]]
! scope="col" |Individually
! scope="col" |Overall
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |[[N64]] JP 1.0
|13
| rowspan="5" |1
| rowspan="5" |111
| rowspan="5" |67
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |N64 US
| rowspan="4" |16
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |N64 PAL
|-
|-
! scope="col"|A Press #
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |N64 JP 1.3<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou">[[Shindou]] version</ref>
! scope="col"|Stage
! scope="col"|Purpose
|-
|-
|#1
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |[[Super Mario 64 (iQue)|iQue]]<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|HMC
|To do kicks on the elevator
|-
|-
|#2
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |[[Wii VC]] JP<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|DDD
| rowspan="3" |19
|To clone the whirlpool and poles
| rowspan="3" |0
| rowspan="3" |109
| rowspan="3" |98
|-
|-
|#3
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |Wii VC US
|DDD
|-
|To clone coin spawners for 100 coins
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |Wii VC PAL
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |[[Wii U VC]] JP<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
| rowspan="7" |16
| rowspan="7" |1
| rowspan="7" |111
| rowspan="7" |67
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |Wii U VC US
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |Wii U VC PAL
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |''3D All-Stars''<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |[[NSO]] JP<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |NSO US
|-
| scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;" |NSO PAL
|}
|}
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHU1BdDCClE
;Notes
<references group="lower-alpha" />
 
==See also==
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_ A Button Challenge playlist] by pannenkoek2012
*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit?usp=sharing A Button Challenge routes] by pannenkoek2012
*[https://youtu.be/yXbJe-rUNP8 Complete History of the A Button Challenge] by Bismuth (as of 2022, slightly outdated)
 
==References==
<references />
{{Challenges}}
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