RTABC

For the guide, please see RTABC Guide

Real Time A Button Challenge
Abbreviation			RTABC
Individual stars collectible			87
Overall stars collectible			53
Is beatable			Yes
Presses required for Any%			0
Presses required for 120-Star			58
Star Details
BoB
WF
JRB
CCM
BBH
HMC
LLL
SSL
DDD
SL
WDW
TTM
THI
TTC
RR
Secret
Castle
Bowser

The RTABC (Real Time A Button Challenge) is a variation on the popular A Button Challenge, where all gameplay must be done in real-time.

Completed Runs

The current RTABC 70 Star world record, achieved by PurpleJuiceBox, finishes with a total of 22 A Presses and with a time of approximately 4 hours, 32 minutes, and 52 seconds. The current RTABC 120 Star world record, achieved by BillyWAR1, finishes with a total of 216 A presses and with a time of 8 hours, 36 minutes, and 6 seconds. The current RTABC "Max Stars 0xA" world record, achieved by Zyon, finishes with a total of 37 stars and with a time of 4 hours, 41 minutes, and 36 seconds.

The RTABC spreadsheet contains leaderboards for individual stars, stages and full game categories; optimal routes for 70 Star, 120 Star, and Max Stars 0xA; conjectured improvements, and many other useful references.

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.

Currently, a theoretical 120 star run would take 74 A presses, a theoretical 70 star run would take 6 A presses (1 in BitFS, 1 to go to BitS, and 4 in BitS), and 51 stars are possible without pressing A. Out of the 74 a presses left in the 120 star run, 51 of them (give or take) are unique. Below is a table listing all of them:

A Press #	Multiplicity	Stage	Purpose
#1	1	BoB	To shoot from the cannon
#2	1	JRB	To collect the chest star
#3	1	JRB	To ground pound the blue coin switch
#4	2	BBH	To get to the third floor
#5	1	HMC	To jump from the pole for reds
#6	1	HMC	To get to the Toxic Maze star
#7	2	HMC	To jump dive from dorrie's back
#8	1	HMC	To ground pound the blue coin switch
#9	1	LLL	To collect the elevator star
#10	1	SSL	To get onto the entrance to the eyerok battle
#11	2	SSL	To get out of the pyramid elevator
#12	1	DDD	To jump off of a cloned pole
#13	1	DDD	To jump off the back pole for 2 red coins
#14	1	SL	To shoot from the cannon
#15	1	THI	To double jump to a higher platform and collect red coins
#16	1	THI	To dive to the upper platform and grab the high red coin
#17	4	TTC	To double jump off the lower hand
#18	4	TTC	To wall kick to a higher platform
#19	3	TTC	To get off the elevator by the pole
#20	1	TTC	To jump past the moving bars
#21	1	TTC	To wall kick to the moving bars star
#22	1	TTC	To jump off the pole by the elevator for the thwomp star
#23	1	TTC	To get on to the first rotating block
#24	1	TTC	To get on to the second rotating block
#25	1	TTC	To get off the rotating block
#26	1	TTC	To wall kick to the above platform
#27	1	TTC	To sideflip on to the wall
#28	1	TTC	To wall kick up to a higher platform
#29	1	TTC	To get on the whomp
#30	2	RR	To get on the ship
#31	2	RR	To get past the first tall blue block
#32	1	RR	To get past the second wide blue block
#33	1	RR	To collect the Swingin' in the Breeze star
#34	1	RR	To jump on a fly guy and fall slower
#35	1	RR	To shoot from the cannon
#36	1	PSS	To collect the box star
#37	1	WMotR	To shoot from the first cannon
#38	1	WMotR	To shoot from the second cannon
#39	1	BitFS	To get past the pole
#40	1	BitS	To jump up the first platform
#41	1	BitS	To jump up the second platform
#42	1	BitS	To grab the red coin on the sloped platform
#43	1	BitS	To get past the pole
#44	1	BitS	To get past the pole with the red coin
#45	1	BitS	To jump from the last red coin's platform
#46	6	Castle	To enter THI
#47	6	Castle	To enter TTC
#48	1	Castle	To go to RR
#49	1	Castle	To go to BitS
#50	1	Castle	To enter SA
#51	1	Castle	To go to WMotR

Some A presses require A to be held, but not pressed. These A presses are called Half A Presses and can come from a previous A press instead of a new one, so saving one wouldn't actually lower the A press count.

The half a presses are listed below:

Half A Press #	Multiplicity	Stage	Purpose
#1	1	DDD	To outswim the whirlpool
#2	4	DDD	To swim with a shell for cloning
#3	1	WDW	To swim faster and catch the elevator
#4	1	BitS	To speed kick across the starting platforms

Possible A Press Saves

Shifting Sand Land

A while after Zyon showed a potential A press save in Whomp's Fortress, Ivan posted another clip of him killing a goomba, then bouncing on another goomba and collecting the other goomba's coin with good RNG, spawning a 100 coin star that allowed him to get past the pole with a precise Star Dance Clip. This would save the A press to get into the Eyerok battle.

Tick Tock Clock

Currently, the A press count for Stomp on the Thwomp and 100 Coins stands at 11xA. Billy, the world record holder for Stomp on the Thwomp originally planned to get it in 8xA, where the A presses not included being the pole jump at the beginning, which can be solved by using knockback from a bob-omb which had been done in previous stars, a failed dive onto one of the rotating blocks, and a 3rd A press somewhere in the level. Additionally, it was shown to be possible to do Roll into the Cage in 1xA.

Rainbow Ride

On February 10th 2023, PapaQBall shared an idea to save the 32nd A press, to get over the first blue block in Rainbow Ride 0x using VSC from a slidekick bounce from one carpet to another carpet, then ledgegrab up on top of the blue block. Unfortunately, the ledgegrab was too slow. However, pannenkoek2012 showed later that it would be possible to get back onto the carpet with a dive rollout on the edge of the block.

Bowser in the Sky

Currently, the A press count for Bowser in the Sky and BitS reds is 4.5 and 6.5 respectively. One of these A presses can be saved, specifically the one to get across the moving orange bars by the two poles can be saved via a precise dive rollout. Zyon, the current world record holder for BitS, is trying to get it down to 3.5. The half A press can be saved too by grinding the edge of the platform to get an instant double jump, making the currently lowest possible count 3, However it's more precise and not ideal for a 70 or 120 star abc run. Additionally, the A press can be saved for red coins by using cloning to get over the orange platforms multiple times to get the red coin without needing an additional A press, making it's lowest count 5.

See also

List of RTA Tricks