1 Key

1 Key is the name for the current iteration of the any% TAS category which involves skipping Bowser in the Dark World, the first Bowser level, by entering the castle using a glitch called Moat Door Skip. It is so named because Mario collects exactly 1 Key, namely the one collected after finishing Bowser in the Fire Sea. Its name also references previous any% TAS categories including 0 Star, 1 Star, and 16 Star.

1 Key
Record Information
TAS World Record	4:15.78
TAS Authors	Tyler Kehne, MKDasher, sonicpacker, Snark, SilentSlayers, Gaehne D, Eru, ToT, Plush, sm64expert, Superdavo0001, dar gos, IsaacA, & dabs
TAS World Record Date	May 4, 2021

TAS History

Below is a table listing the improvements to the original 1 Key TAS, as well as linking to all TASes that were at one point world record.

1 Key History

Date	Time	Improvement (Frames)	Improvement Author(s)	Save Description/Notes
Sep 29, 2016	4:21.67	-	Tyler Kehne, MKDasher, sonicpacker, Snark, SilentSlayers, Gaehne D, Eru, and ToT	Original Run
Oct 27, 2016	4:21.40	8	Plush	Faster VCutM Entry
Nov 13, 2016	4:21.30	3	sm64expert	Faster VCutM Entry
Jul 16, 2017	4:21.23	2	Plush	Faster kick/movement to BitFS
Jul 4, 2018	4:21.17	2	Plush	Slidekick at the beginning of both BitFS and BitS
Oct 29, 2018	4:21.04	1	Superdavo0001 & dar gos	BitFS improvement through optimization of quarter-frame movement, as well as lag reduction through better camera angles
May 6, 2019	4:20.93	3	IsaacA	Lag reduction in DDD and BitFS
Jun 23, 2019	4:20.77	5	Superdavo0001	Changing the camera in both Bowser fights to prevent the game from lagging
Nov 7, 2019	4:20.75	0.5	IsaacA	1 VI (lag frame) was saved with better camera manipulation while waiting for the key to become obtainable after killing the Fire Sea bowser.
May 6, 2021	4:15.78	149	dabs	Doing a BLJ on the elevator, then using its buggy axle to squish cancel, allowing us to convert our negative speed to positive, which then allows us to do a huge jump to the final elevators.
March 15, 2022	-	16	Snark	Bits faster route afer squish cancel
April 19, 2022	-	3	Alexpalix1, Crackhex	Basement better wallpush and water entry
April 20, 2022?	-	2	Manama	Basement SBLJ
April 21, 2022	-	4	Alexpalix1, Crackhex	Basement floating point double wall push
July 16, 2022	-	2	Crackhex	Basement SSC
January 4, 2023	-	3	Krithalith	Basement SBLJ setup (just walk and slide)
January 4, 2023	-	2	Alexpalix1	Basement SBLJ setup (land slower w/ extra BLJ)
January 22, 2023	-	5	Krithalith	VCutM Entry
March 6, 2023	-	7	Krithalith	New MDS PU route (-1f) with faster swimming to waterfall (-6f)
July 21, 2023	-	23	Krithalith	BitS Entry -1f from key door to 50 star door with more speed and new HSWK route (-22f)
August 7, 2023	4:12.73?	24	Krithalith	Improved BitS ending after squish cancel by getting to final elevator 11f faster and using an earlier and faster final BLJ.

Moat Door Skip

The central glitch, known as Moat Door Skip or MDS was theorized by Tyler Kehne in mid-2015 when it was discovered the source of PU's crashing on console was the camera, and simply locking the camera was enough to access PU's on console. MDS was revealed to the public when sonicpacker uploaded a video showcasing it. The technique involves using PU movement to navigate in front of the door under the moat with 0 stars, exploiting the facts that PUs have no water and that the door-opening action takes precedence over entering the water within the course of a frame. Most of the original TASing for the first MDS was done by sonicpacker, although Tyler Kehne TASed the actual PU movement.

Zig-Zag Strat

Originally, the route for the negative jump into VCutM was done using what was called the "Zig-Zag Strat". This technique was decently optimized prior to the current BLJ location being found (which obsoleted this technique).

Reason for Delay of the Full Run

The first ever TAS of 1 Key was released on September 29th, 2016 with a time of 4’21”67, which came more than a year after the original reveal. This was due to the fact that getting QPU speed requires visiting Vanish Cap under the Moat to perform an elevator-BLJ. Visiting VCutM without draining the moat originally required 10 stars to get the wing cap for hyperspeed flying, which was slower than just getting 8 stars, visiting the basement, and draining the moat normally (which made it slower to do this trick). Later, however, a BLJ on the castle grounds was found that sufficed to enter VCutM.

Current Record

The current record for the 1 Key TAS stands at 4:20.75. Since this skip saves the time normally required for the first Bowser level, this TAS holds the world record for the fastest known completion of Super Mario 64.

Notability of being performed on J Version

Unlike many other categories, the 1 Key run is optimally performed on the Japanese version of the game instead of the US version. This is due to Peach not narrating her dialogue in the Japanese version, which saves more time than the longer in-game text costs. This time save is emphasized due to MDS skipping both the castle entry textbox and the BitDW textbox, both of which are longer on the Japanese version. Therefore, this run is not performed on the Japanese version because of version-exclusive glitches; it is performed on the Japanese version because the introduction is faster.

Explanation/Commentary

Castle Grounds

First, Mario performs a slope BLJ to gain speed in the castle grounds. Once Mario's intended next position is in the ceiling under the bridge, he continues BLJing, but it acts like a low ceiling BLJ instead. At this point, Mario has enough negative speed to negative jump past the grate into VCutM.

VCutM

Mario quickly falls down to the elevators. He then sets the camera to fixed cam to avoid a crash on console. Mario BLJs in order to get QPU speed (enough speed to perform PU movement). Since the elevator begins to turn, this allows Mario to use it get massive vertical platform displacement, which triggers the death barrier. Normally level death resets speed, but because Mario spawns in using a water exit, he is able to conserve his sliding speed. Then, by pressing Z to slide and C^ to conserve speed on the first frame on Mario is on ground (as water does not update sliding speed), he conserves his QPU speed into the castle grounds. Mario then navigates to the moat door's relative location in PUs, which he can do since PUs lack water. The game checks whether Mario should enter a door before it checks if he should swim, which allows Mario to open the door (from behind) when he navigates back to the main map.

Castle Basement

Mario rapidly swims through the basement and slides down to the 30 Star door area. He performs an SBLJ on the stairs, gaining enough speed to skip Board Bowser's Sub completely, and lands instead in Bowser in the Fire Sea.

Bowser in the Fire Sea

Mario traverses the beginning of the level, using the Hangable Ceiling Upwarp glitch to pass the pole. On the elevator, Mario performs an elevator BLJ to gain QPU speed. Then, Mario travels through a PU and performs an overflow jump, making use of high negative vertical speed to snap to the area with the bob-ombs (in a PU), before navigating into the warp for the Bowser fight.

Bowser Fight

When the stage is tilted, Mario BLJs to gain a large amount of speed. With this speed, Mario is able to move farther after grabbing Bowser's tail than normal, which places them closer to the mine than would otherwise be possible. After beating Bowser, Mario enters and pause-exits out of Dire, Dire Docks to quickly return to the castle lobby.

Castle Upstairs

Mario uses a ledge grab to quickly get up the first set of stairs. Although it is not visible on camera, Mario then performs a Side BLJ to gain speed. He clips through the 50 Star door. Mario then performs "Clock Punch", described here (scroll down). He then uses wall kicks to navigate past the Endless Stairs and into Bowser in the Sky.

Bowser in the Sky

Using a glitch known as squish cancel, Mario is able to redirect momentum from a BLJ vertically, allowing us to fly to the final elevator, and clip into the final Bowser pipe with another BLJ.

Final Bowser Fight

Mario fights Bowser as normal. At the end, Mario uses speed conserved from a BLJ to grab the Grand Star faster.