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A Button Challenge

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The A Button Challenge, ABC for short, 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 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 pannenkoek2012 and UncommentatedPannen channels is related to the A Button Challenge, with only 15 remaining A presses (12 unique A presses) left to optimize.[1]

A Button Challenge
Abbreviation ABC
Individual stars collectible 112 (Wii VC), 111 (Other versions)
Overall stars collectible 98 (Wii VC), 67 (Other versions)
Is beatable Yes (Wii VC), No (Other versions)
Presses required for Any% 0 (Wii VC), 1 (Other versions)
Presses required for 120-Star 13 (JP 1.0), 15 (Wii VC), 16 (Other versions)
Star Details
BoB

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WF

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JRB

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CCM

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BBH

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HMC

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LLL

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SSL

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DDD

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SL

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WDW

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TTM

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THI

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TTC

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RR

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Secret

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Castle

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Bowser

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History

Main article: History of the A Button Challenge

Although much of the progress in the ABC has been made since 2013, the ABC 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.[2] Curtis Bright, who runs sm64.com, was keeping track of ABC at least as early as December of 2006.[3] 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.[4] (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.[5] 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 counts as possible, and the number has dropped to only 15 A presses in a 120 star run (as well as 0 in any% on WiiVC).

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.

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.

A Press # Multiplicity Stage Purpose
#1 1 JRB To collect the chest star
#2 2 SSL To get out of the pyramid elevator
#3 1 THI To double jump to a higher platform and collect red coins
#4 1 THI To dive to the upper platform and grab the high red coin
#5 1 TTC To get out of the pendulum box pedro spot with vertical speed
#6 1 PSS To collect the star
#7 1 WMotR To shoot out of the cannon after talking to the Bob-omb Buddy to reach the next cannon
#8 1 WMotR To shoot out of the second cannon, fly around, and collect the eight red coins
#9 1 BitFS To get past the pole (saved on Wii VC)
#10 3 Castle To enter TTC (6 except on JP N64)
#11 1 Castle To go to RR
#12 1 Castle To go to WMotR

In addition, Shindou-based versions of the game require an additional A press to complete Elevator Tour in the Volcano, as it is not possible to death cancel the bully in such versions.

Also, some levels require the A button to be held at the beginning the level, but not started on that specific star necessarily. These presses can be held from earlier presses to lower counts in longer runs, but still count as a full press on single-star runs. Such A presses are referred to as "half A presses," and result in A press counts such as 2.5[6]. Note that only one half A press can be required per star.

Below is a table of all levels that require half an A-Press.

Half A Press # Multiplicity Stage Purpose
#1 1 HMC To do kicks on the elevator
#2 1 DDD To clone the whirlpool and poles
#3 1 DDD To clone coin spawners for 100 coins
#4 1 TTC To kick the wall and get spawning displacement on the spinner (for 0x re-entry after Get a Hand)

References

  1. ↑ "SM64 120 Star ABC Route" spreadsheet
  2. ↑ An archive of A Button Challenge on Walton Dell's site
  3. ↑ An archive of A Button Challenge on sm64.com
  4. ↑ A Button Challenge on oocities.org
  5. ↑ "SM64 - Five Itty Bitty Secrets - 0x A Presses (OUTDATED)" by pannenkoek2012
  6. ↑ Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses
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