A Button Challenge
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 24 remaining A presses (18 unique A presses) left to optimize.
| 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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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 | 1 | LLL | To get to the Elevator Tour star platform |
| #3 | 2 | SSL | To get out of the pyramid elevator |
| #4, #5 | 1 | THI | To collect red coins |
| #6 | 3 | TTC | To get out of the treadmill grinding spot |
| #7 | 1 | TTC | To get to the moving bars star (possibly saved) |
| #8, #9, #10 | 1 | TTC | To get from the rotating boxes to the top of the clock |
| #11 | 1 | TTC | To get past the thwomp |
| #12 | 1 | PSS |
To collect the star |
| #13, #14 | 1 | WMotR |
To collect red coins |
| #15 | 1 | BitFS | To get past the pole (saved on Wii VC) |
| #16 | 4 | Castle | To enter TTC |
| #17 | 1 | Castle | To go to RR |
| #18 | 1 | Castle | To go to WMotR |
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.
Below is a table of all levels that require half an A-Press.
| 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 |