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{{A Button Challenge infobox}}
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 [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>
==History==
{{main|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.<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 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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy7XDStV5WE "SM64 - Five Itty Bitty Secrets - 0x A Presses (OUTDATED)" by pannenkoek2012]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 counts as possible, and the number has dropped to only 14 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.
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 50%;"
|-
! scope="col" |A Press #
! scope="col" |Multiplicity
! scope="col" |Stage
! scope="col" |Purpose
|-
|#1
|2
|SSL
|To get out of the pyramid elevator
|-
|#2
|1
|THI
|To [[Double Jump|double jump]] to a higher platform and collect [[Red Coin|red coin]]s
|-
|#3
|1
|THI
|To dive to the upper platform and grab the high red coin
|-
|#4
|1
|PSS
|To collect the star
|-
|#5
|1
|WMotR
|To shoot out of the cannon after talking to the Bob-omb Buddy to reach the next cannon
|-
|#6
|1
|WMotR
|To shoot out of the second cannon, fly around, and collect the eight red coins
|-
|#7
|1
|BitFS
|To get past the pole (saved on [[Wii VC]])
|-
|#8
|3
|Castle
|To enter TTC (6 except on [[Super Mario 64#Japanese|JP N64]])
|-
|#9
|1
|Castle
|To go to RR
|-
|#10
|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<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses]</ref>. 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.
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="0" cellspacing="1" style="width: 50%;"
|-
! scope="col" |Half A Press #
! scope="col" |Multiplicity
! scope="col" |Stage
! scope="col" |Purpose
|-
|#1
|1
|JRB
|To gain hyperspeed from kick landing
|-
|#2
|1
|HMC
|To do kicks on the elevator
|-
|#3
|1
|DDD
|To clone the whirlpool and poles
|-
|#4
|1
|DDD
|To clone coin spawners for 100 coins
|-
|#5
|1
|TTC
|To kick the wall and get spawning displacement on the spinner (for 0x re-entry after [[Get a Hand]])
|}


ˢᶜᵘᵗᵗˡᵉᵇᵘᵍ ʲᵃᵐᵇᵒʳᵉᵉ
==References==
<references />
{{Challenges}}