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{{A Button Challenge infobox}}
The '''A Button Challenge''' (initialism: '''ABC''') 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 pressing {{button|A}} makes [[Mario]] [[jump]], which is intended to be the main gameplay mechanic of ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', 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 [[glitch]]es 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 challenge 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 the 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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy7XDStV5WE "SM64 - Five Itty Bitty Secrets - 0x A Presses (OUTDATED)" by pannenkoek2012]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 A presses as possible, and the number has dropped to only 13 A presses in a 120 star run, as well as 0 in any% on WiiVC.

==Remaining A presses==
A ''unique A press'' is a single circumstance under which {{button|A}} must be pressed to progress during a run. The same 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.

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Unique A presses
|-
!scope="col"|{{abbr|#|Number}}
!scope="col"|{{abbr|&times;|Multiplicity}}
!scope="col"|Course
!scope="col"|Purpose
|-
!scope="row"|1
|style="text-align: center;"|2
|[[SSL]]
|Get out of the pyramid elevator / Get past the [[pole]]
|-
!scope="row"|2
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|rowspan="2"|[[THI]]
|[[Double jump]] to a higher platform to collect [[red coin]]s
|-
!scope="row"|3
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|[[Dive]] to the upper platform and grab the high red coin
|-
!scope="row"|4
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|[[PSS]]
|Collect the [[Power Star]]
|-
!scope="row"|5
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|rowspan="2"|[[WMotR]]
|Shoot out of the [[cannon]] after talking to the [[Bob-omb Buddy]] to reach the next cannon
|-
!scope="row"|6
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|Shoot out of the second cannon to fly around and collect the seven remaining red coins
|-
!scope="row"|7
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|[[BitFS]]
|Get past the pole. Saved on [[Wii VC]].
|-
!scope="row"|8
|style="text-align: center;"|3
|rowspan="3"|[[The Castle|Castle]]
|Enter [[TTC]]. Without [[spawning displacement]] (all [[version]]s but [[Super Mario 64#Japanese|JP N64]]), this must be done 6 times.
|-
!scope="row"|9
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|Go to [[RR]]
|-
!scope="row"|10
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|Go to WMotR
|}

Also, some levels require {{button|A}} to be held, but not necessarily to be pressed within that specific mission. These can be held from presses in previous levels, but take an extra press in single-star runs. Such A presses are notated as ''half A presses'', and result in A press counts such as 2.5&times;.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses]</ref> Only one half A press can be required per star.

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Half A presses
|-
!scope="col"|{{abbr|#|Number}}
!scope="col"|{{abbr|&times;|Multiplicity}}
!scope="col"|Course
!scope="col"|Purpose
|-
!scope="row"|1
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|[[JRB]]
|Gain [[hyperspeed]] from kick landing
|-
!scope="row"|2
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|rowspan="2"|[[DDD]]
|[[Clone]] the pole
|-
!scope="row"|3
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|Clone [[coin spawner]]s for [[100 coins]]
|-
!scope="row"|4
|style="text-align: center;"|1
|[[TTC]]
|[[Kick]] the [[wall]] and get spawning displacement on the [[spinner]], for 0&times; re-entry after [[Get a Hand]]
|}

==Version differences==
There are many different versions of ''Super Mario 64'' that have slightly different physics or glitches. These can change the A press and star counts.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IEhqUAuCY The 14 Remaining A Presses]</ref>

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!scope="col" rowspan="2"|Version
!scope="colgroup" colspan="2"|A press count
!scope="colgroup" colspan="2"|Stars obtainable
|-
!scope="col"|[[120 Star]]
!scope="col"|[[70 Star]]
!scope="col"|Individually
!scope="col"|Overall
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|[[N64]] JP 1.0
|13
|rowspan="5"|1
|rowspan="5"|111
|rowspan="5"|67
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|N64 US
|rowspan="4"|16
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|N64 PAL
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|N64 JP 1.3<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou">[[Shindou]] version</ref>
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|[[Super Mario 64 (iQue)|iQue]]<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|[[Wii VC]] JP<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|rowspan="3"|15
|rowspan="3"|0
|rowspan="3"|112
|rowspan="3"|98
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|Wii VC US
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|Wii VC PAL
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|[[Wii U VC]] JP<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|rowspan="7"|16
|rowspan="7"|1
|rowspan="7"|111
|rowspan="7"|67
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|Wii U VC US
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|Wii U VC PAL
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|''3D All-Stars''<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|[[NSO]] JP<ref group="lower-alpha" name="shindou" />
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|NSO US
|-
|scope="row" style="background: #eaecf0;"|NSO PAL
|}
;Notes
<references group="lower-alpha" />

==See also==
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvvhlevqC2d6vis077yFHuLJHYtTtqe_ A Button Challenge playlist] by pannenkoek2012
*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ypRVVRyf4x-v8GqCSmKYnicrfKSIjao3Y1ZVl52RIyM/edit?usp=sharing A Button Challenge routes] by pannenkoek2012
*[https://youtu.be/yXbJe-rUNP8 Complete History of the A Button Challenge] by Bismuth (as of 2022, slightly outdated)

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