Super Mario 64 was just beaten without pressing the A button for the first time, and it took over 86 hours 

Apart from typical speedruns, Super Mario 64 is known for some unusual self-imposed challenges, including blindfolded and zero-star runs. On May 21, Super Mario 64 speedrunner Marbler took on one such infamous challenge, aiming to clear the game without using the A button. 

Known as ABC (A-button Challenge), this speedrun prohibits the use of the A button entirely, which means that players cannot perform actions such as jumping, long jumping, swimming and grabbing Chain Link Fences. As crazy as it may sound, this challenge was recently cleared by a player on the Wii Virtual Console version of Super Mario 64. They first started their run on May 18, and it took them a total of 86 hours to beat the game. 

The problem of how to jump in Super Mario 64 without pressing the A button was solved by the following technique – while running, pressing the B button activates a Dive motion, and pressing B again cancels this, resulting in a “jump” of a similar height as the standard A button jump. There are other hacks that involve pressing Start while performing other actions to gain altitude and climb steep slopes. In addition, the challenge involved collecting a minimum of 70 stars (out of the total 120) needed to access the final stage of the game, “Bowser in the Sky.” 

However, one of the biggest obstacles in clearing the A button challenge is the middle section of the “Bowser in the Fire Sea” stage. In this section, climbing up a specific green pole is the only way to access another part of the stage. To make Mario let go of the pole,  you need to press A. Clearing this stage without the A button was thought to be impossible, however a rather unbelievable way to overcome this was discovered in the Wii VC version of Super Mario 64 back in 2018.  Due to a miscalculation in the system, the floating platforms in this stage continue to rise. However, this happens very slowly, so it takes about 3 real-life days for the platforms to reach a level where you can bypass this pole without pressing A. Marbler actually made use of this gimmick in their run. 

After collecting 49 stars in about 4 hours, Marbler entered the “Bowser in the Fire Sea” stage. What followed was about 78 hours of waiting for the platforms to rise, the entire length of which is documented in the videos on Marbler’s Twitch channel. 

On May 21, after about 78 hours, the platforms finally rose to the needed height. Marbler was nervous to make the jump, as a single mistake would require them to start the lengthy process all over again, but they ultimately landed successfully onto the platform using B. 

After overcoming this hurdle, Marbler defeated Bowser and went on to collect the remaining 21 stars. Around the 85-hour mark, they reached “Bowser in the Sky,” the final stage of Super Mario 64, and finally recorded their victory at 86 hours, 48 minutes, and 30 seconds. 

Read about another bizarre Super Mario 64-related exploit that uses a penguin.

Translated by. Amber V (original article’s publication date: 2024-05-22 14:08 JST)