general information and strategy

There is no comprehensive source of information on speedrunning Bungie's Marathon trilogy. This page intends to correct that.

Aleph One

The open-source engine for modern computers is the most common way the Marathon games are played. Runs of M1A1 should not be accepted, as there are a multitude of changes to physics and enemy AI as compared to the original M1. For the later two games, it works practically identically as far as I can tell, with only slight differences enough to cause vids from the original versions to dwsync when played back through A1. Unless someone more knowledgable on the topic says otherwise, I see no reason not to accept A1 runs of these games.

A note about the crosshairs: Aleph One has an option in the preferences to place a crosshairs onscreen. As this did not exist in the original versions of the games, it should not be allowed.

M2 XBLA

For some reason (I suspect the framerate), a number of physics-based things work completely differently in the XBLA release of Marathon 2. As such, it is a separate category.

running

If playing the original versions of the games, assign your 'run' key to caps lock. Aleph One has an "always run" option, where running/swimming is on by default, and holding down the run key turns it off.

types of maps

Each level in the games can be one of four types of maps

reach the end: get to the end of the level, and you will be teleported out.

complete a task: perform a certain action in the level, then go to the end to be teleported out.

extermination: kill almost every enemy on the level, then go to the end too be teleported out.

exploration: view most of the map/go to specific locations on the map, then go to the end to be teleported out.

When a level is something other than the first, I will mention it in the description.

difficulty setting

In my opinion, only two of the five difficulty settings should be used for runs: Kindergarten and Total Carnage. The intermediate difficulties would make for too many categories.

major tricks

The following tricks exist across all three Marathon games, though some work a bit differently in M1 compared to M2 and Infinity.

grenade jumping

Simple enough on the surface. Shoot an assault rifle grenade at your feet to get boosted into the air in exchange for about 60% of a full bar of shields. Firing the primary trigger on the AR at the same time results in a notably bigger boost. There are variants in exactly how this is done, depending on the situation, but you will always want to hold "aim down" throughout the jump. Tutorials exist for both M1 and M2/Infinity.

You can also grenade hop by simply firing a grenade down in front of you. You take no damage and get a tiny boost, enough to reach very short ledges.

links to come.

Marathon grenade jumping

Grenade jumping in Marathon is generally done while moving toward your destination. As mentioned above, fire the primary trigger along with the grenade to gain extra height and make jumps that are tricky/not possible otherwise.

Of special importance is wall climbing. By facing a wall at a slight angle and running forward, then firing grenades (again combined with the primary trigger for a greater boost), you can gain a faintly ridiculous amount of height with just two or three grenades, allowing large parts of some levels to be skipped.

M2/Infinity grenade jumping

The easiest way to get high grenade jumps in the updated engine is by facing away from your destination, moving forward for a short moment, holding down both fire triggers, then switching to moving backwards.

Grenade jumping out of water has different physics, since rising out of the water adds to your momentum, allowing for even greater height.

straferunning

This one is very simple. Using both the strafe key and the move forward key to run makes you move notably faster.

rocket jumping

Similar to grenade jumping, but with rockets. If moving backwards while firing both rockets in the round, will gain about the height of a grenade jump, without taking damage. Also gives good movement speed. If you let the first rocket hit you, you gain much greater height and speed, in exchange for a bit less than two full bars of shields.

AR flying

While moving backwards, aim down and fire both triggers on the assault rifle to fly horizontally. Works far better in the later games (gives excellent speed as well), but can be useful in M1 for crossing certain gaps.

the running punch

When you have nothing but your pistol, a running punch does significantly greater damage. On Kindergarten, it can take out fighters in one hit. On Total Carnage, it takes three.

Marathon

There is a M1 only trick to rapid-fire the pistol/rapid punch. Quickly press the weapon switch keys one after another to reset the cooldown on firing. This might make the pistol actually useful in a speed setting

0: Arrival

A simple first level. On Kindergarten, just run straight through, punching any fighters that get in your way. A good straferun will let you jump over a good bit of the ledge leading to the maintenance tunnels. In the tunnels, take the route that isn't elevator-dependant, then keep going to the end.

On TC, you'll need to take the time to lure the fighter by the stairs away a bit so he doesn't block you (or kill him, if you can do it really quickly), then run up and trigger the fighters in the room with the pattern buffer, backtrack and wait for them to come down the stairs, then circle around the all and make a run for the door. Same path through the tunnels. On both difficulties, you may want to make a detour for the ammo in the secret room; if you're quick, you can pick it up and get back out before the door starts to close. Circle around the projectile fighters to reach the switch, then run for the end.

1: Bigger Guns Nearby

After grabbing the AR, return back the way you came and use a grenade to hit the switch for the stairs through the window to cut out a few rooms of travel and fighting (you can reach the ledge off of the second-to-last step, rather then waiting for the final one to rise).

The second part of the level is notably different depending on difficulty. On Kindergarten, you'll want to take the stairs between the two BioCore Vvents; it's maybe half-a-second slower than the grenade jump "secret", but preserves your health so you can instead use a grenade to skip the elevator to the exit terminal.

On TC, not only are the stairs much more congested with Phor, but trying to grenade jump straight to the final term is practically suicide. This time, you do want to use the "secret" route, then rush to the final room, using the primary fire of the AR to take out the Phor you need to kill (usually the second fighter in the zigzag hallway though you can sometimes slip past while shooting him, the projectile fighter in the straight narrow hallway should be shot as you approach to prevent him attacking, and the one on the spiral stairs immediately after blocking your way). The final room is very tricky. You can either immediately activate the elevator, praying you don't die in the process, then use some of your limited grenades together with bullets to take out some of the Phor on the ledge above as you go to the elevator, hope the compilers don't catch up and kill you as you wait for it to rise, then get to the exit terminal before you die; alternatively, slow down a bit to thin out the enemies first.

2: Never Burn Money

The first complete a task level. You need to collect all three uplink chips before you can exit the level. Prior to that, though, you need to recharge your shields. On Kindergarten, you can head straight there, mowing down anything in your way. For TC, lure the enemies away, then loop around through the back hallway to access the recharger.

After recharging, head downstairs, pick up the two chips and the secret ammo stash, then go straight back up and to the elevator to the final section. Make your way through the enemies and use a grenade jump to reach the raised platform in the final room, rather than hitting the switch. From there, proceed to the end as normal.

3: Defend THIS!

Another complete a task level. Very straightforward, the only things worth noting are that a grenade hop can let you get out of the crusher a second or so earlier, and that you only need to place one of the three chips: the one in the center door.

4: Couch Fishing

Three task levels in a row. While you're supposed to activate three switches, you only need to hit one of them: the one closest to the end section of the level. Of course, you still need to hit the switch that opens the door to the end section. In the first part of said end section, well-placed grenades can hit the switches to raise platforms from a distance. Then, for the final three rooms, the first you can cross with a strafe run, and the second and third with AR flying to quickly reach the end terminal. On TC, you'll probably need to clear out a good number of the enemies, and you might want to detour for some ammo, especially the secret stash.

5: The Rose

The first elimination level. Use your AR and the ammo you've been stockpiling to mow down everything in your way. Leave as many hulks alone as you can, since they're major bullet sponges. On TC, killing everything but the hulks on the central platform in the upper part of the level is enough for completion, not sure for Kindergarten.

6: Smells Like Napalm, Tastes Like Chicken

A task level again. Hit the switches in the maintenance tunnels, then go to the end. For the right set of tunnels, the platform to leave the area with the switch takes so long to move, you can activate it, run to the switch, then get back just as it rises. For the puzzle with the blue and green platforms, hit the bottom switch of the right pair to raise the first blue platform, then run across the already-raised green ones.

On TC, make a detour for the flamethrower.

7: Cold Fusion

Technically the first exploration level. You don't actually need to get the fusion pistol, just walk on the polygon (map segment) it's sitting on. Silly not to grab it anyway. Also, this level has the first wall climb in the run. After using the 2X recharger, you can wall climb up to the final section of the level. You'll be almost dead, but you skip basically everything, including lost of waiting for slow platforms. On TC, be careful not to die as you make your way to the end. You might be able to run past the cloaked compilers and burn everything in the final room fast enough to read the terminal before they catch up and kill you.

8: G4 Sunbathing

Task level once more. For the first two sets of switches, it's potentially faster to activate the first four switches by dropping down into the lower area and hitting them with precise charged shots from your fusion pistol, though actually doing this is highly unlikely. Of the final set of four switches, the only one you need to hit is the one immediately left after jumping across the gap. Be sure to leave this level with full 2X shields.

9: Blaspheme Quarantine

Normally, this level would be a nightmare for speedrunners, with lots of waiting for platforms and doors. Fortunately, we can skip all that by grenade jumping up o the trigger to open the door to the end level terminal. Your need to grenade jump up to the ledge you normally fall from after getting past the World's Slowest Door, using two jumps. The second part of this is unusual, since you are in a tight hallway with no room to move, and a player-height ceiling everywhere but the spot you need to jump in. Face away from the ledge above you and hold down both triggers. After two grenades (three total, so you're almost dead again), you'll be on the ledge. Back up a little, then move forward to activate the trigger for the final door. Remember to recharge again before ending the level.

The only difference for TC here is that it takes longer to clear out enemies to make room for jumping.

10: Bob-B-Q

A grenade jump right at the start of the level lets you skip almost everything. Not sure how feasible it is on TC though.

11: Shake Before Using...

A straightforward level for a speedrun. AR fly across the trap platform. Try to keep those 3X shields as long as possible.

12: Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!

An AR fly across the lava pit lets you skip almost everything. On TC, lure the enemies in the final room in one direction, then a second AR (or a straferun) fly to the other entrance lets you slip past most of them.

13: Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap!

A three-grenade wall climb lets you skip the pillars.

14: Habe Quiddam

This level has the tightest-health grenade jumps in the run. It's a task level.

Before going through the lava out of the first section, use the 2X recharger. After going through, kill everything without taking any damage. Then head straight for the lava pit with the alien energy converter. Grab it and grenade jump out as fast as you possibly can. Now go back through the lava to the first section and grenade jump back up. You should have just a sliver of shields left.

Recharge again, then a precise grenade jump will get you to the end terminal (requires two grenades, the second one hits the wall in front of the terminal as you approach, giving you the extra height you need).

15: Neither High Nor Low

One more level that can be all but completely skipped. Precise straferunning lets you jump around the pillars separating the spiral stairs into sections, allowing you to head straight for the switch that raises the central platform. Make sure to grab the rocket launcher and the 3X shields before leaving.

16: Phor Your Eyes Only

The first true exploration level. If there are specific polygons that need to be visited, I have no clue what they are. Just loop through the level, but don't bother with the secret area.

17: No Artificial Colors...

After taking the elevator up, go left and snipe the switch to lower the bridge. This will also open up the area to the right, where you can grenade or rocket jump through the window to reach the raised platform that will lower the wall.In the area with he big square pit, a grenade or rocket jump can cut out circling all the way around then back to reach the teleporter.

18: Unphorgiven

Same deal as level 16.

19: Two Times Two Equals...

Again the same.

20: Beware of Low-Flying Defense Drones

Grab the 3X shields and some ammo, pick up the invincibility, then run straight for the end.

21: Euphoria

Same as the last three Phor levels.

22: Phorophobia

Amazingly enough, this is an extermination level. Kill them.

23: Ain't Got Time Phor This

Thankfully, the final Phor ship level is one where you can just head for the end... almost. You need to activate the two switches in the central room first. When it comes to hitting the switches, keep in mind that grenades in these levels are essentially unaffected by gravity.

25: Welcome To The Revolution

A grenade jump skips the switch to raise the stairs in the lava room.

In the final room, you can rocket jump or wall climb to the exit terminal.

26: Try Again

Extermination. Use those rockets.

27: Ingue Ferroque

You can rocket jump straight from the start to the end. It can be deceptively tricky, so be sure to practice it a lot before trying to do runs.

Marathon 2: Durandal

coming soon

Marathon Infinity

coming soon