Super Mario Galaxy 2

General Tricks

• Getting the most out of jumps: Long jumps, backflips, sideflips, wall jumps, and triple jumps are used for countless major and minor timesavers in this game. You can always boost yourself a little bit by adding a spin at the end of a jump.
  • To get the best boost from a spin, hold the A button while spinning and you will go higher than normal.
  • Spins can be used in practically any jump trick. This wiki may tend to omit spins from jump trick explanations, assuming that the reader will know to add spins whenever more height or distance is needed.
  • Sideflips give about the same height as backflips do, though backflips can give more horizontal distance. Though this wiki may usually favor backflips, sideflips and backflips can be used interchangeably if jump height is the only concern. Sideflips are harder to execute than backflips, but sometimes doing a sideflip instead of a backflip will save time because you don't have to stop running to do a sideflip.
  • Triple jumps offer more height than backflips and sideflips. Sometimes the terrain will make it difficult to time your second and third jumps, but you can often just repeatedly tap A while running to perform a triple jump.
  • To get the most height out of a wall jump trick, spin before the wall jump as well as after the wall jump. Make sure you're not right against the wall when you spin, though, or you may deflect off of the wall without getting a spin boost. In many cases, a triple jump + spin + wall jump + spin combo will be the highest jump in your repertoire. However, a backflip + spin + wall jump + spin is easier, and sufficient for most jump tricks.

• Infinite flutter: Yoshi can use his flutter kick repeatedly if you do the following:

1. Start a flutter.
2. Before the flutter finishes and while still holding A, press and release Z.
3. Release and press A to start a new flutter.
4. Repeat.

This technique allows you do gain both height and distance indefinitely, although you gain height somewhat slowly. You'll gain distance faster if you move sideways, but you'll slow down after 7 or 8 flutters. Video

• Homing stomp: Mario and Luigi can perform a homing attack that will automatically target nearby enemies. To perform this technique, jump and use a midair spin attack. Before the spin attack has completed its animation, press Z to use your stomp attack. If your timing was right, you'll hear a different sound effect, and Mario/Luigi's landing will look different than it does after a normal stomp. If used close to an enemy, the stomp should home in on them. While this move could occasionally be useful in combat, its most interesting property is that it also targets NPCs such as the Toads. Frequently after bouncing off of an NPC's head this way, you will receive a significant horizontal boost, sometimes even greater than that of a long jump. The key is to doing this is to face away from the NPC. Video

• Quick cloud making: If you press Z immediately after making a cloud, you'll be able to move sooner.

• Spin delay reset: Spinning on the ground and then quickly jumping will reset the spin cooldown timer, so you can spin again immediately.

• Scroll through text quickly: Hold the A button to scroll through text more quickly than normal.

• Timing of moving elements:
  • Cutscene skips: skipping (or not skipping) the cutscenes after selecting a star will affect the timing of moving elements. This means that strategies may be adjusted depending on whether you are playing a full speedrun (where cutscenes can't be skipped) or an individual-level speedrun (where cutscenes may be skipped). Examples: spike panels and electric wires in Painting the Planet Yellow, penguins in Passing the Swim Test, Tox Boxes in The Secret Undersea Cavern.
  • Draw distance: some moving elements will not move at all when they are far away or offscreen. In some levels, this means that when you want to practice a timed element in a level, you don't have to worry about speedrun mistakes that were made earlier in the level. In other levels, turning the camera toward enemies (to let them move) or away from enemies (to stop them) can be part of the speedrun strategy.

• Getting 99 lives quickly: It's often convenient to have lots of lives for testing purposes. The fastest way to get to 99 lives is to go to the planet with the giant Koopas in star 1 of Supermassive Galaxy. Long jump onto one of the Koopa's shells and bounce on it repeatedly. Eventually, you'll start rapidly gaining lives.

• Super Short Long Jump Do a backflip+spin onto the white stick that sticks out of the house and do a long jump right after you first can when you land and then you will long jump shortly. It is unknown how this caused. Video

Run Categories

This holds a list of run routes that can be used.

71 Stars

• Fastest Time Done: 4:11:15
• In this run, you must collect 70 stars, leading up to the final level, getting the 71st star. Only get the comet medal for places that short comets, and make sure they do have comets, although, one level requires a comet medal to be speedrunned.
• Possible Route (Using banktoad):
• 1. Sky Station: Pewee Piranhas Temper Tantrum (Comet medal 1)
• 2. Sky Station: Storming the Sky Fleet
• 3. Yoshi Star: Saddle up with Yoshi (Comet medal 2)
• 4. Yoshi Star: Spiny Control
• 5. Spin Dig: Digga-Leg's Planet (Comet medal 3)
• 6. Spin Dig: Silver Stars Down Deep
• 7. Rightside Down: Breaking the Laws of Gravity (Comet medal 4)

Single-Segment

Segmented

120 Stars (50%)

• Fastest Time Done: No Run Aimed for this Category
• In the run, you must collect all 120 stars, beating the game again, with 48 out of the 49 comet medals.

Single-Segment

Segmented

242 Stars (100%)

• Fastest Time Done: No Run Aimed for this Category
• In the run, you get everything, 100%, all comet medals, all stars, all- everything.

Single-Segment

Segmented

Route Planning

Much of the following information (especially about unlocking conditions) is from the Japanese-language Shogakukan guidebook for SMG2. Please note that mistranslations may be possible, and that at this time of writing, this information has not been tested by SDA players for correctness. Route planners are encouraged to test any condition or requirement that looks out of place.

Comets

• Comets won't appear until you have collected 4 stars from World 3.
• A comet will be unlocked in a galaxy when you've:
  1. Completed all the normal scenarios (excluding secret scenarios) in that galaxy.
     • This means completing all the stars that come before the comet star in the galaxy's star-select screen. The star-select screen always displays normal stars first, then comet stars, then secret stars (see Puzzle Plank Galaxy as an example).
  2. Collected the comet medal in that galaxy.
  3. Collected enough comet medals to unlock the comet. (See Worlds section below for requirements specific to each comet.)
• A comet will not be immediately unlocked in a galaxy if:
  1. You just completed a star in that galaxy.
  2. There are already three comets in orbit (unlocked, but not finished) in that particular World. (Up to 3 comets are allowed in orbit per World.)

Banktoad, Star Bits

• Unlocked at 7 stars.
• The bank's star-bit storage is shared across all game files. Thus, a speedrunner could do all of the star bit collecting in a file other than the one used for the speedrun, and then simply withdraw all of the star bits in the speedrun file. However, this strategy may or may not warrant a separate SDA category, such as "New Game+".
• The bank can hold up to 9999 star bits.
  • For a 71-star run, no star bits are required to finish the run, though star bit collecting may be desired to play levels that are unlocked by feeding Hungry Lumas.
  • For a 120-star run, 8500 star bits (300 + 700 + 1000 + 1200 + 1500 + 1800 + 2000) are required to feed all the Hungry Lumas on the World maps.
  • For a 242-star run, unlocking the final scenario requires having 9999 star bits in the star bit bank, for a total of 18499 required star bits throughout the game.

Mailtoad

• Unlocked at 13 stars.
• Some of the Chimp's challenges (Fluffy Bluff, Honeyhop, Slimy Spring) and Fluzzard races (Wild Glide, Fleet Glide) are unlocked by reading Mailtoad letters. These letters will arrive when certain requirements are met.
• (To do: list requirements for the above-mentioned letters.)

Luigi

• Just like in SMG1, Luigi has faster running speed, longer long jumps, and generally higher and longer jumps than Mario.
• Luigi starts appearing at the beginning of levels when you've collected 3 stars from World 3.
  • Despite the fact that Luigi is better than Mario for speedruns (see first point), it is most likely not worth it to switch to Luigi within a level, unless Luigi is required for a very large shortcut. Additionally, Luigi's appearances seem to be random, though this has not been confirmed.
  • Luigi won't appear in certain scenarios, such as timed comet stars, daredevil comet stars, and Bowser or Bowser Jr. levels.
• After you clear Star 1 of Bowser's Galaxy Generator, you will be able to switch to Luigi at at any time in Starship Mario, and Luigi will stop appearing at the beginning of levels.

Worlds

World 1

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Sky Station	3. Peewee Piranha's Speed Run	Needs 5 comet medals
Yoshi Star	3. Spiny Rainbow Romp	Needs 2 comet medals
Spin-Dig	3. Digga-Leg's Daredevil Run	Needs 3 comet medals
Fluffy Bluff	2. The Chimp's Stomp Challenge	Available after a Mailtoad letter, which needs 15 stars
Flip-Swap	2. Purple Coin Flip 'n' Sprint	Needs 8 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla	2. Fiery Flotilla Speed Run	Needs 20 comet medals

World 2

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Puzzle Plank	2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault	Needs 4 comet medals, and need to complete Cloudy Court - 2. The Shadow Lining
Hightail Falls	2. Hightail Falls Speed Run	Needs 10 comet medals
Boulder Bowl	2. Rolling Crabber Romp	Needs 6 comet medals
Wild Glide	2. Jungle Fluzzard Race	Available after a Mailtoad letter, which needs completing Beat Block - 1. Step to the Beep
Bowser's Lava Lair	2. Lava Lair Speed Run	Needs 22 comet medals

World 3

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Tall Trunk	3. Tall Trunk's Purple Coin Slide	Needs 9 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Cloudy Court	2. The Shadow Lining	Needs 1 comet medal
Haunty Halls	3. Spooky Cosmic Clone Chase	Needs 12 comet medals, and need to complete Cloudy Court - 2. The Shadow Lining
Rolling Masterpiece	2. Masterpiece Speed Run	Needs 10 comet medals
Beat Block	2. Silver Stars in Double Time	Needs 31 comet medals
Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet	2. Megahammer's Daredevil Bash	Needs 27 comet medals

World 4

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Supermassive	2. Big Wigglers Speed Run	Needs 15 comet medals
Flipsville	3. Purple Coin Spin Speed Run	Needs 11 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Starshine Beach	3. Purple Coin Beach Dash	Needs 28 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Chompworks	3. Cosmic Clones in the Chompworks	Needs 18 comet medals, and need to complete Cloudy Court - 2. The Shadow Lining
Sweet Mystery	2. Bulb Berry's Purple Coin Glow	Needs 14 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Honeyhop	2. The Chimp's Score Challenge	Available after a Mailtoad letter, which needs completing Clockwork Ruins - 1. Time for Adventure
Bowser's Gravity Gauntlet	2. Gravity Star Speed Run	Needs 32 comet medals

World 5

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Slipsand	3. Squizzard's Daredevil Run	Needs 19 comet medals
Shiverburn	2. Octo-Army Icy Rainbow Romp	Needs 16 comet medals
Fleet Glide	2. Fastest Feathers in the Galaxy	Available after a Mailtoad letter, which needs completing Battle Belt - 1. Mini-Planet Mega-Run
Bowser Jr.'s Boom Bunker	2. Boomsday Machine Daredevil Run	Needs 34 comet medals

World 6

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Clockwork Ruins	2. The Adventure of the Purple Coins	Needs 26 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Throwback	3. Whomp Silver Star Speed Run	Needs 24 comet medals
Battle Belt	2. Mini-Planet Daredevil Run	Needs 30 comet medals
Flash Black	2. Dark Octo-Army Romp	Needs 23 comet medals
Slimy Spring	2. The Chimp's Coin Challenge	Available after a Mailtoad letter, which needs completing Bowser's Galaxy Generator - 2. Bowser's Big Bad Speed Run
Bowser's Galaxy Generator	2. Bowser's Big Bad Speed Run	Needs 36 comet medals

World S

Galaxy	Star	Notes
Mario Squared	2. Luigi's Purple Coin Chaos	Needs 38 comet medals, and need to complete Cloudy Court - 2. The Shadow Lining
Rolling Coaster	2. Purple Coins on the Rainbow Road	Needs 40 comet medals, and need to complete Puzzle Plank - 2. Purple Coin Shadow Vault
Twisty Trials	2. Turning Turning Double Time	Needs 42 comet medals
Stone Cyclone	2. Tox Box Speed Run	Needs 46 comet medals
Boss Blitz	2. Throwback Throwdown Speed Run	Needs 48 comet medals
Flip-Out	2. Cosmic Clone Wall Jumpers	Needs 44 comet medals, and need to complete Cloudy Court - 2. The Shadow Lining
Grandmaster	1. The Ultimate Test	Needs 240 stars
Grandmaster	2. The Perfect Run	Needs 241 stars, and needs 9999 star bits in Banktoad's storage