Super Mario Galaxy 2

From SDA Knowledge Base

Revision as of 23:42, 6 December 2012 by Doicm (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search


General Tricks

Jump 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.
  • Fast long jump landing: Normally, you lose your speed if you land from a long jump without following up with another long jump. However, if you press A and Z at about the same time to execute the long jump (instead of pressing Z before A), you will continue running immediately when you land.
  • Ground pound out of a long jump: During a long jump, press Z and spin at about the same time to do a ground pound. The timing can be strict; if done incorrectly, you will probably end up doing a homing stomp or a spin instead. Video
  • Long jump out of water: There seems to be a couple of ways to do this. In the first method, swim to the surface, press Z and spin at the same time, and then press A. In the second method, hold Z as you enter a body of water, build some speed on the surface, then hold A.
  • Spinning multiple times quickly: Spinning on the ground and then quickly jumping will reset the spin cooldown timer, so you can spin again immediately. Also, before landing from a mid-air spin, you can do an extra spin that can be used as an attack but cannot gain height. Taken together, these tricks allow you to spin-attack three times in a row.
  • 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
  • Super Short Long Jump This trick's cause is unknown. Video


Momentum Boosting

When Mario or Luigi is standing on a moving surface, the motion of that surface is added to Mario and Luigi's jumps. For example, when standing on a platform moving to the right, doing a long jump to the right will give you extra speed and distance. Likewise, when on a platform moving upwards, jumps can reach higher than normal. Video

  • Superbounce or catapulting: A noteworthy application of momentum boosting can be done in areas with reversible platforms (e.g. Flip-Swap Galaxy). It's possible to do a jump off of these platforms while they are swinging upward. The upward movement of the platform pushes Mario or Luigi while he jumps to provide extra height and distance. Video


Infinite Flutter

  • 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 to gain both height and distance indefinitely, although you gain height somewhat slowly.

Sideways infinite flutter

You can gain quite a bit of speed during an infinite flutter if you move sideways and slightly backwards. There are several subtleties to sideways infinite fluttering:

  • If you try to move even slightly forward with the analog stick during the flutter, you will lose almost all of your speed. Forward motion can be imparted through momentum boosting.
  • You can gain some speed by moving only backwards as well. The speed gain is smaller, but this can be useful in 2D sections where you cannot flutter sideways.
  • The speed you gain from infinite fluttering almost completely disappears after a certain amount of time passes. Generally, you can flutter about 7 or 8 times before you stop, but note that the number of flutters does not matter. You can do more or less flutters depending on how quickly or slowly you repeat each flutter.

    There are a few ways to extend the amount of distance you can cover. The easiest and most generally applicable method is to simply dismount just before your infinite flutter stops. Mario and Luigi can cover a lot of extra horizontal distance after dismounting, but their horizontal momentum goes away after several seconds. This technique can be used in Bowser's Galaxy Generator for a large shortcut.

    A more effective but trickier method to extend your distance is to bounce off an NPC or an object during the flutter. Things you can bounce off include almost any enemy, allies such as Toads, and giant berries (in Yoshi Star Galaxy). You can bounce off Yoshi's power-ups and berries as well if either a Smeech is attached to Yoshi's mouth or if you press the B button without pointing at anything.

    The least effective method to extend your distance is to start moving slightly forward once the infinite flutter loses its speed. While moving forward slows Yoshi to a crawl, you can cover an indefinite amount of distance this way. On the other hand, trying to move backwards covers no distance at all until Yoshi bounces off something or lands.

  • Aiming a sideways infinite flutter can be tricky. While you can adjust your trajectory to point slightly less backwards at any time, you cannot aim any farther backwards once a few seconds have passed.

    Generally, when trying to aim an infinite flutter, you should risk moving too far backwards rather than too far forward. If you're too far backwards, you can at least make an adjustment to your trajectory. In the worst case, you can slowly flutter forward until you reach your goal. On the other hand, if you're too far forward of your goal and you can't land or bounce off something, your only choice will be to dismount.


Power-ups

Cloud Flower

  • Quick clouds: Press Z immediately after making a cloud to cancel the cooldown and move sooner.
  • Spring Clouds: As Cloud Mario/Luigi, make a cloud, cancel the cooldown with Z, then jump just when the cloud reaches full size to gain extra height. There are a few common forms of this trick:
    • Long-jumping: While running, spin to form a cloud, then hold Z and press A to do a long-jump that gains extra height and distance.
    • Backflipping: This is just like doing a cloud-boosted long-jump, except you start off stationary. Video
    • Quick cloud boosting: Make a cloud, tap Z, then tap A in quick succession to do an extra high regular jump. This is the quickest but most difficult cloud-boosted jump technique. Video
  • Cloud clipping: There are 2 ways to move through the ground or a wall with clouds. Currently, no known shortcut utilizes these tricks:
    • The first method was found by akheon and Kazooie. The way this works isn't exactly known, but it seems to require a wall for the cloud to clip through and a curved gravitational field.
    • The second method exploits the fact that the sides of a cloud are solid. Normally, Mario and Luigi will die when they are crushed between 2 solid walls, but they cannot get crushed by the sides of a cloud.

      To exploit this method, find a place with a moving wall (such as the end of Cloudy Court) or a place where wind can push a cloud against a wall. Make a cloud near the wall, run off a side of the cloud, and press backwards to cling to the side of the cloud. With correct timing, Mario or Luigi should get squeezed between the cloud and the wall and get pushed through the wall.

Fire Flower

  • Quick fireballs: As Fire Mario/Luigi, repeatedly press Z while shaking the Wii remote to throw multiple fireballs without any delay between each. Video

Rock Mushroom

  • Midair spin jump: Enter a roll as Rock Mario/Luigi and do a jump. While in the air, do a spin and repeatedly press A at the same time to do a midair jump that can potentially gain a lot of height. This trick can be inconsistent; you might want to try shaking the nunchuck if you find tapping A while shaking the Wii remote difficult.


Misc. Tricks

  • Land cancel: When landing from a Launch Star, you normally have to wait about 1 second before you can move again. This wait can be nullified or shortened by a couple of techniques:
    • Jump cancel: Press A to do a jump as soon as you land. The required timing is extremely strict (possibly frame perfect).
    • Camera cancel: Quickly enter and exit first-person view upon landing. This approach is much easier than jump cancelling and it saves the same amount of time, but it can't be used during the initial landing into a Galaxy and in areas where first-person view is disabled.
  • Whomp glitch: The downward motion of a falling Whomp can be used to push Mario and Luigi through solid ground. Position yourself in front of a Whomp such that about half of Mario/Luigi's body is within reach of the Whomp. Jump just before the Whomp falls on you to clip through the ground. Video
  • For individual Star runs, wait about a second before ending the fly-in scene to start moving immediately.
  • 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.
  • Scroll through text quickly: Hold the A button to scroll through text more quickly than normal.


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 non-secret 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.
  • A note about star bits- when starting a new account, the banktoad will have 100 more than the amount you put in on your other account.
    • 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

Smg2 w1-map english.jpg
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

Smg2 w2-map english.jpg
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

Smg2 w3-map english.jpg
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

Smg2 w4-map english.jpg
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

Smg2 w5-map english.jpg
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

Smg2 w6-map english.jpg
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

Smg2 wS-map english.jpg
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
Personal tools