TAS Explained: Super Mario Bros. 3 in 0.2 seconds

[@pannnella]

fun fact: in an interview with kotaku, Shigeru Miyamoto said that "if super mario bros. 3 gets beaten in less than 0.21594863 seconds, i'll give away all my [money] to good!" as in charities and fundraisers. almost there man, just a little bit more, never stop.

[@JackOfAllTradez_]

The way you wrote it looks like [KROMER]

[@777Plushy]

I will have to ask for the specific source

[@KadenCollett]

@@777Plushy The source is obviously "trust me bro"

[@FroztYcle4737]

@@777Plushyi suppose it's time to get searching!

[@pannnella]

@@777Plushy kotaku

[@dukemagus]

When you're starting to get the "frame rule bus" analogy and this dude runs over you with a sub scanline speed Ferrari.

[@renakunisaki]

Imagine a bus traveling at the speed of light...

[@JoBot__]

@@renakunisaki That'd be a really bumpy ride.

[@natespurgat6245]

@@JoBot__technically, no, since time would not pass on the bus. Relativity gaming

[@JoBot__]

@@natespurgat6245 If you were inside the bus, you should technically feel the bumps, but the universe around you would end before you noticed it, because you're moving at the speed of light so now time around you is passing at infinite speed.

[@dantedeloden]

computer cycles my friend, a smaller scale of time than frames per second. computer cycles happen. The speed of a CPU is measured in cycles per second, or hertz. For example, a CPU with a clock speed of 3.2 GHz executes 3.2 billion cycles per second makes frames look kind of big and useless, this run is faster than 1 frame rule in SMB1 anyways.

[@yukimoe]

Oh neat, a 20 minute video on what is happening in a 0.2 second video those are always fun

[@tontonation]

The shorter the run the longer the explanation video is lol

[@johneygd]

And the less serious they will talk about it🤣

[@MitchPlease]

The explanation is about 6000x longer than the run lol

[@NeoGamemaster]

Hey be grateful, at least this one doesn't rely on parallel universes

[@WoodymC]

LOL, fun to see all of my thoughts and calculations compacted in this thread 🤣

[@incredirocks_]

*need to press subframe perfect inputs at the rate of 8000 times per second* Speedrunners: so you're saying there's a chance

[@nicolac.858]

I laughed out loud. You don't have that many likes (yet) but thank you😭 I found that particularly funny for some reason

[@CuongTruong-cb3mk]

800-player speedrun has been done in 0.61447226 seconds.

[@OfficialMageHD]

"It's not possible" speedrunners: "no, it's necessary"

[@JoshWiniberg]

Niftski would get it 99% correct then quit because he didn't want to get it on day 1 of the grind

[@rtg_onefourtwoeightfiveseven]

TASs are usually measured by the interval between first and last input, but I think a reasonable alternate metric should be the ratio of that interval to the length of the explanatory KZbin video.

[@SenrabMJam]

Wait this is genius, cant wait to see how mario bros 3 was beaten in 0.21594864 seconds in 0.21594864 seconds

[@HarpoCoatl]

Don't they start at power on

[@ferociousfeind8538]

​@HarpoCoatl the first input is power on :P

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Goodhart's law applies

[@TonyTheTGR]

To be fair, there's your 0-9 digits and chapter headings if you're speedrunning THIS. Plus the playback speed.

[@Claudible]

I learned 6502 assembly 35 years ago. I learned about TASs 20 years ago. The idea that CPUs work like karaoke cues and that a TAS is similar to MIDI just blew my mind. I believe there's no better analogy!

[@ultrio325]

This is such a 4C 00 moment

[@Zeropointill]

Not really an analogy, more like a function of all computer language...

[@Fritzafella]

Agreed. I learned 6502 very in depth fairly recently, and the karaoke analogy was way better than anything I've attempted.

[@freedustin]

music box or player piano for explaining to non-technical peoples.

[@lofwyr5063]

@@freedustin music box is much more apt, since it is a lot more 'rooted in the present' and 'sequential'. Karaoke has an element of future prediction (you get prompted the lyrics ahead of time and can mentally prepare)

[@Bismuth9]

Oh boy I know this video is going to be very good

[@Bismuth9]

Update: this video was very good

[@100thCoin]

@@Bismuth9 I'm glad you liked it!

[@FuelFire]

Holy shit it's the potassium man!

[@ClassicBentobox]

@@Bismuth9OH BANANA

[@SuperM789]

bimuth

[@SuperM789]

well my brother rodd todgers can beat smb3 in 4 microseconds by starting with a fire flower. i was there and saw him do it, so don't you dare doubt his genius

[@100thCoin]

I guess TAS is lacking that human element required to beat games during the power on function.

[@bramp3914]

Pssh, you can use a method known as Hammering to beat the game before it's even inserted.

[@themilkman6969]

started smb3 tas in second gear

[@PilkScientist]

​@@100thCoin easy. Beat game. Reset console. In the microseconds before the RAM clears, everything will be set to same values as a finished game. Therefore, game is finished.

[@CodingButter]

But what color buttons are you emulating? And are you 100% sure about that answer.. ​@@100thCoin

[@charlesabju907]

On average this video explains 0,011 second of the TAS per minute of video

[@pmnt_]

I cant wait for the 43000 times less efficient video.

[@tokeivo]

To be fair, that's about the same rate as the average historian.

[@idkcba]

1% of a second per minute, wow.

[@Kierio04]

18:57 the 5 microsecond TAS genuinely got me so excited that this self-promotion actually worked

[@itloaf]

yeah same here lol

[@lunlunnnnn]

yep, usually I don't subscribe when people tell me to, but in this case I did

[@ultrio325]

same

[@SalamanderMoon]

same lol, honestly a great hook to get people to subscribe

[@aetherarcanist4819]

same! I really wanna see that, this guy explains things very well!

[@AudiblePain]

These glitches are getting closer and closer to the urban legends like “run around Lon Lon ranch 69420 times and you win”

[@DavidPysnik]

Well, it was originally a pipe dream to “resurrect” General Leo in Final Fantasy VI, but exploiting odd game mechanics decades later has made that a reality. You don’t even need a program to do it for you.

[@tokeivo]

@@DavidPysnik We can even "resurrect" that girl from FF7 now, and complete the game with her. "Aerith", maybe? The one stabbed by Sephiroth. (I was more of a FF8 and 9 guy)

[@lofwyr5063]

@@tokeivo AerithhhhhhhhhhHHhhHHHhhHHhhHHhhHHhhHHhhhHhhhHHhhhH *raspberries spittle all over the screen* What were they thinking with that name?

[@novat9731]

The day some scientist receives a nobel prize in physics for proving that we are living in a simulation. They are gonna get on the podium and talk about how their career began in TAS science.

[@Bennici]

Subjective Reality any% TAS

[@TwoGuysOnePassion]

only a matter of time until someone achieves RCE on the simulation

[@zacknattack]

i love lenna's inception

[@hughcaldwell1034]

Anthem Underrun...

[@SynchronizorVideos]

It’ll either be a TAS expert, or someone who studies cats for a living. It’s a toss-up.

[@RipVanFish09]

16:30 I love huge complicated footnotes. I also love _oders_ of operations. :)

[@100thCoin]

Ahhhhh! I had a feeling there would be a typo somewhere. I don't think I've made a full video without one yet. Better luck next time.

[@RipVanFish09]

@@100thCoin you’ll achieve the impossible eventually. :P

[@100thCoin]

@@RipVanFish09 Here's hoping for the next video!

[@xenalin1]

@@100thCoin well you beat the game in a fifth of a second, so I guess we can let it slide

[@hellomynameisjoenl]

Operations with a smell to them

[@ExulantBen]

You know, this guy is crazy, he edited and posted a whole f*ckin ~20min video video in 4:3 in 2024

Should have done 3:4 for that vertical vibe.

[@justafoon]

Ah yes, my favorite genre of KZbin: educational and informative videos using insane or hilarious gaming feats

[@CookieMage27]

Faaaax

[@nodrance]

This video is the new record for longest analysis of something relative to its actual duration (not counting particle physics)

[@RareSun]

16:17 I didn't expect Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to be referenced in a video like this.

[@agentpeter307]

i was literally gonna say that 🥯

[@cookiecatto]

@@agentpeter307I came to the comments for that exact reason 😭

[@IYIisIYIatch]

As soon as you said "in a world where we can place different inputs at any moment on a timeline" I remember thinking: "oh you could just change the inputs every time it reads it." Good job leading me into a conclusion you wanted me to make

[@filipecattoni]

TheZZAZZGlitch commentated video and a new 100th Coin commentated video in two days, god has blessed us

[@pheonixmmkc]

Haha here for both

[@CovenantAgentLazarus]

I swear to God I was literally about to say that

[@bobstevenson3130]

Always amazing when my favorite content creators upload at the same time

[@Geenimetsuri]

Hours & hours of fun! * completes the game in 0.2 seconds *

[@100thCoin]

Surely this is what the developers intended.

[@phabrick8r21]

Just as Miyamoto and Sakurai intended. ​@@100thCoin

[@phabrick8r21]

​@@100thCoin"No, this isn't how you're supposed to play the game." ~Sakurai during DLC #9 reveal, SSBU, 2021

[@Vgamer311]

2:33 missed opportunity to extend this video by about ten hours

[@睷]

almost a 20 minute video explaining what happens in one fifth of a second is crazy

[@BostonCycling_]

I learned more about assembly language from this single video than I have in over 30 years of life

[@the_m_original]

less than a quarter of a second****

[@CovenantAgentLazarus]

This reminds me so much of how you have to input the level select code in Sonic 3. Except it's like Beyond explanation how much more difficult it is

[@Bisqwit]

Thanks for publishing this video! (From the founder of TASVideos.)

[@100thCoin]

Oh wow, hey Bisqwit! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@dontraiseriggy752]

0.2159486"476190" repeating seconds explained in under 20 minutes? Gotta watch the video!

[@lilarrin1220]

TASer C. Clarke: Any sufficiently advanced TAS is indistinguishable from magic

[@jell0goeswiggle]

That the DPCM audio buffer is a single byte is hilarious to me. Fantastic video. I can't wait to learn about the 5μs exploit!

[@JorWat25]

I was hoping for Mario 3 explained in 0.2 seconds, but this will have to do...

[@100thCoin]

If you set the video speed to 5890 times faster than normal, you should get something close to that wish.

[@JewelMaven]

@@100thCoin Same energy as Peter griffin saying he can recite all 50 states in a quarter of a second.

[@spencerfair7505]

@@100thCoin That would be a Tool Assisted Explanation, or TAE.

[@ConduitOfStars]

fuck man i was not expecting a youtuber with less than 5k subs who has quality better than many 100k sub youtubers to suddenly explain to me how the source code and hardware of SMB3 / NES to beat the game in less than a frame but im here and i enjoyed that edit: as I posted this i refreshed and you hit 5k lol (good job!)

[@100thCoin]

woo! Glad to hear you liked the video!

[@Stratocaster42]

He's over 10k now! Well deserved

[@SynoPTL]

0:32 I finally spotted LMMS in the wild for once

[@William-nw4sk]

What I was thinking.

[@mrsentrybuster]

That's what i use! 😀

[@SynoPTL]

Nice, all three LMMS users have found the same video

[@mrsentrybuster]

@@SynoPTL lol

[@William-nw4sk]

@@SynoPTL It really is a very nice software. Sure, it is lacking a few modern plugins (such as VST3), but I think it's the easiest DAW to work with. I've tried Cakewalk, but the interface is a bit cluttered, in my opinion.

[@Dog_Dogs]

God. I love this video, and by extension, your channel. Your editing is superb, and your combination of it with programming and artistic/design knowledge leads to these videos being far more pleasant than just about every other speedrun explanation video I have seen. I reckon this is the first time I haven't fallen asleep watching them! Good pacing, concise, attention to detail. Not like I understand anything about assembly code... but that's besides the point. Peak. Good job.

[@100thCoin]

Wow, thank you! I really appreciate it!

[@Nicolas-ty2xk]

The second you said it was a TAS you created I knew this would be a passion project created with love and not just a youtuber who wanted to find the most clickable title and that's how I know it's gonna be a good one

[@Jacob82733]

wow. i've been searching for a good explanation of this bug for years. yes, seriously. this video sums it up *really* well. i can't explain how excited i was when this showed up on my recommended. thank you for making this awesome video.

[@100thCoin]

I'm glad I was able to explain this bug thoroughly!

[@kw4093-v3p]

This is an amazing introduction to assembly language! As someone who had to code 6502 assembly in college, this was a really cool video to see you break down

[@xanderrock98]

This guy is fucking amazing at Mario. Here we see a player so incredibly skilled at Mario to where he beats the game in 0.2 seconds

[@ColbyePresents]

*Said every speedrunner who uses exploits aka cheats.*

[@100thCoin]

@@ColbyePresents If you think exploits are cheating in a TAS, you are missing the entire point of making a TAS. TASes are not competing with RTA runs, and even still, there's an RTA category for the wrong warp and several categories for completing the game without the wrong warp. In fact, some categories require Game Genie, such as Frog%. Your definition of cheating is evidently not what a community of people agree with.

[@sutfolsemaj]

​@@ColbyePresents🗿 My brother in Christ, if it's in the game it's in the game

[@Baard5Szomoru]

​@@100thCoin still pointless to play a game and beating it in less than half a second. This is absurd. You're playing nothing. Just tweaking your computer.

[@100thCoin]

@@Baard5Szomoru If you found no point to it, that's on you. I find meaning in my work. It's a fun logic puzzle to turn a game into this sort of optimization problem, where the most insignificant programmer oversight can cascade into something this absurd. It's not for everyone, but it's absolutely my cup of tea.

[@Invariel]

This is a fantastic explainer of not just your publication, but also what came before. I remember contributing a bit of Lua to the intermediate TAS where the shells were being lined up in 1-1, and being aware of most of what was going on in the actual run, and am really happy to see everything spelled out plainly (and technically). Looking forward to the 5ms version.

[@thecloudwyrm7966]

what an educational video! I didn't actually learn anything (brain turned into a fine slurry) but it sure felt like I learned something!

[@RichConnerGMN]

congrats on beating super mario bros in 1417163/6562500ths of a second

[@100thCoin]

Thanks!

[@roundupssbm]

Omg hi!

[@RichConnerGMN]

@@roundupssbm hi

[@HouseOfFunQM]

Oh my god as soon as you said it was related to the PCM audio bug, I knew exactly how this was gonna work! This is absolutely GENIUS!

[@ladyravendale1]

I love seeing cursed assembly nonsense, and this definitely hits the spot! Can’t wait for the next video

[@Krutonium]

Someone please make sure I see the 5 Microsecond video, this is awesome.

[@emilycurtis766]

damn can't wait for the next video already. I'm very much enjoying the style and the scribbly artwork.

[@duyo1310]

I never learned anything related to coding in my life, so I have almost 0 idea what the video is about. But even though I dont understand the technical part of the vid, gotta say the editing is immaculate. I cant even begin to imagine how much effort went into just the editing, let alone the amount of IQ needed for everything else lol

[@bananabunch55]

Although I don't know much about programming, this definitely helped me understand ACE better than any other video I've seen. Great video!

[@redspah]

18:48 That is 9 CPU cycles. Jesus christ

[@100thCoin]

Correct.

[@musaran2]

Speedrun timing went from minutes, to seconds, to frames, to CPU cycles.

[@the_m_original]

i was about to ask a question about how many cpu cycles would it be for 5 microsec in the comment section but thanks to you i dont have to anymore

[@LimeonCandy]

I normally understand complicated technical videos like this but I genuinely was staring at my screen drooling for 20 minutes trying to comprehend this video

[@LegoWormNoah101]

I love how you recorded everything in 4:3

[@TARINunit9]

Forcing a function to run 8,000 times when it was only meant to run maybe once or twice in order to corrupt the RAM, that makes me wonder if we've discovered what the Mario world version of quantum mechanics is

[@renakunisaki]

Quantum entanglement is a use-after-free exploit. Getting two particles allocated in the same memory so they share properties.

[@chrisoneal2718]

Come on MitchFlowerPower, time for you to beat this TAS world record!!

[@xodiaq]

92% of this went over my head, but I never felt dumb watching. Good job with hard subject matter!

[@pafnutiytheartist]

20 minute explaination of a 0.2 second run? I'm in!

[@coxandrewj]

My current class in school is in regards to Operating Systems. It’s actually amazing how much information from my class was jam packed into this video. Very well presented

[@alliepiper4772]

I love your animations and humor, along with the technical-yet-accessible explanations. Really well done and entertaining!

[@ArkahnX]

I'd always been curious how TAS runs would execute arbitrary code with just controller inputs, but never looked it up. This explained it completely in a very easy to digest way, thanks! Also, very cool run

[@abby_babber]

This is absolutely killer stuff. Mindblowing that people are able to figure these things out.

[@blikthepro972]

"you're running to catch a bus, i'm outpacing the scanline"

[@Malleo]

Great explanations and great editing for a great TAS!

[@100thCoin]

Hey, thanks Malleo!

[@Blobfish_Times]

Very sick video and TAS! Even if I didn't fully get everything, I now at the very least understand the basics of why excessive sub-frame inputs do anything at all in regards to ACE

[@vlc-cosplayer]

To the Joker, this is a perfectly normal run.

[@bobbymcgraw2168]

I'm glad that there's a KZbinr/Speedrunner showing up that actually knows whats happening and can explain it in depth.

[@FinalSparkLux]

Finally, KZbin actually recommended me something I enjoyed for once. Looking forward to that apparent 5 microsecond speed run :D

[@AgentSapphire]

I've seen a lot of videos about ACE and how it works in a variety of speedruns to just win the game but this is the first time someone has broken it down so nicely. Thank you. I don't know assembly but I would be interested in seeing a more in-depth and technical explanation of what specifically makes all of this happen. Its fascinating.

[@seba2366]

I would like to mention that there are also "Tool Assisted Playtroughs" which neither go for a Super fancy, technically marvelous strat or a strat to get the lowest time but sometimes for Scoring or to get a special goal...

[@bevweb]

I think you're just describing tool assisted superplays?

[@dillthepill08]

a while back i made a text document trying my best to decipher the tas videos page explanation so im so glad you came out with this

[@jogloran]

I love your voice acting. Don’t ever stop.

[@jogloran]

btw, I would totally give to your Patreon/non-evil equivalent. As an emulator author, breaking down TASs and superplays at exactly this level of detail is like candy to my brain

[@100thCoin]

@@jogloran I don't currently have a patreon (should I set one up?) so right now the best thing to do would be to buy my game and tell others about it.

[@Kirbyfan86_27]

Fantastic video! It’s very interesting how the game can be beaten in a quarter of a second

[@Snooty4835]

18:51 A 5 microsecond TAS… to try and understand how ungodly fast this TAS is, (assuming no loading/down time) it would take almost EIGHTY runs of this TAS for LIGHT cross the length of the Great Salt Lake, holy hell man.

[@100thCoin]

You know, I never did that calculation myself, but that's an amazing statistic! Thanks!

[@zenif74]

I’ve been very interested in ace in many old games, and this is by far the best explanation of that. Awesome video!

[@austincarter9523]

"A surprise tool that will help us later" childhood activated

[@ChaoticKatOwO]

12:10 I love the detail of the NES controllers looking squished similarly to other NES games due to the fact that CRTs would stretch the 16:15 aspect ratio to 4:3!! Such a cool detail!

[@pokechamp3987]

I find it hillarious how speedrun times slowly transition over time from playing the game normally as fast as possible, to playing it in often frustrating ways, all the way to avoiding to play the game at all, if possible. As someone who speedruns GoldenEye 007 which still feels more or less intact, I'd find it funny if after 27 years of practising, someone found a way to go to the ending screen of any level by just entering a combo in the openeing cut scene. That way all 20 levels could have a 0 or 1s UWR and the 100% run would be to just repeat that trick 20 times.

[@lavkian]

I got about 90 seconds into this video and you were using transition styles I've never seen in other videos. The way the forum posts scrolled and then resized, then the slide in for the game screen was on point. Love the editing.

[@iAmGGlitch]

i think i understood half of the words you said, and gave myself a headache while doing so

[@ReploidArmada]

Not only warping *straight* to credits, but inside a quarter of a second, and explaining how it's done, AND making the explanation (kind of) easy enough to understand for people who don't know Assembly?! Yes please I will watch more videos thank you

[@cloudsquall88]

Videos like this are the ultimate answer to those who say that without capitalism people would have no motive to work.

[@atomdecay]

Seeing Lord Tom & Tompa's names on a TAS brought me back to the old days when I used to get done partying, then when we all got home i'd sit under a blanket with a blunt & some shots for myself & watch ALTTP & some other classic TAS runs, & their names always came up. Absolute legends.

[@MonsterusCow]

I like your funny words magic man

[@cardinalthewarden888]

Your delivery and editing and little animations have brought me so much joy today

[@neodymium2007]

u guys are crazy... and we like it ❤

[@Edymos1000]

This is phenomenal!!!!!! As someone who has only barely dabbled in programming/coding this is insanely fascinating. Most people don't realize just how complicated even the NES was in terms of the '80s and technology as a whole for it's time. It's a minor miracle people figured hey we can do anything we want if only we weren't limited by the amount of RAM that we have accessible. This is an incredible video and anyone that has interest not only in speedrunning but coding/programming could learn a thing or two by paying attention. Fantastic work sir

[@one.million.flowers]

Taking 20 minutes to explain what happened in 0.2secs is the most anime thing ever and I love it

[@robholx]

On the topic of "bad" art: the little animations in this are freaking adorable and funny, actually. So there.

[@waterhydra1]

TLDR: using subframe humanly impossible inputs with a controller to code the victory screen

[@sosignon]

Just found your channel. Your cartoon visuals have a strong .WMF feel to them and I feel like I'm running Powerpoint 98. I strongly approve.

[@Jafus1]

Very nice explanation, love that I now know how this was possible. :D

[@da5e]

Subscribed, shared, bought your game. Fun explainer of a complex subject in easy terms, you're a great storyteller. Looking forward to more.

[@HUmanMustard]

the new era of 100th coin is born

[@alexanderjordan2506]

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. The number of hours you must have spent staring at memory dumps and op codes...

[@jayskull935]

I hold the world record for 0 zeroes. I modify the cartridge with my code directly, so I don't need to cheat with a TAS. Well, technically, my world record is -.0226534780. This is due to how you calculate the time with a game already in the win state before your press start.

[@andermium]

We could have lived in a world where two consecutive DPCM Audio Bugs just took the middle instead of continuing with the workaround. That would have sucked

[@katrinadeerkop9881]

Thank you for the high effort video. I really enjoyed the visuals and your calm tone of voice and cadence. I actually did hit the subscribe button when prompted. This is an unironic thank you for the reminder.

[@100thCoin]

I'm glad to hear that works! I've been hesitant to do all the "youtube-stuff" like that, because I think it takes away from the video. That's also why I tried to make a bit out of it, with the far away voice.

[@RyanGaryLeTomo]

I like the art style of your little guy and the bits of humor you incorporate with it, like "the '80s" and "But that's OK".

[@intelligent1964]

cool, now beat in it 0.21594863 seconds

[@justsomeguy5628]

I was always hoping for an explaination, but I never expected one to actually be made. The video is also really well done, and suprisingly easy to follow!

[@mechanic6]

10:58 high level Geometry Dash:

[@dybchamp1777]

This technical explanation and creation of the TAS is incredible but i'm really amazed by the editing. You've cultivated a really unique visual language and sense of timing. Dope video.

[@ghasttastic1912]

bro you beat mario 3 IN 9 CLOCK CYCLES. HOW.

[@renakunisaki]

BURN THE WITCH

[@SuperM789]

by swapping cartridges really fast

[@k_a_bizzle]

This is like graduate level speedrunning and I’m here for it.

[@pasu2k]

19:03 Keep drawing for your videos, they give them a great personality! You also have a great voice for these videos, honestly surprised me when you switched to voiced videos recently haha. The quality in your videos was always there, but the growth in presentation is great to see, keep it up :D

[@100thCoin]

Thanks! I'm glad the art and voice adds to the videos!

[@wilh3lmmusic]

This TAS is so insane it's being measured in CPU CYCLES INSTEAD OF FRAMES