The Complete History of the A Button Challenge

Additional Notes: pastebin.com/37v1GKSR
Patreon: / bismuth9
Twitch: / bismuth9
Twitter: / bismuthi
Discord: / discord
Bismuth Music: / @bismuth-music
Bismuth Speedruns: / @bismuthspeedruns
Additional Notes: pastebin.com/37v1GKSR
Glossary: Soon!
Chapters:
00:00 - Chapter 1: The Early History
14:24 - Chapter 2: The Pannenkoek Revolution
1:03:24 - Chapter 3: From Challenge to Science
1:39:45 - Chapter 4: The Genius of Tyler Kehne
2:35:01 - Chapter 5: Mario enters Parallel Universes
3:10:37 - Chapter 6: The Modern Era
4:33:30 - Chapter 7: The Final A Press Saves
5:04:20 - Chapter 8: The remaining A presses
Additional Notes: pastebin.com/37v1GKSR
Patreon supporters:
Kosmic
Mittenz
rictic
Punchmaster
KingParity
Jacher
vivas5
DENtoABEtoPDX
Znernicus
Tungul
Veegie
Curtis Fraley
William Tryon
Jeremy Marquis
andoalon
Skyehoppers
Neil Stevens (PresJPolk)
SnaccHBG
Evil Lucario
최의혁
Слави Боянов
Joshua Inwald
Tactical96
Jeteye
JC
Mauve
Justin G.
John Chandler
Tomas Abrahamsson
William K. Leung
Milan Durnell
Mark S.
Alexander Roper
CatCube
Drew
Chris Connett
GTAce99
charliebrown64
lizard-socks
wisteria fall
Elroy Dolleman
Sariya Melody
Raattis
Karl Pettersson
Fadi G.
Greg RR
Kyle
Flavio Kindler
Daniel Briggs
Ryan Clancy
Amanda Knipfing
Robert Smith
Brandon Patram
SushiElemental
Stephen McLaughlin
Nrtomarte
Khaaan
Shelby Coulter
Nicolas Berube
Rob Volgman
Kris Irons
Jeffrey Pierce
Adam
Peter Rieke
Lapiosankari
John Frazer
Jim Avery
Linh Pham
Steve Bartholomew
dunkshire
DaveThe?
Boris
Nick Beckley
Moosie
Cal
Alluminy
Jordan Zink
alex
Tree_05
Utsarga Sikder
Adrian Edelen
Oscar Friberg
johannes
Jack Mumby
Winter
Jason Howell
five
cooodies
Simon Goldeen (CheezyBob)
Daniel Sattler
Maurycy Zarzycki
LoupphoKtm
Dany Lachance Quirion
Skazzy
Jems
pizzo
Charlie Imhoff
Benjamin Sisko
UltraLuigi
pintex
Demure
Nicolas Daoust
Claire Treece
TheyAreChris
Cfox
Lawaleeth
Kris Irons
Morgan Ross
Niuco
Frosty
Aaron Anderson
David Wigram
Dan Park
SmilesBlue
Splax
Rosheeki
Thayet
Simon Coogan
Shaun Carroll
Lucas Leal Mendonça
Jacob Hulen
heris runs
Antoine Joulaud
Michael
Matt Lawrence
LoremasterMotoss
Cody Renton
JZwizzles
BennyTheGreat
Sophie
William Rieger
Done
Zak Parrish
TomThelen
Matilde Park
Notorious revolutionary, Tommy J

[@Bismuth9]

Dutch viewers note: pannenkoek2012 does not pronounce his name like the Dutch word for pancake. See for yourself at 1:22:00. 2023-02-15 Update: Treasure of the Ocean Cave was figured out in 0.5xA presses (Total: 13). kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnLampikqptqmbc 2023-10-01 Update: Watch for Rolling Rocks is now possible in 0xA presses in only 7 minutes (Total: 13). kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3fbaKqljNCNmMU

[@alaeriia01]

Have you considered doing a video on the various tricks of Banjo-Kazooie? That's a two-hour run filled with weird glitches, clips, and a lot of cool tricks like Reverse Bee Adventure.

[@mulliganaceous]

Congrats Bi! ABC; keep up the good work even during the hardest of times!

[@oHInsane]

Thank you so much for this and all your work on this serie. It opened my eyes on a whole new world. So Inspiring. Everything is great with your coverage: the subject, the music, your narration, your pace, your puns. It's a gem. I have already watched this entire serie multiple times, and I will watch it again.

[@user-ik8vy1rg8f]

I still haven't watched through your last chapter in the story but I've watched all the other episodes. Props to you for doing such a great job on such a novel topic!

[@neskey]

you've earned a rest now

[@theodd1sout]

Sorry babe, I can't come over right now. Bismuth just dropped an extremely researched 5 hour documentary about beating a 25 year old Mario game with as little A presses as possible.

[@yellowmarkers]

The 1996 video game "Super Mario 64" is not 25 years old. It is currently 26 years old.

[@DevonRR]

Fr man, I had to drop everything I'm doing to watch this

[@alpha9775]

Oh my God it is THEODD1SOUT

[@ciphergacha9100]

Omg, it’s the guy

[@aze4308]

ODD

[@Devlin20102011]

Little did that Japanese developer realize, that by going home early on that 1996 day, he’d miss a bug that would cause gamers to do PhD level work to exploit nearly 30 years later.

[@jongyon7192p]

Japanese workers couldn't, and still can't, go home early. Overworking to death is a common problem there. Super Mario 64 devs were apparently especially overworked to get the game released.

[@NerdiestAlpaca]

@@jongyon7192p it's called a joke ya halfwit

[@jordantfryman6184]

@@jongyon7192p It's more than likely supposed to be a joke.

[@jongyon7192p]

@@jordantfryman6184 I know it's a joke, duh.

[@npenplz]

@@jongyon7192p come on man!!!!

[@FezTheSpaceBiker]

Amazing how the first 12-15 years of the A Button Challenge are covered in 15 minutes... in a 5 and a half hour video. Pannenkoek seriously blew this game wide open.

[@Bismuth9]

To be honest I could have taken a lot more time to break down the 2007-2008 era but I wanted to use it as a baseline for what had yet to come, instead of diving deep into it.

[@itsfinby]

It’s crazy to think that part 1 technically covered the first 13 ish years of the challenge, and that the challenge is now 23 years old.

[@quandaviousvonheadsonzingl6453]

it's been hypothesized that getting all 120 stars without pressing A finally unlocks Luigi and allows for 2 player mode

[@EVANDABEANZ]

and gives you access to waluigi

[@DrPotatoSkins]

Sakurai is once quoted as saying "Whoever beats Super Mario 64 with zero A presses will get a handwritten letter from me informing them that Waluigi is now in Smash Bros."

[@bulletholeteddy9223]

You need to get 2401 coins without pressing a

[@4SS-FART]

it opens up the glass in the spire. if you make it inside the gap where the stained glass was, it sends you to a room with peach, where you eat cake. she has a text bar that gives you a phone number and a code to redeem the sole copy of sm64 2.

[@TheGreenW87nen]

And you must go to Shigeru Miyamoto and say the secret code on the cake you eat and he takes you to a secret room with a copy of SM64 and you find a sign that says “L is Real” 2041 times and then it says “EVERY COPY IS PERSONALISED”

[@icyoctpus2517]

111 A Buttton presses at 1:11:11

[@Bismuth9]

That was uh, definitely on purpose, yeah yeah

[@dvdside]

@@Bismuth9 uh-huh. yeahhhh. cool coincidence tho ;D

[@anubis_fgc]

The chapter 1 cliffhanger with the clueless gamer being pannenkoek was so hype when it came out omg

[@YEWCHENGYINMoe]

Pannen is definitely a clueless gamer

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

It’s amazing how far people can come, it really makes me want to take part in great stuff like this; if a hero like Pannen could start from there, then anyone else has potential too.

[@Jadanbr]

​@@justanotheryoutubechannel i think the clueless part was because he had no clue of the magnitude of what he was going into

[@nj8833]

At some point during this video, I realized that, without a doubt, more hours have been invested into the A Button Challenge than were invested in actually developing the game. This blows my mind. Famously, months of SM64's development were spent solely on Mario's movement. Yet, a community emerged that has invested significantly more time and energy than that into arbitrarily disregarding that movement. The irony and absurdity of the whole situation is just mind bending.

[@Selunei]

"Local Plumber Breaks All Known Laws Of Physics To Avoid Jumping"

[@franciscopetrucci]

"Dont work harder, work SMARTER" Why go through the hassle and fatigue of a jump? I dont want to hurt my ankles!

[@SilasAdra]

Jumping is terrifying let's instead go to parallel universes and go faster than literally possible so I don't have to do all of the work it takes to jump

[@lotsoffun4939]

More like international plumber

[@the_rolling_creeper]

Jumping is hard, doing frame perfect glitches and cloning objects is easy. And then its even easier to just wait a few hours... or days... and discover parallel universes.

[@PlanetCapeStudios]

I was so desensitized to completely insanity I absolutely bought the “negative A press” 😂

[@champion_ofcloud-var]

me too

[@aceae4210]

2:22:48, for the timestamp

[@crinknor6083]

Honestly this is truly the most legendary video game challenge ever.

[@dorol6375]

Thank you for being honest

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

@@dorol6375 Thank you for being honest

[@PixalonGC]

@@LavaCreeperPeople Thank you for being honest

[@Abigail-hu5wf]

@@PixalonGC Thank you for being honest

[@OblivionWalkerVerified]

I agree

[@Azure30]

>Marks JRB's star as 'unlikely' >JRB star gets solved Absolutely incredible lmao

[@galfinsp7216]

This referring to its last a press?

[@DemonixTB]

@@galfinsp7216 yes! JRB is solved at 0.5xA presses currently! up on uncommentated pannen

[@Leafia_Barrett]

The nature of the beast.

[@nambona890]

not *completely* solved, it's at 0.5 for now

[@angrypepe7615]

​​@@nambona8900.5 is about as good as solved since its completely impossible to save the first canon shot in WMotR. There is nothing at all to work with in the level, and you have a massive vertical distance to cover in order to reach the last red coins, so flying with the wing cap is absolutely mandatory.

[@kurtaustria8868]

i love how the longer the video goes, the more insane the concepts becomes

[@PUCCl_]

We went from a simple challenge, to goomba bridges, to half A presses, to parallel universes, to complete madness

[@RipVanFish09]

@@PUCCl_ Literally coming within a single unit of these stunts being impossible multiple times, abusing bullies and moving platform quirks to send Mario to a parallel universe, and getting squished in the perfect way multiple times in the air many times over. True madness.

[@randominternetman8177]

The longer the A-Button Challenge exists, the crazier it will become.

[@supremechaosbeing2696]

start of the video: "you can clone goomba and throw them, using them as stepping stools later!" end of the video: "by kicking up dust in a pattern for hours, mario can manipulate a pendulum to go upwards through the floor and hit him 10 times at once to shoot himself across the room"

[@UltimateInnerSpirit]

I’m at the part where he can literally just…grab fire…I mean….I guess that’s one way to make fire Mario 😂 and it’s only a fifth of the way through the video! Oh boy this ride is gonna be something special

[@bipolarprobe]

It's truly a shame that the watch for rolling rocks had such a negative effect on pannenkoek, it's still to this day one of the most informative, entertaining, and high quality videos on youtube, not just among challenge videos, but in general. It takes an incredibly obtuse, deep topic that would be impossible to penetrate for the lay person and gives all the information in a digestible format with excellent editing. I love the memes, but I love them because the video was so well made that I could actually understand what was going on.

[@cringies]

it’s what sparked my initial love for speedrunning. i was always so confused by everyone making fun of him, because he did something so cool and explained it in a way that made me purely obsessed. i hope he’s doing well despite it all

[@CractusJohn]

I wonder to myself sometimes, I love the memes but like you I genuinely love the content, but like, enjoying the memes is not hurting Pannenkoek, right?

[@mauer1]

@@CractusJohn for how i understood it the memes arent exactly the problem, its this very specific topic of him dumbing it down so that even a toddler can understand thats an issue for him. so basically the first thing with explaining the half a press. its for some reason an issue for him, so memes and people that pointing this very specific thing out is his problem. as i said, thats atleast how i understand this. i really like him, he did such a great thing for the internet.

[@turnkey_hole]

​@@mauer1 none of this is true. He said that he was having a rough home life at the time he was making the video, and when people said to him "hi I loved it please make another" he heard "I want you to suffer again." Very irrational. But y'know, that's how it goes sometimes. I'm glad he's over it now

[@mauer1]

@@turnkey_hole well I can only say how I understood it. Which I clarified in the beginning.

[@valdemarsvensson3167]

2:39:57 Imagine being an unsuspecting spider just chasing after some dude, thinking you're about to win, he walks away for a second and then comes back in lightspeed and knocks you out on the way

[@Wasyashock]

"Mario travels through parallel universes in order to not jump" is one of the most ridiculous truthful statements I think I've ever encountered

[@backtre8776]

It's kinda hard to explain, but this video brought me some immense peace during a very dark time in my life. The gorgeous piano, your calming voice, and the sheer fascination of the entire challenge combined into something beautiful. Thank you for this, everyone involved.

[@ethanladwig4292]

yooo the cats hittin the vape

[@Mikee..]

yooo the cats hittin the vape

[@anshsgh6092]

yooo the cats hittin the vape

[@scrubbingdoubles8585]

Jesus loves you. There's always a reason to keep going. Isaiah 41:10 Romans 3:23-24 John 3:16-17 Romans 8:35-39 Luke 23:42-43 Zephaniah 3:17

[@nerdporkspass1m1st78]

I can’t believe you started this video before the final A presses were even saved in the last three CHAPTERS. You weren’t kidding when you said “the complete history,” your dedication to finish this is inspiring.

[@jijonbreaker]

And then the video was immediately invalidated by a new discovery lol

[@JK17-1]

Yup

[@yuurina5092]

@@jijonbreaker what was invalidated exactly?

[@jijonbreaker]

@@yuurina5092 They shaved off the JRB chest A press.

[@yuurina5092]

@@jijonbreaker that invalidates the ENTIRE video?

[@FourthDerivative]

The reveal of Pannenkoek's backstory will always be one of my favorite plot twists in all media. The birth of an unexpected legend

[@thewrathofrevan5999]

The file select theme playing upon his reveal really sells it. That track practically belongs to him now.

[@AfricanLionBat]

Pannanpaper 🤣

[@EVPointMaster]

The 3 hour long 'The Hobbit' Speedrun documentary also has an amazing twist like that ^^

[@imdobbergd]

And his name is... matt turk

[@WiggyWamWam]

Wait, backstory? Did I miss a part of this? What is pannenkoek’s backstory?

[@haandotexe]

"mountains weren't designed to be climbable" damn... that says it all right there.

[@phantomdergwulf]

tell that one to Madeline Celeste

[@Ceremor]

"This problem can be solved with the right amount of planning, which, as it turns out, is a shit ton of planning" delivered in that dry monolgue really got me hahahaaha

[@lechiken_]

you know when you hear that piano music that there is about to be a extremely long and mind boggling explanation

[@tintedpalette653]

This is my favorite type of video on YT, a passionate and in-depth documentary on a topic too niche to be given the same amount of respect than on any other media platform. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

[@ShinGarugamesh]

"what is your passion?" "i'm a conservationist" "cool, attuned to nature. what kind?" "vertical speed conservation. specifically i'm assigned to DDD."

[@UserFriendlyArtist]

Who would have thought that cloned, gravity defying, frozen goombas that can only be interacted with once would be so helpful to beating a 26 year old super mario game without jumping

[@crazynaut223]

Can we also give a big round of applause for all the music remixes here? There's such a unique calming and inviting and emotional aura they bring to the whole video, and the points where they really go along with what's being said or shown (like at 4:03:59 and 4:33:24) get me every time. I have to tip my hat to Bismuth for arranging the whole soundtrack here.

[@alaeriia01]

He also played it himself on his piano.

[@emo6577]

One of the reasons I love the growing KZbin genre of niche documentaries is that they’re being made by the people that are super passionate and excited to share the things they love with the world. The amount of effort in every little detail is really heartwarming

[@toooes]

👏?

[@galfinsp7216]

The end of the latter is the biggest chill I’d ever recieved for the beginning of a video chapter.

[@hata6290]

its literally just mario music you fucking doIt

[@johannhowitzer]

The "Pannenpaper" joke hurt my sides, I was completely unprepared for that one. Well done, hats off to you.

[@kruje314]

PannenPaper™

[@MinusNC]

*unpannenprepared

[@EnderHasEntered]

Some of my favorite parts of this video have to be your comments "What seems like 2 hours ago" "Once the blood sacrifice has been made" "Simply because this thing is stupid" "Mario performs a complex mating dance" "The latest advancements in goomba engineering" "Haphazardly smashed their face against a wall in hopes of a golden ticket to the top" "As always, time was *very much* a secondary concern" "Here comes the easy part... Just kidding, it's actually the hard part :)"

[@khittyhawk9651]

The best part is "What seems like two hours ago" is in the first 30 minutes of the video. Of a five hour video.

[@HyLion]

I'm also a fan of "Until Super Mario 64 expert, sm64expert, found this."

[@Bit125_]

"But hold on. Clock hands are supposed to move clockwise; that's literally the definition of clockwise."

[@dazcarrr]

"How he solved that seems absolutely insane, because it _is_ absolutely insane!"

[@Jakewebmaster8]

UPDATE (2/15/23): The A press count has now been decreased to 13 thanks to Treasure of the Ocean Cave now being possible in 0.5 A presses. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnLampikqptqmbc

[@dededeleted4793]

After 9 years, they finally were able to get JRB chests down to 0(.5) A presses

[@JK17-1]

2nd

[@npenplz]

15th

[@forumchannel4231]

4rd

[@MDLuffy1234YT]

At this point, if I'm alive to see the very last half A press be taken out of SM64, I know I will have been born into an age that will never truly be forgotten.

[@Triplebonet]

When mum says you can watch one video before bed:

[@killthemtodayrightnowtoday]

your day of reckoning is coming

[@EmanueleX]

this video is almost longer than my average sleep time

[@vincenzofranchelli2201]

The crazy thing is u can watch this video multiple times and hes still kicking the bully

[@helmutdergroe9457]

Youre so creative

[@PixalonGC]

i could play this video, go to sleep and wake up and it's not even finished

[@cosmicjenny4508]

What a truly amazing series. Sad to see it come to an end as you finally caught up with the present A-press count, but you should be incredibly proud of what you’ve made, and the ABC Crew should be especially proud of their recent accomplishments!

[@Caddyem]

Bisexual flag spotted 👀👀💪

[@kruje314]

pannekoek:are you sure about that

[@leokyle6195]

When I finished this video I cried and said "but it's so stupid". I guess I wasn't really talking about the a button challenge in particular, but about life. May we climb everests forever.

[@tylervanpeursem7627]

"Queen marika has high hopes, that we continue to struggle unto eternity.."

[@punkitt]

Hell yeah.

[@Frommerman]

There are no stupid goals. Only stupid goal-seeking agents.

[@SteveParty11]

The Everest is inside us

[@Sniperowns5023]

15 year history in 15 minutes 2 year history in 45 minutes God i love Bismuth

[@NummyGD]

5 straight hours of bismuth… AMAZING!!!!!

[@T3sl4]

If your blood bismuth levels persist for longer than 5 hours, consult a doctor!

[@vinnae]

It's like a little piece of heaven down on Earth

[@browniex5120]

the transition in between each individual video is just seamless so it looks like a full video. an absolute legend

[@NummyGD]

@@browniex5120 browniex from geometry dash

[@randomclips9715]

@@browniex5120 other than the part where he says "the rest of this series" before explaining cloning, yeah

[@LucyBoob]

“1 A-press was saved using black magic” wasn’t expecting that at all

[@distortedjams]

How are none of the comments commending this video for having such great visuals. I wouldn’t have been able to understand any of the concepts without the amazing in-game/short animations.

[@appointmenteer]

seconded!!! its so well made

[@Mew_Tea]

"And that's where the record stands today" is such a SummoningSalt line

[@pompourin]

i love how literally every line of code written in this game is somehow manipulatable to make it the most perfect speedgame to ever exist. its irreplicable and gorgeous. There will literally never be another game like this. it was the first true 3d platformer, so its its the perfect canvas for exploiting. pannenkoek is the goat

[@benkeith3764]

Idk man OOT comes pretty close, you can straight up write code inside the game.

[@Bulblorb]

@@benkeith3764 OOT and in effect MM are the most broken games ever

[@milewesler9592]

@@benkeith3764 seriously, they made the fuckin whole triforce ingame, just to have it.

[@YEWCHENGYINMoe]

​@@Bulblorb Smw.

[@Kaiya134]

@@benkeith3764 could you please elaborate? this 5 hour video made me curious about such things

[@alicemargatroid52]

I would rather watch a 5 hour video essay about a niche Mario 64 challenge than watch 10 minutes of KZbin shorts

[@beanoptodon]

Only 10 minutes of KZbin shorts? Honestly I'd rather watch long-form videos way more than any shorts, none of them are enjoyable for me. All I get are stupid hyper-political bullcrap shorts or ads for games.

[@ReaIbe]

Shorts🤮

[@ehmaree]

@@beanoptodon I only look at the meme compilations or quick video game tips by TRUSTED channels, but I'd rather they put them as regular videos

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

Rare Anime Pfp W

[@dorol6375]

I literally almost never watch shorts (there are exceptions, such as vsauce for exmaple). You can't put anything into a minute

[@mehdierrih9460]

Marbler has done it. It's over guys

[@smoceany9478]

they did 70 star, the full challenge is about getting every star

[@user-zu8vc5ef6w]

100 A button presses to obtain all the stars sounds like a cool category for speedruning where one has strategic choices to make

[@thisguy.-.]

100 could be another category, but I feel it gives too much leeway, preventing people from making use of interesting strats. I feel like 50 or 40 would be a much more interesting experience for viewers and runners alike

[@user-zu8vc5ef6w]

@@thisguy.-. I have chosen an arbitrarily large number which seemed not completely absurd after watching the video. I neither did any speedrunning nor ever played Mario64 so not fixating on the number '100' in any way

[@DrNo64]

@@user-zu8vc5ef6w 100 could be a good starting max number provided the runs are not TAS'ed

[@fredmug]

I can't believe that this series ended up being over 5 hours long. The narration and music is so good that it felt like so much less than that

[@TechSY730]

Can I say that I adore the "they took a break. {absurdly short time period} later, they..." Or "It's been an {absurdly short time period} since breakthroughs, so time for a breakthrough" or similar such "short time span discussed like it was a long break" things being a running gag through this whole thing? It's so good 😆

[@Winasaurus]

And then similarly with the other way around. Like when he shows the graph at the beginning and gives it a ton of room to show progress and then over a year it barely moved like "Oh, oops"

[@Deadgye]

Yes. It was incredibly well delivered comedic relief that got me to laugh out loud multiple times.

[@hugoland9027]

if pannen ever reads comments at all I want him to know that all of his work is incredible and amazing and you were the one who did it and we're all proud and amazed. it is okay to be proud of your fantastic work.

[@EuclidCasual]

I’m so glad pannenkoek gets the love he deserves, it’s such a niche subject to be a legend in, but everyone can appreciate his dedication and creativity

[@MachDialUp]

if a movie was five and a half hours long I'd be like "that's a little excessive." but this, I'm sure I'm going to watch it multiple times, and enjoy it every time.

[@dissraps]

That just means you might get autistic And by "might"...

[@emo6577]

Honestly I was so impressed on my first watch that yes, it is 5 hours long, but there was not a second of filler. Informative the whole way through while also telling a lot of sweet and funny stories plus some really great music? Bismuth truly spoils us

[@memoryfish12]

Delighted to have followed this series from part 1. What an absolute labour of love. You sir, are clearly a master of your art, and every video is brimming with passion and top drawer editing talent. Not to mention the amount of research that has gone into this, 5 hrs of video must have come with 100 hr+ of work behind the scenes. Cannot thank you enough for documenting what has fast become the most intriuging and fascinating bit of gaming history I have ever come across. Take a bow Bismuth!

[@Bismuth9]

Thank you! You slightly underestimated the work behind the scenes. This video took in the ballpark of 1500-2000 hours to make.

[@publiovirgilio2238]

@@Bismuth9 those 2k hours will surely produce hundreds of thousands of hours of entertainment and education, it will be totally worth it, and hopefully you will make enough money to at least compensate the time inversion.

[@memoryfish12]

Oh wow, I did mean to write "100s of hrs" but I still would of have been way off!

[@random.explosion]

Dude... I can't BELIEVE you mentioned Walton Dell's website! I thought I was the only one! That place is a staple of my childhood. I remember heading there ALL the time to view the "Super Mario 64 Tips and Tricks" section and duplicate them myself! I even made a couple submissions back in the day... It popped into my head about a year ago and I checked it out, and it's still up! So many memories. I hope that guy knows how integral he was to a huge part of my (and others, I assume) childhood. wdell might've been one of the very first "video game sites" that I ever laid eyes on as a kid. I can't overstate how happy I am that the site still remains with it's original layout, even to this very day. I'll remember the "SUPER MARIO 64" background of the SM64 page (and the basic late '90s layout of his parent site) until the day I die. Walton Dell, you're a real one.

[@skylarfox_bmb]

1:26:38 "I'll leave figuring out why as an exercise for the viewer" is the funniest way of saying "fucking obviously" I've heard in my life

[@yellowmarkers]

This section of the script is likely a reference to a stereotypical sentence in mathematics papers, which reads similarly to "The proof is left as an exercise for the reader".

[@skylarfox_bmb]

@@yellowmarkers I'm aware, it's placed so goddamn well here though

[@galfinsp7216]

@@skylarfox_bmb yeah, not sure how you could better say “duh”.

[@Ultranochos]

It took me 6 months to realize what he meant.

[@hithereireallysuck]

4:14:51 "Lightly squished" He literally turns into a pancake for a moment lol.

[@knightmericproductions77]

A pannenkoek if you will.

[@mattmorrisson9607]

Very rarely have I watched a video this long where I understood every word, yet understood almost nothing that was said. I think I stopped comprehending very much after about the 20 minute mark, but was still in awe for the entire thing! What a fantastic journey, and an amazing feat, both for the ABC team, and for Bismuth in putting this video together! Well done to both parties!

[@trutwijd]

Hah, I was thinking the same exact thing

[@vtipoman]

beginning of video: "but after three and a half days of discussion, the thread died down, and the A Button Challenge was once again forgotten" middle of video: "so basically, Pannenkoek performed an extremely specific sequence of actions to manipulate the quantum entanglement of the electrons on his console's motherboard, thus allowing mario to gain 3 extra units of speed and grab this red coin in 0 A presses"

[@Mystixor]

Amazing work both by Pannenkoek and the ABC Crew for maintaining this awesome challenge, and Bismuth for putting together such a well-crafted documentary. This is truly inspiring, thank you very much!

[@PauloHenrique-cp4li]

and after a LITERAL week, I have finished this incredible masterpiece. Bismuth, you're incredible for making this.

[@5Picoseconds]

and as of today, the star at 5:05:52 treasure of the ocean cave can now be completed with a half a press! We're at 13 left ladies and gents!

[@Dommy610]

Summoning Salt is shaking in his boots right now. No possible way he can top this video.

[@mcdonalds5972]

Since the video came out: * Jolly Roger Bay's A-press was lowered to 0.5 A-presses in February 2023 * Watch for Rolling Rocks' 0.5 A-presses was wiped out in October 2023 I think a lower limit for humans by 2025 will be 12, and 8 by 2030.

[@zachattack1279]

The only way I could ever see the game have no a presses is by some way of preforming arbitrary code execution

[@goldeer7129]

@@zachattack1279 or something like cloning across levels or safe files. If you can bring objects to the castle or even anywhere it would save many many A presses if not all

[@EvlNinjadude]

A conservative estimate.

[@pookapook5258]

This is one of my favorite videos. I watched the parts as they were coming out. I love having it all in one five hour video. Sometimes I put it on as background noise when I’m going to bed and I sleep like a baby.

[@violetifreal]

thabk you for sayijg this so i dont feel weird for using this to eep

[@Edymos1000]

Accurate AF, doing this tonight as I have done approximately twice a month since the vid dropped

[@nyann4411]

thanks for the short summary!! now back to the main 20 minute long video

[@starry4471]

I find it hilarious that the volcano fast bully battery strat accelerates Mario to a pretty significant percentage of the speed of light (about 0.7%, just over 2 million meters per second).

[@crazynaut223]

Not only was the JRB star saved but the solution was surprisingly simple by the standards of the challenge, which you can argue also outdates 3:11:38

[@JK17-1]

Right

[@TheDMan2003]

I’ve heard about that A-press save, but I haven’t actually seen it happen. Though it is rather debatable what “simple” means in this context.

[@crazynaut223]

@@TheDMan2003 It means it's just a matter of building up speed on a submerged slope

[@TheDMan2003]

@@crazynaut223 Wow, that really is simple.

[@Bismuth9]

@@TheDMan2003 It really was NOT simple. There's a lot under the hood of that speed buildup.

[@GuardianPlayz]

"while everybody was playing chess, pannen busted out the 4d chest" xD

[@falcokddd6679]

Now, the Jolly Roger Bay star can be done at 0.5xA, reducing the amount to 13 A presses.

[@skivvy3565]

What’s bismuth simply glosses over for the sake of brevity. Is that every single one of these tricks has a mathematical equation in the code. And he didn’t include it but pannenkoek had to read and understand these for ideas and then manipulate these in the game and bismuth just covers the last part. I cannot express how long and complicated these are, and are a mix of English and maths gibberish

[@michaelcalvin42]

Before I came across this video, I hadn't really paid much attention to the A button challenge. I just thought of it as one of those ridiculous challenges people with too much time on their hands like to do. After watching this video, I realized that it absolutely IS one of those ridiculous challenges that people with too much time on their hands like to do. But I have much MUCH greater respect for the work and effort that go into these types of challenges. I don't think it would be a stretch to call the ABC crew SM64 physicists, and it's incredibly impressive to see what's been done with even the tiniest, most insignificant seeming glitches and oversights. Thank you for putting this colossal documentary together and bringing us all along for the (surprisingly quite emotional) ride.

[@Mrunibro]

These videos are such a treat. I try to watch all the ABC developments on all their channels, read the descriptions on all their videos for the explanations, and yours STILL blow me away when you demonstrate the insane precision and techniques they carried out in the greatest detail. The final LLL star's bully position over time visualisation feels like aliens showing me a map of the galaxy. Observing the ABC community is easily my favorite thing on the internet, and you have made me enjoy it even more! Thank you for your hard work, Bismuth & ABC crew

[@ericpeterson6520]

What I love about this video/series is that it covers the community aspect as well as the run itself, right down to the youtube comments and the process of making the videos, as well as how everyone first got involved in the community. Most speedrun histories don't even touch that stuff, but this is so in-depth

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I love your subtle sense of humour, there’s some great little jokes in this, such as: “Despite both Technical and Skill Issues causing multiple failures, one thing became clear. This glitch worked.” It’s so subtle but so funny and still quite respectful, and very informative. This is one incredible video.

[@supermarble94]

"Now that pendulum manipulation is in full swing..."

[@Cliffdive9]

Can't wait to rewatch the entire saga again in one sitting!

[@indignasmr7379]

I never expected this series to take up as much of my attention as it has. What a time it's been

[@piglava]

I will periodically rewatch this video for the rest of my life Watch count: 6

[@ovation_sebastians3460]

Reminder to rewatch

[@n00bxl71]

​@@ovation_sebastians3460you get a reminder too. There is no escape.

[@Sehon13Ultd]

Reminder to rewatch

[@ovation_sebastians3460]

@@Sehon13Ultd Thanks, will do.

[@johncorn7905]

I’ve already seen it upwards of 20 times and i sweat every time i realize i missed something before

[@kurtie6794]

I won’t spoil the final A button count but I can’t believe it got so low - that takes amazing dedication and a meticulously thorough knowledge of game mechanics. I also think it takes almost equally amazing talent to make a video detailing the history of it. Astounding work, Bismuth!

[@spudsbuchlaw]

Two Goombas walk into a bar The first is pushed out by the collision detection The other freezes in place The first says "I knew it, you're a clone, you' were going to make this our only interaction! I thought you said you were in for something long term!" The second says "Gimmie 12 hours and I'll show you something really fun!"

[@insanelyheinousbeefer]

i kinda just rolled my eyes when I saw this was 5 hrs, but halfway thru Ch 2, I realized we must be getting an entire university course condensed down here.

[@KamuiPan]

What I learn here is that pannenkoek is a low-key A press genius. Bravo for the dedication, also for Bismuth to showcasing the legend to a broader audience.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

I hope Pannenkoek knows just how much of an inspiration he is. Dude is a fantastic example of the sheer power of human ingenuity 🤗

[@LRXC1]

If someone can watch this in one sitting and absorb everything, you are a god. Bismuth, this is objectively one of the best series made on KZbin, it’s so beautifully obscure but also fucking amazing. I love it. You are awesome

[@alibitter6361]

Seems like a worthy follow up challenge after watching ShayMay's 7 hour Omega Ruby retrospective in one go

[@debblez]

guess im a god

[@OrgusDin]

@@debblez use your newfound omnipotence to save an A press

[@anonymousanonymous8216]

@@alibitter6361 what about quinton reviews' collective 20+ hours of various semi-related nickolodeon teen sitcoms

[@crenando288]

hey I love ur ADV videos :D

[@sethschneider9764]

This is the single most impressive video I have ever watched on youtube. Only rivaled by the 16 hour history of Eve Online, but I only made it 3 hours into that. For the last week I have fallen asleep watching this video, making it 20 minutes to an hour each night. My phone has played out this video 6 or 7 times. I hope that is enough watch time from me to justify the insane amount of work that went into this video. Thank you for telling this story.

[@Bismuth9]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@dylandoyle493]

For what it's worth, pannen is a big part of why I chose my major and master's thesis. So thanks for defining a good portion of my adult life!

[@theepiccarrot7]

the only video where you feel happier the more outdated it gets

[@neutralghast352]

How in the world did you make subtitles for this video? That's five hours and a half hours worth of subtitles, that's some SERIOUS dedication right there.

[@yellowmarkers]

KZbin has a feature where you can paste the script of a video into the subtitle settings, and it will automatically set it to the sections of the video that contain those lines.

[@neutralghast352]

@@yellowmarkers really? dang, that's neat.

[@Bismuth9]

Not only that, but it took seconds to sync the words to the audio. Seconds! When I write the script, I make sure to avoid writing anything that won't be said out loud and keep any notes in comments or somewhere else. I only have section titles that I remove before pasting into the subtitles textbox.

[@neutralghast352]

​@@Bismuth9 well, that's really quite interesting! Still doesn't change the fact that everything else about this project also was very high effort, so good job on that front!

[@emilyburnsfilms9023]

@@Bismuth9 Thank you SO much for doing this btw. I know this seems small but with the number of acronyms in this video (looking at you, HOLP) this would have been a nightmare if you had used auto-generated subtitles.

[@mebestupid7134]

1:48:50 ah yes the complex mating dance to attract and mate with Chuckya

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

God, I’m in chapter 7 right now and seeing that old strat for Bowser in the Dark World again was so surreal, it’s amazing how far this challenge has come. At first it was Pannen doing complex but understandable strategies and now it’s just mind-boggling magic almost beyond my compression. This really is one hell of a strategy.

[@hranf]

Wild getting to the quick aside at 2:35:37, knowing that it now has its own multi-hour video all about it. The sheer amount of intriguing documentation of Super Mario 64 is phenomenal.

[@Ara_Arasaka]

The Pannenkoek reveal will never not send a shiver down my spine The fact this is essentially a love letter to his work and took so long and is so well made is such a beautiful video. I really hope Pannen knows how much he’s loved and can get past his anxiety and imposter syndrome (from the explanation of his issues it sounds so much like it).

[@TheDMan2003]

According to the pinned comment for part 5 standalone, he’s doing better than the hell he was in during the making of the Watch for Rolling Rocks video. I can’t verify if he’s fully recovered (I doubt anyone but Pannen himself can do that), but it seems like he has improved since then.

[@noank9175]

Bro you are insanely underrated. This video is one of the single most in-depth coverages of any one topic that I have yet to see. I admire your discipline and your willingness to make this fantastic project completely free for the world to view. Cheers, mate.

[@thomasslone1964]

the goomba bridge binary pattern is just...cool

[@hydropage2855]

Being a C++ programmer and understanding pointers entirely already made understanding cloning a breeze

[@thisguy.-.]

honestly videos like this are what made pointers click for me lol

[@hydropage2855]

@@thisguy.-. That’s kinda funny

[@FoZard]

i can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this series what a legend you are

[@PERMASSBM]

GL on Bloodlust you got this king

[@FoZard]

​@@PERMASSBM ty

[@ArseAllowance]

Under another comment he stated that i took him between 1500 to 2000 hours Thats crazy dedication

[@quietsamurai1998]

Honestly, the Pannenpaper joke at 1:04:33 made me laugh so much I cried. I think my humor is broken.

[@rksworld4405]

for those who wonder what has become of the remaining A presses: Jolly Roger bay has been solved with a 0.5 A press strat the star dance clip for Tiny Huge island is no longer necessary to reach the main land so its free to be used elsewhere altho that hasnt lead to anything for the moment In Shifting Sand land the strat to climb the pyramid from the lower entrance actualy saw an improvement from 2 to 1 A presses and is now tied with the entry from the top which gives some hope watch for rolling rocks was dropped from 0.5 A presses to 0 by using the platform from the red coins room to clip between rooms and transport some enemys to bounce on and reach the star Riding the elevator has seen a timesave (25 hours) As of now: 13 x A 120 star in around 7h

[@DJIncendration]

Also, Watch for Rolling Rocks was dropped from 0.5 to 0 A presses.

[@alocsx]

I really hope that we can one day beat Mario 64 using 0 A presses

[@cowsrcool]

@@alocsx Unfortunately that seems impossible. I know throwing around that word is dangerous, but it seems to be the case. Some of the ones that are left just have nothing to work with to save the a press. Its like trying to escape a 2 deep bedrock hole in minecraft with no items. No matter how much time or tasing you throw at it, you cant get out.

[@zlomeny]

thank you for this short summary video

[@SurfTheSkyline]

This confirms my feeling that something made well and with intention is never too long! Nothing is worse than investing time in watching a video and in the end feeling like it needed to go more in depth to feel satisfying and that you still don't have some important/relevant information, so even if it takes a while to watch I vastly prefer how in depth this goes as opposed to any shorter alternative.

[@crackle6918]

PANNENKOEK IS SOOOOO BACK BABY

[@ShowMe7.]

over a year later and this is still my favorite video on this platform to date. the music, the editing, the humor, the explanations, the atmosphere, its just... perfect. thank you bismuth

[@WinterBlizzards]

I would like to take a moment to recognize how literally every single discovery has Pannenkoek *somewhere* someone discovers a route? Pannen TASed it. Someone made a tool? Pannen helped. Someone made some major improvement? Pannen helped make them a reality. Like seriously how is Pannen literally everywhere at the same time???

[@vocaldeviation]

When I came across this video, I thought, "how can not pressing 'A' possibly constitute 5.5 hours of content and possibly be entertaining?" I'd never even heard of the challenge. I watched the whole thing straight, and now I'm firing up the N64. 14 more saves. Let's go.

[@b33thr33kay]

1:22:09 "... It did show the lengths he was willing to go to get one extra coin" -- shows Mario bullying and ruthlessly beating up a bob omb lol

[@Decommissioned]

I can't believe that I've watched this 3 times now.

[@aurastrike]

The crazy thing about the half a press is that it's literally just a formality. They could have used an asterisk or something else, but decided to add a .5 to the count instead of getting all technical. The simple things are the stuff I find interesting.