The Most UNDERRATED Mario Speedrun - Explained

[@Kosmicd12]

Get 20% OFF + Free International Shipping @Manscaped with promo code KOSMIC at manscaped.com/kosmic! #manscapedpartner

[@megustajugarleagueoflegend140]

God-tier video, very interesting topic.

[@joshuasuggs2379]

I think if you want your channel to flourish, you’re going to have to branch out on two other games

[@typerightseesight]

I've played all the way through a few marios and I dont get how you say this guys strat is awesome or best run ever look at it. lol, its the same exact thing. There are like 3 buttons to press. lol

[@zynstein]

@@typerightseesight If it's that simple go do it. But you wont cause you arent good enough.

[@Kosmicd12]

@@typerightseesight Want to race?

[@Jrose11]

This video needs more views, this is top-tier speedrunning content.

[@丫o]

It’ll get there, just let the video cook.

[@tehandroidmaster]

Holy crap, J Rose! Love your Pokeymanz challenge runs.

[@patrymaxim7603]

Let him cook

[@teemac1837]

a wild jrose appears!

[@VoidHalo]

First you get the views. Then you get the power. Then you get the women.

[@Sulticune]

SMB1 speedrunning legend discovers new skips for SMB2 speedrun while making video about SMB2 speedruns. What a time to be alive

[@wilms2328]

He said it so casually too. Kosmic is great

[@汇]

2 minute papers 😮

[@HeffeJeffe78]

"Frame-perfect yoink" is an accepted speed running industry term.

[@Koettnylle]

Industry?

[@Thatoneguy73822]

The union isn't super strong so it's not a trade term yet.

[@HardToBeAPoopGod]

@@HeffeJeffe78 "runners of the world, unite" - Karl Jobst

[@ManSkirtBrew]

@@Koettnylle I'm hoping this is a My Cousin Vinny reference.

[@PolytoxusRex]

Most normal speedrun technique name

[@CptJistuce]

Man, I never considered it, but Toad's stats basically mean he's built for speed runs. He runs fastest, lifts/digs fastest, and gets a speed boost when carrying stuff. If the speed run concept was really a thing at the time I'd be forced to conclude it was intentional. ... I've only beat the game as Princess Toadstool.

[@MaxOakland]

My main is Luigi. Who’s your SMB2 main is the next Who’s your Smash main

[@Prodawg]

Speedrunning did exist but not as it's known today, very few games back then did in fact keep your time

[@ronniekregar3482]

He can't jump though lol

[@KaitouKaiju]

People were speed running but back then it was just called time trials and many games had built in timers for that reason

[@CptJistuce]

@@KaitouKaiju The built-in timers weren't really for that. They were a holdover from arcades, intended to keep the player moving and ensure a finite amount of play time off that quarter.

[@mungodude]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="912">15:12</a> here's what a dig-skip is. It works 25% of the time, but here's a brand new setup to make it 100%. <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1372">22:52</a> here's how to use two dig-skips to go almost as fast as a TAS-only method. What the heck, Kosmic!? Great vid btw

[@lordgeovanni]

Completely honest, I came to the comments just to make sure someone highlighted this. Haven't watched Kosmic's stuff (more or less), and don't often see Mario speedruns... but realizing that this guy went and found TWO new strats and just casually mentioned them mid-video really has me wondering if the current WR has already been beaten with at least one of these strats. And it has been... 2 days.

[@HardToBeAPoopGod]

i almost had a doki doki panic attack thinking the Manscaped sponsorship would make kosmic talk about balls

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

What's wrong with BALLLLLLSSSSSS

[@LeoStaley]

Flashbacks to Karl Jobst's manscaped sponsor bits

[@melsbacksfriend]

YOU TRY TO TAKE HIS BALLS! (reference to Steve Terreberry)

[@Ucfahmad]

I almost doki doki’d my pants

[@melsbacksfriend]

@@Ucfahmad You do know dokidoki means heartbeat sound

[@Darkfyyre]

it sounds like you were pretty worried about your explanation of wrong warps, but i need you to know that this is the video that finally helped me fully understand how a wrong warp actually happens! i've been eating up speed running content for more than a year now, and i've even watched a different video talking about this game and its speed run tricks, but even with wrong warps being described in such videos many times, i don't think any of them laid things out so concretely. going step by step with the visual ref on screen at the same time was immensely informative and helpful!

[@Kosmicd12]

Thank you for the very nice comment and feedback! It doesn't work ~exactly~ that same way in every different game, but I'm glad this could help you understand!

[@kenji6492]

Another thing about Doki Doki Panic: NINTENDO DOESN’T OWN ITS PLAYER CHARACTERS. Fuji TV does. Nintendo literally *can’t* rerelease DDP without their involvement. That’s why the Mario version has replaced it in ALL regions in the modern day.

[@Lollero200q]

Dookie dookie panic

[@thewholecircus]

I'm honestly shocked that characters like shy guy made it out considering it's a licenced game

[@kenji6492]

@@thewholecircus i think whatever licensing deal they had let Nintendo keep any original characters.

[@charlibiris]

If only Nintendo were a multimillion company, it could splurge some money and get the rights

[@kenji6492]

@@charlibiris They could, but Mario is a stronger brand than Fuji’s defunct (I think, hard to research) Dream Factory mascots.

[@jerradn]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="229">3:49</a> Perfect application of a Tim Follin classic.

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

NO DOUBT! :) Kosmic used it there brilliantly. A+. Come to think of it, *everyone* should speedrun almost every game whilst listening to that on their headphones, heheh.

[@autusticrat]

Dude amen

[@TheLemonyBard]

Casually dropping two new strats in this video is such a rad move

[@vonmatrices]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="230">3:50</a> Love the fact that both sides of this clip are from the same game, same track even (Solstice)

[@kleingrrmpf]

Yeah, right? I was about to say that!

[@cormacolinde]

I immediately identified the Solstice soundtrack. Loved that game.

[@Amiculi]

Straight up the title theme without any cuts in the actual music. Definitely a great use of it. Also, Tim Follin is a legend.

[@foxfan_e]

omg OneShot reference solstice!!!

[@Typical.Anomaly]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2550">42:30</a> You can jump up on top of Wart's room too. I once did it with a vegetable after already hitting Wart 5 times, and beat him from the ceiling. It softlocks the game.

[@baconlettucepotato69]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1247">20:47</a> The entire comments section of DDP 3-1 is full of brave Kosmic viewers.

[@masterandexpert288]

I LOVE the inclusion of the "Odds:" visual!! It gives me information that I didn't know I wanted

[@katherinek6166]

Another thing to note is that the Doki Doki Panic actually started out as an abandoned prototype for a Mario game that didn't get the buy-in, so it got recycled when Nintendo needed to make a tie-in game for the Yume Kōjō 87. Nobody would put that much effort into a festival mascot game otherwise. In addition, while Doki Doki Panic was only released on FDS, years later, US version of Mario 2 got ported back to Japan on a Famicom cartridge as Super Mario USA. So it's a lot more of a "real Mario game," than some people seem to think.

[@JohnnyLeven]

I loved the use of the Solstice intro song to show the difference between casual and speedrun

[@ChrispyChken]

i just wanted to say that you explained the glitch at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1540">25:40</a> so perfectly

[@frank9966]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="108">1:48</a> I’m surprise you didn’t mention the most important part: doki doki panic started as a Mario game, originally it was meant to be a collaboration to make a Mario game, that didn’t happen, so the game ended up as it did. And then it became Super Mario Bros 2; so in the end, it became the Mario Gams it was originally envisioned to be

[@MaxOakland]

What do you mean a collaboration?

[@scottydu81]

I did NOT know it was meant to be mario!

[@Kosmicd12]

I didn't know that! Or forgot at least. Where can I read about that?

[@anonymoose2474]

​@@Kosmicd12dienda documented it super in depth

[@arkadyshersky8704]

@@MaxOakland A collaboration with Fuji Television, the TV channel whose Yume Kojo '87 special Doki Doki Panic was a tie-in for.

[@Naedlus]

The thing I sort of love about SMB2(U), is that despite starting life as something different, it was embraced by Nintendo as an aspect of the Mario series even so quick as the next game when Bob-Ombs came back as enemies. A game made for a summer event managed to turn itself into a full on entry to the game series that somehow feels like a better "middle game" between SMB and SMB3 than the official numbered title.

[@q370p]

This didn't feel 44 minutes long, great video.

[@staudinga]

Kosmic, the absolute mad lad, developing several new or improved strategies while working on a video overview 😅

[@Krmpfpks]

❤ I love the story telling, the way you make complex details easy to understand and your respect for the speedrun.

[@Domfootstitch]

my absolute favorite speedrun content is marathon runs because they go deep on strategy and interesting information about the game and the engine and how it's being manipulated. so I'd definitely like to generally see more speedrunning explained videos. Bismuth, summoning salt, rgm explained are great but they release so infrequently so more of that type of content is delightful.

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

I looked up the waterfall, and yeah it ain't great, but I love how an 11 year old video suddenly got inundated with people commenting about this here day old video. The guy actually seems pretty interesting, might give him a watch. Though I am 11 years behind.

[@clarafedde8674]

Yeah, somebody who gets the difference between super mario usa and doki doki panic. Really is a great game.

[@jdhannan]

Subtle Ryu dig?

[@Nikkibuh]

isnt that literally everyone

[@clarafedde8674]

@@Nikkibuh no, most call it a sprite swap, but it is so much more.

[@Seikent]

The quality of the video in terms of the details explained to understand much better the challenges of the speedrun was top notch. I've seen a fair amount of SMB2 speedrun videos, including the one from Summoning Salt (well, that's more the history of the records, but usually tries to explain the different main tricks), and this is the best of them all :). Would love to see similar content (other games) in the future!

[@vidvad]

Ethan is such an underrated speedrunner, I'm so happy he's getting a spotlight! What an incredible run.

[@willowgamesnstuff]

im gonna start saying “i missed the bus!” when the rocket takes longer in a normal playthru

[@gillgillgillgillgill]

loved smb2 since i was a kid, and the speedrun is wild... the bomb ladder wrong warp is the only speedrun trick ive learned to do! shoutout to coolkid!

[@evrytimeweslay4862]

Great job, Kosmic! Anyone who has tried to run this category especially knows how insane of a run this was. Ethan is also underrated.

[@gljames24]

Doki Doki panic also was built with the engine originally meant for a Super Mario 2. Doki Doki Panic was basically a beta they could make before releasing the actual game. The vertical scrolling was one such feature meant to improve on the original.

[@mostlyghostey]

This is one of the first games I ever played by myself after my parents bought us a gameboy advance for Christmas one year. I used to look at the enemies in the manual and draw them. I drew them exactly the same as the manual, but it was one of my first experiences drawing from reference and I was so proud of how each one turned out. I also played this for hours! Learning all of it's secrets and being deadly afraid of the phantos. The whale levels were always so difficult for me and I don't think I ever beat wart but I think I got to him once or twice. I remember mouser the most though. All this to say I love this game and I am so glad you are going over the all levels speedrun. As fun as any% is it's so short!

[@MrDameius]

As a not speedrunner, the best tricks for me are then ones that happen in a flash and then you have to pause the run and take ~x10 time to explain as the trick was on screen, ala star into Mauser.

[@Wote89]

I think it's a close tie between those and the tricks where the explanation for how it was discovered boils down to "So, this top runner was screwing around one day..."

[@FullArcher05]

For people saying SMB2 is just a reskin of Doki Doki Panic, the game was prototyped as a Mario sequel before they made a deal with Fuji TV to base it off a show.

[@larajamila005]

I think it's really funny that the game some people deem as "not Mario" actually introduced a LOT of recurring aspects in future mainline and even spin-off games

[@coolpapabell22]

The 1-1 craziness makes SMB2 as a whole a great speed game. So many really hard time saves are front loaded.

[@coolpapabell22]

@@TheMIsterAsnuafa The other bonus is is you miss the hard trick and reset, you're out 30 seconds. If you miss a hard trick 15 minutes in, those resets get very demoralizing.

[@108Pi]

This is what I’ve been saying!

[@MaxOakland]

You were right and we were lDlOTS

[@inthefade]

Lol at the Solstice opening theme! I love to hear it. What a NES soundtrack masterpiece.

[@Zyart]

I heard that, and the biggest smile just came over my face. I loved that game so very much.

[@HeadMinerve]

So nice to see you found new setups for the category ! The almost-TAS strat that replaces Peach seems to save like 25+ seconds (!!), it's going to completely kill all times we know of now !

[@Kosmicd12]

Yeah I have one working setup that should save 10-15 seconds but it's still incredibly hard. There's an easier strat but it only saves maybe 3-4 seconds. I'm sure we'll keep optimizing things and it will be implemented in some form!

[@Johnston.Carliferanda]

What a great breakdown of the techniques. Both your explanation and example footage made it crystal clear what was going on and seeing it all come together in the speedrun was exciting. Great job, looking forward what's next whether that's more SMB or Donkey Kong.

[@xa1e_]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention than it has. I really enjoyed this one Kosmic, looking forward to more

[@xdonthave1xx]

I love how you used the Solstice music to demonstrate a casual playthrough vs world record run.

[@hex.enigma]

Props for using the Solstice theme. A true banger.

[@mcaaronice]

Did this guy really just find strats to make his own video outdated? He's changing the game!!

[@hhhhhhhhhhb]

the fact that u ran the game and actually developed some tech learning it for the vid is rlly cool, it makes it feel alot less touristy than some other speedrun explanations also every time u said hawk mouth i braced for u to say tuah but so far it hasnt come thank u

[@TARINunit9]

Random lore fact: The reason world 7 only has two levels is because of the DokiDoki Panic story. The game takes place in a magical book, and Wart ripped out the last page (where world 7-3 would have taken place) where he was originally defeated in the backstory, so that he would never be defeated and could rule the world. This reference was lost in the Mario 2 version of events, where the world is Mario's dream and Wart doesn't have a backstory, so world 7-3 going missing doesn't really have any equivalence and they just kinda hope you don't question it

[@Ry_yan]

PLEASE cover other games as well. this was very easy to digest and enjoyable to hear commentated

[@Avendesora]

Berto is my favorite mario character, personally. I love that whoever did the captions tried their best based off what they were hearing and just sent it

[@rawbinYT]

it feels like he just transcribed what youtube's automatic closed captions show when listening to the video. honestly these kinds of subtitles with the lack of punctuation, no proofreading, and completely inaccurate names ruins the point of captioning it. kosmic should've left it uncaptioned.

[@Avendesora]

@@rawbinYT Nah. Even if it's just officializing the auto translate, giving it real captions makes it so it shows everything in chunks instead of word by word, which is super valuable.

[@electricnezumi]

its clearly ai

[@rawbinYT]

@@electricnezumi not everything is made using ai nowadays, you dingus

[@electricnezumi]

@@rawbinYT you know youtubes automatic closed captions are AI, right? you literally agree with me.

[@leonardowesselka4124]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1933">32:13</a> this strat is so satisfying to watch, ABOSLUTE CINEMA 🙌

[@legacytag]

I do love the fact that Kosmic casually found multiple new setups while making a video covering the world record for a game he doesn't even run that seriously XD

[@activepuck2225]

Don’t sell yourself short, your explanations made sense, especially to someone like myself who doesn’t speed run any games. And I honestly never knew there was so much strategies, techniques and interesting glitches in this game, it’s wild!

[@gljames24]

were so many

[@aireyroblox]

Glad smb2 is getting more attention. I've always really liked it for some reason

[@synx6988]

@<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1925">32:05</a> that's coolkid! Best runner of this game ever!

[@DarkKen87]

I saw an all mushrooms run of this recently. Think it was from an ESA fundraiser!

[@GeofreySanders]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1124">18:44</a> These parts could be seen as boring, but that would require turning your screen sideways since boring is horizontal and the sand sections have the player digging downward.

[@SeanCMonahan]

Straight to jail you go! 😂

[@sauerkrautlanguage]

bro what an absolute chad kosmic just casually discovering new tricks while making the video

[@a.v.y8331]

the casualness with which Kosmic says "so yeah I found new setups" in a video about the world record run of the game is just wild. really goes to show that world-class speedrunners will always be world-class, they have both the mechanics to execute tricks, and the mind to look for better ones and new setups

[@rustyshackelford3377]

Crazy how much the strats have changed since Summoning Salt's video on Mario2

[@Jono1874]

That first level run down was absolutely wild. I didn't know about any of these techniques.

[@inthefade]

I've always loved watching runs of this game, but didn't know how a lot of the strats worked. Very cool. I'm also psyched to see what happens with your skip that you discovered.

[@ElTaitronAnim]

Super Mario Bros 2, still the king after all these years. Great video and explanations! Your music choices were excellent, too.

[@matijalenic2923]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="229">3:49</a> Putting solstice music there is funny 😂

[@subtlewookiee]

Update: Ethan has crushed this run with a <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1228">20:28</a> recently.

[@Mr407Derek]

I don’t sub to Kosmic but when there’s a Mario speed run I haven’t heard about I got to watch. And then the video was so good I had to sub. How didn’t I know about this guy?

[@overdance2597]

Great video Kosmic! I was lucky enough to catch a lot of Ethan's runs at the beginning of the year. He set WRs for so many SMB2 categories.... so entertaining. Thanks for dissecting this run so well!

[@thep-king15]

Ethan is just as underrated

[@RadikAlice]

Uncovering tech by pure accident is like, peak speedrunning

[@savage069]

Manscaped, the only way to shave my fireballs and my warp door.

[@rottenpotato4733]

The speedrun of shaving

[@alisona.4166]

Ah, good, I always prefer it when Mario shaves his fireballs before putting his warp whistle in my shaved warp door.

[@AntipaladinPedigri]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="600">10:00</a> Where I come from we call egg cycles "ovulation"and "fertile days".

[@Kamawan0]

Your joke might be too smart for the room 🎉

[@AntipaladinPedigri]

@@Kamawan0 I think I will pick up and throw an egg at the people in the room to demenstruate my frustration

[@rooislangwtf]

This is one of your best videos + I'm fine with you branching into other games / topics

[@jj48]

I liked it! I enjoy hearing the technical explanations behind how speedruns work, and would love to hear about more games!

[@ZkiART]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="294">4:54</a> Follin? Like, Tim Follin? HaHA!

[@Fk8td]

Thank you for all the effort and description of this video. Very few people would go through this depth and effort. This video should’ve been viral over 1 million views.

[@mattgio1172]

Definitely one of your best videos to date - really nicely done!

[@Nikki-rq2qg]

Thanks for the commentary! I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your take on the run and, yeah, please talk about all the games you enjoy! This is what I'm here for =D

[@Benni-rp9or]

Great video! I don't care what anyone says, SMB2 USA is a Mario game. The people that developed DDP were Mario devs, working on mechanics for a Mario game. They just decided to use the vertical scroll mechanic for a different game. And as you said, multiple things carried over to newer Mario games from this one.

[@knghtbrd]

I personally have been really enjoying these videos where you're showcasing just how supremely badass the runners who take these WRs really are!

[@XANDOAndy]

EthanRTA? I love watching his Turtle Woods speedruns!

[@EthanRTA]

Lmfao

[@zthecat]

This is one of those videos I wish I could like twice. Everything is so well explained, and I just love Kosmic's energy. Overall just a stellar video.

[@TheBones5]

this is one of the best explanations i've ever seen from you, amazing vid!!

[@literallylegendary]

I love to see the branching out, and I'd honestly listen to Kosmic talk about anything :)

[@wilms2328]

The explanation on the wrong warp was awesome, I really loved the visual aid of Toad moving between those floors

[@Tenetri]

Great video Kosmic! Been watching you for years, and I would totally watch you review anything. Great work, and really enjoyed this one. Thanks a lot!

[@innertuber4049]

Very good video, definitely not upset that you weren't doing SMB1! Also pretty cool how you developed new strats in the process of making it

[@davidscissorhands]

I LOVE how you go through all the in depth complexities and mechanics!!!! Subscribed!!!

[@mr.stawmp]

I love this game so much. Really cool to see how unique and interesting the speedrun for it is

[@chrispayne1824]

Appreciate this video is mainly about Ethan's run but kudos to coolkid for everything he has achieved with this game.

[@TerraEpon]

Absolutely keep doing whatever runs you want! I watch your videos because you always explain things in a straight forward yet interesting and a bit funny manner.

[@CristianConsonni]

Only Kosmic can do a video explainer about a run and find new tricks (<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="939">15:39</a>). Absolute madman!

[@DavidWonn]

Always pleased to see several of my old glitch findings (combined with others') put to good use .-)

[@MaxOakland]

It’s cool that you discovered those glitches

[@computersocsci]

I love speedrun explanation videos like this. Thanks!

[@blueskirt5842]

Great video, Kosmic! Funny how it is faster to run through 3-1 the normal way than it is to use the shortcut on the left after the long climb. And I am crossing my fingers you will cover DKC2 speedruns someday because it is a marvel to see all the techniques, the frame perfect tricks, and the glitches that runners perform when they run this game.

[@Timmothy_plays]

Honestly there's something great knowing that despite how tight and tough it is to get the WR, there's still seconds that can be saved.

[@EthanRTA]

Awesome video, glad smb2 is getting some attention :)

[@Kosmicd12]

It's the guy

[@TofuRabbit]

This is awesome, i love SMB2 so much, when i was a kid i used to play with my mom on her old NES on a tiny CRT in her room, this game brings back so many precious memories. Thank you for making this video :D

[@Stormkyleis]

I appreciate these videos so much, they're informative while also being very easy to digest. This video was 40 minutes long but it felt like 10

[@jacobkrueger1022]

make videos about whatever you personally want to. I promise you'll get views, and especially a high viewer to sub ratio. your passion and interest in the game and speedrun are what make the video pop more than a simple documentary.

[@MrBeegs88]

I'm glad you took some time away from your usual videos of explaining a mario speedrun to give us a video of explaining mario 2. Great video

[@amzab123]

Your editing and narration has really gotten better, this was an awesome video !! I learned a lot from it too, good stuff Kosmic !