Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

2011-02-27 02:41:01 pm

Alright, thanks. Not that I would have let the game sit on the title screen anyway, but it’s good to know for estimation purposes.

I do have some stuff to show – two tricks that I have not seen mentioned here, or anywhere else.

Stored Triple Jump
-Do a double jump that could lead to a triple jump, meaning you must have enough of a running start, and you cannot change direction during the jumps.
-Hit fire before you reach the ground.
-Cancel the fire running by pressing A after the first bounce. Mashing A works too, but the timing isn't really that hard.
-You will complete the triple jump

I haven’t found many places where this actually saves time, and even in the few places it can be used; it probably saves a second at most. It turns out that this also works in SMG2 (if this trick was already discovered for it, sorry for being redundant.)

Bee Boost
This basically allows you to get a much greater vertical height out of Bee Mario when you initially pick up the mushroom. First of all, doing a back flip into the bee mushroom gives you an initial height without using up any of the flight gauge. This is pretty useful by itself, but you can actually get a boosted vertical flight if you press and hold A after the back flip at just the right time. I haven’t figured out the exact timing, but the extra height is quite significant. This saves time in The Silver Stars of Sea Slide. I cannot get this boost to work in SMG2.

Alright, thanks. Not that I would have let the game sit on the title screen anyway, but it’s good to know for estimation purposes.

I do have some stuff to show – two tricks that I have not seen mentioned here, or anywhere else.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXIj62DhNrg]Stored Triple Jump[/url]
-Do a double jump that could lead to a triple jump, meaning you must have enough of a running start, and you cannot change direction during the jumps.
-Hit fire before you reach the ground.
-Cancel the fire running by pressing A after the first bounce. Mashing A works too, but the timing isn't really that hard.
-You will complete the triple jump

I haven’t found many places where this actually saves time, and even in the few places it can be used; it probably saves a second at most. It turns out that this also works in SMG2 (if this trick was already discovered for it, sorry for being redundant.)

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F666cUVfPU]Bee Boost[/url]
This basically allows you to get a much greater vertical height out of Bee Mario when you initially pick up the mushroom. First of all, doing a back flip into the bee mushroom gives you an initial height without using up any of the flight gauge. This is pretty useful by itself, but you can actually get a boosted vertical flight if you press and hold A after the back flip at just the right time. I haven’t figured out the exact timing, but the extra height is quite significant. This saves time in The Silver Stars of Sea Slide. I cannot get this boost to work in SMG2.

yoshifan

2011-03-07 10:10:16 pm

Nice finds! The stored triple jump may be new, yet it looks vaguely familiar somehow... I don't know though. I do know that I never thought to try and find a use for it.

For the Bee boost, I thought of the backflip not too long ago (I used it in Honeyclimb in my 12th segment), but the extra boost is certainly new to me. That does look like a good find for Silver Stars of Sea Slide.

Good luck on your run, by the way! Feel free to ask about anything.

(And I'll be continuing my 61-star run in a week or two. Hopefully I'll manage to finish it then.)

yoshifan

Edit history:

yoshifan: 2011-03-22 11:52:15 am

yoshifan: 2011-03-22 11:51:32 am

2011-03-22 11:50:10 am

As a heads-up, it looks like I'm doing the next 2 stars (Luigi in Honeyhive, Drip Drop) in 2 segments instead of 1. My excuse - er, reasoning - is this:

(1) If I did them in 1 segment, I'd want to do Drip Drop first, because doing Honeyhive first means I'd have to exit the Terrace and take a longer route to Drip Drop (which is at the Hungry Luma next to the Kitchen). On the other hand, completing Drip Drop puts me back to the Observatory, meaning I won't have to take a long route to the Terrace.

(2) If I consider this, the time spent running through the Observatory is nearly the same for 1 segment or 2 segments.

(3) Problem with the 1-segment plan: doing Honeyhive first actually cuts about 1.5 seconds from the load/cutscene times after you get a star (about 1 from loading and 0.5 from cutscene time). Reason: after getting a star, load/cutscene times are generally longer if you're transported back to the Observatory instead of back to a dome. There are two events here that will send you back to the Observatory: completing an Observatory Hungry Luma stage (i.e. Drip Drop), and getting star 60 (since Rosalina will then speak to you). Doing Honeyhive first means that Drip Drop is star 60, meaning these two events will be merged after Drip Drop, and I'll only return to the Observatory once.

Seeing how inconsistent Drip Drop is turning out to be (I haven't completed my strategy in the last several sessions), I personally have no complaints with making another segment. >_> It'll also allow me to go for another trick in Honeyhive, though it only saves half a second or so.

As a heads-up, it looks like I'm doing the next 2 stars (Luigi in Honeyhive, Drip Drop) in 2 segments instead of 1.  My excuse - er, reasoning - is this:

(1) If I did them in 1 segment, I'd want to do Drip Drop first, because doing Honeyhive first means I'd have to exit the Terrace and take a longer route to Drip Drop (which is at the Hungry Luma next to the Kitchen).  On the other hand, completing Drip Drop puts me back to the Observatory, meaning I won't have to take a long route to the Terrace.

(2) If I consider this, the time spent running through the Observatory is nearly the same for 1 segment or 2 segments.

(3) Problem with the 1-segment plan: doing Honeyhive first actually cuts about 1.5 seconds from the load/cutscene times after you get a star (about 1 from loading and 0.5 from cutscene time).  Reason: after getting a star, load/cutscene times are generally longer if you're transported back to the Observatory instead of back to a dome.  There are two events here that will send you back to the Observatory: completing an Observatory Hungry Luma stage (i.e. Drip Drop), and getting star 60 (since Rosalina will then speak to you).  Doing Honeyhive first means that Drip Drop is star 60, meaning these two events will be merged after Drip Drop, and I'll only return to the Observatory once.

Seeing how inconsistent Drip Drop is turning out to be (I haven't completed my strategy in the last several sessions), I personally have no complaints with making another segment. >_>  It'll also allow me to go for another trick in Honeyhive, though it only saves half a second or so.

yoshifan

2011-03-23 02:13:35 am

Segment 14: Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom

Segment 15: Giant Eel Outbreak

That makes 60 stars. Just one more to go!

I have no name

2011-03-23 01:07:20 pm

Obscure games ftw

Can't wait to see the last level destroyed in the same manner as all the other ones. Keep up the great work yoshifan!

Drip Drop blew my mind... O.O

holydiver42

2011-03-23 02:43:04 pm

Everybody DANCE!

Holy poop, Drip Drop was crazy!

DK28

2011-03-23 10:29:29 pm

General Kong - Bullets and Bananas

That was downright sexy yoshifan.

Shocked

Arrow

2011-03-24 01:19:01 am

Now a hit show on the CW

Drip Drop was possibly the most impressive level yet, and that's saying a lot considering the quality of the run up to this point. Eagerly awaiting the conclusion Smiley

Kryal

2011-03-24 02:05:54 am

from red to blue

Yoshifan, what is your first name? I want to name my firstborn after you.

DJS

2011-03-24 08:54:40 am

torch slug since 2006

I have been following this run, silently.. but I do have to comment on that Drip Drop Galaxy, it was so awesome! Cheesy

I will also have to say that its weird watching this game without hearing the disc in the wii spinning/"clicking"..
Smiley

Uilnslcoap

2011-03-27 01:34:46 am

F*ckin' sanity effects...

I just want to say that it has been a pleasure watching all your work to this point (Drip Drop really was incredible), and I can't wait for the last segment!

aggron

2011-03-27 04:26:37 am

That was just mindboggling! I wouldn't even try to speed run this game, because I would throw the controller away out of frustration.
The final segment will definately be more amazing. What will be your final time? Around 2:30, or more?

yoshifan

2011-04-03 08:06:13 pm

I just wanted to say that I'll finish the last segment after the Japan relief marathon. I spent a whole lot of time testing different strategies for Fate of the Universe, so I've done most of the work - but now that I think about it, I wouldn't want to rush the final push for the segment, since it's looking difficult and could take some doing. For now I'll concentrate on practice and setup for the marathon. I plan to run Galaxy 61-star, of course! (April 8, Friday, 11:30 PM Eastern US time. Marathon schedules are necessarily approximate though.)

Thanks for all the support, everyone! My hope is that Fate of the Universe will be one of the best levels of the run. In the meantime, if you happen to catch Fate of the Universe on the stream, you might get a general idea of what it'll look like, though I'm not going to pull off a segmented quality run on the stream. Smiley

aggron: I haven't gotten around to adding up the segment times accurately at all, but 2:30 sounds about right, maybe a few minutes more or less.

I just wanted to say that I'll finish the last segment after the Japan relief marathon.  I spent a whole lot of time testing different strategies for Fate of the Universe, so I've done most of the work - but now that I think about it, I wouldn't want to rush the final push for the segment, since it's looking difficult and could take some doing.  For now I'll concentrate on practice and setup for the marathon.  I plan to run Galaxy 61-star, of course! (April 8, Friday, 11:30 PM Eastern US time.  Marathon schedules are necessarily approximate though.)

Thanks for all the support, everyone!  My hope is that Fate of the Universe will be one of the best levels of the run.  In the meantime, if you happen to catch Fate of the Universe on the stream, you might get a general idea of what it'll look like, though I'm not going to pull off a segmented quality run on the stream. :)

aggron: I haven't gotten around to adding up the segment times accurately at all, but 2:30 sounds about right, maybe a few minutes more or less.

DJS

2011-04-04 09:56:22 am

torch slug since 2006

I will for sure watch your run at the marathon! Good luck and all that!

trihex

2011-04-04 11:45:16 am

Yoshi's eggs are at my mercy!

I feel rather terrible about not coming to your thread often enough to keep encouraging and congratulating you for one of the most polished speedruns being done at SDA. This entire thing so far is nothing short of marvelous perfection! Like, I always think "Okay, he just did another amazing shortcut, but there's nothing here that can be done to exploi- .... OH SHIT!!! HOW'D HE FIGURE THAT OUT!" and that repeats like in every segment! Seriously amazing stuff.

Once I saw you were streaming for JRDQ, I've been hyping the fuck out of you playing to all my RL friends. Emphasizing how easy you're making the instantaneous menu selections using pre-Motion-Plus controls, gathering star bits from other planets in view, and just the sheer optimization throughout. Absolutely inspiring.

You're easily the highlight of JRDQ for me, and I can't wait! I'll do my end and make Yoshi's Island as entertaining as possible for you too. Thank you for your great service! Smiley

Mystery

2011-04-04 11:52:46 am

The last segment was seriously TAS stuff! yoshifan is now leaving the world of mortals and entering the world of tool-assisted speedruns without the tools!
Amazing. Truly amazing. Keep up the awesome work! This is going to be one heck of a speedrun. And something that SDA can be truly proud to host!

TheOnlyOne

2011-06-07 03:22:22 pm

I’m back after some time with a completed 120 star single segment route, starbits included.

-Level title/ star number / approximate starbits collected / total starbits
>Any notes about the star (usually collecting starbits that are not part of the fastest possible route.)
A * indicates that I'm not 100% certain what order these comet stars will come in, but the two or four will appear when in that observatory every time in some order. The actual order doesn't really matter; they all get done.

-Change Wiimote batteries (seriously).

-Star festival intro
-Gateway Galaxy 1 Grand Star Rescue/ 1 / 16 / 16
(Space indicates that you get sent out of the current observatory/location back to talk to Rosalina.)

-Good Egg Galaxy 1 Dino Piranha/ 2 / 50 / 66
-Good Egg Galaxy 2 A Snack of Cosmic Proportions / 3 / 7 / 73
-Good Egg Galaxy 3 King Kaliente's Battle Fleet / 4 / 81 / 154
>Collect ~39 extra starbits at the beginning on the flip side of the planet.
-Honey Hive Galaxy 1 Bee Mario Takes Flight/ 5 / 68 / 222
>I'm not doing the tree climb/double jump walk kick trick to the toad for two reasons: 1) it isn't consistent enough for a single segment run, even this early in the game, and 2) there are a good deal a starbits I would be passing up otherwise.

-Honey Hive Galaxy 2 Trouble on the Tower/ 6 / 45 / 267
-Honey Hive Galaxy 3 Big Bad Bugaboom/ 7 / 33 / 300
-Loopdeeloop Galaxy Surfing 101/ 8 / 11 / 311
-Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor Megaleg's Moon/ 9 / 25 / 336

-Space Junk Galaxy 1 Pull Star Path/ 10 / 25 / 361
-Space Junk Galaxy 2 Kamella's Airship Attack/ 11 / 30 / 391
-Space Junk Galaxy 3 Tarantox's Tangled Web/ 12 / 47 / 438
-Sling Pod Galaxy A Very Sticky Situation/ 13 / (-400) 130 / 168
>I do this star now because star 13 takes you to Rosalina, and this star takes you out to Rosalina, so doubling it up makes for fewer trips out to Rosalina total.

-Battlerock Galaxy 1 Battlerock Barrage/ 14 / 94 / 262
-Space Junk Galaxy 4 Pull Star Path Speed Run/ 15 / 25 / 387
-Battlerock Galaxy 6 Battlerock's Garbage Dump/ 16 / 1 / 388
>I do this star before Battlerock 2 because the second time doing the level, I want to skip the intro cutscene. On the flight in, there are starbits you can get, and you need starbits for the hungry luma. I do star 6 first to collect the starbits, then skip the intro the second time I enter the level.
-Battlerock Galaxy 2 Breaking into the Battlerock/ 17 / 28 / 416
-Battlerock Galaxy 3 Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe/ 18 / 72 / 488
>Collect the 16 starbits on the bottom of the third saucer at the start of the level
-Battlerock Galaxy 4 Topmaniac's Daredevil Run/ 19 / 25 / 513
-Bowser's Star Reactor The Fiery Stronghold/ 20 / 23 / 536

-Ghostly Galaxy 1 Luigi and the Haunted Mansion/ 21 / 24 / 560

-Feed the hungry by the Terrace
-Talk to Luigi
-Sweet Sweet Galaxy Rocky Road/ 22 / (-400) 39 / 193

-Toad gives you Luigi's first letter
-Good Egg Galaxy 6 Luigi on the Roof/ 23 / 13 / 206
-*Honeyhive Galaxy 4 Honeyhive Cosmic Mario Race/ 24 / 0 / 206
-Flipswitch Galaxy Painting the Planet Yellow/ 25 / 0 / 206
-*Good Egg Galaxy 4 Dino Piranha Speed Run/ 26 / 51 / 257
-Ghostly Galaxy 2 A Very Spooky Sprint/ 27 / 34 / 291
-Ghostly Galaxy 3 Beware of Bouldergeist/ 28 / 55 / 346
-Ghostly Galaxy 4 Bouldergeist's Daredevil Run/ 29 / 35 / 381
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 1 Sunken Treasure/ 30 / 10 / 391
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 2 Passing the Swim Test/ 31 / 20 / 411
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 3 The Secret Undersea Cavern/ 32 / 25 / 436
>I opt not to do the trick near the end of the cyclone stone where you jump diagonally to the star. It's way too inconsistent for single segment.
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 4 Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone/ 33 / 5 / 441
>Same as above.
-Bowser Jr.'s Airship Armada Sinking the Airships/ 34 / 7 / 448

-Dusty Dune Galaxy 1 Soaring on the Desert Winds/ 35 / 116 / 564
>There are two boxes with 20 starbits in the cave that are on the way, and I stop to collect both of them. Also I hit the two switches under the thwomp in the cave and collect the ~40 starbits that appear.
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 7 Treasure of the Pyramid/ 36 / 1 / 565
>This is the first green star

-Get Luigi's second letter
-Battlerock Galaxy 7 Luigi under the Saucer/ 37 / 90 / 655
>Skip intro
>This is the second green star
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 2 Blasting Through the Sand/ 38 / 57 / 712
>Skip intro
>Use the star on the second planet to break the boulders and collect their 36 starbits
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 6 Bullet Bill On Your Back/ 39 / 65 / 777
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 3 Sunbaked Sand Castle/ 40 / 86 / 863
>Skip intro
>There is an M of 20 starbits you can see from the tower on which you collect the 5 sling star chips. Get these starbits. Also, collect the 30 starbits that circle the sinking tower on the final planet.
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 4 Bullet Bill On Your Back/ 41 / 142 / 1005
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 1 Bunnies in the Wind/ 42 / 57 / 1062
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 2 The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows/ 43 / 88 / 1150
>Destroy the tall stone pillar on the bottom of the first planet and collect 24 starbits.
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 6 The Golden Chomp/ 44 / 42 / 1192
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 4 Major Burrows's Daredevil Run/ 45 / 27 / 1219
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 3 Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble/ 46 / 84 / 1303
>Skip intro
-Bowser's Dark Matter Plant Darkness on the Horizon/ 47 / 23 / 1326

-Activate teleporter on second floor above Rosalina
-Sea Slide Galaxy 1 Going After Guppy/ 48 / 20 / 1346
-Sea Slide Galaxy 4 Underwater Cosmic Mario Race/ 49 / 10 / 1356
-Sea Slide Galaxy 2 Faster Than a Speeding Penguin/ 50 / 12 / 1368
-Sea Slide Galaxy 6 Hurry, He's Hungry/ 51 / 0 / 1368
>The reason for doing this star now instead of star 3 is similar to the reason I do Battlerock 6 before Battlerock 2; I need the starbits on the flight in for the hungry luma. I can then skip the whole intro later.
-Toy Time Galaxy 1 Heavy-Metal Mecha Bowser/ 52 / 91 / 1459
-Toy Time Galaxy 2 Mario Meets Mario/ 53 / 63 / 1522
-Toy Time Galaxy 6 The Flipswitch Chain/ 54 / 3 / 1525
-Toy Time Galaxy 4 Fast Foes of Toy Time/ 55 / 0 / 1525
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 1 Star Bunnies on the Hunt/ 56 / 50 / 1575
>Ground Pound the switch that the wriggler walks around then kill the wriggle and collect the ~30 starbits.
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 2 Cataquack To The Skies/ 57 / 37 / 1612
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 3 When it Rains, It Pours/ 58 / 53 / 1665
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 4 Cosmic Mario Forest Race/ 59 / 6 / 1671
-Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor King Kaliente's Spicy Return/ 60 / 13 / 1684

-Bowser's Galaxy Reactor The Fate of the Universe/ 61 / 121 / 1805
-Make sure to save

-Get Luigi's third letter
-Good Egg Galaxy 5 Purple Coin Omelet/ 62 / 6 / 1811
>You must do this comet before any other purple coin comets appear.
-Honeyhive Galaxy 6 Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom/ 63 / 104 / 1915
>Skip intro
>Look at the M of starbits at the start and collect them. Climb the slippery slope across the creek, then go counterclockwise around the big tree, collecting all starbits that are around (hitting switches, etc. if necessary.) Then go to Luigi. This gives a few more than 100 starbits.
-Honeyhive Galaxy 5 The Honeyhive's Purple Coins/ 64 / 11 / 1926
-*Battlerock Galaxy 5 Purple Coins on the Battlerock/ 65 / 15 / 1941
-Space Junk Galaxy 6 Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance/ 66 / 0 / 1941
>Skip intro
-*Space Junk Galaxy 5 Purple Coin Spacewalk/ 67 / 0 / 1941
-Rolling Green Galaxy Rolling in the Clouds/ 68 / 7 / 1948
-Hurry-Scurry Galaxy Shrinking Satellite/ 69 / 16 / 1964
-Freezeflame Galaxy 1 The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr/ 70 / 21 / 1985
-*Freezeflame Galaxy 4 Frosty Cosmic Mario Race/ 71 / 20 / 2005
-Freezeflame Galaxy 2 Freezeflame's Blistering Core/ 72 / 76 / 2081
>There is a ? Coin on the first planet that makes 30 starbits. There are also two boxes on the path in the lava area with 20 starbits each if you can avoid the spiky enemies.
-*Dusty Dune Galaxy 5 Purple Coins in the Desert/ 73 / 32 / 2113
-Freezeflame Galaxy 3 Hot and Cold Collide/ 74 / 26 / 2139
-*Freezeflame Galaxy 5 Purple Coins on the Summit/ 75 / 42 / 2181
-Freezeflame Galaxy 6 Conquering the Summit/ 76 / 31 / 2212
>Skip intro
-*Gusty Garden Galaxy 5 Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube/ 77 / 4 / 2216
-Honeyclimb Galaxy Scaling the Sticky Wall/ 78 / 240 / 2456
-Bigmouth Galaxy Bigmouth's Gold Bait/ 79 / (-800) 0 / 1656

-Drip Drop Galaxy Giant Eel Outbreak/ 80 / (-600) 0 / 1056

-Use teleporter in front of library
-Gateway Galaxy Gateway's Purple Coins/ 81 / 28 / 1084

-Use the red star by the toad ship to fly up to the top (garden)
-Melty Molten Galaxy 1 The Sinking Lava Spire/ 82 / 124 / 1208
>Grab the ~34 starbits in the volcano
-Melty Molten Galaxy 2 Through the Meteor Storm/ 83 / 82 / 1290
-Melty Molten Galaxy 3 Fiery Dino Piranha/ 84 / 980! / 2270
>This is the best place to farm starbits in the game. At the end of the level before the boss, there are 66 starbits you can collect repeatedly by dying in the lava while collecting them. Doing this gets you starbits at a rate of nearly 6 starbits a second. You get ~122 starbits in the rest of the level including the boss, so since the starbits cap at 999 starbits, collecting these 66 starbits 13 times you end up just under the cap at ~980 starbits (exceeding the cap is a waste of time.)
-*Melty Molten Galaxy 4 Lava Spire Daredevil Run/ 85 / 93 / 2363
-Melty Molten Galaxy 6 Burning Tide/ 86 / 8 / 2371
>Skip intro
-*Melty Molten Galaxy 5 Red-Hot Purple Coins/ 87 / 18 / 2389
-Dreadnought Galaxy 1 Infiltrating the Dreadnought/ 88 / 79 / 2468
>Once entering the dreadnought, jump up to collect the purple starbits off the top of the screen. Also collect the 20 starbits from the box right after that.
-Dreadnought Galaxy 2 Dreadnought's Colossal Cannons/ 89 / 30 / 2498
-Dreadnought Galaxy 3 Revenge of the Topman Tribe/ 90 / 44 / 2542
-*Dreadnought Galaxy 5 Battlestation's Purple Coins/ 91 / 12 / 2554
-Dreadnought Galaxy 6 Dreadnought's Garbage Dump/ 92 / 0 / 2554
>Skip intro
-*Dreadnought Galaxy 4 Topman Tribe Speed Run/ 93 / 35 / 2589
-Deep Dark Galaxy 1 The Underground Ghost Ship/ 94 / 41 / 2630
-*Deep Dark Galaxy 5 Plunder the Purple Coins/ 95 / 11 / 2641
-Deep Dark Galaxy 2 Bubble Blastoff/ 96 / 35 / 2676
>When climbing to the bubble that takes you to the cheep-cheep planet, look to the moving yellow platforms and collect the ~24 starbits floating above them.
-*Deep Dark Galaxy 4 Ghost Ship Daredevil Run/ 97 / 30 / 2706
-Deep Dark Galaxy 3 Guppy and the Underground Lake/ 98 / 20 / 2726
-Deep Dark Galaxy 6 Boo in a Box/ 99 / 0 / 2726
>Even though the first star is the one with the question mark for this secret star, you can still get it on the second star and it is faster, so select the second star.
>Skip intro
-Matter Splatter Galaxy Watch Your Step/ 100 / 120 / 2846
-Snow Cap Galaxy Star Bunnies in the Snow/ 101 / (-1600) 62 / 1308

-Ghostly Galaxy 6 Matter Splatter Mansion/ 102 / 28 / 1336
>Skip intro
-*Ghostly Galaxy 5 Purple Coins in the Bone Pen/ 103 / 2 / 1338
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 6 Wall Kicking up Waterfalls/ 104 / 51 / 1389
>Skip intro
-*Beach Bowl Galaxy 5 Beachcombing for Purple Coins/ 105 / 4 / 1393
-Bubble Breeze Galaxy Through the Poison Swamp/ 106 / 53 / 1446
-Buoy Base Galaxy 1 The Floating Fortress/ 107 / 15 / 1461
-Buoy Base Galaxy 2 The Secret of Buoy Base/ 108 / 18 / 1479
>Skip intro
>This is the third green star

-Bubble Blast Galaxy The Electric Labyrinth/ 109 / 83 / 1562

-Rolling Gizmo Galaxy Gizmos, Gears, and Gadgets/ 110 / 77 / 1639

-Loopdeeswoop Galaxy The Galaxy's Greatest Wave/ 111 / 164 / 1803
>After completing the course, go over to the little penguins and use the sling star. Go through the sequence of planets and collect the many many starbits on the way.

-Take the teleporter in front of library up to the second floor
-Sea Slide Galaxy 3 The Silver Stars of Sea Slide/ 112 / 31 / 1834
>Skip intro
-*Sea Slide Galaxy 5 Purple Coins by the Seaside/ 113 / 71 / 1905
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 6 The Bell on the Big Tree/ 114 / 19 / 1924
-*Toy Time Galaxy 5 Luigi's Purple Coins/ 115 / 35 / 1959
-Toy Time Galaxy 3 Bouncing Down Cake Lane/ 116 / 230 / 2189
>Grab the ? coin over the chocolate conveyer belt and collect the ~50 starbits that appear. Get the 20 starbits from the box above the ice cream cone planets.
-*Gold Leaf Galaxy 5 Purple Coins in the Woods/ 117 / 24 / 2213
-Bonefin Galaxy Kingfin's Fearsome Waters/ 118 / 8 / 2221
-Boo's Boneyard Galaxy Racing the Spooky Speedster/ 119 / (-1200) 8 / 1049

-Take the teleporter in front of library up to the second floor
-Sand Spiral Galaxy Choosing a Favorite Snack/ 120 / (-1000) 16 / 65

-Do Bowser's Galaxy Reactor The Fate of the Universe again
>Unlocks Luigi

This is a slightly tweaked version of the route I used in this route test:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
(This has some useful commentary about some of the route and starbit decisions that I didn’t explain above and about some other interesting points, but it probably isn’t worth watching through unless you’re really bored.)

That test came out at 7:22:41 (using Ustream’s video times) with about 38 minutes in major mistakes and probably a few minutes in minor mistakes. This test was for the route more so than for the time (clearly, since there were so many mistakes) but it still shows that sub 6:45 is possible (but would be very difficult.)

I’m back after some time with a completed 120 star single segment route, starbits included.

[spoiler]-Level title/ star number / approximate starbits collected / total starbits
	>Any notes about the star (usually collecting starbits that are not part of the fastest possible route.)
A * indicates that I'm not 100% certain what order these comet stars will come in, but the two or four will appear when in that observatory every time in some order. The actual order doesn't really matter; they all get done.

-Change Wiimote batteries (seriously).

-Star festival intro
-Gateway Galaxy 1 Grand Star Rescue/ 1 / 16 / 16
(Space indicates that you get sent out of the current observatory/location back to talk to Rosalina.)

-Good Egg Galaxy 1 Dino Piranha/ 2 / 50 / 66
-Good Egg Galaxy 2 A Snack of Cosmic Proportions / 3 / 7 / 73
-Good Egg Galaxy 3 King Kaliente's Battle Fleet / 4 / 81 / 154
	>Collect ~39 extra starbits at the beginning on the flip side of the planet.
-Honey Hive Galaxy 1 Bee Mario Takes Flight/ 5 / 68 / 222
	>I'm not doing the tree climb/double jump walk kick trick to the toad for two reasons: 1) it isn't consistent enough for a single segment run, even this early in the game, and 2) there are a good deal a starbits I would be passing up otherwise.

-Honey Hive Galaxy 2 Trouble on the Tower/ 6 / 45 / 267
-Honey Hive Galaxy 3 Big Bad Bugaboom/ 7 / 33 / 300
-Loopdeeloop Galaxy Surfing 101/ 8 / 11 / 311
-Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor Megaleg's Moon/ 9 / 25 / 336

-Space Junk Galaxy 1 Pull Star Path/ 10 / 25 / 361
-Space Junk Galaxy 2 Kamella's Airship Attack/ 11 / 30 / 391
-Space Junk Galaxy 3 Tarantox's Tangled Web/ 12 / 47 / 438
-Sling Pod Galaxy A Very Sticky Situation/ 13 / (-400) 130 / 168
	>I do this star now because star 13 takes you to Rosalina, and this star takes you out to Rosalina, so doubling it up makes for fewer trips out to Rosalina total.

-Battlerock Galaxy 1 Battlerock Barrage/ 14 / 94 / 262
-Space Junk Galaxy 4 Pull Star Path Speed Run/ 15 / 25 / 387
-Battlerock Galaxy 6 Battlerock's Garbage Dump/ 16 / 1 / 388
	>I do this star before Battlerock 2 because the second time doing the level, I want to skip the intro cutscene. On the flight in, there are starbits you can get, and you need starbits for the hungry luma. I do star 6 first to collect the starbits, then skip the intro the second time I enter the level.
-Battlerock Galaxy 2 Breaking into the Battlerock/ 17 / 28 / 416
-Battlerock Galaxy 3 Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe/ 18 / 72 / 488
	>Collect the 16 starbits on the bottom of the third saucer at the start of the level
-Battlerock Galaxy 4 Topmaniac's Daredevil Run/ 19 / 25 / 513
-Bowser's Star Reactor The Fiery Stronghold/ 20 / 23 / 536

-Ghostly Galaxy 1 Luigi and the Haunted Mansion/ 21 / 24 / 560

-Feed the hungry by the Terrace
-Talk to Luigi
-Sweet Sweet Galaxy Rocky Road/ 22 / (-400) 39 / 193

-Toad gives you Luigi's first letter
-Good Egg Galaxy 6 Luigi on the Roof/ 23 / 13 / 206
-*Honeyhive Galaxy 4 Honeyhive Cosmic Mario Race/ 24 / 0 / 206
-Flipswitch Galaxy Painting the Planet Yellow/ 25 / 0 / 206
-*Good Egg Galaxy 4 Dino Piranha Speed Run/ 26 / 51 / 257
-Ghostly Galaxy 2 A Very Spooky Sprint/ 27 / 34 / 291
-Ghostly Galaxy 3 Beware of Bouldergeist/ 28 / 55 / 346
-Ghostly Galaxy 4 Bouldergeist's Daredevil Run/ 29 / 35 / 381
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 1 Sunken Treasure/ 30 / 10 / 391
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 2 Passing the Swim Test/ 31 / 20 / 411
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 3 The Secret Undersea Cavern/ 32 / 25 / 436
	>I opt not to do the trick near the end of the cyclone stone where you jump diagonally to the star. It's way too inconsistent for single segment.
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 4 Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone/ 33 / 5 / 441
	>Same as above.
-Bowser Jr.'s Airship Armada Sinking the Airships/ 34 / 7 / 448

-Dusty Dune Galaxy 1 Soaring on the Desert Winds/ 35 / 116 / 564
	>There are two boxes with 20 starbits in the cave that are on the way, and I stop to collect both of them. Also I hit the two switches under the thwomp in the cave and collect the ~40 starbits that appear.
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 7 Treasure of the Pyramid/ 36 / 1 / 565
	>This is the first green star

-Get Luigi's second letter
-Battlerock Galaxy 7 Luigi under the Saucer/ 37 / 90 / 655
	>Skip intro
	>This is the second green star
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 2 Blasting Through the Sand/ 38 / 57 / 712
	>Skip intro
	>Use the star on the second planet to break the boulders and collect their 36 starbits
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 6 Bullet Bill On Your Back/ 39 / 65 / 777
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 3 Sunbaked Sand Castle/ 40 / 86 / 863
	>Skip intro
	>There is an M of 20 starbits you can see from the tower on which you collect the 5 sling star chips. Get these starbits. Also, collect the 30 starbits that circle the sinking tower on the final planet.
-Dusty Dune Galaxy 4 Bullet Bill On Your Back/ 41 / 142 / 1005
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 1 Bunnies in the Wind/ 42 / 57 / 1062
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 2 The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows/ 43 / 88 / 1150
	>Destroy the tall stone pillar on the bottom of the first planet and collect 24 starbits.
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 6 The Golden Chomp/ 44 / 42 / 1192
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 4 Major Burrows's Daredevil Run/ 45 / 27 / 1219
-Gusty Garden Galaxy 3 Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble/ 46 / 84 / 1303
	>Skip intro
-Bowser's Dark Matter Plant Darkness on the Horizon/ 47 / 23 / 1326

-Activate teleporter on second floor above Rosalina
-Sea Slide Galaxy 1 Going After Guppy/ 48 / 20 / 1346
-Sea Slide Galaxy 4 Underwater Cosmic Mario Race/ 49 / 10 / 1356
-Sea Slide Galaxy 2 Faster Than a Speeding Penguin/ 50 / 12 / 1368
-Sea Slide Galaxy 6 Hurry, He's Hungry/ 51 / 0 / 1368
	>The reason for doing this star now instead of star 3 is similar to the reason I do Battlerock 6 before Battlerock 2; I need the starbits on the flight in for the hungry luma. I can then skip the whole intro later.
-Toy Time Galaxy 1 Heavy-Metal Mecha Bowser/ 52 / 91 / 1459
-Toy Time Galaxy 2 Mario Meets Mario/ 53 / 63 / 1522
-Toy Time Galaxy 6 The Flipswitch Chain/ 54 / 3 / 1525
-Toy Time Galaxy 4 Fast Foes of Toy Time/ 55 / 0 / 1525
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 1 Star Bunnies on the Hunt/ 56 / 50 / 1575
	>Ground Pound the switch that the wriggler walks around then kill the wriggle and collect the ~30 starbits.
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 2 Cataquack To The Skies/ 57 / 37 / 1612
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 3 When it Rains, It Pours/ 58 / 53 / 1665
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 4 Cosmic Mario Forest Race/ 59 / 6 / 1671
-Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor King Kaliente's Spicy Return/ 60 / 13 / 1684

-Bowser's Galaxy Reactor The Fate of the Universe/ 61 / 121 / 1805
-Make sure to save

-Get Luigi's third letter
-Good Egg Galaxy 5 Purple Coin Omelet/ 62 / 6 / 1811
	>You must do this comet before any other purple coin comets appear.
-Honeyhive Galaxy 6 Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom/ 63 / 104 / 1915
	>Skip intro
	>Look at the M of starbits at the start and collect them. Climb the slippery slope across the creek, then go counterclockwise around the big tree, collecting all starbits that are around (hitting switches, etc. if necessary.) Then go to Luigi. This gives a few more than 100 starbits.
-Honeyhive Galaxy 5 The Honeyhive's Purple Coins/ 64 / 11 / 1926
-*Battlerock Galaxy 5 Purple Coins on the Battlerock/ 65 / 15 / 1941
-Space Junk Galaxy 6 Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance/ 66 / 0 / 1941
	>Skip intro
-*Space Junk Galaxy 5 Purple Coin Spacewalk/ 67 / 0 / 1941
-Rolling Green Galaxy Rolling in the Clouds/ 68 / 7 / 1948
-Hurry-Scurry Galaxy Shrinking Satellite/ 69 / 16 / 1964
-Freezeflame Galaxy 1 The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr/ 70 / 21 / 1985
-*Freezeflame Galaxy 4 Frosty Cosmic Mario Race/ 71 / 20 / 2005
-Freezeflame Galaxy 2 Freezeflame's Blistering Core/ 72 / 76 / 2081
	>There is a ? Coin on the first planet that makes 30 starbits. There are also two boxes on the path in the lava area with 20 starbits each if you can avoid the spiky enemies.
-*Dusty Dune Galaxy 5 Purple Coins in the Desert/ 73 / 32 / 2113
-Freezeflame Galaxy 3 Hot and Cold Collide/ 74 / 26 / 2139
-*Freezeflame Galaxy 5 Purple Coins on the Summit/ 75 / 42 / 2181
-Freezeflame Galaxy 6 Conquering the Summit/ 76 / 31 / 2212
	>Skip intro
-*Gusty Garden Galaxy 5 Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube/ 77 / 4 / 2216
-Honeyclimb Galaxy Scaling the Sticky Wall/ 78 / 240 / 2456
-Bigmouth Galaxy Bigmouth's Gold Bait/ 79 / (-800) 0 / 1656

-Drip Drop Galaxy Giant Eel Outbreak/ 80 / (-600) 0 / 1056

-Use teleporter in front of library
-Gateway Galaxy Gateway's Purple Coins/ 81 / 28 / 1084

-Use the red star by the toad ship to fly up to the top (garden)
-Melty Molten Galaxy 1 The Sinking Lava Spire/ 82 / 124 / 1208
	>Grab the ~34 starbits in the volcano
-Melty Molten Galaxy 2 Through the Meteor Storm/ 83 / 82 / 1290
-Melty Molten Galaxy 3 Fiery Dino Piranha/ 84 / 980! / 2270
	>This is the best place to farm starbits in the game. At the end of the level before the boss, there are 66 starbits you can collect repeatedly by dying in the lava while collecting them. Doing this gets you starbits at a rate of nearly 6 starbits a second. You get ~122 starbits in the rest of the level including the boss, so since the starbits cap at 999 starbits, collecting these 66 starbits 13 times you end up just under the cap at ~980 starbits (exceeding the cap is a waste of time.)
-*Melty Molten Galaxy 4 Lava Spire Daredevil Run/ 85 / 93 / 2363
-Melty Molten Galaxy 6 Burning Tide/ 86 / 8 / 2371
	>Skip intro
-*Melty Molten Galaxy 5 Red-Hot Purple Coins/ 87 / 18 / 2389
-Dreadnought Galaxy 1 Infiltrating the Dreadnought/ 88 / 79 / 2468
	>Once entering the dreadnought, jump up to collect the purple starbits off the top of the screen. Also collect the 20 starbits from the box right after that.
-Dreadnought Galaxy 2 Dreadnought's Colossal Cannons/ 89 / 30 / 2498
-Dreadnought Galaxy 3 Revenge of the Topman Tribe/ 90 / 44 / 2542
-*Dreadnought Galaxy 5 Battlestation's Purple Coins/ 91 / 12 / 2554
-Dreadnought Galaxy 6 Dreadnought's Garbage Dump/ 92 / 0 / 2554
	>Skip intro
-*Dreadnought Galaxy 4 Topman Tribe Speed Run/ 93 / 35 / 2589
-Deep Dark Galaxy 1 The Underground Ghost Ship/ 94 / 41 / 2630
-*Deep Dark Galaxy 5 Plunder the Purple Coins/ 95 / 11 / 2641
-Deep Dark Galaxy 2 Bubble Blastoff/ 96 / 35 / 2676
	>When climbing to the bubble that takes you to the cheep-cheep planet, look to the moving yellow platforms and collect the ~24 starbits floating above them.
-*Deep Dark Galaxy 4 Ghost Ship Daredevil Run/ 97 / 30 / 2706
-Deep Dark Galaxy 3 Guppy and the Underground Lake/ 98 / 20 / 2726
-Deep Dark Galaxy 6 Boo in a Box/ 99 / 0 / 2726
	>Even though the first star is the one with the question mark for this secret star, you can still get it on the second star and it is faster, so select the second star.
	>Skip intro
-Matter Splatter Galaxy Watch Your Step/ 100 / 120 / 2846
-Snow Cap Galaxy Star Bunnies in the Snow/ 101 / (-1600) 62 / 1308

-Ghostly Galaxy 6 Matter Splatter Mansion/ 102 / 28 / 1336
	>Skip intro
-*Ghostly Galaxy 5 Purple Coins in the Bone Pen/ 103 / 2 / 1338
-Beach Bowl Galaxy 6 Wall Kicking up Waterfalls/ 104 / 51 / 1389
	>Skip intro
-*Beach Bowl Galaxy 5 Beachcombing for Purple Coins/ 105 / 4 / 1393
-Bubble Breeze Galaxy Through the Poison Swamp/ 106 / 53 / 1446
-Buoy Base Galaxy 1 The Floating Fortress/ 107 / 15 / 1461
-Buoy Base Galaxy 2 The Secret of Buoy Base/ 108 / 18 / 1479
	>Skip intro
	>This is the third green star

-Bubble Blast Galaxy The Electric Labyrinth/ 109 / 83 / 1562

-Rolling Gizmo Galaxy Gizmos, Gears, and Gadgets/ 110 / 77 / 1639

-Loopdeeswoop Galaxy The Galaxy's Greatest Wave/ 111 / 164 / 1803
	>After completing the course, go over to the little penguins and use the sling star. Go through the sequence of planets and collect the many many starbits on the way.

-Take the teleporter in front of library up to the second floor
-Sea Slide Galaxy 3 The Silver Stars of Sea Slide/ 112 / 31 / 1834
	>Skip intro
-*Sea Slide Galaxy 5 Purple Coins by the Seaside/ 113 / 71 / 1905
-Gold Leaf Galaxy 6 The Bell on the Big Tree/ 114 / 19 / 1924
-*Toy Time Galaxy 5 Luigi's Purple Coins/ 115 / 35 / 1959
-Toy Time Galaxy 3 Bouncing Down Cake Lane/ 116 / 230 / 2189
	>Grab the ? coin over the chocolate conveyer belt and collect the ~50 starbits that appear. Get the 20 starbits from the box above the ice cream cone planets.
-*Gold Leaf Galaxy 5 Purple Coins in the Woods/ 117 / 24 / 2213
-Bonefin Galaxy Kingfin's Fearsome Waters/ 118 / 8 / 2221
-Boo's Boneyard Galaxy Racing the Spooky Speedster/ 119 / (-1200) 8 / 1049

-Take the teleporter in front of library up to the second floor
-Sand Spiral Galaxy Choosing a Favorite Snack/ 120 / (-1000) 16 / 65

-Do Bowser's Galaxy Reactor The Fate of the Universe again
	>Unlocks Luigi[/spoiler]

This is a slightly tweaked version of the route I used in this route test:
[url=http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13674693]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13711475]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13941581]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13960550]Part 4[/url]
(This has some useful commentary about some of the route and starbit decisions that I didn’t explain above and about some other interesting points, but it probably isn’t worth watching through unless you’re really bored.)

That test came out at 7:22:41 (using Ustream’s video times) with about 38 minutes in major mistakes and probably a few minutes in minor mistakes. This test was for the route more so than for the time (clearly, since there were so many mistakes) but it still shows that sub 6:45 is possible (but would be very difficult.)

Hux

2011-07-02 12:41:02 pm

I need to revive this! am I mistaken or is there only one more segment to go?! Yoshifan you're run is too good to let it go unfinished (Unless ive missed something). I NEED TO SEE THE END O_O

TheMG2

2011-07-03 10:05:00 pm

Quote from Hux:

I need to revive this! am I mistaken or is there only one more segment to go?! Yoshifan you're run is too good to let it go unfinished (Unless ive missed something). I NEED TO SEE THE END O_O

It takes time.

Sillygramcracker

2011-07-03 10:19:48 pm

THIS RUN CONTAINS SECRET WORLDS

Also worth noting: TheOnlyOne has recently completed another 120-star practice run as Mario, finishing under 6 hours and 40 minutes! It's not optimal (there were over 10 unintentional deaths that wasted time) and the video quality is nowhere near good enough for submission, but it's definitely a step forward. He streams often as theonly0, for those wanting to keep track of his progress.

yoshifan

2011-07-04 11:07:26 am

Yeah, sorry, it seems there's always something keeping me busy these days - though it so happens I've found some Galaxy time this weekend. It looks like it'll be a difficult segment all right, but progress is moving along whenever I get to play. At any rate, there's no way I'll leave the run unfinished. I also plan to process and upload the Japan Relief Done Quick run after the last segment's done.

Oh, right! TheOnlyOne, I looked over the 120-star route and it's looking quite solid, though I believe I spotted small mistakes (star bit counts and stuff). I'll get back to you on those.

TheOnlyOne

2011-07-04 04:16:12 pm

Yes, there are two small mistakes in the route, one being that I accidentally added 100 starbits after a star early in the route, and the other being that I needed to switch the places of gusty garden stars 3 and 6 so the comet actually shows up. The small starbit mistake is not a problem, because with practice, I have been getting more starbits out of some levels without losing time.

Also, yes, I have recorded a 6:37 single segment 120 star run. I am not 100% sure it is the run I want to submit, but the run is very solid. I want to say due to the nature of the run (very long, single segment) I simply have to allow for some mistakes, but I might be able to do just a little better. Segmented 120 star could certainly get sub 6:30.

yoshifan

Edit history:

yoshifan: 2011-07-04 05:12:59 pm

yoshifan: 2011-07-04 04:59:08 pm

2011-07-04 04:57:57 pm

Okay, yeah. It was just Gusty Garden and the ~100 starbit error that I had noted. I didn't analyze the route very carefully, but I didn't notice any unnecessary visits to domes or anything like that. Also, I never thought of using Melty Molten 3 for starbit farming - that sounds like an excellent plan though.

Just one tiny suggestion for consistency - I would do Toy Time 6 before Toy Time 2. In Toy Time 6, sometimes I mess up the starbit collection during the first launch star flight, so that it takes a bit of waiting/searching to get the last starbits I need to reach 50. If that happens (it happens about 1 in 10 for me), and I didn't do Toy Time 2 yet, I can fall back to doing Toy Time 2 instead of searching for those starbits.
Dusty Dune 6 and 3 is another case where I'd use this "fallback" idea; if you miss a note the first time, it takes a while for the sand to reveal the notes again. But it looks like you already have Dusty Dune covered there (doing 6 before 3).

I feel bad about not watching a run from you yet... definitely looking forward to your 6:37 if you upload it, though. Either way, let me know if there's any levels in particular that you'd like a second opinion on!

Okay, yeah.  It was just Gusty Garden and the ~100 starbit error that I had noted.  I didn't analyze the route very carefully, but I didn't notice any unnecessary visits to domes or anything like that.  Also, I never thought of using Melty Molten 3 for starbit farming - that sounds like an excellent plan though.

Just one tiny suggestion for consistency - I would do Toy Time 6 before Toy Time 2.  In Toy Time 6, sometimes I mess up the starbit collection during the first launch star flight, so that it takes a bit of waiting/searching to get the last starbits I need to reach 50.  If that happens (it happens about 1 in 10 for me), and I didn't do Toy Time 2 yet, I can fall back to doing Toy Time 2 instead of searching for those starbits.
Dusty Dune 6 and 3 is another case where I'd use this "fallback" idea; if you miss a note the first time, it takes a while for the sand to reveal the notes again.  But it looks like you already have Dusty Dune covered there (doing 6 before 3).

I feel bad about not watching a run from you yet... definitely looking forward to your 6:37 if you upload it, though.  Either way, let me know if there's any levels in particular that you'd like a second opinion on!

TheOnlyOne

2011-07-04 09:40:53 pm

I have actually started doing the Toy Time stars in that order for the same reason you said. That’s actually why I originally had the two gusty garden stars as I did; in case I somehow missed the coins in the wind draft, I could just finish star 3 and do it again, but I overlooked the comet prerequisite.

I also have something to note about unintentional deaths in this run. First of all, deaths on a normal star usually actually waste very little time as there are so many checkpoints; they are only very costly during longer comet stars. Also, as I am doing a single segment run, I can actually make up for some deaths if they allow me to recollect starbits. If this happens, I can forego extra time gathering starbits later in the run, making up, at least in part, the time lost from the death. In other words, while they may look bad, deaths do not necessarily waste as much time as is immediately apparent. Of course, I try not to die, but that can be very difficult at some spots or during some tricks in this game.

I have actually started doing the Toy Time stars in that order for the same reason you said. That’s actually why I originally had the two gusty garden stars as I did; in case I somehow missed the coins in the wind draft, I could just finish star 3 and do it again, but I overlooked the comet prerequisite.

I also have something to note about unintentional deaths in this run. First of all, deaths on a normal star usually actually waste very little time as there are so many checkpoints; they are only very costly during longer comet stars. Also, as I am doing a single segment run, I can actually make up for some deaths if they allow me to recollect starbits. If this happens, I can forego extra time gathering starbits later in the run, making up, at least in part, the time lost from the death. In other words, while they may look bad, deaths do not necessarily waste as much time as is immediately apparent. Of course, I try not to die, but that can be very difficult at some spots or during some tricks in this game.

Mystery

2011-07-05 03:11:54 am

I seriously don't you need to "justify" these deaths. The game is hard, and it is a single segment after all, so deaths can (and should be) expected.
But nevermind that. We now have two runs in the near future to look forward to!
Good luck to you both!