History SequenceBreaking / SuperMario64

!Examples In The Original Game:

** "Red Coins On The Floating Isle" can be finished before you even fight the Whomp King by simply long jumping to the floating platforms nearby, or by doing a triple jump and wall kick/dive combo near the second Pirahna Plant (likewise, this can't be pulled off in the DS remake due to the platforms being much farther away now).

!Examples exclusive in the DS remake:

* Famously, player WebVideo/{{pannenkoek2012}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A used the aforementioned Parallel Universe glitch to beat "Watch for Rolling Rocks"]] in Hazy Maze Cave by not only avoiding wall jumping to reach the star, but without even pressing the A button. [[note]]Though he has it held down all throughout the level, he never releases and presses it again - essential for standard jumps.[[/note]]
** He did a similar thing earlier by beating Mario Wings to the Sky, not only avoiding any A presses and avoiding using the Wing Cap to fly, but without even using the cannon. How is that even possible, you ask? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcMlj8BwWE By exploiting a bizarre glitch in the game called Cloning to create a road of floating, immovable Goombas.]]

* In Bob-Omb Battlefield, there are several ways you can reach the floating island without the cannon or Wing Cap by using a [[https://youtu.be/-iONzwT7l2k very carefully timed long jump]] (alternatively, chaining two well timed long jumps will help built up the proper momentum as well) or a [[https://youtu.be/vUiTFp3mnIw frame-perfect wall kick into a well-timed dive]] (known as the "Island Hop" by speedrunners).

The reason it’s so easy to do it in this game, besides the fact that the level progression is simply very non-linear and relaxed in terms of {{Railroading}}, is that there is an [[GoodBadBugs abundant number of glitches and design oversights]] as a result of it being such an early 3D game, which makes it very easy to break the game open and bypass its numerous challenges. Even the DS port has its own glitches and tricks that can be exploited.

* The [[GoodBadBugs "Backwards Long Jump" glitch]] breaks the game wide open, since Mario can build up ludicrous speed and zip across the stage and through walls and doors in seconds. This is due to a discovery that Mario actually has ''no speed cap'' when moving backwards[[note]]The game has a speed ''ceiling'' as in, you can only go forward so fast, but there is no limit to how ''low'' it can go. Since the game uses a negative number when you're moving backwards, this means that the small burst of speed you get when long jumping backwards in certain areas can just keep building and building with no way to stop it[[/note]], meaning you can move at blinding speeds if you can do the right tricks. It famously allows players to completely bypass Dire, Dire Docks, the Star Doors, and the Endless Stairs, and it also makes it so that the player can beat the entire game ''without collecting a single star''! Unfortunately, this glitch was fixed in the DS port and the Japanese Shindou edition re-release of the original game.

** "Fall Into The Caged Island" can be beaten without the owl by either using the cannon, long jumping off the level’s tower, or getting on top of the Whomp King and tricking him into walking towards the cage so you can jump off to it (the latter can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the Whomp King's tweaked collision detection). [[SpeedRun Speedrunners]] use a method called "Owl-less", which gets you into the cage by going to the floating platform that's closest to the cage, doing a well-executed triple jump, then doing a Wall Kick while facing opposite the cage to get in.
** "Red Coins On The Floating Isle" can be finished before you even fight the Whomp King by simply long jumping to the floating platforms nearby, or by doing a triple jump and wall kick/dive combo near the second Pirahna Plant (likewise, this can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the platforms being much farther away now).

** "Metal-Head Mario Can Move!" can be completed without the Metal Cap by several methods, all of which stem from the fact that the water above the grate switch is just shallow enough to allow them. All of these strategies do not work in the DS port, where the developers raised the water level further.

!Examples In The DS Port:

* Even the DS port has a few useful SequenceBreaking glitches. For starters, there’s a new glitch called the Dive Reset, which lets you bypass the Endless Stairs. And then [[https://youtu.be/uF2mOEEDm4w another glitch]] was found to bypass the stairs without the Dive Reset. There's also a trick called "Frame Walking"/"Frame Sliding" [[note]]While walking up a slope, you'll notice that your speed decreases every frame. To avoid this, simply press backwards and no-direction every other frame to keep the speed you had. If you don't have enough space to do a slidekick recover (or a kick in a case of a not-quite-flat slope), then this can be useful. It can also be used to preserve a little Y run for each time you do it, and as entertainment for a run (e.g. using it during Moat Skip since there is a lot of straight running)[[/note]], which allows you to walk underneath the castle moat’s water and access the basement without any stars.

* Each level's stars all have mild changes to the conditions of the level and the dialogue (you can't use the cannons while trying to obtain the first star of Bob-Omb Battlefield because ''there's a war going on'', for example), but most levels are actually open enough to allow you to obtain most of their stars out of order (there's nothing to stop you from getting Bob-Omb Battlefield's sixth star by unleashing the Chain Chomp, and on top of that, you can use a glitch involving either a block or a Bob-Omb to clip through the cage with the star without freeing the chomp, you can beat ''Mario Wings To The Sky'' without the Wing Cap, and you can reach the island without the cannon by using the Wing Cap and a Koopa Shell together). In fact, choosing the incorrect star at the menu might produce more favorable conditions than what would be available if you chose the intended star (in Shifting Sand Land, Klepto the Vulture will try to dive-bomb you and take your hat... unless you chose the first star, in which case his talons will be full of a redundant Power Star and will leave you to your business).

** During "Lil Penguin Lost", you have the option of either trekking all the way down the mountain...or Mario [[ViolationOfCommonSense can just leap all the way down to where the mother penguin is]] (thanks to the snow, he won't get hurt, just stuck for a moment). A similar trick works for "Snowman's Lost His Head".

** "Metal Head Mario Can Move" can be completed without the Metal Cap by using a ground pound--the water above the grate switch is just shallow enough that if you time the pound right, Mario will manage to press it underwater. The DS port fixes this so that the water is high enough to keep Mario from slamming the switch.

** The entirety of the inner pyramid level can be skipped by using the platform that takes you to Eyerok, as it comes down adjacent to the platforms next to the star near its top, making them easy to jump over to.
** You can reach Eyerok early without opening the top of the pyramid with a careful jump and positioning Mario in a way that lets him grab on to the opening to his lair.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkbDUo-biA&t=303s As this speedrun shows]], it's possible to exploit collision detection glitches to pass through certain walls. For example, Yoshi can skip directly to the level Mario is trapped in by sliding and kicking near the entrance of the character select area after only collecting a couple stars. Mario can likewise use a similar trick in the Jolly Roger Bay room to bypass the foyer key -- unlike the original game, the upper floor ''does'' load if you bypass the door. The rabbit near the 50 star door can also be used to push Mario into a wall, allowing him to bypass it. Another jump in the out of bounds area then lets Mario skip to the endless stairs, with the aforementioned Dive Reset letting you bypass it.

* Famously, player WebVideo/{{pannenkoek2012}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A used the aforementioned Parallel Universe glitch to beat "Watch for Rolling Rocks"]] in Hazy Maze Cave by not only avoiding wall jumping to reach the star, but by using only ''half an A press''! [[note]]Simply put, he was holding A the entire time, and pressed it before the level started.[[/note]]

* The [[GoodBadBugs "Backwards Long Jump" glitch]] breaks the game wide open, since Mario can build up ludicrous speed and zip across the stage and through walls and doors in seconds. This is due to a discovery that Mario actually has ''no speed cap'' when moving backwards[[note]]The game has a speed ''ceiling'' as in, you can only go forward so fast, but there is no limit to how ''low'' it can go. Since the game uses a negative number when you're moving backwards, this means that the small burst of speed you get when long jumping backwards in certain areas can just keep building and building with no way to stop it[[/note]], meaning you can move at blinding speeds if you can do the right tricks. It famously allows players to completely bypass Dire, Dire Docks, the Star Doors, and the Endless Stairs, and it also makes it so that the player can beat the entire game ''without collecting a single star''! Unfortunately, this glitch was fixed in the DS port.
** You can skip the key for Bowser in the Dark World by using a combination of either the BLJ or the "Hyperspeed Walking" glitch with a "Parallel Universe" glitch, the latter being a glitch that allows Mario to access areas out of bounds. [[note]]The (very simplified) technical reason for this has to do with the fact that the variables in memory for Mario's positions are truncated after exceeding a certain value when the game uses the variables to check if Mario is above a floor tile, and therefore in bounds. The game will not allow Mario to be in a location without a floor below him (levels such as Whomp's Fortress have an invisible floor below the death barrier, allowing Mario to jump above pits). However, the game can think that Mario is above a floor even when his actual position is out of bounds, due to the way how the floor-checking variables loop.[[/note]] (This also saves time in “Bowser in the Fire Sea”.) You can see the "1 key" TAS [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVow3S13US0 here]]. Beating the game with 0 stars and 2 keys in real time has been achieved by [[http://www.speedrun.com/sm64#0_Star several people]]; however, it's pretty safe to say no-one will ever beat the game with only one key in real time. To make matters worse, it’s seemingly impossible to sequence break past the foyer key door -- while the BLJ can technically bypass the door, the area leading upstairs will only load if the door is opened properly.

* In Big Boo's Haunt, "Secret of the Haunted Books" can be collected by just triple jumping from a lower platform in the same room, bypassing the need to do the puzzle. The DS remake added a glass barrier around the star platform to prevent this from happening.

* In Bob-Omb Battlefield, there are several ways you can reach the floating island without the cannon or Wing Cap by using a [[https://youtu.be/-iONzwT7l2k very carefully timed long jump]] or a [[https://youtu.be/vUiTFp3mnIw frame-perfect wall kick into a well-timed dive]] (known as the "Island Hop" by speedrunners).

* Famously, player WebVideo/{{pannenkoek2012}}, who discovered the aforementioned Parallel Universe glitch, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A used it to beat "Watch for Rolling Rocks"]] in Hazy Maze Cave by not only avoiding wall jumping to reach the star, but by using only ''half an A press''! [[note]]Simply put, he was holding A the entire time, and pressed it before the level started.[[/note]]

*** Another ridiculous sequence break for this star is to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7pYv53EWLI do a pause-buffered BLJ off the bridge]] and clip through the grate. And no, this isn't TAS; people are ''actually good enough'' to do this RTA.

** The intended way to board Bowser's submarine is to press a switch to spawn a bridge of blocks leading to the ship deck. It's also possible to climb up the ship from the tail, skipping the swim to the switch altogether. However, the fastest way to get the star is ''neither'' of these methods. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aLaQ8F6UuI "Front Sub"]] has the player swim up to the front of the ship at a very precise angle, to then scale it with two perfectly-timed jumps and a jump dive. Failing this will result in Mario inevitably sliding down the extremely steep slope back into the water, which can result in huge time loss if their angle becomes messed up.
** It's possible (and actually faster) to get both the Red Coin star and the 100-coin star without the poles that spawn after you get the Star for "Board Bowser's Sub." When done this way, however, grabbing these two coin stars becomes [[ThatOneLevel one of the hardest missions in the entire game]], if not ''the'' hardest.
*** To put into perspective how difficult the optimal route is, not only does the player have to execute incredibly precise triple jumps, wall kicks, jump kicks, and jump dives to just ''barely'' touch the floating Red Coins, they ''also have to do Front Sub'' just to get back on the ship quickly after inevitably falling into the water from collecting certain coins. Speedrunners don't have a choice but to learn this strategy if they don't want to incur a huge time loss from slowly riding the poles, but even after practice, it's still the most common run killer and the most dreaded mission in the 100% category.

** Unfortunately, even with all the movement tricks you can do in Rainbow Ride to save time, there isn't a humanly possible trick that lets Mario get up on top of the house, so you still have no choice but to ride the carpet to grab the Big House in the Sky star. ...Or so people thought, until one of the best ''Mario 64'' runners Xiah pulled off an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcD0qzkgcw insane "Carpetless" strategy RTA]] to obtain it. If you're interested in learning how Carpetless works, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARz3Fc-3blo this video]] does a great job of explaining everything.

** It's also possible to get both the Red Coin star and the 100-coin star before you get the Star for "Board Bowser's Sub", but this requires some very tricky jumping to pull off. [[{{Railroading}} You still have to collect the star atop the sub in order to properly access]] ''Bowser in the Fire Sea'', though.

* Rainbow Ride is a tough, long level, but it throws you a bone by the fact that you can easily long jump to a part of the course directly behind where you start, allowing you to bypass the tedious opening carpet ride. Player pannenkoek2012 also managed to beat "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" without the cannon by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiO2kA18O_Y exploiting a glitch involving a Fly Guy.]]

* The [[GoodBadBugs "Backwards Long Jump" glitch]] breaks the game wide open, since Mario can build up ludicrous speed and zip across the stage and through walls and doors in seconds. This is due to a discovery that Mario actually has ''no speed cap'' while airborne, meaning you can move at blinding speeds if you can do the right tricks. It famously allows players to completely bypass Dire, Dire Docks, the Star Doors, and the Endless Stairs, and it also makes it so that the player can beat the entire game ''without collecting a single star''! Unfortunately, this glitch was fixed in the DS port.

* A surprising exception to this, given the open nature of the game, is the Shocking Arrow Lifts! star in "Wet-Dry World". Even if you jump high into the painting and raise the water level high enough, Mario can't open the Item Block holding the star, even if he slams on it from above -- the block is programmed to not open up underwater.

** There are also three ways to beat "Blast to the Lonely Mushroom" without the cannon; you can bounce off a Fly Guy and float over to it, use a Long Jump off a ledge near the rolling log to reach it, or use a conveniently-placed Crazed Crate near the start of the level to do a bounce of faith up to the mushroom.

* In Bob-Omb Battlefield, you can reach the floating island without the cannon or Wing Cap by using a [[https://youtu.be/-iONzwT7l2k very carefully timed long jump]] or a [[https://youtu.be/vUiTFp3mnIw well-timed dive.]]

** "Shoot Into The Wild Blue" can be beaten without the cannon by using a wall jump from below or a long jump from above.
** "Fall Into The Caged Island" can be beaten without the owl by either using the cannon, long jumping off the level’s tower, or getting on top of the Whomp King and tricking him into walking towards the cage so you can jump off to it (the latter can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the Whomp King's tweaked collision detection). [[SpeedRun Speedrunners]] use a method called "Owl-less", which gets you into the cage by going to the floating platform that's closest to the cage, doing a well-executed double jump and doing a Wall Kick while facing opposite the cage to get in.

** "Blast Away The Wall" can be acquired without the cannon by exploiting a collision detection glitch by having Mario jump near the ledge that the star is hidden under in a certain way. Also, you can use a carefully timed triple jump or long jump near the area with the Thwomps to bypass a big chunk of the course and get to the Whomp King faster (or just use a secret warp shortcut near the first Thwomp).
* In Jolly Roger Bay, you can reach the "Shoot to the Stone Pillar" star without the cannon by performing a very difficult long jump and kick off of a nearby wall. If you exploit a difficult glitch, you can also beat "Through The Jet Stream" without using the Metal Cap (the same trick works for the jet stream star in Dire, Dire Docks).

** You can get to the "Wall Kicks Will Work" star without even using the cannon, by bouncing off a Spindrift enemy that triggers Mario's spin jump, allowing him to float to the area below the mountain that is otherwise out of reach. You can also jump very precisely into a seam in the level geometry near the start of the course to immediately fall down to the star. RTA speedruns do not go for this, but it is possible for a human to do with enough attempts.

* In ShiftingSandLand, you can reach Eyerok early without opening the top of the pyramid with a careful jump and positioning Mario in a way that lets him grab on to the opening to his lair.

** Its also possible to get both the Red Coin star and the 100-coin star before you get the Star for "Board Bowser's Sub", but this requires some very tricky jumping to pull off. [[{{Railroading}} You still have to collect the star atop the sub in order to properly access]] ''Bowser in the Fire Sea'', though.

** There are also two ways to beat "Blast to the Lonely Mushroom" without the cannon; you can bounce off a Fly Guy and float over to it, or use a Long Jump off a ledge near the rolling log to reach it.

** You can get to the "Wall Kicks Will Work" star without even using the cannon, by bouncing off a Spindrift enemy that triggers Mario's spin jump, allowing him to float to the area below the mountain that is otherwise out of reach. You can alsp jump very precisely into a seam in the level geometry near the start of the course to immediately fall down to the star. RTA speedruns do not go for this, but it is possible for a human to do with enough attempts.

** He did a similar thing later on by beating Mario Wings to the Sky, not only avoiding any A presses and avoiding using the Wing Cap to fly, but without even using the cannon. How is that even possible, you ask? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcMlj8BwWE By exploiting a bizarre glitch in the game called Cloning to create a road of floating, immovable Goombas.]]

** You can get to the "Wall Kicks Will Work" star without even using the cannon, by bouncing off a Spindrift enemy that triggers Mario's spin jump, allowing him to float to the area below the mountain that is otherwise out of reach.

** "Fall Into The Caged Island" can be beaten without the owl by either using the cannon, long jumping off the level’s tower, or getting on top of the Whomp King and tricking him into walking towards the cage so you can jump off to it (the latter can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the Whomp King's tweaked collision detection).

** One star initially seems like it can only be accessed by the slide inside the mountain, but if you take advantage of the shortcut right behind where you start (a gust of wind near a 1-up that will blow you higher up the level if you take a leap of faith) you can see that the Star is hidden in a little alcove right below the cliff top. A carefully timed kick-jump will give Mario just enough backward momentum to land inside of the alcove, completely bypassing the slide! (This was fixed in the DS remake, as the alcove is now covered by a grate.)

The reason it’s so easy to do it in this game, besides the fact that the level progression is simply very non-linear and relaxed in terms of {{Railroading}}, is that there is an [[GoodBadBugs abundant number of glitches and design oversights]] as a result of it being such an early 3D game, which makes it very easy to break the game open and bypass its numerous challenges.

* A surprising [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of this, given the open nature of the game, is the Shocking Arrow Lifts! star in "Wet-Dry World". Even if you jump high into the painting and raise the water level high enough, Mario can't open the Item Block holding the star, even if he slams on it from above -- the block is programmed to not open up underwater.

** There's another glitch that lets you bypass the Endless Stairs without the BLJ, but it’s a TAS only trick that is impossible for humans to perform. It’s called the [[https://youtu.be/Vlh0CA_aBwQ Hyper Speed Wall Kick.]]

* Famously, player WebVideo/{{pannennkoek202}}, who discovered the aforementioned Parallel Universe glitch, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A used it to beat "Watch for Rolling Rocks"]] in Hazy Maze Cave by not only avoiding wall jumping to reach the star, but by using only ''half an A press''! [[note]]Simply put, he was holding A the entire time, and pressed it before the level started.[[/note]]

** Inside the volcano of, there is the magmatic waterfall. Jumping into it will get Mario's butt burned as usual, but with some precise jumping, Mario will somehow stick to it and continue going upwards. Doing it just right can save a big part of the track upward to the star. Doing it deliberately wrong can end up catapulting Mario towards the very top of the level which looks hilarious.

** You're supposed to use both the Metal Cap and the Vanish Cap together to get the star for "Collect The Caps...", but with a well timed long jump, Mario can reach the star behind the grate by swimming to it with the Vanish Cap alone.

* A surprising [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of this, given the open nature of the game, is the Shocking Arrow Lifts! star in "Wet-Dry World". Even if you jump high into the painting and raise the water level high enough, Mario can't open the Item Block holding the star, even if he slams on it from above--the block is programmed to not open up underwater.

** One star initially seems like it can only be accessed by the slide inside the mountain, but if you take advantage of the shortcut right behind where you start (a gust of wind near a 1-up that will blow you higher up the level if you take a leap of faith) you can see that the Star is hidden in a little alcove right below the cliff top. A carefully timed kick-jump will give Mario just enough backward momentum to land inside of the alcove, completely bypassing the slide! (This was fixed in the DS remake, as the alcove is now covered by a grate)

* Even the DS port has a few useful SequenceBreaking glitches. For starters, theres a new glitch called the Dive Reset, which lets you bypass the Endless Stairs. And then [[https://youtu.be/uF2mOEEDm4w another glitch]] was found to bypass the stairs without the Dive Reset. There's also a trick called "Frame Walking"/"Frame Sliding" [[note]]While walking up a slope you'll notice that your speed decreases every frame. To avoid this, simply press backwards and no-direction every other frame to keep the speed you had. If you don't have enough space to do a slidekick recover (or a kick in a case of a quite flat slope) then this can be useful. It can also be used to preserve a little Y run for each time you do it, and as entertainment for a run (e.g. using it during Moat Skip since there is a lot of straight running)[[/note]], which allows you to walk underneath the castle moats water and access the basement without any stars.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkbDUo-biA&t=303s As this speedrun shows]], It's possible to exploit collision detection glitches to pass through certain walls. For example, Yoshi can skip directly to the level Mario is trapped in by sliding kicking near the entrance of the character select area after only collecting a couple stars. Mario can likewise use a similar trick in the Jolly Roger Bay room to bypass the foyer key--unlike the original game, the upper floor ''does'' load if you bypass the door. The rabbit near the 50 star door can also be used to push Mario into a wall, allowing him to bypass it. Another jump in the out of bounds area then lets Mario skip to the endless stairs, with the aforementioned Dive Reset letting you bypass it.

[[caption-width-right:350:A famous example of a ''Mario 64'' sequence break, allowing you to access the castle basement early.[[labelnote:explanation]]Normally, you have to collect 8 stars and beat ''Bowser in the Dark World'' to access the castles basement and drain the moat, allowing you to open the underwater door outside the castle. However, exploiting a very difficult "Parallel Universe" glitch (explained in detail [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A here]]) allows the player to clip through the castle walls and enter the loading area behind the door, allowing Mario to enter the basement early.[[/labelnote]]]]

The reason its so easy to do it in this game, besides the fact that the level progression is simply very non-linear and relaxed in terms of {{Railroading}}, is that there an [[GoodBadBugs abundant number of glitches and design oversights]] as a result of it being such an early 3D game, which makes it very easy to break the game open and bypass it's numerous challenges.

* The [[GoodBadBugs "Backwards Long Jump" glitch]] breaks the game wide open, since Mario can build up ludicrous speed and zip across the stage and through walls and doors in seconds. This is due to a discovery that Mario actually has ''no speed cap'' while airborne, meaning you can move at blinding speeds if you can do the right tricks. It famously allows players to completely bypass Dire, Dire Docks, the Star Doors and the Endless Stairs, and it also makes it so that the player can beat the entire game ''without collecting a single star''! Unfortunately, this glitch was fixed in the DS port.
** You can skip the key for Bowser in the Dark World by using a combination of either the BLJ or the "Hyperspeed Walking" glitch with a "Parallel Universe" glitch, the latter being a glitch that allows Mario to access areas out of bounds [[note]]The (very simplified) technical reason for this has to do with the fact that the variables in memory for Mario's positions are truncated after exceeding a certain value when the game uses the variables to check if Mario is above a floor tile, and therefore in bounds. The game will not allow Mario to be in a location without a floor below him (levels such as Whomp's Fortress have an invisible floor below the death barrier, allowing Mario to jump above pits). However, the game can think that Mario is above a floor even when his actual position is out of bounds, due to the way in how the floor-checking variables loop.[[/note]](this also saves time in ''Bowser in the Fire Sea'') You can see the "1 key" TAS [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVow3S13US0 here]]. Beating the game with 0 stars and 2 keys in real time has been achieved by [[http://www.speedrun.com/sm64#0_Star several people]], however, it's pretty safe to say no-one will ever beat the game with only one key in real time. To make matters worse, its seemingly impossible to sequence break past the foyer key door--while the BLJ can technically bypass the door, the area leading upstairs will only load if the door is opened properly.
** There's another glitch that lets you bypass the Endless Stairs without the BLJ, but its a TAS only trick that is impossible for humans to perform. Its called the [[https://youtu.be/Vlh0CA_aBwQ Hyper Speed Wall Kick.]]

** The BLJ also allows you to [[https://youtu.be/gTXM8dOsmq0 get to the upper floors of Big Boos Haunt]] without killing any boos, which is extremely helpful for a PacifistRun of the game. If not that, then you can [[https://youtu.be/2eiIOoTBHdY use a tricky wall kick in the piano room]] (and the lobby too) to get to the second floor.
* Famously, player pannenkoek2012, who discovered the aforementioned Parallel Universe glitch, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A used it to beat "Watch for Rolling Rocks"]] in Hazy Maze Cave by not only avoiding wall jumping to reach the star, but by using only ''half an A press''! [[note]]Simply put, he was holding A the entire time, and pressed it before the level started.[[/note]]
** He did a similar thing later on by beating Mario Wings to the Sky, not only avoiding any A presses and avoiding using the Wing Cap to fly, but without even using the cannon. How is that even possible, you ask? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcMlj8BwWE By exploiting a bizarre glitch in the game called Cloning to create a road of floating, immovable Goombas]].

* It's possible to bypass steep slopes (such as the two slopes in Bob-Omb Battlefield) by using a chain of extremely well timed jump kicks, but this is much harder to pull off on a real console than it is in a tool assisted run.
* In Bob-Omb Battlefield, you can reach the floating island without the cannon or Wing Cap by using a [[https://youtu.be/-iONzwT7l2k very carefully timed long jump]] or a [[https://youtu.be/vUiTFp3mnIw well timed dive.]]

** "Fall Into The Caged Island" can be beaten without the owl by either using the cannon, long jumping off the levels tower, or getting on top of the Whomp King and tricking him into walking towards the cage so you can jump off to it (the latter can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the Whomp King's tweaked collision detection).

A big part of the popularity of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' is that it's right alongside ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' in how easy it is to do SequenceBreaking in it, making it very popular for speedrunning challenges.

** You can skip the key for ''Bowser in the Dark World'' by using a combination of either the BLJ or the "Hyperspeed Walking" glitch with a "Parallel Universe" glitch, the latter being a glitch that allows Mario to access areas out of bounds [[note]]The (very simplified) technical reason for this has to do with the fact that the variables in memory for Mario's positions are truncated after exceeding a certain value when the game uses the variables to check if Mario is above a floor tile, and therefore in bounds. The game will not allow Mario to be in a location without a floor below him (levels such as Whomp's Fortress have an invisible floor below the death barrier, allowing Mario to jump above pits). However, the game can think that Mario is above a floor even when his actual position is out of bounds, due to the way in how the floor-checking variables loop.[[/note]](this also saves time in ''Bowser in the Fire Sea'') You can see the "1 key" TAS [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVow3S13US0 here]]. Beating the game with 0 stars and 2 keys in real time has been achieved by [[http://www.speedrun.com/sm64#0_Star several people]], however, it's pretty safe to say no-one will ever beat the game with only one key in real time. To make matters worse, its seemingly impossible to sequence break past the foyer key door--while the BLJ can technically bypass the door, the area leading upstairs will only load if the door is opened properly.

* Famously, player pannenkoek2012, who discovered the aforementioned Parallel Universe glitch, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A used it to beat "Watch for Rolling Rocks"]] in "Hazy Maze Cave" by not only avoiding wall jumping to reach the star, but by using only ''half an A press''! [[note]]Simply put, he was holding A the entire time, and pressed it before the level started.[[/note]]
** He did a similar thing later on by beating "Mario Wings To The Sky", not only avoiding any A presses and avoiding using the Wing Cap to fly, but without even using the cannon. How is that even possible, you ask? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcMlj8BwWE By exploiting a bizarre glitch in the game called Cloning to create a road of floating, immovable Goombas.]]

* It's possible to bypass steep slopes (such as the two slopes in ''Bob-Omb Battlefield'') by using a chain of extremely well timed jump kicks, but this is much harder to pull off on a real console than it is in a tool assisted run.
* In ''Bob-Omb Battlefield'', you can reach the floating island without the cannon or Wing Cap by using a [[https://youtu.be/-iONzwT7l2k very carefully timed long jump]] or a [[https://youtu.be/vUiTFp3mnIw well timed dive.]]
* Using a carefully timed triple jump and jump off of a slope, you can access the Castle Roof without getting 120 stars and unlocking the cannon, [[DevelopersForesight but Yoshi won't be there to give you a reward.]]
* In the Castle Secret Slide, if you jump to the left of the slide just as you exit the tunnel, Mario can leap all the way down near the finish line, saving a lot of time and making it easier to get the slides secret star.
* In "Whomp's Fortress", four stars can be acquired by nonstandard means. "Shoot Into The Wild Blue" can be beaten without the cannon by using a wall jump from below or a long jump from above. "Fall Into The Caged Island" can be beaten without the owl by either using the cannon, long jumping off the levels tower, or getting on top of the Whomp King and tricking him into walking towards the cage so you can jump off to it (the latter can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the Whomp King's tweaked collision detection). "Red Coins On The Floating Isle" can be finished before you even fight the Whomp King by simply long jumping to the floating platforms nearby, or by doing a triple jump and wall kick/dive combo near the second Pirahna Plant (likewise, this can't be pulled off in the DS port due to the platforms being much farther away now). "Blast Away The Wall" can be acquired without the cannon by exploiting a collision detection glitch by having Mario jump near the ledge that the star is hidden under in a certain way. Also, you can use a carefully timed triple jump or long jump near the area with the Thwomps to bypass a big chunk of the course and get to the Whomp King faster (or just use a secret warp shortcut near the first Thwomp).
* In "Jolly Roger Bay", you can reach the "Shoot to the Stone Pillar" star without the cannon by performing a very difficult long jump and kick off of a nearby wall. If you exploit a difficult glitch, you can also beat "Through The Jet Stream" without using the Metal Cap (the same trick works for the jet stream star in Dire, Dire Docks).
* In "Cool Cool Mountain", you can get to the "Wall Kicks Will Work" star without even using the cannon, by bouncing off a Spindrift enemy that triggers Mario's spin jump, allowing him to float to the area below the mountain that is otherwise out of reach. During "Lil Penguin Lost", you have the option of either trekking all the way down the mountain...or Mario [[ViolationOfCommonSense can just leap all the way down to where the mother penguin is]] (thanks to the snow, he won't get hurt, just stuck for a moment). A similar trick works for "Snowman's Lost His Head".
* In "Hazy Maze Cave", you can bypass the long route and tedious climb to the "A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit" star by doing an extremely well timed triple jump and wall kick off a rock platform near the pit.

* Inside the volcano of "Lethal Lava Land", there is the lava equivalent of a waterfall. Jumping into it will get Mario's butt burned as usual, but with some precise jumping, Mario will somehow stick to it and continue going upwards. Doing it just right can save a big part of the track upward to the star. Doing it deliberately wrong can end up catapulting Mario towards the very top of the level which looks hilarious.

* In "Shifting Sand Land", you can reach Eyerok early without opening the top of the pyramid with a careful jump and positioning Mario in a way that lets him grab on to the opening to his lair.
* In "Dire, Dire Docks", you're supposed to use both the Metal Cap and the Vanish Cap together to get the "Collect The Caps..." star, but with a well timed long jump, Mario can reach the star behind the grate by swimming to it with the Vanish Cap alone.
** Its also possible to get the Red Coin star before you get the Star on Bowser's Sub, but this requires some very tricky jumping to pull off. [[{{Railroading}} You still have to collect the sub star as well in order to properly access]] ''Bowser in the Fire Sea'', though.
* In "Snowman's Land", you can reach the Igloo early without using the Spindrift to reach the Koopa Shell or the cannon, simply by leaping down to it from the bridge in front of the snowman (tricky to do, and risks getting you blown away and losing your cap) or by simply triple jumping past the rock blocking your path to it.

* "Tall, Tall Mountain" has a star that at first seems like it can only be accessed by the slide inside the mountain, but if you take advantage of the shortcut right behind where you start (a gust of wind near a 1-up that will blow you higher up the level if you take a leap of faith) you can see that the Star is hidden in a little alcove right below the cliff top. A carefully timed kick-jump will give Mario just enough backward momentum to land inside of the alcove, completely bypassing the slide! (this was fixed in the DS remake, as the alcove is now covered by a grate) There are also two ways to beat "Blast to the Lonely Mushroom" without the cannon; you can bounce off a Fly Guy and float over to it, or use a Long Jump off a ledge near the rolling log to reach it.
* "Rainbow Ride" is a tough, long level, but it throws you a bone by the fact that you can easily long jump to a part of the course directly behind where you start, allowing you to bypass the tedious opening carpet ride. Player pannenkoek2012 also managed to beat "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" without the cannon by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiO2kA18O_Y exploiting a glitch involving a Fly Guy.]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkbDUo-biA&t=303s As this speedrun shows]], It's possible to exploit collision detection glitches to pass through certain walls. For example, Yoshi can skip directly to the level Mario is trapped in by sliding kicking near the entrance of the character select area after only collecting a couple stars. Mario can likewise use a similar trick in the ''Jolly Roger Bay'' room to bypass the foyer key--unlike the original game, the upper floor ''does'' load if you bypass the door. The rabbit near the 50 star door can also be used to push Mario into a wall, allowing him to bypass it. Another jump in the out of bounds area then lets Mario skip to the endless stairs, with the aforementioned Dive Reset letting you bypass it.

** He did a similar thing later on by beating "Mario Wings To The Sky", not only avoiding any A presses and avoiding using the Wing Cap to fly, but without even using the cannon. How is that even possible, you ask? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcMlj8BwWE By exploiting a bizarre glitch in the game called Cloning.]]

** The Wing Cap utterly trivializes half of this course's stars, as it is rather compact, with no verticality whatsoever (aside from the aforementioned volcano sublevel), meaning you can get to star locations with just a few Triple Jumps.

** The Wing Cap utterly trivializes half of Lethal Lava Land's stars, as the level is rather compact, with no verticality whatsoever, meaning you can get to star locations with just a few Triple Jumps.