An intrepid Super Mario 64 player with far more skill and patience than I can ever hope to obtain has done the once unthinkable. They have completed the game without pressing the A button – you know, the one that makes Mario jump and therefore is pretty darn useful when navigating the platform and enemy laden world – once. Not one single time. Really.
While Super Mario 64 first released in 1996, the Super Mario 64 A Button Challenge started picking up traction in the 2000s. And, while there have been many attempts at completing the game without that pretty essential button, no one has managed to complete the game without using A. Until now.
This Super Mario 64 feat was achieved a couple of days ago by a streamer known as Marbler (thanks, GamesRadar). Thanks to a number of glitches, secrets (like green shells and air currents) and countless heroic dives, Marbler managed to complete the world’s first no A button run on the Wii Virtual Console version of the game. Apparently this is the only version that it is actually possible to complete the game without pressing A. They did not remap any buttons to achieve their goal.
You can see the moment Marbler completes their Super Mario 64 A button challenge in the video below. Is this something you fancy trying out for yourself?
Super Mario 64 has had quite the month. Along with this week’s achievement, earlier in May, an unopenable door in Super Mario 64 – which was thought to be impenetrable from the outside without the use of mods – was finally opened.
I wonder what else the community will achieve before Super Mario 64 turns 30 (which, honestly, I am still trying to wrap my head around, because I am still only 21…).
