don't click here

Recent News Articles

Super Mario 64

July 21, 2011 - 1:23 AM
Super Mario 64's open for submissions!
There's more Times charts than you might expect, given that Super Mario 64 levels generally don't have a timer.  I'll let the Rules do the explaining here:


For all Times charts, you must input a code to make a timer display on the screen.

There are several different timer codes out there, but any timer code must adhere to the following rules:

  • When the level starts, the timer should start. (Some codes reset the timer to zero automatically as the level starts; others require you to reset it by pressing a button during the star select screen or the fade-to-black.  Either type of timer is allowed.)
  • When you collect the Star (or grab the key/star that Bowser leaves), the timer should stop, showing your time for that level.
  • The timer may not reset or pause at any time during the level, except during certain messages such as the instructional message in the Tower of the Wing Cap.  Note that some timers pause for a short time when you use a warp (such as the one between flower beds in Bob-Omb Battlefield) - avoid using this kind of timer if you use a warp during a level.
  • The timer must display tenths of seconds.  Displaying hundredths or thousandths is okay, but you must submit your time in tenths; if you use a timer with hundredths or thousandths digits, simply ignore those extra digits to get your time in tenths.

Allowed versions: Nintendo 64, Wii Virtual Console, and emulator.


All charts are available for submission now!

(The only stars that don't have charts are Bob-Omb Battlefield Star 2, Tiny-Huge Island Star 3, and the Princess's Secret Slide in under 21 seconds.  The reason is that the timer code and the level's race timer interact poorly, making it impossible to time these stars from start to finish.)



There's quite a few very talented Super Mario 64 speedrunners on YouTube, and many of them use the timer hack for individual-star speedruns and challenges.  Hopefully these charts can be a useful way to collect everyone's best times for each level.  For those unfamiliar with the setup required to use the timer hack, we'll do our best to get more informational links.

If you don't have a timer hack, you can try your hand at Coins and Races.  But don't forget about the coin chart rule (if you don't know what it means, then you're probably fine):


Tricks that can be used to spawn infinite coins are not allowed.


Thanks to Devin for the game information, as well as the suggestion to add the game.  (And thanks to Gerbil for tech support.)

Update: charts issues have been resolved!
Thanks to Gerbil for the help again.  For the new Koopa the Quick / Secret Slide charts, see the Races category.  These Races charts do not require timer codes, so those who play on console without access to codes can compete.  (Also, the "Princess's Secret Slide - Block" star time is still there under Times (Sub Courses); that one still uses a timer code, to time from the start of the level to the star.)
20 comments , News Posted by yoshifan

Some powerups charts

December 25, 2010 - 8:34 PM
Happy holidays!  They're pretty overdue, but I finally added powerups charts to New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, and Super Mario Bros. 3.  In these charts, you can start a level with whatever powerups you like.  Powerups charts for more games may also be added, if people request them.

The rules for the original Times categories have remained the same.  I'd like to re-name the "Times" categories for these games to "Times(small)", for clarity, though I asked GerbilSoft about re-naming categories and he said there wasn't a way right now.  Maybe someday.

Note that any stats that you achieved for Times can also be submitted to Times (powerups), since Times (powerups) just has more relaxed rules.  So feel free to copy your Times stats over to Times (powerups).  Then go ahead and hunt down the levels which get easier or faster when you start with powerups.

Also, if you missed out on Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES, and you're not into using emulators, there's been a Wii release of All-Stars lately.  Yes, it's a bit expensive for an SNES re-release, but it is an option for SNES competition.
1 comment , News Posted by yoshifan

Super Mario Galaxy 2

May 14, 2010 - 1:07 AM
Well, I hear that this game might be coming out pretty soon, so here's a hype topic!  If you haven't been following, it's out in the US on May 23.  Official gameplay footage can be found here.

And yes, there's been talk of adding 3D games to TMC before; I think the main reason it hasn't happened is laziness.  In the meantime, I think some Galaxy 1 charts are in order - it'd be a bit awkward to add Galaxy 2 before 1.  I'll leave the coin charts alone for the moment, as I don't know whether people wanted to have one coin chart per galaxy or per star.  That's something worth discussing for Galaxy 2, as well, when people get to play it.

EDIT: Galaxy 1 times charts are up.  Discussion for coin charts (per galaxy vs. per star) is welcome.

*EDIT 2*: Galaxy 2 charts... are up!
Still have to decide between level or division totals, though.  Also, game-completion-time charts will be added in the future.
17 comments , News Posted by yoshifan

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

November 12, 2009 - 12:42 AM
It's almost out (for most people), so I figured a news post would be good.

Let's try to get this game added fairly soon after release, so that we can start the competition while the game is still new.  We would need a list of levels (and secret exits), and we'd have to determine which ones are autoscrolling.  Then there's the rules on power-ups, which may work differently from NSMB DS.

In the meantime, feel free to post your thoughts, preliminary times, etc. about the game.  Since we could be revealing stuff like secret exits, read with caution if you don't like spoilers.


[EDIT] Miles has provided us a level list in post #2 of this topic.  Also, rules issues are detailed in post #3.  Please discuss!


[EDIT 2] The rankings have been added, have fun!
9 comments , News Posted by yoshifan

About Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land

July 16, 2009 - 12:48 PM
Charts for Wario Land are up.  However, please don't bother submitting Coin stats yet.  Just after adding the coin charts, I've remembered one point that may hamper competition: the randomness of getting coins from breakable blocks.  Sorry for the unprofessionalism, but even though I went and added them, we must decide whether the coin charts should be kept or not.

Also, certain courses are not up for Times because we need a ruling on courses that change as the game progresses.  At certain points, courses 1, 3, and 31 get water level changes, and course 10 becomes a different course, course 13.  To compete in the before-change version of the course, you would have to start a new file (separate from the completed file you would usually use) just for that course.

So here are my questions to all of you:

(1) What should we do about the coin charts?  (a) keep them and count them toward the overall ranking, (b) keep them and don't count them toward the overall ranking, or (c) delete them?

(2) What should we do about changing courses?  (a) have one chart per changing course, just for the after-change version, (b) have one chart per changing course, allowing both versions of the course, or (c) have two charts per changing course, one for the before-version and one for the after-version?


[EDIT] Please see Reply #2 in this topic for current decisions, which should take effect fairly soon.
2 comments , News Posted by yoshifan
Hits: 8,667 | Hits This Month: 9 | DB Calls: 12 | Mem Usage: 818.16 KB | Time: 0.01s | Printable

The Sonic Center v3.9
Copyright 2003-2011 by The Sonic Center Team.