Gameplay Mechanics, Tech, and Movement

Game Objective:

There are 4 worlds, and you are required to collect every music note (10 per world) and every music instrument (1 per world) to progress. If you reach the end of a world (last dialogue before entering boss fight) in a world without all 10 notes and the 1 instrument, then you will be sent back to the beginning of that world! Be careful, the music instrument icon is not very apparent in the pause screen to notify if you have collected it. The 10 music notes per stage will NOT appear in your pause screen inventory in sequential order, so do not worry!

Category:

At this time, "Any%" or "Beat The Game" Category is basically what a 100% would be except for a few keys and skipping several rooms. Majority of the game is required through the "Any%", so 100% would not be much different or interesting.

Movement Options:

Jump - (A)

Single Punch - (B)

Punch/Kick Combo - (Repeated B Press)

Roll / Roll-Out - (Moving Jump + B)

Ground Pound - (Jump + Z)

Slide - (Run + Z)

Crawl - (Standstill + R)

Throw Hat - (Standstill + Z + R)

Head-spin - (Standstill + Z + B)

Celebrate / Taunt - (L)

Glitch TauntJump - (L + A on the same Frame)

Camera Movements - (UpC to increase closeness to Elwood[zoom in], DownC to zoom out) - Zooming in to the max while standing still will put camera into first person mode in which Elwood can no longer move.

Throw Item During Boss-Fights (Camera to First person, Press Z) "Tech"


 * Fall Speed: Holding "A" during the descent phase of any jump will cause Elwood to fall slower. This is exploited during ground pound extension jumps. Releasing A will allow Elwood to fall Faster, and should be done when needing to ground pound enemies/buttons, or just fall from any height at a quick rate.
 * Bounces off Objects [Trash cans, Trampolines, Awnings, Leaves, etc.] - (Run or jump on the object for automatic small bounce, hold A for large bounce)
 * Utilizing a Roll-Out Jump doesn't appear to add any speed or height, but it does seem to allow certain clips up to certain ledges that do not work with simply a jump.
 * Slide does not appear to add any speed, but it is a great tool for damaging enemies or stunning enemies that would normally damage Elwood (It is used to pass through Piranha plants). Slide is also used for Key Skip [World 3], however this skip is not yet faster in RTA.
 * Hat Throw is not used anywhere in the game intended (as far as I can tell), but can be used during the Nurse Mini-game (World 1) to Stun the nurse after the game ends. (Video Clip)
 * Ground Pound causes maximum damage to most enemies (Small guards in World 1 don't die to it...), and is also best used by ground pounding NEXT to the enemy and moving into it's hit box, rather than on top of the enemy.
 * Ground Pound Extension - This is used to cancel the Falling animation that Elwood takes when Jumping from high places, thus allowing the horizontal movement of the jump to continue longer (See Image of Jump Distances). It is used several times throughout the run to conduct several sequence breaks. "A" must be held to get the full distance.
 * Head-Spin causes damage to some enemies, and is used to Stun the Ghost Head Mini-boss (World 3) at the start of the fight.
 * Head Spin is also used to perform a "Note Cancel" (See Below)


 * Glitch Taunt Jump appears to give more height, but has not yet been documented to allow access to any actual higher places, thus it is currently useless.

Collecting 1Ups, Music Notes, Instruments, Keys, and Power-Up Items (Jump Boost, Speed Boost, Super Hero)


 * Elwood does a dance animation when collecting 1Ups, Music Notes, Music Instruments, and when Respawning in an area after taking a death. 1Ups and instruments work differently than music notes, which also work differently than Keys and powerup items. This animation can be canceled to optimize time by;
 * A) Collecting 1Ups and Instruments by jumping - Skips the animation
 * B) Collecting Music Notes while jumping/falling from a great height (Falling animation has ensued) - Skips the Animation
 * C) Performing a Headspin to cancel the dance animation once it has started (including from respawning after a death)
 * If utilizing the headspin to cancel the dance animation, it is fastest to also jump out of the headspin. Typically a headspin includes some forward movement and then come to a halt. the headspin + jump allows the forward movement to cancel the dance animation, and the jump to skip the "halt" at the end of the headspin. Although this animation skip is done from respawns as well, this technique has been referred to as "Note Cancel" or Animation cancel.
 * Keys and other PowerUp items do not result in any dance animation

Respawns ("Death Warps") and Stage Exits


 * When taking a death (either from too much damage, or falling into a void/pit), Elwood will respawn from either;

A) The entrance in which you most recently entered that room (A "room" signifies any area between loading zones. So a room could be LARGE, as in the rooftop area of World 2), or

B) The most recent Juke Box Item collected


 * This is utilized several times as a "death warp" to back track to the beginning of large rooms (2 Upper sections of backtracking in World 2), or rooms in which going to the start is faster (searchlight area in World 1), or required (courtyard in World 1 if performing the Gate-Skip Wall-Clip).


 * A "Stage Exit" (Pause and select "Level Exit") WILL AUTOMATICALLY save your progress of items collected, and you can immediately hit start/A to re-enter the level from the start of that World with all items collected so far. This is currently used 1 time in the route (World 3, Haunted Cathedral) to skip a large amount of backtracking.