Rules

Beat the game, completing every fortress in the game. Only the fortresses are required, not the castles/airships (other than Bowser’s Fort).

Time starts on pressing Start on the title screen.
Time ends on entering the door after defeating Bowser, which is exactly 5 frames before the screen begins to fade.

Notes

Any hammer bros not listed as kill or avoid are optional and are limited to stars and P-wings. You must collect at least 1 P-wing (for 6-5) and at least 1 star (for 7-2) from hammer bros at some point in Worlds 3-6. The last P-wing will help you get through 6-9 or 7-6 quickly, but this is technically optional. Even with the extra P-wing, you still have to choose between wall jumping 6-9 or zipping 7-6.

Note that the star HB in World 3 is optional since you don’t have to cross the bridge below 3-6.

Collecting the cloud in 3-7 allows you to skip any single level of your choice. 4-4 and 5-2 are the longest unskipped levels, and 3-9 is only 20 frames shorter than those, so skipping one of these 3 levels is recommended.

You get a music box at the end of W3. Use it any time you need to skip an extra HB.

World 1

1-1
1-2
1-F (collect the whistle)
1-3 (collect the whistle)
Whistle to World 2

World 2

HBs to kill: hammer, whistle
HBs to avoid: music box
2-1
2-2
2-F
2-3
2-Q
2-4 / 2-5
2-P
2-C

World 3

HBs to kill: hammer
3-1
3-2
3-3
3-F1
3-4
Cloud past 3-6
3-7 (collect the cloud from the coin heaven)
3-F2
3-8
3-9 (cloud?)
3-C

World 4

HBs to kill: cloud
4-1
4-2
4-3
4-F1
4-4 (cloud?)
4-6
4-F2
Whistle to World 5

World 5

HBs to avoid: music box
5-1
5-2 (cloud?)
5-F1
5-T
5-4
5-5
5-7
5-F2
5-8
Cloud past 5-9
5-C

World 6

HBs to kill: hammer, cloud
Hammer past 6-1 / 6-2 / 6-3
6-F1
6-4
6-5 (P-wing)
Hammer past 6-7
6-F2
6-8
6-9 (P-wing/wall jump) / 6-10
6-F3
6-C

World 7

7-1 (zip)
7-2 (star)
7-3
Cloud past 7-4
7-F1 (P-wing)
7-6 (P-wing/zip)
7-7 / 7-8
Cloud past 7-9
7-F2
Whistle to World 8

World 8

Autoscrollers
Hands
Air force
8-1
8-2
8-F
Super tanks
Bowser’s Fort

Original src