Hi! I'm not a SMB3 speedruner, but I do enjoy watching runs and had a question. On some levels i will see runners stand at the edge of the screen, repeal firing fireballs off screen. Is there a reason for this?

Thanks!

The reason is for boasting how fast you can mash the controller.

On the last tank level in world 8 you span fireballs to kill the enemies on the screen as soon as they appear.

The right side of the screen is the safest place to be, and spamming fireballs pushes the possibility of taking dmg (from rocky wrenches) to near 0. There is a small element of being near the end of a good pace run and wanting to do something that is simple and unlikely to screw up (vs bouncing on bullets to get 99 lives, 2 minutes before you could PB, which is an unnecessary risk and scary :) ).

Given you are on the right side of the screen and shooting fire already, why not shoot them as fast as possible as a form of practice and flaunting your leet button-mashing ability ;).

Thanks for the answers.