Cup Selection Menu Skip

On Sunday, December 24th, a German speedrunner, s8n, found that when you start the game on a fresh save file, the Cup Selection Menu (CSM) does not appear when you click “Tourney” so it automatically puts you in Mushroom Cup on Normal difficulty. CSM Skip saves between 1.0 - 2.0 seconds approximately.

CSM Skip has a 100% guaranteed success rate due to the layout of how you progress throughout the game. In order to unlock the second playable cup, the Flower Cup, you need to first beat the Mushroom Cup, etc. The only trade-off is if you already have previously recorded data, you must erase it all in order to utilize CSM Skip. It goes without saying that this skip only applies to Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal).

Early "Go!" Strat - Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal) Sub 17:17 [OUTDATED]

For a long time, it was believed that 17:17 for Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup and Star Cup was the perfect time for their Any% categories, whether one was on Normal or Hard difficulty. However, a subtle, yet critical little detail was found that changed speedrunning for Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal) forever.

Once you click "Tourney" on the Main Menu Screen, you are then brought to the Cup Selection Menu where one must select a cup on whichever difficulty they want to run in order to then get to the Character Selection Menu to then start the game. A 17:15 time was accomplished for the first time in the game's speedrunning history on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017 when I realized that the default cup to play is Mushroom Cup, which is already selected on Normal difficulty. So by realizing this, I was able to save time by not selecting the cup itself and immediately clicking "Go!" on the first frame it appeared. In doing so, after selecting my three characters at a great pace, I was able to achieve a time faster than what I imagined to be possible. I thought a 17:16 was impossible. Bare in mind that this strategy only applies exclusively to Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal). 17:17 is still the perfect time for Mushroom Cup Any% (Hard), Flower Cup Any% (Normal and Hard) and Star Cup Any% (Normal and Hard). Cheers to cracking theories and making them a reality!

Sincerly,
Hoopla Fish

Last Second Shot Strat

One of the most optimal techniques the likes this game has never seen before has just be released to the public as of Sunday night, January 29th, 2018. Starting 2018 strong for Mario Hoops 3-on-3 speedrunning, American speedrunner, UndertakerofSouls, proved the point that if you think a certain run is 100% optimized...chances are good it's not. Demonstrated in his Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal) run, UndertakerofSouls was able to shave-off 15 whole seconds from my previous World Record time of 17:13, in which he ended up getting a 16:58. It is the first sub 17-minute Cup category this Speedrun.com page has seen and it was all thanks mainly to the new technique - Last Second Shot.

Last Second Shot is literally what the name implies - Shooting the ball within the last couple frames before the timer runs out (so in this case about five-hundredths of a second, give or take) to avoid the extra jump-ball cutscene to save time. It's ideal to make sure you charge the ball right underneath the Basketball Hoop for more of a guaranteed shot. This strategy can be preformed right before the timer runs out for the first or second round of each game, obviously with the intention of having as little coins as possible for a base score of 20 points per game.

As to how practical the use of this technique will take you throughout each cup is questionable. It's essentially free to use for the Mushroom Cup and Flower Cup, both on Normal, as the AI difficulty is not as complex. However, the difference in AI difficulty from the Flower Cup to the Star Cup is rather drastic as most of the time they will not give you a moment's rest to take a shot, especially at the leisure of trying to get it in nearly frame-perfect time. So for Star Cup Any% (Normal), it's up in the air. For Rainbow Cup Any% (Normal); however, it's practically guaranteed that such opportunities will not pop-up. To extend this concept even further, it goes without saying that any cup on Hard difficulty will show how unrealistic this strategy truly is. If you have played this game even casually, you know what I am talking about when I say that the computers are monsters.

The only possible way I could even see this technique used in Star Cup Any% (Normal) and so on is if:
1.) You get a star (Which is incredibly unrealistic)
2.) You get the luckiest oppurtunity ever to make the shot under the basket (Also very unrealistic)
3.) You do a charged 3-pointer shot at the exact correct time of release (Extremely tricky as the computer will most likely block, swipe and steal, or ground-pound)

With all of this in mind, it's worth pointing out how your defense will have to be phenomenal as the opposing team's offense and defense will be much greater, as well as all the items that could get in your way.

While a dunk could serve this purpose as a substitute, all the previously mentioned variables still apply.

The 17:17 Rule [OUTDATED]

Mario Hoops 3-on-3, while being as fun of a game as it is, is not the ideal game to speedrun mainly because it has an in-game timer with unskippable loading screens. Due to these limitations, any run under any category is sure to have a specific time that cannot be lessened. For Flower Cup and Star Cup, whether you are playing on Normal or Hard difficulty, the perfect run is 17 minutes and 17 seconds. There have been many attempts to try to lower it to a 17:16 for a while, but with no success at all. No matter how fast one is with the cup and character selection screen, the difference is only that of a couple hundredths of a second. It's not very often when a game's category has an acknowledged time cap, but Mario Hoops 3-on-3 certainly has one indeed. So if you happen to see one of the 6 mentioned categories with a 17:17 time, know that it is a dead category.

Sincerely,
Hoopla Fish

The New Perfect Run

As of a little while ago, I discovered some new strats to decrease the time needed to beat any of the tournaments in Mario Hoops 3-on-3, and I wanted to explain exactly what I've been doing to make these times.

Step 1 ~ Time starts at the selection of "Tourney" on the main menu.
Step 2 ~ Select Tourney (This step is skipped with a brand new file going for a Mushroom Tourney Normal run).
Step 3 ~ Select Characters. Hit the Select button to get a randomly assorted team in the least amount of time. Ideally, you want a technical player such as Peach or Daisy, but it's possible to do this run with any assortment of characters.
Step 4 ~ The tourney opening screen will appear with the bracket. Press and hold the B button to increase the speed of the menu there, and consistently tap the screen (I also press the A button repeatedly while still holding the B button here too) to make the "Vs." text box appear on the screen.
Step 5 ~ Going into the match, continue to tap the screen, hold the B button, and tap the A button to make the court-opening cutscene skip to the jump ball sequence.
Step 6 ~ First Half. Do not score or allow the other team to score at all.
Step 7 ~ When the "Time's Up" text appears, perform the same actions as steps 4 and 5 to make it get to the second half slightly faster.
Step 8 ~ Second Half. THIS IS THE HARD PART OF THE RUN. You don't want the other team to score at all, and you don't want to score until the very last second. Ideally, you want a technical player to have the ball right to the side of the hoop charging their shot for a couple seconds, and then complete your stroke up on the touch screen with about 0.82 seconds on the clock. This will ensure that the shot goes in with no time on the clock, barring a steal or block from the other team.
Step 9 ~ Game! Immediately following your shot going in, begin tapping the screen to skip the shot replay cutscenes, and because you performed Last Second Shot in the second half, you skip the "Time's Up" text and go straight to the "Game!" text, saving a couple of seconds per match.
Step 10 ~ Finally, as the team celebrates, begin tapping the screen in the area where the text box "Go to Next Round" will appear, and repeat steps 4-10 until "Game!" appears on the screen after the third match (or fourth in the Rainbow Cup).

I believe the lowest time possible for the Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal) run using this strategy is a 16:49, but I haven't quite confirmed that yet. 
Anyway, I hope this helps you guys out! Happy speedrunning!
LiteBrite516

Tier List 2017

Here is the official tier list for all 21 selectable characters for Mario Hoops 3-on-3 made by myself and badBlackShark. As fun as the game itself is, it's not as balanced as it potentially could have been. While being a Basketball game, many characters are left at a disadvantage towards others due to their lack of ball movement, special shot, ground-pound recovery and dunk speed animation. While other relatable points could be added, it should be understood that this tier list is based mainly on these 4 foundational technicalities.

Please bare in mind that this is the official tier list for the game in general. When it comes to speedrunning, you may want to customize your team your own way just as you would do the same if you were playing it casually. This list should not discourage those from playing a specific character that they like if they happen to be low tier. It's purpose is to simply show the difference between each character. In the end, it's really the player that makes the character great; however, some characters will come easier to others without a doubt. So here it is:

1.) Black Mage
2.) Paratroopa
3.) Ninja
4.) Mario
5.) White Mage
6.) Cactuar
7.) Luigi
8.) Bowser Jr.
9 & 10.) Diddie Kong / Dixie Kong
11.) Birdo
12.) Yoshi
13.) Waluigi
14.) Daisy
15.) Peach
16.) Bowser
17.) Donkey Kong
18.) Wario
19.) Boo
20.) Moogle
21.) Fly Guy

Sincerely,
Hoopla Fish

Nome	Autore
Cup Selection Menu Skip	HooplaFish 7 years ago
Early "Go!" Strat - Mushroom Cup Any% (Normal) Sub 17:17 [OUTDATED]	HooplaFish 7 years ago
Last Second Shot Strat	HooplaFish 7 years ago
The 17:17 Rule [OUTDATED]	HooplaFish 7 years ago
The New Perfect Run	Eliminato 3 years ago
Tier List 2017	HooplaFish 7 years ago