I am just starting of running this category and I am learning that manipulating the red block is very important. I am aware there is no 100% successful stratagy yet but what is the most effective so far? I am hearing some people say you have to count the amount of coin blocks you hit and stuff like double and triple jumps. I would appreciate some help.

Also, one more question, does double and triple jumps affect Mario's speed in anyway? What about sliding downwards also?

I don't think number of coins and specific jumps effect RNG, but I'm also a beginner at this category so you should wait for someone knowledgeable to respond to this topic. However, I'm 100% sure of the fact that sliding down slopes in the blue shell is slower. If you come across a slope in the blue shell, jump instead because overall it saves time. i.e. 5-3

Hello, and welcome! I see that the link for the RNG manip guide is broken; we will fix that later. Have you read the RNG manip thread? https://www.speedrun.com/nsmbds/thread/18pf0 Either way, I’ll cover the basics of it right here. RNG is dependent on the starting time of the game (i.e. when you select the game from the menu of your device) down to a certain number of frames. The starting RNG of the game will always be the same as long as you select the “new game” file before a cutscene automatically starts to play (this happens when you wait for too long on the game’s menu). To put it short, what ultimately affects the RNG in 1-1 are just the number of double jumps (and NOT triple jumps) and the number of coin blocks you hit. Here’s a simple way to find a setup on your own:

1. Change the DS setting’s year, month and date to a certain value (any of ‘em will work fine, I use 01/01/2000)
2. set the time to a certain value (I use 00:00), and exit out the menu
3. select the game from your DS menu at a specific time. The blinking “:” works fine for visual cue
4. mash A and file select. This is to prevent the cutscene from playing out
5. play 1-1 in a certain way. Keep track of the number of double jumps and coin blocks hit. The number of double jumps that seem to work for most people is 2 to 5
6. if the red block doesn’t come to 1-2 after finishing 1-1 or doesn’t give you a blue shell, then repeat steps 1-5, but only change the number of coin blocks and/or double jumps in 1-1
7. repeat step 6 until you find a setup that consistently gives you blue shell

The reason there isn’t a universal method is because the game responds differently on different cartridges; RNG manip setup is just something you have to find on your own.

Wow that's really helpful. Thanks!

Thank you. That helps alot. The RNG manipulation is something I have been struggling with in this game. Thank you for spelling it out for me.

Update: I contacted 3zachm; the RNG manip document in the “guides” should work now I should also add that RNG manip isn’t that important until you reach a certain threshold. I understand that saving 15 seconds over bad RNG is very convenient, but resetting over 1-2 blue shell is not a smart thing to do especially when you have other places to save time in. Unless you manage to get a very consistent manip, it’s better to just play it normally and grab the shell from 1-TH if you get bad RNG.