Hi! I tried my hand at making a walkies guide, I know a few tricks about this category, and would also like to see more people play it since I find it pretty fun for how inactive it is. I'll go over important notes for most levels, and try to include videos where I can. If you think anything should be added here just let me know :D

Movement & General:

Since this category well, doesn't let you run, one of the best methods of increasing your speed is through walljumping. Walljumps let you move faster than just walking, and in addition, you can jump immediately as you land to preserve most of your speed, depending on how good your timing is.

This category also bans something else aside from running, which is the use of fireballs and tailswipes. Since the category rules prohibit "Any dash inputs", this means no tail swiping, no fireballs, and you have to use touchscreen to cancel saving instead of pressing "B" lol

Something interesting I found out while playing this category is that when you walk off a block, if you turn around at the right time, you will sort of stick to the block, which saves time and can make otherwise difficult/impossible jumps possible (for example, in M-2) This is also in other nsmb games (I know superguy was talking about it a while back) but I've decided to call this a "walk off wall kick" and there is nothing you can do to stop me >:)

1-1: A very interesting level in this category. I recommend just trying to copy the movement of any top runs, however this won't work sometimes. As you play you are bound to make small mistakes or small improvements over top runs and will need to play accordingly. Playing the level a lot will get you used to good places for walljumps, and where you should aim to land. There isn't much else to say, but I recommend practicing this level a lot when you start to get used to walkathon movement.

1-2: Very similar idea to 1-1, both taking ideas from top runs and playing the level lots so you can get used to the layout of it. Be sure to grab the checkpoint here for a powerup.

1-3: In this level, you will want to grab a tanooki as soon as you can (first set of boxes to the far right) It's important that you grab a tanooki early on in the run, so you can spend more of your time in the air where you won't lose momentum, and less time on the ground, where you have the chance to make mistakes. Another important thing to note is the slopes in this level. These can increase your momentum up to running speed, so you will want to change tactics for this level from walljumping to sliding and jumping. Jumping on enemies while you have momentum is an easy way to ensure that you keep all of your speed.

1-T: Fast 1-T isn't doable without running, so you will need to slow down a little in this level and walljump up to the right of the snake blocks. Since the level is mostly vertical, you don't need to walljump for momentum until the very end where you exit the tower. The backup tanooki here is optional. Nanase probably has the best movement that I've seen here:

1-C: I mean, you don't need me to show you how to do this level, but it is important to note that you should not get the red coins. Getting the red coins will overwrite your backup tanooki (if you have one) with a gold flower. And since you can't shoot fireballs in this run, well, it won't help you too much...

M-1: Although I don't think it saves time, grabbing the star can still be useful if you want to play it safe. Here, J_duude has generally very good movement except for 1 missed jump before the blue pipe. I advise trying out something like this, going up after the checkpoint then fluttering down.

M-2: Aside from the walk off wall kick at the start, which saves very little time, there is not much to this level. If you don't have one, get a powerup to damage boost through the urchin with. I recommend equipping a tanooki before the level ends (best to do it in the vertical swimming section right after damage boosting), but it is not required if you do M-GH right side (#LeftSideGang) and know a way through the second room without it.

M-GH: Left side is still faster here, but the strat is a little different, and right side is still a good, safe alternative. As the second room in both is nearly identical, the movement is pretty much the same from then on. Doing left side, you will want to jump from the bottom right platform as soon as you can, then walljump off of the blocks above it, which should give you enough momentum to make it to the door, if you don't have enough height to make it to the top right blocks, it's probably because you aren't jumping with enough momentum. As for the second room, a consistent way to avoid the invisible bouncy blocks is to make a small jump to the left, then walljump off of the wall, and land once you are above the door. This video should sum it up:

Note: after the first and second rooms, do not walljump off the wall and instead just walk to the next door. I'm not sure, but I think walljumping is slower due to how far away the walls are and losing lots of momentum on the stairs anyways

M-B: Same as any% really, just use this level to stock up on tanookis, then climb the vine to the pipe.

M-C: Since you can't tail swipe, equip the gold block to cancel the spawn animation in world flower.

F-1: This level is pretty generic in terms of walljump = speed, but one important thing to note is the F-1 snake cycle, which I believe saves around 4 seconds. It is a little tough to pull off, but is consistent if you can do a walk-off wall kick.

I ground-pound the floating ? block in my runs, but I haven't checked if another strat is faster.

F-A: In this level, to get above the level as fast as you can, you need to intentionally take damage to become small mario, and then bounce off of the buzzy beetle to make it above the level. (Clip is taken from J_duude's WR)

Make sure you don't get the backup in this level, as you will lose all of your momentum until the autoscroller. At the end of the level, it is also optimal to walljump off of the iceberg around the time it starts to speed up. If you jump too early, you can save yourself from death if you know how to do 1-sided walljumps.

6-1: After you grab the backup tanooki from the middle box in the first set, keep walljumping and avoiding comets. This level can be especially difficult in the second half, so I advise you practise it a lot. Taking damage in this level is pretty normal, so don't feel bad about using up a reserve leaf ;)

6-GH: This level is mostly just walljumping and preserving momentum, but one important thing to note is luring the boo. Unlike any%, you can't fly, and therefore will probably have to go underneath the boo. You can lure it up by landing on top of the blocks to the left of it and facing left. If you don't have enough height, try facing left and jumping to lure it instead. You can damage boost through it if you somehow didn't take any damage in 6-1, since there is another leaf you can grab at the start of 6-A.

6-A: There isn't much to say about this level, apart from standard walljumps and fluttering you are used to. This level also has very few places where you can walljump, so it can be a big choke point if you lose your momentum.

6-T: After following the standard any% movement for a bit, you can walljump from the left wall in the section where the moving platforms first appear. If you save enough momentum, you should be able to walljump from the right wall and land on the platform that takes you to the checkpoint (Ground-pounding gives a little extra height if you need it). After reaching the checkpoint, you can walljump from the hidden 1-up to the left and just barely make it to the platofrm, from which you can jump to the next platform that takes you to the end. I recommend grabbing another tanooki, and actually doing the boss fight in a different order from usual, since you can't tail swipe. (Do the first normally, wait for the second and duckjump under it, jump over the third one to hit the fourth one and turn back around to get the third one again). The movement in this video is slightly unoptimal but still has the same idea

6-4: Here's a neat little thing I found called "Fast 6-4", which I don't think was known until I found it. Using the rotating ? blocks to your advantage, you can ground pound them at the right time to gain running speed. Using this to your advantage, damage boost through the boo with the gold block. Repeating the same process again at the checkpoint can save lots of time over standard walljumps, but it can also be hard to time the ground pounds and jumps off of the ? blocks.

Once on the platforms, try jumping off when they tilt downwards so you can get more momentum.

6-5: Ground pounding off of the dynamic slopes in this level can also give you running speed. Tilting the slopes downward and then ground pounding off of them will give momentum the same way as slopes do in 1-3. This is probably best seen in J_duude's WR.

6-C: Currently, the strat is to damage boost through the burners and equipping a reserve before the next room. Burner clip is technically possible but extremely difficult, and only really saves maybe 2 seconds. You can grab another reserve on the snake block, and try to jump up to the door as early as you can without falling. In the next room, there is a very precise movement that can save 1 flash cycle that is done in my 31:54, but for getting started I recommend just using the strat used in J_duude's 32:29. Normal Strat: Flash Cycle: (Get momentum from the conveyor, and then use it to clear the reverse conveyor without touching it. May or may not be possible without the walk off wall kick) Note: I kind of messed up at the start, but this is the only recording I have of the cycle.

As for bowser jump, I personally have never managed to get it, and am unsure if it is possible. If you know how to do 1-sided walljumps, you can try the strat used in my WR if you don't like having to wait for bowser RNG, otherwise just waiting for bowser to jump and you can walk under him.

Summary: Walkies is vastly different from any other nsmb2 category, and requires a unique skillset. I hope this guide encourages someone to try it out, or helps someone to improve. Maybe my hopes are too high but I would love to see a tournament of some sort in this category one day. I wish you all the best with your runs!