I tried it again twice without using save states. The first time, I failed, but the second time, I succeeded again. So, it wasn't a fluke! I may not be getting it 100% of the time, but this is much better than my previous success rate of 0%.

Thank you so much for the quick reply! It's really cool that a master speedrunner like you is so quick to reach out to a complete noob like me.

I'm using an emulator, so I thought it would be OK to just keep loading from a save state so I didn't have to sit through the whole intro every time. This may have been why it didn't work. I just tried it again tonight doing what you said to do, and it actually worked! Hopefully, this wasn't just a fluke.

I read a guide that says you have to click "New Game" right before the confetti starts falling on the title screen. This way, the world will generate in a particular manner that makes finding the hidden Watering Sprites that much easier. However, no matter how much I try, I can't get the "backwards tick" generation I'm supposed to get to appear. I was thinking that I might be able to practice in one of two ways, but I'm not sure if they'll work:

1. Use a TAS to go frame-by-frame and figure out the exact moment I'm supposed to click "New Game". However, I don't know how to make a TAS using DeSmuME.

2. Use some sort of cheat to skip the Harvest Goddess questionnaire and the beginning of the opening cutscene. This way, I can see right away whether my input worked. However, I have no idea how to make such a cheat or whether one already exists.

Do any of you know of any other ways to time the input correctly, or do I just have to keep grinding until I finally get it to work?

There are some TAS strats that are impossible for a human to achieve because they involve pressing left and right at the same time, which is physically impossible on an NES controller. However, would this be possible on a machine like the Nintendo Switch? Both the left joystick and the D-pad can be used to control Mario. When I try doing them both at once, they seem to both cancel each other out and Mario doesn't move. However, I think that in the hands of somebody who isn't trash at SMB1, using both the joystick and the D-pad might help with speedrunning.

Also, congratulations to Niftski for the new world record!

What difficulty level (Normal/Hard/Maddening, Casual/Classic) is required for a speedrun to count?