How to shave seconds off your Any% run in Super Mario Odyssey

If you’ve been grinding Odyssey for months and your personal best still sits at 45‑plus minutes, you know the sting of a missed jump or a wasted pause. The good news? A few focused tweaks can drop that time by a solid 10‑15 seconds without needing a new controller or a miracle glitch. Below are the tactics I use before every record attempt, and they’re simple enough for a newcomer but sharp enough to keep a veteran on their toes.

Know your route inside out

Map the level, not just the checkpoints

Most runners glance at the route map and think “I’ll just follow the arrows.” That works for a first play‑through, but an Any% run demands precision. Print out the level list (or keep a digital copy) and mark every optional shortcut, every spot where a moon can be skipped, and every place you can roll straight through a corridor instead of walking.

When I first tackled the Sand Kingdom, I kept stopping at the big stone statue because the game nudged me toward the nearest moon. A quick glance at the route map showed a hidden slide that drops you right into the next area. Skipping that statue saved me 3.2 seconds—enough to feel the difference on a tight timer.

Practice the “no‑pause” line

A common habit is to pause the game to read a hint or line up a jump. In a speedrun, each pause adds at least half a second because the timer keeps ticking. Train yourself to read the hint on the fly or, better yet, memorize the key visual cues. The more you can run without hitting the start button, the more seconds you shave.

Master the Moon Jump

The Moon Jump is the fastest way to travel across open spaces, but it’s also the easiest to mess up. Here’s a quick checklist:

1. Charge the jump – Hold the jump button for exactly two frames. Too short and you’ll fall short; too long and you’ll overshoot the landing platform.
2. Aim with the left stick – Keep the stick centered until the moment you release the charge. Small drift can add a half‑second wobble.
3. Land on a solid surface – If you land on a moving platform, you lose momentum and have to re‑charge. Spot the static ground first.

I spent a whole weekend timing my Moon Jumps in the Metro Kingdom. By tightening my charge to exactly two frames, I cut 0.7 seconds off each jump. Multiply that by ten jumps in a run and you’ve already saved 7 seconds.

Optimize your Power Moon collection

Any% doesn’t require every moon, but the ones you do collect should be the fastest to grab.

Skip the “easy” moons that are actually slow

Some moons sit on a platform that requires a full spin attack, which adds a few seconds of animation. If there’s an alternative moon a few steps away that you can grab with a simple jump, take it. The time saved per moon is small, but it adds up.

Use the “quick‑grab” technique

When a moon is perched on a wall, you can often grab it by sliding into it while holding the capture button. This eliminates the need to stop, aim, and then capture. Practice the timing in a sandbox run until it feels natural.

Plan the order

The order you collect moons matters. If two moons are close together but on opposite sides of a platform, it’s faster to grab the farther one first, swing back, and then collect the nearer one while you’re already moving in that direction. I once rearranged my moon order in the Lake Kingdom and saved 2.4 seconds with a single swap.

Trim the cutscenes

Odyssey is full of charming cutscenes, but they’re a luxury in a speedrun.

Skip the intro and title screens

Most emulators let you press a button to skip the intro. On console, hold the “Start” button while the game boots and the title screen will fade out faster. It’s a tiny trick, but it shaves off about 1.5 seconds each time you restart a run.

Use the “fast‑forward” glitch (if allowed)

In the community’s official rules, fast‑forwarding the game’s internal clock is permitted as long as you don’t alter the game state. Holding the “L” button while the game loads a new area can cut the loading animation in half. I tested it in the Moon Kingdom and saved roughly 3 seconds on a single load.

Use the right settings

Disable “Assist Mode”

Assist Mode gives you extra health and a slower timer. Turning it off not only makes the run harder (in a good way) but also removes the extra pause that the game adds when you take damage. The result is a smoother, faster flow.

Set the controller to “Turbo”

If your controller supports a turbo function, map the jump button to repeat automatically. This removes the micro‑delay between each jump press, especially useful in sections with rapid consecutive jumps. I use a cheap USB controller with a built‑in turbo and it consistently saves me 0.3 seconds per jump sequence.

Final thoughts

Shaving seconds off an Any% run isn’t about finding a single magic glitch; it’s about tightening every little habit, learning the exact timing of each move, and refusing to pause for a second glance. Take the route map, perfect your Moon Jump, reorder your moons, trim every cutscene, and set up your controller for speed. Run a few practice attempts, note where the timer spikes, and adjust. Before you know it, that 45‑minute personal best will shrink to the low‑40s, and you’ll be ready to chase that next record.