Ok, here it is:
http://home.comcast.net/~f_amoroso/MarioLand-TheAxeManv0.1.vbm
---some stats---
Movie length: 12:17
Final score: 192590
Level finish times:
1-1: 361
1-2: 364
1-3: 362
2-1: 358
2-2: 364
2-3: 265
3-1: 335
3-2: 358
3-3: 356
4-1: 338
4-2: 343
4-3: 207
Ok, now the breakdown of trouble spots and highlights for each level:
2-1: the first level where I lost forward progress. That bone fish was jumping at times that made it impossible to get above or below it, and the layout of the level doesn't allow approaching it from any other angle. Note that the bone fish are immune to fireballs.
2-3: I was sloppy here, just trying to finish it to get the time, I'll work out shooting everything later.
3-1: Had to stop twice to wait for rocks, but I jump on them as soon as possible. I powerup on 2-3 so I can take a hit on the long spike pit.
3-2: Stopped to get a mushroom so I could take a hit later. Also had trouble on one spot where three spiders are in my way. Taking the hit allows me to ignore the spiked pit and boulders.
3-3: Just barely made the jump on the first platforms, but barely missed the jump on the second set. So I wait and jump ASAP. The short pause after the two falling blocks sets up the two platforms ahead: I let the first one move some before the second one comes into scope.
4-1: Another forced platform wait, I take out my frustration on some enemies who might have otherwise survived. :) Fireball is necessary to take out the plants in close quarters. It seems to add lag sometimes, but otherwise it only costs 1 frame/fireball.
4-2: Hehe, things got a little dicey in parts of this level. I'm pretty sure the bottom path is faster even though I lose some speed maneuvering around the pipes. Taking the top path would require breaking three bricks since big Mario needs an extra block to fit through. At the end I was just barely able to make the jump off the last moving platform. There seems to be a glitch which gives you a one-frame chance to scramble up after a barely missed jump. It seems to be affected by being big/small and it's only possible on solid ground, not the platforms. I've tried to do this on solid walls, similar to the glitch in the NES SMB1, but it doesn't seem to work the same. Anyway, it ended up being useful, so yay!
4-3: It was easier to shoot everything on this level than in 2-3. I showed no mercy to Tantanga and his lakitu-wannabe minion.
About the score, my final version should have no problem breaking 200K. There may be a few spots I can scrape up more coins or something, but most of the points I missed were in 2-3. The invincibility star seems to do something funny with the score multiplier, I'll need to look into that more. I will re-examine the end of 2-3, I would like to kill the boss on my way out.
I also discovered a glitch which will let me up my score even more. It's only demonstrated a few times here, but I should be able to abuse it more. I'll leave the details a mystery for now, but it's definitely visible if you watch closely.
For time, I may try manipulating the bonus stages to get what I want as the first item. This time around world 1 worked perfectly, but the others could be better. I'm thinking world 1 will still be 1 life, the rest will be fireball, mostly just so I don't have to powerup during the levels. Of course I'd love to get rid of any of the platform waits, if anyone can figure out a solution let me know.
