This is a TAS of Super Monkey Ball 2 Expert mode, playing all the way through the Expert, Expert Extra, Master and Master Extra levels.
This TAS uses the NTSC version of the game. PAL version actually has slightly different physics allowing for faster times, but this version was chosen due to its preference in the speedrunning scene and the common demand.
For comparison, the best known non-TAS time for this category is 16:54 (RTA timing) by Jcool114 (as of 03/14).
  • Emulator used: Dolphin 4.0.2 64-bit
  • Aims for fastest completion time
  • Warp goals are used to skip levels
  • Death is used to complete bonus stages faster

Author comments:

byrz:

I decided to start this project after TASing individual levels for a couple months. At first I started this project solo but it didn't take long before I started getting some nice help from other Monkey Ballers capable of TASing. Without the other authors, it would have taken me much longer, if not forever, to finish this, and obviously some stages would have been less optimal. TASing Monkey Ball games has been a really close hobby to me, taking up to 50 hours per week. Now it's time to take a breath and see what's up next.

keylie:

I came to this project when it was halfway done, and worked on a few stages. The level design of this game is more complex than the first episode, leading to some really interesting routes.

Individual Levels

LevelTime leftNon-TAS IL WRComment
E1 Wormhole53.4853.25Looks pretty nice :)
E2 Free Fall55.3055.30Making as little adjustments as possible while falling saves time
E4 Mad Shuffle54.2354.21Yay, saved a frame in a luck based level
E5 Partition57.6557.65Falling out in bonus levels is faster than getting into the goal
E6 Jump Machine48.5646.75Found a new extremely hard and cool strat :)
E9 Toggle55.3055.28Yay, saved a frame in another luck based level
E10 Pachinko58.0558.05Just another bonus level
E11 Combination56.0156.01The Non-TAS WR used to be 56.00 when this level was done
E12 Punched Seesaws54.1054.03Requires some lucky collisions
E14 Brandished56.1556.15This is the easiest record to achieve in the game
E15 Tiers53.7653.20It took a week to reach an old IL TAS of 53.75
E18 Detour52.8152.78Nothing special
E20 Earthquake57.4657.46Just another bonus level
E21 Spiral Bridge48.5347.88This ended up looking really cool :)
E22 Wavy Options54.2054.13Abusing really weird collision detection in this level
E23 Obstacle55.5555.50Nice looking time :)
E24 Domino55.3655.06Damn, never expected improving this stage by that much :o
E25 Sieve48.7348.53Hitting the last thing while going back is faster, even if it looks weird
E26 Flock53.0652.95Surprisingly hard strat
E27 Double Spiral51.3851.25Fun stage and a nice time :)
E28 Hierarchy54.8654.83Annoying stage
E29 8 Bracelets52.1152.08Surprisingly hard to beat the Non-TAS
E32 Soft Cream55.0154.88Wow, got a 55 with a new strat :o
E33 Momentum53.5153.46Surprisingly hard
E34 Entangled Path54.8354.78Cool
E36 Vortex54.1652.96A really hard strat that requires a really specific collision
E38 Trampolines55.1154.91Totally the intended way
E39 Swing Shaft53.3053.16Neat
E40 Fighters57.6557.65Yay, the last bonus stage
E41 Serial Jump55.8555.85Almost looks like .86 would be possible...
E44 Chipped Pipes55.2855.16Pretty cool
E46 Guillotine54.3654.35Wow, actually cut a frame here
E47 Corkscrew48.2647.66A TAS strat discovered a while ago
E48 Orbiters56.0356.00Glitch goal!!!!
E49 Twin Basin54.6154.48Really smooth and low clips
E50 Air Hockey56.5356.53Last stage of Expert, really simple time to achieve
EX1 Charge52.3552.23Pretty hard to optimize
EX2 Strata54.0653.80Dat grind
EX4 Giant Swing54.0653.68Surprisingly big improvement
EX5 5 Drums51.8151.65Pretty hard
EX6 Free Throw53.0052.80Very beautiful time
EX9 Construction54.6554.56Who cares about the huge maze
EX10 Train Worm54.5354.50Cool
M1 Centrifugal55.0355.03Wasn’t easy
M2 Swing Bridges51.1050.98Fun
M4 Passage53.7053.68Easy
M6 Intermittent54.4554.43The Non-TAS WR is really good :o
M7 Long Torus51.2350.60Wow
M8 Spasmodic56.1856.18Nothing special
M9 Double Twin51.7351.15Had to slow down for 3 frames to make the strat possible but it ended up insane
M10 Clock Face55.4655.45Bumper abuse
MX1 Variable Width52.7652.68Basic
MX2 Striker55.3055.30We go to green goal in order to get to a red goal in the next level
MX4 Planets53.1653.15Slowly alternating diagonals in midair helps you reach further
MX7 Synchronized56.6556.63Actually saved a frame in this simple level
MX9 Dizzy System56.4156.41Requires a really lucky clip
MX10 Nintendo30.4130.41The waiting level… Perfect time to play around!

Known improvements:

EX9 Construction: byrz has done 54.76 (7 frames better) TAS of this stage after the movie was finished.
Note: The amount of rerecords in the .dtm file is 30-50% smaller than the real amount of rerecords done during the project.

Ilari: Changed time from 14:08.217 to 14:23.017.
Nahoc: Claimed for judging...
Nahoc: Accepting for publication.
RGamma Publishing...


Buddybenj
He/Him
Joined: 1/12/2013
Posts: 166
Location: USA
Just watched this after the SMB1 TAS. This one is very entertaining too! Probably even more entertaining than the SMB1 TAS! Yes vote.
Projects: Interested in TASing N64 Mario Golf. GBA Mario Tennis: Power Tour is on hold.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2568] GC Super Monkey Ball 2 "Expert through Master Extra" by byrz, keylie, diddykong14, Nexta & Jcool114 in 14:23.02
Spikestuff
They/Them
Editor, Publisher, Expert player (2632)
Joined: 10/12/2011
Posts: 6436
Location: The land down under.
French Comm: Link to video
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. Something better for yourself and also others.
Editor, Experienced player (570)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4036
Is Kilaye the French name of keylie? If it is, someone can add that video and this one to the Interviews page.
Joined: 10/23/2009
Posts: 545
Location: Where?
CoolKirby wrote:
Is Kilaye the French name of keylie? If it is, someone can add that video and this one to the Interviews page.
I think it's simply the pronunciation with some french accent.
Editor, Experienced player (570)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4036
Ah, okay. Thanks! I'll add these to the Interviews page then.
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I know I'm over a year late to the party, but having watched these two back to back with some of the better unassisted runs still fresh in my memories, I can't help feeling like there's a lot of potential left to uncover here with something like a no-skip max score or no-skip max banana TAS. Any% speedruns have been optimized so well that the vast majority of the levels could only be improved by a few frames, if any, and it's no surprise given that the general strat is to go the straightest path from point A to point B and hope it works out. Expanding routes to hit extra targets would allow more freedom for tools to shine and thus far greater improvements compared to unassisted players, and result in a more engaging TAS in my opinion. That being said, it's great that we have these runs, and I thank those who have participated in their creation.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
JD
He/Him
Joined: 7/6/2024
Posts: 5
Location: Virginia
Should mention that Jcool114, who is credited as an author for this TAS, was revealed to have cheated a large amount of RTA runs in late 2021. Link to video
CoolHandMike
He/Him
Editor, Judge, Experienced player (894)
Joined: 3/9/2019
Posts: 692
JD wrote:
Should mention that Jcool114, who is credited as an author for this TAS, was revealed to have cheated a large amount of RTA runs in late 2021. Link to video
What is your concern here exactly?
discord: CoolHandMike#0352