Super Mario Maker’s “final boss” was a fraud all along
When good robots fall into the wrong hands, bad things can happen... (credit: Aurich Lawson | Nintendo)
The Super Mario Maker community and "Team 0%" have declared victory in their years-long effort to clear every user-submitted level in the original Wii U game before the servers shut off for good on April 8. That victory declaration comes despite the fact that no human player has yet to clear "Trimming the Herbs" (TTH), the ultra-hard level that gained notoriety this month as what was thought to be the final "uncleared" level in the game.
This strange confluence of events is the result of an admission by Ahoyo, the creator of Trimming the Herbs, who came clean Friday evening regarding his use of automated, tool-assisted speedrun (TAS) methods in creating the level. That means he was able to use superhuman capabilities like slow-motion, rewinding, and frame advance to pre-record the precise set of perfectly timed inputs needed to craft the "creator clear" that was necessary to upload the level in the first place.
Ahoyo's video of a "creator clear" for Trimming the Herbs, which he now admits was created using TAS methods.
"I'm sorry for the drama [my level] caused within the community, and I regret the ordeal," Ahoyo wrote on the Team 0% Discord and social media. "But at least it was interesting. However in the end the truth matters most. Congratulations to Team 0% for their well-earned achievement!"