Fluttering

Auto-Flutter

Hold B after doing any the following actions to flutter automatically:

• Jumping.
• Bonking your head on a ceiling.
• Transforming from Super Baby Mario back to Yoshi.
• Bouncing on a spring.
• Bouncing on an enemy or Koopa Shell, with the exception of bandits, big chickens, frogs, snowmen, and non-skeleton Goonies.
  

You can also flutter infinitely while under a falling rock like the ones in 2-1 and 2-7

Perfect Flutter

Auto-Flutter then a Perfect Flutter

Normally, a flutter is done by simply pushing the jump button and holding it until a flutter begins, however, this method does not give you maximum height. What you want to do instead is, release B at the peak of your jump and then, as quickly as possible, repress it to do a perfect flutter. Doing this will allow you to gain a few extra pixels of height. You have a 3 frame window to do a perfect flutter, assuming that when you release B, you repress it on the next frame. Some places are more lenient, like 2-4 for example, where you have 5 frames and some may be more strict. (more testing needs to be done)

They can be used to access several areas that are otherwise too high to reach, such as:

• The area above the !switch in 2-4.
• The last room of the bottom-right room in 4-4. [1]
• Traveling over the stone column in 6-4. [2]
• After obtaining the key in 6-6. [3]

The gif demonstrates how a normal flutter does not give you enough height to reach the ledge and then how a perfect flutter allows you to just barely make it with the extra height.

Extended Flutter

Extended Flutter

[how much height does it gain?]

An extended flutter is typically performed by bouncing on an enemy but you can also get one by:

• Getting flung upward by a spinning switch platform [image]
• Touching the boss Salvo The Slime
• Getting hit from below by an egg
• Jumping into the side of a big chicken [image]
• Getting hit by a falling mace ball [4]
• Getting flung upward by spinning log

bounce on enemy -> bonk -> no ext. flutter [4-4]

There are a couple ways to get the most height out of an extended flutter:

1. Hold B just before bouncing on the enemy to get a big bounce. Not holding B results in a much smaller bounce.
2. Release B and manually initiate the flutter around the peak of the bounce, rather than just waiting for an automatic flutter. This is sort of the same idea as the perfect flutter.
3. Follow the extended flutter up with a manual flutter to gain a bit more height.

• Extended flutters are used in many levels to reach otherwise unreachable areas like in 1-1 to skip the beanstalk or in 6-4 to travel over the stone column, skipping the need for a key.
• Extended flutters can also be stored via a perfect jump [5] or by bouncing on a !switch to allow for extra height [6]

The gif demonstrates an extended flutter, followed by a manual flutter as part of the Warpless route in 6-4.

Flutter Storage

You can store (save) an extended flutter for later use by doing a frame perfect jump [1-1] or jumping on a !switch [5-5] to delay it.
Even though the jump is frame perfect, you do not need to release and repress B. For most platforms you have to essentially clip onto the side of it so that you're never moving downward, but for certain types of platform sprites it just always works, like the pinwheel in 1-1.

Sustained Fluttering

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6-4 Lava skip

Flutters can be chained together indefinitely so that Yoshi does not lose height. This is only used when needed such as in the water section in 3-4, the platform skip in 5-4, or the lava skip in 6-4. Since fluttering is slower than running at full speed, you only want to flutter when it's necessary. You have a 9 frame window to maintain height but you also need to release and repress B within 1 frame.

Doing multiple flutters over a long distance and maintaining height takes a lot of practice, but you know the saying, practice makes perfect!

Fluttering Frame Data

andy_kuma, Brooklyn9d5 & Thurler investigated the frame data for fluttering. First we did some manual testing. The results can be found in this speadsheet!

Later we did automated/scripted testing via Lua and an emulator. The results are as follows:

Perfect Flutter From A Regular Jump

• Delta/frame: the length of time that the button was not pressed.
• Green values: an increase in height (in pixels).
• Dark green values: enough height for the perfect flutter in 2-4 if you were against the wall (doing a left->right will improve your chances at getting it).
• Blue values: no height lost or gained.
• Red values: loss of height.

Refluttering

• You need a 1 frame repress to not lose height during reflutters!
• There are 6 frames where you can gain height.
• And frames where you can keep your height.
• For the first and last 2 working frames, the height loss is greater if you miss the 1 frame repress.
• It's better to aim for the middle of the working frames because 2 frame repress reflutters wont lose as much height.
• DROP means that no reflutter will be initiated.

Extended Flutter