Controls

Buttons

Y - Tongue
B - Jump
A - Aim/fire egg
X - Nothing
L/R - Freezes egg aim at current position

General Movement

There is no run button, except when controlling super baby mario or the train vehicle.
None of the other vehicles move faster when holding Y.
The quickest way to stop moving is to hold down, or to tongue a solid object.
Hold down while in the air to perform a ground pound.
Hold up while standing still to scroll the screen upwards, also makes baby Mario and Yoshi look up.
Visit the Movement Page for more information on how to control your Yoshi!

Combinations

2 Player Minigames

Start + Select during a level that you have already beaten returns to the world map.
Pushing Y or down while aiming an egg cancels the egg throwing animation and swaps to the next egg.
Holding up while starting egg aiming starts the egg cursor pointing up and lets you aim lower than a "neutral shot".
To play free thief minigames directly from the map screen, hold Select and press the following buttons in order: X, X, Y, B, A.

Patient VS. Hasty

File:Hasty controls.png

Hasty Controls

Two options are accessible on the world map that change how the egg button works.
Patient is the default, and makes it so that tapping A once begins the egg-firing animation, and tapping it again fires the egg.
Hasty, on the other hand, sets it so that pushing A down begins the egg-firing animation, and releasing A fires the egg.
Most speedrunners use Hasty, which allows you to more easily fire off quick egg throws by just tapping the button once, as opposed to twice.

You can also change the controls on the first hint box in 1-3. It was said that swapping to Hasty in 1-3 saves time compared to swapping at the stage selection. This was tested on the Japanese version of the game and the results are as follows:

Swapping to hasty at stage select takes 112 frames minimum and requires 9 inputs. 

Swapping to hasty at the hint box in 1-3 takes 117 frames minimum and requires 2 inputs.

Since 1-3 requires way less inputs its likely to still save time over the stage select control change in an RTA setting using the Japanese cartridge. Switching to Hasty in 1-3 while using the North American cartridge will likely lose time because of an extra screen of dialog the player must scroll through.

Transitions and Dialogues

• Holding any button during the score tally screen completes it as fast as possible -- no need to mash!
• Start, A, B, X, and Y can be used to select a new level during the overworld map transition (mash!)
• Alternate mashing down + A to skip dialogue boxes as quickly as possible. Start slightly before the dialogue begins to have a chance at getting a frame-perfect quick skip.
• Most level intro transitions (e.g. "1-1: Make Eggs, Throw Eggs") can be shortened by button mashing, which adds up to many seconds over the course of a run. The dpad and every button will work, so swirl the dpad and mash every button (including L and R).
• Playing the Japanese version is estimated to save around 9 seconds in 100% and 7 seconds in Any% because of dialogue.