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.
"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!"
While Team 0% members expressed relief at finally reaching the end of their quest, there was also a sense of deflation among the team over the way their final achievement played out. "We accomplished the goal we've had for over six years, but it almost doesn't feel exciting to me," Team 0% administrator Black60Dragon told Ars Technica. "Instead it's just clouded with drama. So it's bittersweet."
Years of hidden fraud
The TAS-based fraud behind Trimming the Herbs' creation dates back to August 2017, when creator Ahoyo started a level design contest called PogChamp (named after the now-removed but then-popular Twitch emote). The contest was designed "to see who could make the coolest Mario Maker tricks," Ahoyo said in the contest's intro video. Ahoyo added that the contest was "anything goes" and that creators would need to "try to push the limits" of the game, two statements that seem a bit ironic now that the truth about TTH's TAS-based creation has come to light.
And frankly it's kind of appropriate for the "last" level of SMM to be a troll. Trolls, and the troll community in general, are a huge part of what's kept SMM popular and relevant for years, to the point that what's called a "troll" in SMM, and SMM2 for that matter, is somewhat different than in other gaming communities, and even many great "kaizo" levels are well-known for having an "ending troll", usually an invisible block lovingly placed to catch people who just performed amazing feats of dexterity, only to get caught by something incredibly low-brow and "cheap". So frankly I'm not terribly surprised or even all that upset for SMM itself to end in a troll.
That said, this level is "impossible", but not actually impossible-impossible. There are still 3-4 dedicated streamers who are still grinding away at this "fake" level, and I believe it will be beaten by a "human" (as much as we can truly call some of these people "human" given their insane dedication and skill) before the end, at which point Team 0% can legitimately call themselves Team 101%. So, let's go, humans versus robots! :)