Speedrun:A Link to the Past/Any% (NMG, No S+Q)/Escape
Rescuing Link's Uncle
Hold A as this first line of text appears to Buffer your Input. A buffered input will always be performed on the first possible Frame.
Mash through the rest of this text with all 4 face buttons (A, B, X, and Y) by gripping the controller on the right side and using the index and middle fingers on both hands. You want to roll your fingers so that you avoid pressing buttons on the same frame.
After all of the text has been cleared Link's Uncle will exit the house. At this point you can start to hold angle Down+Right on the D-Pad and mash L+R. L and R can be used to clear the last text box in a conversation and in this case they can be used to get Link to jump out of bed. Down+Right is buffered here so you don't waste any frames on movement. Hold until you are aligned with the doorway and move down to exit.
As you exit the house, grab and throw these first two bushes. Because we don't have the Sword yet, both the A and B buttons will work for these. I like to hold the controller against my leg and mash with my index and middle fingers.
Follow this path and exit the screen as far to the left side as possible.
Hold Up+Left until you get to this point, then start moving up to the gap at the top side of the bridge. Optionally, you can mash Right on the D-Pad as you move up to save a few frames of movement. This is known as Pumping and can be utilized to save around 10 seconds over the length of a full run. It is simple to execute but can be very hard to make it actually save time consistently. A couple of notes about pumping if you choose to do it: only pump when moving North or West, and never sacrifice clean movement to get more pumps.
Begin holding angle Up+Right at this point until you clear the East edge of the castle.
At this point begin moving up along the blue path, then nudge into the first bush to align Link in the center of the path. This works because the game is laid out on a Grid of 16px tiles. Nudging the bush will place Link in the center of the path ensuring that you don't nudge any other objects on the way up.
While in between these sets of bushes you can optionally mash Left+Right on the D-Pad with the index and middle finger of your right hand. This is known as double pumping. Link will not go through these 1 tile gaps while pressing a diagonal direction so you can safely get extra pumps here.
Begin holding Up+Right when you get to the last set of bushes, then move up and begin to mash A as you approach the bush covering the hidden path.
Hold angle Up+Left as you land until you clear this corner and move Left along the bottom edge of the screen. You can optionally mash Down to get some easy pumps in here.
Mash all 4 face buttons to clear the text and receive the Fighter's Sword. Hold Left during the animation and switch to Down+Left as you clear the corner. Begin moving down when you are above the doorway.
On this screen simply hold Down to exit.
Courtyard and First Floor
Hold angle Down+Left as you exit the tunnel. It's worth noting here that Link's walking speed is slightly slower in tall grass so do your best to avoid it as you move down to slash this first bush. Move down passed the fence and nudge into the right side of the large tree as you move down.
Move down and slash these 3 bushes to gain access to the castle entrance. You may need to continue holding B as you slash the last bush if you managed to alert the Green Sword Soldier. You can just hold the sword out and poke him out of your way, then continue on up to the main entrance.
Follow this path through the first room. You may get an RNG where this Green Soldier is in your path. You can tell where he intends to go by paying attention to which way he is looking. If the guard will be in your way simply move around him. Nudge up against the pillars at the top of the screen to align perfectly with the West exit.
Move passed the small red tiles in the doorway to avoid nudging the corner as you move up. Do your best to align with the center of the carpet to enter the doorway without nudging.
On some monitors you may have the ability to see the shadow of this guard on the top row of Pixels. If this shadow is not moving from Left to Right it maybe be possible to just move Up+Right to the wall and go straight to the Northeast exit. If any guards are blocking your path it is recommended to stay in the center of the room until it is safe to move over.
You can nudge against this statue and hold Up+Right to get a cleaner door entry as you enter the stairs.
Into the Basement
This is your first real combat in the run. Hold Up as you enter the room so that you can slash your sword while facing up as quickly as possible.
Move along the path shown to position the guard between Link and the statue. Releasing your sword spin here will bounce the guard against the statue causing the spin to hit hit twice. A Blue Sword Soldier only needs 3 damage to kill and each spin does 2 damage so this move takes him out instantly and has the added bonus of moving the key closer to the door.
If this maneuver is too difficult it is perfectly fine to just walk down and slash 3 times. Be sure to stay slightly Left of the guard if you do this to avoid clinking his sword.
Collect the key as you move to the locked door.
Hold Down to hop off the ledge and walk down slightly passed the bottom of the rail. When you get here, start holding angle Down+Left until you clear the corner at the bottom. You may clip through the guard's sword slightly as you move across the room. It is possible to move left even earlier but this is risky and only saves a few frames.
Hold angle Down+Right until you reach this point, then move down and nudge against the right rail.
Take this path to get passed the rest of the guards. You may need to practice the timing for cutting this corner without Slipping on the edge. Begin holding Up+Left to exit the screen after you clear the last corner and get to the bottom section. You can choose to mash Up here as you hold Left to save a handful of frames.
Hold Up+Left until Link disappears under this bridge.
You want to move up just a bit more while you are under the bridge to ensure that you are slightly above the bottom of this barrier next to the guard. This will prevent him from noticing you as he walks by which means you can safely move above him between the two walls. When you get under the first wall you can just hold Up+Left again until you are right below the door.
When you reach the exit you want to hold a sword charge as you transition to the next screen. This will ensure that you have a fully charged sword when you gain control in the next room. Ideally you want to slash as late as possible because Link moves slower with his sword out. It is possible to slash much closer to the door transition but it loses a lot more time if you are late, so to balance speed and consistency we intentionally go just a little early.