Spinpound
A spinpound, sometimes written as spin pound, is a move that is performed by pressing the crouch button during a spin jump.
Unlike a regular ground pound, a spinpound does not stall in midair; Mario will immediately accelerate toward the ground.
To make Mario spin, the joystick must be rotated in two full circles; however, spins can be buffered, meaning the two rotations can be performed during another animation so that Mario is spinning immediately upon returning to his normal state.
Buffered spinpounds, also occasionally called bumps, are a very effective way of performing a ground pound quickly, since the action of spinning, jumping and ground pounding can all be performed in rapid succession. Additionally, they can be used to reach maximum roll speed quickly if a roll is added to the end of the input sequence, or to execute a fast ground pound jump. All of these movement sequences are used extremely often in all types of speedruns.
Execution
To perform a spinpound:
- Spin the left analog stick so that it completes two full rotations;
- Press the jump button and immediately follow it with the crouch button;
- If spinpounding to gain speed, press X or Y to roll; if spinpounding into a jump, press A or B.
Spinpounds can differ in speed depending on how fast they are executed; a perfect spinpound can be performed in just four frames.
Uses
Spinpounds serve almost all the same purposes as regular ground pounds: transitioning into a roll or ground pound jump, killing enemies, breaking crates, activating switches, and revealing Power Moons, just to name a few. There is one notable exception: a spinpound cannot be used to perform a downthrow, unlike a regular ground pound. However, this actually works to speedrunners' advantage, since the lack of a window to perform a downthrow means the spinpound can transition into a roll instantaneously.
Spins can be buffered during any other movement animation, while Mario is in midair or as certain cutscenes are ending, and Mario will begin spinning as soon as he is in his normal state on the ground again. This is done by performing the two stick rotations during the prior animation. In speedruns, buffered spinpounds are often used to gain height quickly by means of a spinpound jump, to accelerate quickly by spinpounding into a roll, or simply in place of a standard ground pound.
A well-executed buffered spinpound is slightly faster than initiating a roll regularly. This time save is more noticeable if one wishes to roll into a direction different from the one Mario is facing, because the spinpound eliminates the process of turning Mario to face the desired direction.
Aside from movement, most ledge clip setups feature spinpounds at some points, though the setups are usually very unreliable.
Variants
Soft spinpounds
A soft spinpound occurs when a jump is immediately buffered after a spinpound. They can be used for any actions that require a ground pound but will not generate the ground pound sound and particle effects, and the jump afterward will be a standard jump or double jump rather than a ground pound jump.
Although performing a soft spinpound quickly is difficult, soft spinpounds can be very slightly faster than spinpounding into a ground pound jump in some circumstances, since Mario will not encounter the slight delay when launching into the jump after the ground pound. Additionally, if a soft spinpound is used to collapse one of the accordion platforms in the Lost Kingdom, Mario will be able to immediately jump from its highest position, rather than falling to the bottom and then jumping as he would after a standard ground pound or spinpound.[1]
Silent spinpounds
Not to be confused with soft spinpounds, a silent spinpound occurs when Cappy returns to Mario just as he pounds the ground. Like with soft spinpounds, the sound and particle effects that normally occur during a spinpound will not be present. However, unlike soft spinpounds, silent spinpounds are purely cosmetic and have no functional differences, and Mario can still follow one up with a ground pound jump.