Left Side
Left Side is a trickjump that takes place on top of Top-Hat Tower in the Cap Kingdom. The jump involves performing a triple jump or vault from one of the broken airships to the left of the exit door, allowing the player to reach the top more quickly than by rolling up the ramp. This trick saves around two seconds versus scaling the tower normally.
Reproduction steps
There's a number of set ups available for this trick but the general idea is the same everytime.
- Execute a triple jump at the very edge of the first top hat to the left of the door
- Time properly a dive + cap bounce
- Execute an upthrow to increase your air time, make you move laterally a bit more and
- Wall jump
- Aim the capthrow to the closest notch in the railing
- Dive
Partial Left Side
Partial Left Side is a variant of Left Side in which the tower is scaled to the left, but doesn't rely on a precise trickjump. Instead, the player must pass the broken airship that the Left Side jump is normally initiated from, and use another broken airship farther to the left to climb up to the top of the ramp. If performed optimally, this variant of the trick saves around one second over using the ramp normally, and may be easier for some players.
Usage in runs
This trick saves time in multiple speedrunning categories, since almost all categories progress through Top-Hat Tower. However, this trick is not applicable in categories that require the checkpoint at the top of the tower to be activated; in those categories, climbing the top hat around its right side is faster, since that way the checkpoint is less of a detour.
Full Left Side saves around two seconds over using the ramp on the right side, while partial Left Side saves only one second. This trick is usually not recommended for beginners due to its high difficulty and minimal time save.