Moon clip
A moon clip is a type of out-of-bounds clip that involves attaining skew at the moment Mario collects a Power Moon, so that the animation of collecting the moon forces Mario upright at the position of his feet, thus forcing him partially through an adjacent wall or ceiling. The Power Moon used for the clip must be uncollected, meaning that a player will only have one attempt to perform a moon clip unless they create a backup of their save file.
Execution
The most common method used to perform moon clips is using a backflip against the wall (or in some cases, ceiling) the player wishes to clip through, and using a moon that is spawned in rather than preexisting.
As a general method to moon clip in this manner:
- Begin spawning the moon.
- At the correct moment, perform a backflip while facing away from the wall (if attempting to clip through a ceiling, this direction is less important).
- When Mario's feet are facing towards the wall or ceiling, input a cap throw. The direction does not matter.
- If done correctly, the moon should become solid at the same moment the cap throw occurs, causing Mario to collect it during the skew induced by the cap throw. This causes Mario's in-game position to be closer to the wall or ceiling than normally possible. The moon then forces Mario's hit sensors to be above his position, which should now be partially out of bounds.
- After collecting the moon, continue moving in the direction of the wall (or cap bounce to stay above a ceiling) to ensure Mario does not clip back into bounds.
The timing of the inputs for each moon clip will vary slightly, since the positioning and spawn time tends to vary.
Locations
The following is a list of known moon clip locations:
| Kingdom | Moon | Movement | Use | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade Kingdom | Treasure of the Waterfall Basin | Backflip | Saves time in multiple speedruns. Known as Chest Clip. | Link |
| Sand Kingdom | Hidden Room in the Flowing Sands | Roll | Link | |
| Sand Kingdom | Desert Gardening: Plaza Seed
Desert Gardening: Ruins Seed Desert Gardening: Seed on the Cliff |
Backflip | Link | |
| Lake Kingdom | End of the Hidden Passage | Triple jump | A faster alternative to Lake Clip. | Link |
| Lake Kingdom | End of the Hidden Passage | 2p vault | An even faster alternative to Lake Clip for two-player mode. | Link |
| Wooded Kingdom | Tucked Away Inside the Tunnel | Backflip | Saves time in multiple speedruns. Known as Nut Clip. | |
| Wooded Kingdom | The Nut 'Round the Corner | Backflip | Saves time in Darker Side. | Link |
| Wooded Kingdom | The Nut in the Red Maze | Triple jump | Saves time in multiple speedruns. Known as Maze Clip. | Link |
| Wooded Kingdom | The Nut in the Red Maze | 2p bounce | A faster version of Maze Clip for two-player mode. | Link |
| Wooded Kingdom | The Nut that Grew on the Tall Fence | Backflip | Link | |
| Wooded Kingdom | Flooding Pipeway Ceiling Secret | Triple jump | Used as a shortcut in the Flooding Pipeway room. | Link |
| Wooded Kingdom | Flooding Pipeway Ceiling Secret | 2p vault | A faster Flooding Pipeway clip for two-player mode. | Link |
| Wooded Kingdom | Secret Path to the Steam Gardens! | 2p vault | Grants access to Morning Wooded. | Link |
| Lost Kingdom | Below the Cliff's Edge | Backflip | Theorized to save time for Dark Side and Darker Side. | Link |
| Lost Kingdom | Inside the Stone Cage | Triple jump | Link | |
| Lost Kingdom | Inside the Rising Stone Pillar | Triple jump | Link | |
| Metro Kingdom | Inside an Iron Girder | Backflip | Link | |
| Metro Kingdom | City Hall Lost & Found | Backflip | Link | |
| Snow Kingdom | Shining in the Snow in Town | Backflip | Saves time in multiple speedruns. Known as Snow Moon Clip. | Link |
| Ruined Kingdom | In the Ancient Treasure Chest | Sideflip | Link |