Broode Skip

Broode Skip (also called Madame Broode Skip or by its nickname Broodon't) is a trick used in Minimum Captures that allows three captures to be saved in the Cascade Kingdom by skipping the Madame Broode boss fight. Normally, the only way to gather the five Power Moons required to leave the kingdom is by collecting the Multi Moon from the boss, but by utilizing two-player mode to reach the Warp Painting island early and collect its Power Moon, it is possible to collect five moons without any captures.

Since this trick eliminates the Broode's Chain Chomp capture entirely, it is also useful in Minimum Capture Types.

Explanation

Excluding the Multi Moon possessed by Madame Broode, there are five Power Moons that exist in the Cascade Kingdom before Madame Broode is defeated: Our First Power Moon, Chomp Through the Rocks, Behind the Waterfall, Treasure of the Waterfall Basin and Secret Path to Fossil Falls! (the moon on the Warp Painting island).

The first three are not intended to be collected without captures, but one can do so by utilizing out-of-bounds clips. The fourth, Treasure of the Waterfall Basin, is not intended to be collected at all until the boss is defeated, since it is guarded by a rock barrier. However, this barrier can be bypassed using another out-of-bounds glitch. The fifth moon, Secret Path to Fossil Falls!, can be collected by abusing Cappy in two-player mode, which makes it possible to activate the Checkpoint Flag on the floating island from afar and warp to it early. This is normally done using a Cappy return cancel, but is also possible using a difficult trickjump from the top of the kingdom.

History

The idea of Broode Skip was first theorized back in December 2017 by Adaly Debest, who explained that it was possible to collect four moons without defeating the boss, but collecting a fifth would require the Warp Painting island to be reached somehow. 04dude3 later theorized a way to reach the island by activating the Checkpoint Flag with Cappy using a difficult two-player trickjump, and finally proved the skip possible on May 10, 2019. The first Any% Minimum Captures run to utilize the trick, which included 10 total captures, was completed the following day.

Later, following the discovery of Cappy return cancels, glitch hunter Syrkl discovered an easier method to activate the checkpoint using the new exploit. The method involved getting Cappy stuck on the west side of the kingdom, moving Mario to the east end, and performing a single return cancel to teleport Cappy to the island. Two days later, Syrkl discovered that this setup was also possible with Cappy placed at the top of the kingdom, which, being a more convenient location, made the Cappy return cancel method faster than the original trickjump method. Being both faster and less difficult, the Cappy return cancel method is now used almost exclusively over the original method.

Execution

Cappy return cancel method

Broode Skip can be performed with a Cappy return cancel as seen in this video. The steps are as follows:

• Navigate to the top of the kingdom and place Cappy behind the rectangular rocks blocking the way to the Madame Broode arena, so that he becomes stuck on the bridge to the arena.
• Walk directly away from the rock blocks as Mario, to the southeast, and fall down to where Our First Power Moon is located. If Mario strays too far from this direction, Cappy may become unstuck.
• Locate the log in the ground just to the east of where Mario first arrives in the Cascade Kingdom. Stand on the east side of the log and face the checkpoint, so that Mario is standing on a slope facing upwards toward the Warp Painting island.
• Adjust Mario's position until Mario's feet are sloped at roughly a 45-degree angle, and Mario's horizontal facing angle is toward the Checkpoint Flag on the floating island.
  • Mario's feet will be sloped at the correct angle when Mario's heels are directly against the back of the log. To get into this position, stand about halfway up the log, and repeatedly crouch to slide Mario backwards slightly.
  • To ensure that Mario's horizontal angle is correct, press L or R to center the camera and ensure that this places the floating island in roughly the center of the view, or slightly to the right of the center.
• Ensure the floating island is within view of the camera. Crouch as Mario, and repeatedly shake Cappy's controller to perform the return cancel and home in on the Checkpoint Flag.
• Warp up to the checkpoint and collect the Power Moon on the island.

Original method

The trickjump method is much more difficult than the Cappy return cancel method, and so it is easier to perform with a second player. However, if no other person is present, one can operate the second controller by setting it on a table and using their fourth and fifth fingers while gripping the first controller, or by placing it on the ground and using their feet. In order to execute the trick:

• Navigate to the triceratops skull at the top of the kingdom. Remove Cappy from Mario's head and place him on the plateau behind the skull.
• Triple jump off the triceratops horn nearest the floating island.
• At the peak of the jump, command Cappy to return to Mario by pressing X/Y on Cappy's controller, and at the same time, perform a spin as Mario by pressing X/Y on the main controller.
• Dive so that Cappy returns to Mario at the peak of the dive, and perform a cap bounce at the peak by pressing A/B on Cappy's controller.
• Upthrow, spin (by pressing X/Y) and dive forward as Mario while entering flight as Cappy (pressing X/Y on Cappy's controller) at the peak of the upthrow.
• Continue to fall forward toward the grassy platform with the stump as Cappy flies toward the island, and roll or buffer a jump to avoid a fall stun as Mario lands on the platform.
• Continue to move forward toward the lower ledge with the purple coins on the other side of the platform, and drop into a ledge grab near the leftmost purple coin.
• Correct Cappy's west-east position on top of the island by using the Cappy icon to track his position.
• Release the ledge grab and walk past the purple coins to the other side of the ledge. Drop into a ledge grab again, and correct Cappy's north-south position by again using the Cappy icon.
• Pull Mario back up onto the ledge and move to the nearby corner that extrudes from the ledge. Pause the game and revert back to single-player mode.
• Enter first-person mode and Snapshot Mode immediately after the game unpauses, and aim the camera up toward the floating island. If the camera is unable to move, quickly exit Snapshot Mode and enter it again.
• Exit first-person mode to allow Cappy to activate the checkpoint.

If everything was performed correctly, Cappy should activate the checkpoint, allowing Mario to warp up to the island and collect the Power Moon on top.

Behavior

If one returns to the Cascade Kingdom after successfully skipping the Madame Broode fight, the kingdom will behave as though Madame Broode was defeated and she will not appear. Instead, elements of the kingdom that normally do not appear until Madame Broode is defeated will be present, including numerous other Power Moons.

On versions 1.0.1 and later, if the fight was skipped at any point, the Multi Moon will automatically be awarded to the player upon returning to the Cascade Kingdom or completing the game. This will not happen on version 1.0.0, meaning that performing the trick will make the Multi Moon permanently unobtainable until the game is updated to version 1.0.1 or later.

Interestingly, the game will register World Peace as achieved in the Cascade Kingdom as long as Mario collects enough moons to progress to the next kingdom, even if Madame Broode is not defeated. This goes against the normal World Peace requirement that the last Multi Moon in the kingdom is collected.

Uses

Broode Skip is applicable to various Minimum Captures categories, since avoiding the three required captures from the Madame Broode fight allows the player to complete the Cascade Kingdom with zero captures. This includes Minimum Captures Any% as well as Minimum Captures World Peace, since World Peace is satisfied in the Cascade Kingdom even if Madame Broode is not defeated.