Level up

Level up

Memory and routing

Knowing the level by heart.

Speedrunners know Super Mario Bros. frame by frame. You probably still know where the warp zone is in World 1-2, thirty years later. Games are one of the few things we memorise for fun.

Routing a level is memory with purpose: chunking a long sequence into pieces you can recall under pressure.

Train it on purpose

  1. Learn one level well enough to play it without looking at the bottom half of the screen.
  2. Break a hard stage into three chunks and master each one separately.
  3. Write the route down from memory, then play it and see what you missed.

Off the couch

Names, mostly. Remembering someone's name, what they told you last week and the band they said they liked is a cheat code for being liked. Also speeches, recipes, the route home after a big night. Chunking works on all of it.

Games that train it

Adventure Island coverAdventure Island
You can't stop and plan, so you learn the island by dying on it: where the rocks are, which egg's an eggplant, where the fruit sits.All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. coverAll Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.
It runs on the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 physics. Anyone who learned the cartridge game by muscle memory notices the different feel within a few jumps.Battletoads in Battlemaniacs coverBattletoads in Battlemaniacs
The speeder bikes want you to learn the walls by heart, and you'll die doing it.Battletoads coverBattletoads
The Turbo Tunnel and later vehicle stages are pure memorisation. One mistimed jump sends you back.Clu Clu Land coverClu Clu Land
Later levels flip the ingots each time you cross, so you have to pass an odd number of times to leave them showing. That's a proper memory test.Contra coverContra
Learning where each turret and sniper appears is the whole skill, and the game rewards it fast. One hit kills you.Déjà Vu coverDéjà Vu
Once the antidote works, flashbacks fill in what Ace did. Tracking clues across scenes is the whole game.Donkey Kong coverDonkey Kong
Three screens, 25, 75 and 100 metres, and each loop faster. Score-chasing is all about knowing it cold.DuckTales coverDuckTales
Once you know the routes, a full run is short. Two stages need a revisit for items you only find later.F-Zero coverF-Zero
The King league throws tight corners and slippery patches at you, and on the harder settings it's a test of memory and nerve.Final Fantasy II coverFinal Fantasy II
The keyword system has you memorise phrases from conversations and ask other people about them. That's how you find out where to go next.Ghosts 'n Goblins coverGhosts 'n Goblins
Arthur's jump is fixed once he leaves the ground and enemies come from every side. It's a game you memorise rather than react to.Gradius III coverGradius III
Start on the easier setting, learn the stages, then turn it up. Gradius rewards the pilot who knows what's coming.Mega Man & Bass coverMega Man & Bass
Many stages feel built on trial and error, with traps you only avoid after dying to them.Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! coverMike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
By the World Circuit you're memorising patterns frame by frame. Later fighters give almost no warning.Mortal Kombat 3 coverMortal Kombat 3
Dial-a-combos string hits together once the first lands, and they reward learning a fighter's string by heart. Then there are the six-symbol Kombat Kodes.Ninja Gaiden coverNinja Gaiden
Birds and bats swoop in at the exact moment you jump, and enemies reappear the instant you scroll back. You learn each screen by heart.R-Type III: The Third Lightning coverR-Type III: The Third Lightning
Huge stages and bosses that are hard but rarely unfair. Survival is knowing what comes round the next corner.Street Fighter II: The World Warrior coverStreet Fighter II: The World Warrior
Special moves come from motions on the pad, not a button marked special. Learning one character properly is a week of muscle memory.Super Castlevania IV coverSuper Castlevania IV
The stages are paced like a haunted-house ride. Learning where each enemy pops out turns a cruel ending into a fair one.Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts coverSuper Ghouls 'n Ghosts
You have to know where every chest and enemy is, because chests only appear when you cross certain spots.Super Metroid coverSuper Metroid
A fast finish earns a better ending, so the second run becomes a route you learn room by room.Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 coverUltimate Mortal Kombat 3
The run button and dial-a-combos are still here: strings of presses you learn by heart until your thumbs know them.Yoshi's Cookie coverYoshi's Cookie
Puzzle Mode's grids are set, so once you crack one you can learn the exact sequence.