[derefr]

> In some TASes, the player will move/shoot/jump/etc. in ways that seem bizarre but are actually done to favorably affect the pseudorandom number generator

And then there’s movements like the arm pumping in Super Metroid, where it’s done “because you can” while performing long stretches of movement that aren’t very entertaining/complex on their own. (One might say that it’s done for a demonstration of skill when human players do it, but there’s no similar justification for a TAS doing it.)

[endgame]

https://wiki.supermetroid.run/Arm_Pumping

Arm pumping actually moves Samus forward a pixel each time. It was considered "too hard" for human runners, until I think hotarubi's 0:32 in 2006.

[derefr]

Okay, bad example, I guess. There’s still the entire “playaround” TAS category, mostly featuring TASes that will be the same length no matter what you do (e.g. Gradius, Brain Age.)