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by einr 2531 days ago
Nitpicking, but SMB3 uses the MMC3 chip which "adds an IRQ timer to allow split screen scrolling without the sacrifice of sprite 0" (Wikipedia) so it does not use this technique.

SMB1 actually also does not use the sprite zero split technique because it never scrolls vertically. Its status bar is just a bunch of fixed background tiles.
1 comments
coldpie 2531 days ago
Ah, didn't know that about the MMC3!

Regarding SMB1, I'm quite sure it uses the sprite 0 thing to keep the status bar stationary while the level scrolls smoothly beneath it by setting the scroll register only after when the status bar is done drawing. See more thorough description here: https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/1898/how-...

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papln 2531 days ago
The article is confusing. The headline/lede claim is about partial vertical scrolling. The middle is a long detour to partial horizontal scrolling (well documented, including SMB1), and then the end goes back to talk about partial vertical scrolling (Zelda).
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