Hihihihi, tricky one. Took me 4 tries, for 104 steps towards Mario. :)) :) The 2nd time really a bit over 5 seconds. :)
Sweet!
EDIT: IMO, another VERY good upper beginner 5 starr class level. Excellent optimization. Much better than Lock2, in my opinion. Came back to this like a month later and solved it instantly. Most obvious solution is correct unfortunately. Agree with Hi. The bottom left is a great place to go for people who are bad at checkerboards and want to reconfirm that status. 12 years ago: Cool ! 6 tries.
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EDIT: 22. aug,, 2022 - re-beaten and 5 stars! 12 years ago: VERY sweet ! 4 tries.
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EDIT: 2022, 22. aug, re-beaten. And 5 stars!