How to beat Paper Mario fast by playing Ocarina of Time?

When I read these sorts of stories I always feel so torn between fascination at the ingenuity required to figure out these things (remember that one about predicting where the battleships were in Wind Waker? Amazing!) and that the things they are figuring out are so utterly pointless.

I have no idea how people figure this out of test it out, but I find it very interesting.