40 years after its release, a unique Super Mario Bros. record is achieved, although it is not definitive

One of the most established records in the world of speedrunning has fallen: that of Super Mario Bros. It has been four years since Niftski set a series of records in the NES classic with an iron fist, leaving a mark that remained unbeatable for years: 4:54.56. Now, after months of trying, a new runner named averge11 has set a new record: 4:54.51, practically by “nothing,” but a “nothing” that is a lot in a game whose speedrunning is refined to an almost scientific level.

The fact is that, by understanding the inner workings of the game and its idiosyncrasies, they know exactly what the ultimate goal is in this category. There are peculiarities in the way Shigeru Miyamoto’s game works, such as the fact that it is only validated if the level is completed in specific intervals of 21 screen refreshes, so a successful speedrun not only requires supernatural skill, but also a very specific kind of skill. The exception is the last world, 8-4, which does not have this limitation and is therefore where you have to be most flawless. Thanks to all this knowledge, and using computerized tools, the time for a perfect game is known: the final frontier is 4:54.26.

Given that it has taken four years and months of work to establish the new brand, it remains to be seen what will happen in the future. Having a specific brand as the ultimate goal is a powerful incentive, but it is clear that the closer you get to that goal, the more difficult it will be to shave off those seconds. But at least the cobwebs have been shaken off this particular category, and that could spark other speedrunners to see new advances in it.

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