GoKawiilThe big picture: Speedrunners have been chipping away at Super Mario Bros. for decades, systematically lowering the time it takes to complete the classic 1985 side-scrolling platformer. A combination of frame-perfect maneuvers and strategies once thought to be impossible for humans to pull off has lowered the world record to 4:54.332 – or just .067 seconds off the theoretical fastest possible run. The end, it would seem, is imminent.
Two of the world's best Mario speedrunners – LeKukie and Niftski – are publicly battling to be the first to achieve the perfect game. The competitors have been livestreaming their attempts and during a session on August 14, Niftski set a new world record with a time of 4:54.332. Just four frames now stand between humans and the perfect game of Super Mario Bros.
The finish line is in sight, and some in the speedrunning community aren't quite sure how to react. On one hand, it is incredibly exciting to witness history in the making and watch elite players shine when the spotlight is the brightest. Conversely, a future in which there is no longer a new goal to strive for feels a bit hollow.
There's always the possibility that someone could discover an entirely new strategy that could pave the way for an even faster time but considering how optimized the run is today, it could just be wishful thinking. It's also entirely possibly that someone else could swoop in and pull off the first perfect game before either of these two do it.
I've been casually speedrunning the NES World Championship edition of SMB on my Switch Lite for about a year and a half. The two versions are a bit different in their ruleset, but it's still fun to tinker with when I've got some time to kill. For comparison, my personal best is 5:12.61 – nowhere even close to what Niftski and LeKukie are capable of even on their worst days.
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