This guy just completed the fastest Super Mario Bros. speedrun of all time

2193 days ago

Video games can be difficult enough just to complete, but there is a breed of gamer out there that specialises in not only completing games, but completing them in the fastest time possible.

Kosmic, 23, is a computer science student from the USA, but he is also a gamer who has enjoyed speedrunning since 2011.

He’s now the record holder for the fastest official Super Mario Bros. speedrun in history, breaking new ground in the game that is older than he is.

The official recorded time was 4:55.913, with Kosmic’s on-screen timer stopped manually and therefore subject to human error.

The run was completed on a real Nintendo Entertainment System with an original NES controller. About half an hour prior to setting the first 4:55 time in history, Kosmic had tied the previous world record – held by a gamer called somewes – after 1,615 attempts, at 4:56.245.

But to reach 4:55 Kosmic had to attempt “an additional hard trick in level 1-2” something he had done before but never while on a perfect run. Fortunately for Kosmic, he not only nailed the trick after only nine attempts, but managed to maintain his superb run afterwards to claim the record.

“By some miracle (I) played perfectly to 8-4, where I did lose a little bit of time, but it was enough to get a 4:55,” he told the Press Association. “It’s still hard for me to believe that this happened!”

To achieve such a record is the stuff of dreams for a gamer, but despite what was at stake it sounds as though the nature of the situation meant nerves didn’t play much of a part.

“Since this was the very first run I had on this pace, there was no way in my mind it was going to be the run,” said Kosmic.

“That’s why I was cracking jokes the whole time. Even going into 8-3 I wasn’t that nervous, because there was just no way it was going to happen.

“It happened so fast that I’ll continue going for a run that plays 8-4 slightly faster. It’s possible to save about 0.2 seconds in 8-4. There are some more ways to save time past that, but I don’t think they’re realistically possible right now.”

Great work, although if you completed it that quickly on the first try you’d maybe wonder if you’d got your money’s worth…