A talented speedrunner has set a brand-new world record in the 1985 classic, Super Mario Bros., beating the previous record by just a few frames. Super Mario Bros. has one of the most optimized speedruns of all time, making any improvements to the world record incredibly impressive.

Speedrunning has grown massively in popularity over the years. The concept is pretty simple - beat a game as fast as possible in specific categories. For example, some speedruns use "Any%" rules, which involve beating the game by any means necessary. Other common runs include categories like "100%," where everything must be done before completing the run. Speedruns are not just limited to older games, either. Just about every game has a small speedrunning community, which has been helped to grow through events such as the Games Done Quick speedrun marathons. AGDQ 2025 has actually just come to an end, raising over $2.5 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation via speedrunning.

Super Mario Bros. speedrunner Niftski has just secured a brand-new record in the "Any%" category, after finishing the game in 4:54.565. As he played through the classic NES game, he kept his heart rate on the screen, peaking at 188 as he reached the end of his run. Niftski beats his own previous record of 4:54.631, showing just how minor the improvements are in the run at this point. His previous record was set in September 2023, standing for a total of 494 days. For context, this is the longest the "Any%" record has stood without being broken since December 2010, when a 1354-day-old record was topped way back when the run was still over the 5-minute barrier.



Over the years, speedrunners have used tool-assisted speedrunning (TAS) tools to estimate what a "perfect" Super Mario Bros. run looks like, and Niftski's latest effort edges the Super Mario Bros. speedrun ever close to perfection. According to Niftski, this run is now just 18 frames (or 0.3 seconds) away from matching the best-ever TAS speedrun of the game, requiring a flawless effort from the first frame to the last. Whether it will ever be done remains to be seen.

It's fascinating to follow how certain speedruns can evolve over the years. A run can be set in stone for years, and one trick can turn it all on its head. Super Mario games have always made for interesting speedruns thanks to their unique movement tech. A while back, Super Mario 64 speedrunners discovered a new trick that saved the most time in 20 years, showcasing how even the oldest games have tons of things left to discover. In the case of Super Mario Bros., it would take a monumental discovery after 40 years to alter the speedrunning route, but never say never.

Posted: 1 day, 4 hours ago
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://gamerant.com/super-mario-bros-new-world-record-speedrun-january-2025/