So you thought you were the fastest Mario player on the planet? Well, I hate to break it to you, but SethBling just shattered your hopes and dreams.
Speedrunner and programmer SethBling has completed Super Mario World in 54 seconds and 56 milliseconds, breaking the previous record of 1 minute and 13 seconds. You can watch him break the record here in this video:
This speedrun was accomplished using a technique called credits warp, otherwise known as “arbitrary code execution.” This allows a player to perform actions that change values in the game’s memory, which basically runs specific code that can trigger the game’s credit sequence.
SethBling used four controllers and two Super Multitap peripherals while leaving specific buttons pressed down on the controllers. The inputs from the controller communicate to the game to run code after certain actions are performed. Some of these actions include duplicating Yoshi blocks, stomping on specific Koopa Troopas, etc. If these conditions are met, he can reach the end of the game without even fighting King Koopa himself; he can just skip to saving the day and completing the game.
While this is an extraordinarily quick playthrough of Super Mario World, some would argue that it doesn’t count as a speedrun since it involves the use of code and not completing the entire game. However, after watching that video, I can tell that SethBling put a lot of practice into perfecting his technique. I would argue that this kind of speedrunning is a completely different game that requires a different set of skills to accomplish. So in my mind there’s nothing wrong with finding crazy new ways to beat an old game, since it keeps us talking about it more than 20 years after its release.
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Written by Bobby Soto
Bobby is an animator, a voice actor and a writer. He’s a storyteller who's constantly working towards bringing his characters and ideas to life. When he needs an escape from his work, gaming is his go-to activity.
