YouTuber Kosmic has broken the Super Mario Bros. Any% speedrun record, completing the game a tenth of a second faster than the previous record holder.
As has been the case for every form of media with the passage of time, video games have vastly improved over the past few decades. That's not to say the games we played 20-30 years ago have been left in the past to rot. Far from it, in fact. Some of them are considered classics and although the graphics and amount of content might not compare, the gameplay certainly holds up.
What we've learned from playing some of these classic games, or more accurately watching others play them, today is that it turns out we were actually pretty terrible at them. Speedrunners continue to demonstrate just how quickly certain games can be completed. One of the most popular games to speedrun is Super Mario Bros. on the NES.
Every time a new world record is set, we say to ourselves that it can't possibly be beaten. Yet here we are, writing about a new Super Mario Bros. Any% speedrun world record. Kosmic achieved the incredible feat over the weekend and posted the evidence to YouTube, which you can check out below. The new record is 4:55.646, beating the old record by just a tenth of a second.
Kosmic admitted in the video's description that he believes the record can be beaten again. However, he also went on to write that he will not be attempting to beat it again. We guess as right now, Kosmic should probably be crowned the greatest Super Mario Bros. player in the world. He currently holds the speedrun world records in the Any% and Warpless categories.
For readers questioning how it is even possible to complete Super Mario Bros. in less than five minutes, and also what Any% means, both questions can sort of be answered at the same time. Any% means players can take advantage of any glitches, cheats, and shortcuts the game might have. Utilizing all three of those things is how speedrunners complete games so quickly, along with the fact that they know each and every level better than the back of their hand.
Source: YouTube