What can you do in 4:54:948?
Nintendo
Super Mario Bros. is an iconic game, and for speedrunners, having a world record playing the game is just as iconic. One player achieved what was considered impossible for years by beating the NES classic in less than 4 minutes and 55 seconds.
Twitch streamer Niftski accomplished a seemingly perfect run of Super Mario Bros. Wednesday by clocking in at 4:54 and 948ms in the “Any%” category, beating the previous world record by 282ms. The “Any%” category allows players to use warps, glitches and other tricks to defeat Bowser in the fastest time possible.
Though Niftski beat the record set back in February, what’s significant is that he’s the first speedrunner to complete the game in less than 4:55. World records for Super Mario Bros. come down to milliseconds, with players looking to improve their times by the smallest fractions of a second. To give some perspective, the first run under five minutes was done back in 2010. It took 11 years to beat that time by another 5 seconds. The speedrunning community considered anything below 4:55 to be almost impossible. (You know, like the four-minute mile.)
In the description of the video, Niftski gave thanks to those who supported him and said, “Also, I don’t plan on stopping here!”
