A new speedrun record has been set for the timeless Super Mario Bros. for NES. Retro game streamer darbian made history today as he was able to beat Super Mario Bros. in 4minutes, 57 second, and 260 milliseconds. According to speedrun.com, the original record was held by i_o_l at 4 m 57 s 693ms. Darbian beat the record in less than half of a second.
Darbian’s speedrun was an “Any%” speedrun, which according to SpeedRunsLive, means that the speedrun has no additional completion requirements. In this case, darbian was free to use the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros, but the rest of it was pure reflexes. What’s also interesting is that darbian actually holds the third place record for a “warpless” Super Mario Bros. speedrun, with his time being 19m 15s 450ms.
Darbian completed the speedrun on original NES hardware, no emulators or virtual console for him. This is actually his second time breaking the Any% speedrun record, on his last attempt he beat the game in 4m 57s 427ms. It looks like the best speedrunners are only milliseconds apart when it comes to Super Mario Bros.
The video is worth a look, not only for darbian’s impressive Super Mario skills but for the sheer joy that comes from him and the chat when he beats Bowser. It’s great that even after thirty years, people are still finding enjoyment out of Super Mario Bros.