New Super Mario Bros Speedrun Record Set By Less Than Half A Second

If you're unfamiliar with the practice, speedrunning is when players try to complete a video game from start to finish in the fastest time possible, usually with all the standard rules and/or requirements in place. The original Super Mario Bros. for the NES is a classic example of a game that can be speedrun, however its world record completion time of just under 5 minutes is one long thought to be impossible to improve on. Until earlier this week when one player topped it by mere tenths of a second.

On October 3rd, the player known as Darbian managed to finish the original Mario — first released in 1985 — in just 4 minutes, 56 seconds, and 878 milliseconds. The previous world record was held by Kosmicd12, at 4:57.194, and set just two days prior to Darbian shaving 316 milliseconds off.

There's no specific trick to how Darbian managed to improve on Kosmicd12's run, but the speedrunner notes his new record time was one thought "nearly impossible just a few weeks ago."

You can watch the new record-setting run above, but what's also neat is that Darbian connected himself to a heart-rate monitor while playing, so those watching live could see just how much stress he was under. While he was only playing for less than 5 minutes, his beats-per-minute were topping 140 by the very end.

SOURCE Darbian, Speedrun.com