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Classic Games (Games) NES (Games) Entertainment Games

Super Mario Bros Record Broken 117

Posted by simoniker from the oompah-loompah-koopa dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A nimble-fingered gamer has shaved three seconds off the long-standing world record for completing Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Classic arcade site Twin Galaxies reports that Scott Kessler of North Carolina executed a "near-perfect finish" when he took the record down to five minutes and 17 seconds. Twin Galaxies referee Robert Mruczek watched the entire game on videotape before declaring the feat a new world record."
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Super Mario Bros Record Broken More

Super Mario Bros Record Broken

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  • insane (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:30PM (#8402930)
    Insanity.

    It takes a special sort of person I guesss to devote that much energy and time to perfecting a game. Even the games I love to death I could never play to that level without walking away from it with a foul taste in my mouth.

    Still, pretty amazing, i don't think I could get through the first world in that length of time

    • Re:insane (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I dont think 5 min. 17 sec. is all that long.

      • Re:insane (Score:4, Insightful)

        by kommakazi ( 610098 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @12:17AM (#8405126)
        Yeah once through it's not long. When you consider it probably took hundreds (maybe thousands???) of runs through the game that each took longer than 5 min 17 sec (consider his first time playing the game ever, that probably took hours), it adds up to a rather insane amount of time.
        • My wife and I spend 100-200 hours beating FF X2. Ok. most of that is just leveling up just for the sake of leveling up, but heck we have fun at it. What's the big deal if this guy had fun at it? He most likely could get through the game in 10 - 15 mins. to begin with. I don't know how long it took him to shave the time down, but it would be really easy for him just to sit down and play it for 10 - 15 mins. and quit. You can't pick up FF and do much other than leveling for 10-15 mins. Heck, starting a new ga
          • There's no way you could sit down and play Super Mario Bros for the first time and beat it in 10-15 minutes. If he has fun with it thats great for him, all I said was that it had to be a time consuming fat to accomplish. I don't see what your point is supposed to be...
    • Exactly. I have a tendency to move onto other games quite quickly after I've beaten the one I was first playing. I couldn't make myself play that game that much... despite my love for Mario, I don't want to get burnt out on a tradition that is long-lived in my heart. Maybe he couldn't burn out, but I can.
    • That is a really amazing time. (Now correct me if I am wrong here.) He would have had to go all the way through world 1-1, and then he can warp to world 8-2 or 8-4 in world 1-2 by using the lifts to jump on top of the ceiling and run past the tube and fall down into the sectret warp area, and then he had to do one or two levels on world 8 and the castle. And he would have to be running and holding B the whole time to go fast, and make that tricky part in 8-2 I think with the little ledge and the big double

  • Someone has way too much free time (Score:3, Funny)

    by rjshirts ( 567179 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:31PM (#8402935)
    I wish I had the type of job where I could just try to beat records on old games, as it is, I haven't played a game in ages. Some people just have all the luck. Where's mine? :-)

  • Her? (Score:5, Funny)

    by sahrss ( 565657 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:32PM (#8402938)
    "Bowser" lobs up a whole slew of axes, each of which is deadly to Mario if she should make contact with any of them.(emphasis mine)

    That adds new perspective to Mario's reasons for rescuing the princess, doesn't it? ;)

  • Record broken again (Score:5, Funny)

    by mugnyte ( 203225 ) * on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:32PM (#8402941) Journal
    Seems like another record is broken with this site being /.'d within seconds.

    But hold on...they're reviewing the tapes...

    Well, reading the headline was fun.

  • 5 minutes?!?! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by AuMatar ( 183847 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:33PM (#8402942)
    Ok- so he obviously used the warpzone to 4 in 1-2, and the warp zone to 8 in 4-2. And he must have had the pipe sequence for 8-4 memorized. But how the heck did he beat 8-1 through 8-3 in under 5 minutes?

    • Re:5 minutes?!?! (Score:5, Informative)

      by Carnildo ( 712617 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:05PM (#8403246) Homepage Journal
      bviously used the warpzone to 4 in 1-2, and the warp zone to 8 in 4-2. And he must have had the pipe sequence for 8-4 memorized. But how the heck did he beat 8-1 through 8-3 in under 5 minutes?

      The time limit on those is pretty tight to begin with, so I can't imagine it's too hard.

    • Re:5 minutes?!?! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Mr. Piddle ( 567882 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:25PM (#8403391)

      His half-human half-wario empathic abilities give him awareness of a hidden third dimension in SMB. He is able to step outside of the 2D world we all see and nearly-instantaneously jump to the princess' chamber.

      Really, it is so simple that you should have thought a bit before posting.

    • Re:5 minutes?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ottawanker ( 597020 )
      Pipe Sequence for 8-4 Memorized?? Hell, I just always go down the tube right after the lava (except for the first one) and after 3 or 4 tubes I'm finished the game.

      It's not so hard to finish the game in 1 life under 15 minutes, and I do it all the time when I have some time to waste, but shaving it down to 5 minutes is crazy..

      • Re:5 minutes?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)

        by AuMatar ( 183847 )
        *shrug* I'm the type who beats a game once and moves on to the next, so I didn't play 8-4 all that often (although the first time I beat it was a classic- last life, tiny mario, time running out, had to make a leap of faith over Bowser). But I must have missed that pattern, I remember having a much slower route, and dieing due to lack of time frequently.
    • As I recall, SMB was mostly timing and memorization. In fact, I would say it is easier to run through the game rather than to loiter. The pipe sequence in 8-4 is rather easy, always take the pipe imediately after the lava. Back in the day, my neighbor and I would pay it to see how far we could get before the first time we died. In our prime, this was usually well into the second time through, when all the goombas are beetles. (beetles move faster and slightly throw off your timing)
    • Lots and lots and lots and lots of practice, I'm sure. It doesn't exactly answer the question of how he did it, but the Twin Galaxies article does include a list of checkpoints and the times at which they were reached:

      0:21 - touches flagpole in stage (1-1)
      1:03 - enters warp pipe to stage (4-1)
      1:31 - touches flagpole in stage (4-1)
      2:17 - enters warp pipe to stage (8-1)
      3:02 - touches flagpole in stage (8-1)
      3:39 - touches flagpole in stage (8-2)
      4:16 - touches flagpole in stage (8-3)
      4:37 - enters 1st pipe in

  • Speeding up the video (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sensitive Claude ( 709959 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:35PM (#8402953) Homepage Journal
    Would it be possible to either speed up the video, or record it just slightly faster to shave off a few seconds? Not enough to be noticable, but enough to give you an edge?

    Then again, do I really care?
    So why am I asking?

    Is there a world record for beating Zork in record time?
    • I'd imagine the time on the game clock was totaled for each level

    • Re:Speeding up the video (Score:5, Funny)

      by Gothic_Walrus ( 692125 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:43PM (#8403028) Journal
      I've got a feeling that they compared the speed of the timer in the video side-by-side with a copy of the game running in an NES. Any difference in the timer speed would have been noticeable.

      After all...this is the world Super Mario Brothers record. They can't screw up something as important as this. :)

    • I suppose they go by the game's clock.

      Of course, you could fake that as well if you really wanted to...
    • This is similar to what I was going to suggest.

      Remember the news stories about US TV stations removing 1 out of every 25 frames to 'create' time for a couple of extra adverts?

      I'm sure someone with a PC and an analogue->digital->analogue converter (or just a digital camcorder) could record themselves playing a video game and edit the recording in this way to make it play faster.

      I'm not suggesting that there was any cheating, though. All I'm saying is that if the video was intended to be proof that w
      • Actually, you've got a point.

        Why not just use an emulator with a "record game" feature?

        Or you could require someone to use an official emulator to record the game, that way the emulator's not hacked to produce flawless records...

        oh heck with it, just let the record stand. Way too much work! :)
        • Why not just use an emulator with a "record game" feature?

          Twin Galaxies actually does this in some challenges, they have modified versions of certain emulators that have record features, but these aren't usually held in the same class as a run on a console

          Yeah, sure theres ways to cheat at anything if you really want to, but its not like this guy has received a big cash prize for doing this, or like this is a resume builder, its for fun and bragging rights and because people love games.

          And the Twin Galaxie

    • Nope it wouldn't becuase the game displays the time it took you to complete it in the ending credits.
    • yes! well I always noticed the NTSC versions of games were a bit faster than the PAL versions (at least on the SNES).
      So I guess when you attempt such a record you use the NTSC version in your attempt

    • Re:Speeding up the video (Score:4, Funny)

      by Paradise Pete ( 33184 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @11:19AM (#8408025) Journal
      Is there a world record for beating Zork in record time?

      0:00 open mailbox
      0:01 east
      0:02 south
      0:03 "Slightly ajar? What the heck does that mean? When is a window not quite a window? When it's slightly a jar. Shit - focus, focus!"
      0:10 open window
      0:11 west
      0:12 look under rug
      0:13 open trapdoor
      0:14 down shit!
      0:15 up
      0:16 get lamp
      0:17 down
      ....
      ....
      ....
      ....
      58:40 You are eaten by a grue.
      58:41 Damn it! OK, ok, concentrate!
      00:00 Open mailbox

    • I would imagine that the guy wouldn't be playing his own NES, or his own cart - the independant adjudicator would supply all that stuff, to make sure it's kosher.

  • Super Metroid (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fredrikj ( 629833 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:41PM (#8403008) Homepage
    Shameless off-topic plug (though it's not for me in person, so I hope I get away with it): If you enjoy this, you might enjoy Super Metroid speedruns as well. Records: 38 minutes for pure speed, 58 minutes for speed with 100% items. Both by the same player, available here [geocities.com].

    Mirrors: :38 [telia.com] :58 [telia.com]

    Require ZSNES and a Super Metroid ROM.

  • Extreme gaming ;) (Score:5, Interesting)

    by geggibus ( 316979 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:09PM (#8403268)
    Why don't they just turn up the fps in the emulator? Saves a lot of time.. ;)

    I actually got that idea a few month ago and tried it out. ;)
    Results for SMB3:

    Double speed: (120fps, ntsc)
    World 1,2,3,-,7,8.. completion =) (World 7 is NOT fun..)

    Tripple speed:
    World 1,-,8.. completion =) (those blocks in bowsers castle that falls down when you stand on them for a while is damn hard to pass)

    10x: 600fps
    World 1,-,8..complete failure.. (i'm happy with finding the flutes)

    Notes:

    No emulator features like save and load were used.

    Controller with turbo were used for flying at 3x speed and above.. (almost impossible without)

    If you try this, DO NOT PLAY THE GAME AT NORMAL SPEED AFTERWARDS, (Windows feeling..)

    -K (idiot)

    • Re:Extreme gaming ;) (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Yorrike ( 322502 )
      Even better, play the game at 1/4 or 1/10 the speed, making it harder to make a mistake, then play it at normal speed for the judges to look over.
      • Actually, if you've played on double or tripple speed and restore it to original speed it feels like 1/10 of the speed..

        It's possible to do amazing stunts.. though i couldn't stand it more than a few minutes before i lost my patience (and i have LOTS of that...)).

        -K

  • Quake Done Quick (Score:5, Informative)

    by jrivar59 ( 146428 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:10PM (#8403276)
    A great site. And you can download in game recordings so you can actually see the game run through in real time.

    http://www.planetquake.com/qdq/ [planetquake.com]
  • I want to see it in action dangit! :D

  • Hoax? (Score:5, Informative)

    by hambonewilkins ( 739531 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:11PM (#8403287)
    I thought the last one was shown to be a hoax.

    The person had played the game in emulation on his PC at an incredibly slow speed so that he could hit all the jumps perfectly, kill the enemies in a line, make all the warps, etc. Then, he sped the video up to normal speed to make all the timing match.

    It's really cool but when you watch it it is obvious that no human (honestly) could be that accurate and perfect the entire game.

    • No, the last one was Mario 3. This one is Mario Bros.

      • Re:Hoax? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by hambonewilkins ( 739531 )
        Well, same question applies. Was the previous SMB record a hoax and could this one also be a hoax?

        I guess I don't mean hoax in the traditional sense, although playing in emu and speeding up the video seems really close to a hoax.

      • super mario bros 3 is also a LOT longer game than super mario bros. he didn't probably need to do any "out of this world" stuff to hit the target.

    • Re:Hoax? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Kevin143 ( 672873 ) <.moc.rehcsifk. .ta. .todhsals.> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @09:00PM (#8403680) Homepage

      Yes, the last one was shown to be a hoax. The author himself came forward and admitted that it was never intended to be taken at face value.

      See this poor, but understandable translation [excite.co.jp] of the guy's webpage.

      • Automated Japanese to English translations are always fun to read.

        "Since >> Mario is a postscript, he is nothing to speak of."

        "It is knowing if it is relatives."

    • Re:Hoax? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Sancho ( 17056 )
      Sort of, but not quite..
      I believe that he actually generated the frames using the games own code, but there was no actual play involved. There were some places in the game where impossible stunts WERE performed, but not because a skilled player couldn't pull it off. It was because the game itself wouldn't throw that particular number or sequence of enemies at the player within a certain amount of time (I'm specifically referring to the airship stages, where multiple 1ups could be had by jumping on the mol
    • I believe that what you are referring to was Super Mario Bros. 3 not the original game.
  • Site is crawling when I load it, here is a quick mirror of the thread:
    Page1 [sahrs.net]
    Page2 [sahrs.net]

  • Impressive (Score:3, Informative)

    by zemus ( 730277 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:21PM (#8403360) Journal
    The guy's insane. You guys might want to check this link [albinoblacksheep.com] out if you haven't already.

    • Re:Impressive (Score:2, Informative)

      by oskillator ( 670034 )
      Though that video is tremendously entertaining, in the interest of full disclosure, it should be pointed out that it is cheated [excite.co.jp]. This was not a deliberate hoax perpetrated by the creator, as he stated this on his web site (in Japanese, which is probably why noone read it).

      • Ikaruga (Score:4, Interesting)

        by August_zero ( 654282 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @09:23PM (#8403863)
        Seeing that video reminds me of another game that looks truely awesome in the hands of a master: Ikaruga

        At first glance the game looks like a blur of bullets and enemies, but it is possible to complete every stage of the game without breaking the chain combo (you get a chain bonus if you kill 3 ships of the same color in a row, the whole bonus is lost if you hit a single ship out of sequence) and still killing every single target. I never got that good, but I could rack up a pretty good combo on the first couple stages.
        • Are there any such videos available on the net? I've seen the Ikaruga Appreciate [lik-sang.com] DVD, but as much as I like Ikaruga, $50 is a little high for a few run-throughs.

          • Re:Ikaruga (Score:3, Informative)

            by August_zero ( 654282 )
            Not too sure, the only good games I have seen of it are those that I and my friends can pull off; And of course after you beat any given stage, it unlocks some movies of various styles of "perfect" runs from "cautious" to "insane" (I forget what they actually call them) It is even possible to complete the entire game without firing a single shot.

            When that game is played well, it is a work of art, I can't reccomend it enough to those that like 2d Shooters.
        • Try finding the "Swordplay" videos of Radiant Silvergun completed using only the sword weapon. There are also videos of the game being completed without using weapons at all! (Like in Ikaruga the level bosses all have time limits, so it is possible.)

          Similar videos exist for most shooters, I've seen some incredible ones of Gigawing and some of the Strikers 1945 games.

    • Direct link [purdue.edu] to the file.

  • If You Like This... (Score:4, Informative)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:39PM (#8403497) Homepage
    There was an amazing video that FiringSquad posted a link to a few months ago (just before Christmas?) in either the news or the siteseeing section. It was a video of some guy beating Mario 3 in perfect time (the fastest possible time, basically, I think it was about a half an hour?). It was very cool, but it was revealed a week or two later that the video was made by a guy with an emulator (already known) who would back up the game state a few frames whenever he made a mistake. It must of taken the guy FOREVER to do it. Still it was amazing to watch. He used shortcuts of course (like warp whistles) but it was still quite a sight. Find the link if you're interested.

  • He watched the ENTIRE GAME?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tom7 ( 102298 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @08:47PM (#8403563) Homepage Journal
    "Twin Galaxies referee Robert Mruczek watched the entire game on videotape before declaring the feat a new world record."

    Oh my god, a huge video game nerd actually sat through five minutes of video tape before declaring a world record?!? Call the police!

  • Depressing memory of a smaller scale attempt (Score:4, Interesting)

    by almaon ( 252555 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @09:27PM (#8403888)
    This jostled my memory of an event taken place about 20 years ago, Wal-Mart had a contest where whoever got the most points in Super Mario Bros in their age bracket won a free game of their choice. I was all excited being a nintendo-nerd kid, I would sit and practice at home to get a stratedgy developed so I could win me that game!

    After my training regiment, it was time to enter the contest. Well there was only one other person in my age bracket (13+ and older), a woman in her 20's, so I was stoked. "I'm gonna win this" came time to play and I missed a calculated jump and fell into a hole, screwed my chances right there.

    It was then I had to say goodbye to my dreams of owning "Skate or Die"... eventually I bought it, but it was the whole glory of it all.

    I hope the record breaker basks in all his glory, someone hook that man up with a copy of Ultra's Skate or Die, he earned it!

  • Text in case of /. (Score:5, Informative)

    by xWeston ( 577162 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @09:51PM (#8404041)
    Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:41 pm Post subject: Super Mario Brothers (NES) - NEW WORLD RECORD !!
    BREAKING NEWS - NEW MINIMALIST COMPLETION WORLD RECORD FOR "SUPER MARIO BROTHERS" (NES)
    As reported February 22nd, 2004

    Hello fellow gamers:

    I am pleased to announce that after many attempts, gamer Scott Kessler, who hails from North Carolina in the USA, has established a new fastest minimalist completion world record on the legendary NES classic title "Super Mario Brothers" with a completion time of five minutes and seventeen seconds (5:17). This is three (3) seconds faster than the previous world record and is near perfect in execution. I say "near perfect" as Scott may still find a way to shave off one or more seconds someday, but after watching this particular run, that will be a tough challenge indeed.

    Scott has been hammering away at this title for weeks, now, and has come close, actually tying the previous world record of 5:20 a few days back, but further fine-tuning of his skills and techniques has shaved off a very significant three whole seconds from his personal best, more than enough to claim top-spot for this hotly contested record.

    Without using any of the known glitches for this title, Scott guided "Mario", the world's most famous plumber, through the time-honoured path towards a fastest completion record, first warping to stage (4-1) and then to (8-1). Score is irrelevant in such an attempt, but what is the absolute key are these two considerations...(A) no game-deaths are advisable, as they are permissible but slow you down, and (B) ensuring that when the stage-end flag is touched that the timer is neither on "1, 3 or 6" as that results in unwanted time wasted due to the award of extra points and the resulting fanfare explosions.

    Scott, as with many top players, has mastered each of the eight ( stages that need to be negotiated in order to achieve the final goal...defeating "Bowser", Mario's second most famous adversary (the first being none other than "Donkey Kong"). The rules governing the world record for fastest minimalist completion are simple...the "clock" starts the instant you press the start button, and ends the instant that either the final bridge key by "Bowser" is touched, or when the final blow to "Bowser" is delivered via fireball. Game deaths are permitted but top players will most likely not die in pursuit of this record.

    Being that the path to completion is so well known, I will include for purposes of this recap the benchmark times that Scott has achieved in pursuit of his new world record. Time is measured in whole seconds rounded to the nearest whole second.

    THE PATH TO VICTORY

    0:21 - touches flagpole in stage (1-1)
    1:03 - enters warp pipe to stage (4-1)
    1:31 - touches flagpole in stage (4-1)
    2:17 - enters warp pipe to stage (8-1)
    3:02 - touches flagpole in stage (8-1)
    3:39 - touches flagpole in stage (8-2)
    4:16 - touches flagpole in stage (8-3)
    4:37 - enters 1st pipe in stage (8-4)
    4:46 - enters 2nd pipe in stage (8-4)
    4:54 - enters 3rd pipe in stage (8-4)
    5:17 - touches bridge key and completes game under Twin Galaxies rules governing this title

    The times above of course do not tell the entire story to Scott's success. A lot of trial and tribulation must have been undertaken to master every jump and situation in the path to completion. In truth, when executed properly and via identical means, the game is indeed a pattern in that the enemies will behave the same way based on your proximity, speed and approach, so finding the perfect combination of all three factors, and adjusting so that the flagpoles are not touched when the score ends in a (1, 3 or 6), is what every player hopes for.

    The path that Scott took is well known and extremely difficult to execute. Nintendo did an excellent job with respect to the controls for Mario...the character can be made to do whatever the player wishes. Your only drawback at times might be momentum, such as when the hidden vine is opened

  • hmm (Score:4, Funny)

    by ninjamonkey ( 694442 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @10:19PM (#8404264) Homepage
    If this record stands, maybe it will be called the Kessler Run. Anyone have a link to the video?

  • But ... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The thing I find really silly with this kind of record is that the timing is different between PAL and NTSC version : indeed, the freshrate is 60hz for NTSC and 50hz for pal, which makes European game slower than American one...

    This way, how can an European player hope to do better????

  • Those of you complaining about "no video..." (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ReyTFox ( 676839 ) on Friday February 27, 2004 @06:04AM (#8406487)
    Twin Galaxies does NOT host submitted videos for the public. Why? Because most of these videos are NOT a mere five minutes. They tend to be several hours' worth, because most records, even speed runs, can't be completed any faster. If someone tries to "marathon" a classic game that he's previously mastered, it can stretch on past a day's length. (And in those cases live refereeing rather than video is probably the only viable option) That, of course, would cost them a lot in bandwidth and storage to host, even if it were only the "world records," since TG has hundreds of those.

    So for those reasons, they won't host any videos at all. You'll have to take their word for it that it was true.
    • Because most of these videos are NOT a mere five minutes. They tend to be several hours' worth, because most records, even speed runs, can't be completed any faster. If someone tries to "marathon" a classic game that he's previously mastered, it can stretch on past a day's length.

      And why would anyone care about the failures on the rest of the tape? You crop out the part that's the artual run and you've got a 5 1/2 minute video. Since TG won't host it, you contact me and I will!

  • I just submitted this story before going through here to see if it had already been done. My mistake. Anyway, this guy is nuts. He sprinted his way through the mushroom kingdom faster then it takes me to run a mile.
  • I saw a while back a video of a kid in a japanese arcade playing a rhythm game where you have to coordinate your hitting of 6 buttons on the unit with what sounded like a techno remix of a classical song. It was jaw dropping, but i cant find the link. The song was going nearly 200bpm and he was getting everything! The directions dropped from the top of the screen like in DDR, but they were dropping so frequently it looked like it was raining.

    If you have a link please post it, ive been searching desparat

  • Don't know if this has been posted yet, but here's the video: www.planning24h.jp/gf/movie/smb1.wmv [planning24h.jp]

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