You may have grown up with Mario‘s iconic jumps and bops, but have you seen him at warp speed? Welcome to the intense world of Super Mario 64 speedrunning.
Recently, an electrifying run shattered the 16-star world record and made history. Today, we‘ll break down everything you need to know about this blindingly quick feat and why it has the Mario 64 speedrun community in sheer awe.
An Introduction to Speedrunning
For the unacquainted, speedrunning is the practice of experienced gamers racing to complete titles as fast as possible. Utilizing intricate knowledge of mechanics and exploits, top runners blast through objectives relying on perfect execution.
Speedruns are classified based on the percentage of the game completed and use of glitches. For example, any% aims for the credits as fast as possible through any means necessary. 100% seeks to grab every collectible. 16-star tackles only the first Bowser fight.
The art of speedrunning first took off in the 1990s. Today, a niche culture of analysis and competition thrives on sites like speedrun.com with runners streaming attempts.
Why Mario Shines Among Speedrunning Classics
Since its release in 1996 for Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 has become one of the most beloved and replayed games ever. As the first 3D Mario adventure, its frontier spirit and replayability make it perfectly suited for speedrunning.
Precise Mechanics – Controlling Mario feels like second nature allowing pros to twist his movement to the limit. Different jumps, kicks, dives, and pole swings give creative options.
Sequence Breaking – Collecting stars in different orders allows varied routing. Optimizing the route is key.
Ripe Glitches – Plentiful bugs allow clipping through walls and super speed. They get patched in later ports.
Top runner Cheese05 explains Mario 64‘s enduring popularity:
"Beyond precise controls and movement, Mario 64 brilliantly combines open-ended levels with missions. You can plot different sequences between objectives keeping routing exciting. It‘s amazing that new techniques are still being found over 20 years later!"
Let‘s look at the history to see how far Mario 64 speedrunning has come.
An Abbreviated History of Mario 64 Speedrunning
Mario 64 speedrunning took off in 1997 propelled by stragetic use of backward long jumps to launch Mario at intense speeds. Players clipped through walls by precisely angling Mario‘s foot during jumps to skip huge sections. These glitches allowed times once thought impossible.
| Year | Time | Runner | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1:53:22 | Max | Any% debut |
| 2012 | 1:39:28 | Siglemic | Sub 1h40m barrier broken |
| 2018 | 1:38:54 | Cheese05 | Current any% record |
| 2015 | 44:21 | Puncayshun | First sub-45 minute 16 star |
| 2021 | 26:53 | DotZip | 16 star record broken |
In the last decade, an arms race erupted among top Mario 64 runners hunting for optimizations. A hotly contested 16-star run category drove innovation needing only the first Bowser fight. DotZip held this record for years until a young challenger appeared…
Suigi Blazes Past With a 26:38 Masterclass Run
Earlier this year, a runner named Suigi left jaws on the floor by demolishing the 16-star record with an alien time of 26 minutes 38 seconds.
For perspective, this 18-year old wasn‘t even born when Mario 64 released! Yet he executing never-before-seen techniques and optimizing the route beyond top runners far more experienced.
Let‘s break down Suigi‘s epic run and see what made it extra special:
The Route
Suigi pioneered an optimal route through the paintings collecting just enough stars to open each next level.
He grabs stars out of traditional order allowing tighter sequences. For example, Suigi collects basement red coin stars right after Bowser stages since they align well.
By the final Bowser fight, Suigi has only needed 16 stars in 26 minutes rather than the intended 70!
Standout Tricks
Utilizing advanced mechanics allowed skipping massive chunks:
- Backward Long Jumps – Chaining these after dives or poles launches Mario at ludicrous speeds. Suigi uses these everywhere to blaze between stars faster than ever.
- Hyperspeed Wall Kicks – Kicking up walls after landing from a jump maintains momentum allowing Mario to ascend rapidly.
- Clip Through Gates – Precisely turning during first-person allows Mario to clip boundaries.
Mind-boggling Precision
In addition to utilizing new tricks, Suigi displays pinpoint accuracy throughout. He perfectly times jumps between moving platforms and difficult stars without a single death. One small mistake would lose precious seconds so Suigi‘s consistency is unreal.
After grabbing the final star, Suigi does not even watch the ending bowser cut scene which would waste time. He keeps his head down resetting during the creditsseconds after seizing another world record!
What‘s Next for Mario 64 and Suigi?
It‘s incredible that over 25 years later, Mario 64 continues driving innovation. This demonstrates both the game‘s timeless magic and the fiery passion of speedrunners finding joy in the pursuit of perfection.
While Cheese and DotZip have achieved greatness already, Suigi represents a fearsome new era. Now with 16 stars conquered, he also holds the 1-star and 0-star records showing versatility across categories.
With his prodigious talents, one wonders if even the vaunted 120-star record may fall next to Suigi‘s Valeria-enhanced jumps. For now, we can only sit back enthralled and wait to see history continue unfolding before our eyes.
May the flames of competition burn bright! What did you think of Suigi‘s peerless run? Which Mario 64 record do you want to see challenged next? Let me know in the comments!
