This past week in the speedrunning world has been nothing short of wild — from Mario Kart records thought to be humanly impossible, to massive breakthroughs in Pokémon and even debates about shocking your arms for faster inputs. Here are the biggest highlights:
🚗 Mario Kart Madness – Impossible Exploits and Shortcut Breakthroughs
The biggest headline of the week came from Mario Kart Wii, where ejayyb set a 21.212 world record lap on Luigi Circuit. What makes this special isn’t just the time, but that he became the first person to pull off an exploit previously thought to be TAS-only (tool-assisted speedrun). It’s a jaw-dropping display of precision and perseverance.
Not to be outdone, Kins0 grabbed their fifth straight WR in Mario Kart World, setting the first sub-1:54 on Moo Moo Meadows with a clever Lap 3 cow bounce shortcut. Meanwhile, Park Avenue and K4I each secured first-ever subs on Airship Fortress and DK Spaceport, showing how quickly the new v1.2.0 patch is shaking up times across the board.
Oh, and yes — someone also set a world record by… getting stuck in the ground. Mario Kart truly never stops surprising.
🧬 Pokémon Ruby Route Revolution
In what might be one of the most radical time saves of the year, a new ACE (arbitrary code execution) route has dropped Pokémon Ruby’s Any% record from 1:48 to just 34 minutes. That’s not a typo. The new route makes it nearly as fast as glitchless was just months ago. Speedrunning history in the making.
🌍 Beyond Games: GeoGuessr Records
World champion Blinky reminded everyone that speedrunning isn’t just about video games. In under 15 minutes, he correctly identified 20 GeoGuessr locations within 180 meters. That’s as much about mental agility as it is about map knowledge.
🎿 The Long Hauls – Snowboard Kids 2 & Longevity in Speedrunning
For endurance fans, mcgyna put up an 11-hour Snowboard Kids 2 “600%” run. That’s commitment on another level.
Meanwhile, a discussion about speedrunners with the most longevity highlighted legends like puncayshun, who not only set a Super Mario 64 record in 2014, but reclaimed it nine years later and is still on the leaderboard today.
🕹 Super Mario 64 – Still Breaking Brains
The community never sleeps on SM64. Discussions this week included:
- Whether infinite coins in Tiny-Huge Island could save an extra A-press for the legendary A-Button Challenge, which currently sits at just 13 presses for a 120-star run.
- A blindfolded Cool, Cool Mountain stage RTA in 9:37 by Bubzia, proving yet again why blindfold runs are some of the most awe-inspiring feats in speedrunning.
- Community chatter asking what’s next for 70- and 120-star runs after Suigi’s dominance.
🎮 Other Records and Oddities
- F.E.A.R. Any% broke the sub-40 minute barrier for the first time.
- Super Metroid (GT Classic) saw a blistering 32:10 run.
- The obscure Donkey Kong Bananza got a fresh WR at 1:13:16.
- And if you missed it: someone beat Secret of Evermore in 6 minutes.
On the experimental side, runners debated whether using electrical muscle shocks to automate button presses should count as TAS territory. It’s a strange but fascinating look at the blurry lines between human skill and tool assistance.
📚 Community Stories & History
We also got another entry in the history of speedrunning series: “This is Our Story” Part 2, chronicling the rise (and scandals) of the Ben 10: Protector of Earth community. It’s a reminder that even the most niche games can have thriving, passionate, and sometimes turbulent speedrunning scenes.
🏁 Wrapping Up
This week captured everything that makes speedrunning special:
- Unthinkable human feats becoming possible.
- Radical new discoveries turning old categories upside down.
- Community passion and storytelling, from decade-long veterans to niche game historians.
Whether you’re chasing WRs, grinding PBs, or just watching from the sidelines, the speedrun scene proves week after week that there’s always something new to be amazed by.
Source: reddit.com