Another week, another reminder that speedrunning is equal parts execution, obsession, and sheer imagination. From legendary Mario records to glitch discoveries and deep technical theorycrafting, the community delivered a packed week of highlights.
🏁 World Records Steal the Spotlight
The headline achievement this week belongs to Super Mario Bros. Any%, where luisgdh pushed the world record down to an astonishing 4:54.415. The run continues the relentless optimization of one of the most iconic speedruns of all time, where individual frames still matter nearly four decades after release. Complementing the record itself, a World Record Progression post gave the community a visual reminder of just how far SMB has come—and how close it may be to its absolute limit.
Mario wasn’t the only one making waves. ZFG reclaimed dominance in Ocarina of Time All Dungeons, setting a new world record of 1:06:22 in a fully commentated run. For a category that demands both mechanical precision and encyclopedic knowledge of routing, it was a masterclass in consistency and execution.
Meanwhile, Bubzia reminded everyone that blindfolded speedrunning is still very much alive (and terrifying) with a Super Mario 64 1-Star blindfolded world record of 9:40. Watching a run like this is less about speed and more about trust—in muscle memory, audio cues, and countless hours of practice.
💀 No Deaths, No Mistakes
One of the most jaw-dropping feats of the week came from Shredberg, who became the first runner ever to complete Super Meat Boy 106% without dying. In a game infamous for demanding pixel-perfect movement and lightning-fast reactions, the idea of a full completion without a single death borders on the absurd. And yet—it’s now real.
Other notable WRs this week included:
- Surgeon Simulator – Brain Transplant in 5.669 seconds
- Snowboard Kids (Grade A, No Cheats) in 41:02
- Snowboard Kids Plus Any% in 55:57
- Kinect Sports All Sports in 17:33
- Bleed 2 All Achievements in under 3 hours
- Katamari Damacy – All Level WRs in 13:34
- Evil Islands completed in 40:56
It’s a reminder that speedrunning excellence isn’t limited to just the most mainstream titles—records are falling across every corner of gaming history.
🧠 Glitches, Tech, and “What If?”
Beyond the leaderboard, this week also showcased what makes speedrunning special: curiosity.
A standout discussion explored whether phantom Bullet Bills in Super Mario Bros. could be used to despawn fireworks at the end of levels without crashing the game. The theory—rooted in memory slot limits and frame-perfect timing—sparked thoughtful analysis and TAS-adjacent speculation. Could this eliminate fireworks waiting time? Could it affect FFPG setups in 8-3? Even if the idea never becomes viable, it perfectly captures the community’s mindset: what if the game could be bent just a little further?
On the discovery side, Ejay B revealed Mario Kart Wii’s 31st Ultra Shortcut on Toad’s Factory—years after the game’s peak popularity. It’s proof that even heavily explored games can still surprise us.
🎥 Community Projects and Content
Outside of raw runs, creators continued expanding the ecosystem:
- DoctorSwellman released a deep dive on how speedrunners dismantle every version of Star Ocean 2.
- A new community website, blockspeedrun.com, launched to catalog speedruns of every block and item in Minecraft, embracing the wonderfully absurd side of modern speedrunning.
- A nostalgic hunt for a Neglearia AGDQ 2013 duct tape donation segment reminded everyone that speedrunning history is just as cherished as its future.
🧩 Personal Bests and Progress
Not everything is about world records. Personal bests in games like Gremlins 2 (NES) and Acrobatic Car filled the week with smaller victories—the kind that keep runners grinding, improving, and coming back.
Final Thoughts
This week captured speedrunning at its best: historic records, impossible challenges conquered, brand-new discoveries, and thoughtful discussion pushing games beyond what anyone thought possible. Whether you’re shaving frames off Mario, theorizing about memory slots, or taping your mouth shut for charity, one thing is clear—the speedrunning community isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
See you next week, and happy running. 🏃♂️🎮
Source: reddit.com