Another week, another wave of world records, tech discoveries, and delightfully weird categories. From 3D platforming perfection to NES-era breakthroughs, here’s what defined the week.
🍄 Suigi Reclaims the 70 Star Throne (Again)
It wouldn’t be a weekly recap without another twist in the 70 Star saga of Super Mario 64. Suigi has once again pushed the 70 Star world record down to 46:11, reclaiming it after briefly losing it at 46:23.
The 70 Star category in Super Mario 64 is a fan-favorite: long enough to demand consistency, short enough to stay explosive. At this level, we’re talking about microscopic movement optimizations, near-perfect Bowser throws, and nerves of steel in the final stretch. The back-and-forth at the top is proof that even in a 30-year-old game, the skill ceiling hasn’t been reached.
☕ Sub-27 in Cuphead
The minute barrier has fallen in Cuphead Any% 1.1. Runner SBDWolf clocked in at 26:59, cracking a milestone that once seemed just out of reach.
Cuphead’s brutal boss gauntlets make sub-27 an absurd test of execution. With RNG manipulation, razor-sharp movement, and near-perfect damage phases, this run represents a serious leap in consistency for a category known for heartbreak resets.
🎮 Pokémon Records Keep Dropping
It was a big week for Pokémon:
- Pokémon Emerald Any% hit 18:29, continuing the arms race of routing and RNG manipulation.
- Pokémon Gold Manipless was pushed to 3:16:51, showcasing the endurance side of classic-gen runs.
From ACE setups to clean Elite Four sweeps, Pokémon speedrunning continues to balance technical wizardry with marathon-level focus.
🤖 Astro Bot 100% Heats Up
Two new 100% world records were posted for Astro Bot, with KingJO444 improving from 4:55:48 to 4:52:43 in just days.
100% runs are where routing theory meets execution fatigue. Three minutes at this length is massive—proof that even new releases can develop tight, competitive scenes almost overnight.
🛸 Solar Jetman Gets Blown Wide Open
The biggest “tech breakthrough” story of the week belongs to Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship.
A newly refined warp setup now consistently sends players from Planet 1 to Planet 8 in Any%, skipping a huge chunk of the game. Add to that manipulation strategies that reduce the final boss’s destructible parts from five to four, and the world record has plummeted from around 19:30 to nearly 16 minutes.
For a niche NES title, that’s seismic. It’s also a reminder that sometimes, all it takes is one breakthrough setup to transform an entire leaderboard.
🧨 Retro and Cult Classics Shine
- A detailed guide for Sweet Home—the horror RPG precursor to Resident Evil—spotlighted its sub-90-minute speedrun potential.
- A Very Hard run of Dino Crisis reminded us that survival horror speedruns are equal parts routing and raw survival.
- New tech surfaced in Red Faction, using GEOMOD destruction physics for faster movement.
Old games continue to give. We just keep finding new ways to break them.
❓ Speedrun Mysteries & Emulation Quirks
One user is hunting for an RPG where the speedrun involves tricking a village into killing the final boss—who happens to be one of the first NPCs you meet. (If you know, you know… and if you know, tell them.)
Meanwhile, a runner testing Kameo: Elements of Power via Rare Replay noticed that out-of-bounds clips work on console but fail on Xbox Cloud Streaming. Emulation differences? Timing discrepancies? It’s a good reminder that platform parity can matter deeply in glitch-heavy runs.
🏁 More WR Highlights
- Sega Rally Online Arcade Championship (Hardware) – 6’27″122
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Hidden Veteran (Console) – 1:20.5
- Wonder of Blue – 28:29
- Sonic Frontiers 1-1 “Arcade%” – 0:34.93
- Unofficial grind in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 – Vanilla Hills in ~1:23
From AAA to freeware, every leaderboard saw movement this week.
🧽 SpongeBob Categories Get Weirder (and Better)
SpongeBob: Titans of the Tide saw both a new Any% personal best and a meme-worthy “Mommy%” category run. Speedrunning continues to prove that if a category can exist, it will exist—and someone will optimize it.
Final Thoughts
This week had everything:
- Historic barriers broken.
- New tech redefining old games.
- Pokémon grinding.
- Community mystery-solving.
- Meme categories thriving.
Whether it’s a 16-minute NES run or a four-hour 100% marathon, the throughline is the same: people are still finding ways to go faster.
See you next week—until then, don’t miss your frame-perfect inputs.
Source: reddit.com