Super Mario Bros. Time Record Broken

Press Release

February 25, 2004, 2:00 pm EST
Total comments: 22

Would you believe this guy beat the whole game in five minutes and seventeen seconds?

Near-Perfect World Record Logged on NES Super Mario Bros.

FAIRFIELD, IOWA - February 25, 2004 - For years, the world record on NES'

legendary Super Mario Bros. video game was stalled at 5 minutes and 20

seconds. In recent months, however, increased media publicity on classic

gaming has re-ignited player enthusiasm for breaking long-standing records,

with world titles falling on titles like Legend of Zelda and Metroid.

And, now, debatedly the most contested NES game of all time, Super Mario

Bros., may have been brought to a "near-perfect" finish, as Scott Kessler,

of North Carolina brought the record down to 5 minutes and 17 seconds. "Yes,

this could be considered a near-perfect performance," explains Twin Galaxies

Referee Robert Mruczek, who watched the entire game on videotape before

declaring the feat a new world record. "It may be possible to shave 1-3 more

seconds off the time," adds Mruczek, "but, that may not happen for a long

time."

Recently, fierce rivalries on Legend of Zelda and Metroid for the NES have

seen new "fastest time to finish" world records submitted for publication in

the forthcoming edition of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book

of World Records.

"Its a time of heavy competition, spanning multiple generations," says

Walter Day, the editor of the Record Book. "A new generation is stripping

the older players of their cherished world records. Classic game titles are

no longer a thing of the past; they are uniting the different generations

with the world records as the unifying link."

To read the full report on how Kessler did it, click the Related Link at the top of this page.

Talkback

SearanoXFebruary 25, 2004

I know that it's great and everything, but really, these people need more to do with their lives.

Bill AurionFebruary 25, 2004

And people say today's games are short...

DrZoidbergJuan Schwartz, Staff WriterFebruary 25, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: SearanoX
I know that it's great and everything, but really, these people need more to do with their lives.

why? to conform with what the rest of the general public considers 'constructive use of time'? it's not really much different to a swimmer beating the 100 metre breast stroke record or what ever. and what if the person in question is around the age of 10-15*, aside from schoolwork there isn't alot else important todo when you're that age so why not attempt todo something memorable like break a world record in video games.

*that's just a generaliseation used for argument purposes, not a solid fact i'm making up.

so I say, BRING ON MORE WORLD RECORDS ^_____^, my hat goes off to anyone who is that skilled.

Ian SaneFebruary 25, 2004

This is pretty cool and all and the guy is obviously quite skilled but the record was broken by only 3 seconds so really if you think about he got pretty lucky. It's not like he totally smashed the record or anything. 5:20 and 5:17 are about equally impressive. Still good for him. A copy of the video would be nice.

I wonder what the world record for Dragon Warrior VII is. And the new world record for DW7 is.... 20 hours!! WOW!

mouse_clickerFebruary 25, 2004

Neh, Super Mario Bros. is a game that's meant to be short. I recently watched the record breaking video of a guy who beat Super Metroid with 100% completion in exactly 1:00- now that is impressive.

CaseyRybackFebruary 25, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: mouse_clicker
Neh, Super Mario Bros. is a game that's meant to be short. I recently watched the record breaking video of a guy who beat Super Metroid with 100% completion in exactly 1:00- now that is impressive.

that is more than imperessive, that memorization and skill to the fullest. The best I can do is 63% in 1:46

SearanoXFebruary 25, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: DrZoidberg
Quote
Originally posted by: SearanoX
I know that it's great and everything, but really, these people need more to do with their lives.

why? to conform with what the rest of the general public considers 'constructive use of time'? it's not really much different to a swimmer beating the 100 metre breast stroke record or what ever. and what if the person in question is around the age of 10-15*, aside from schoolwork there isn't alot else important todo when you're that age so why not attempt todo something memorable like break a world record in video games.

*that's just a generaliseation used for argument purposes, not a solid fact i'm making up.

so I say, BRING ON MORE WORLD RECORDS ^_____^, my hat goes off to anyone who is that skilled.

Heh, I was just making a generalised and stereotypical comment. I'm more than sure that these people have enough to do with their lives, and that this is most likely no more than a hobby for them.

DrZoidbergJuan Schwartz, Staff WriterFebruary 25, 2004

then why bother making the comment?

SearanoXFebruary 25, 2004

Good question. I dunno, I suppose someone had to do it.

Uncle Rich AiAiFebruary 25, 2004

I would love to see a video of this!

I'm begging!

nickmitchFebruary 25, 2004

For some reason I think that this is all part of a plan thought up by Nintendo. First they re-release games with the e-reader and put super mario bros. on all the gba mario games, just to call attention to them. Then it was just a matter of time untill someone puts out a challenge to break some world records (Twin Galaxies). All this just so Nintendo can get some attention to their classic games. The question is: what are the going to do with it.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...

ThePermFebruary 25, 2004

i prolly could break that record....i just have to skip the extra lives and the subterrainian sections

Bill AurionFebruary 25, 2004

Alright, let's see you try...

Berto2KFebruary 25, 2004

3 seconds is 3 seconds. It doesn't matter by how much he beat the record with. I will use DrZ's example since I used to swim in high school and younger. 3 seconds in swimming could be as much as a body-length lead. Many world records are beaten by tenths and hundreths of a second. Is one necessarily more impressive than another? No because the simple fact that the record was beaten and there is a new world's best ever has been crowned. It is a historic mark.

When I broke records for the summer club team I was on, I didn't care by how much I beat it by. I only cared that I beat it. Would I keep trying to better myself just to find out how fast I could go? Of course. That is the nature of man, to be better than you used to be and better than the rest.

Congrats to him. Whatever he did to get the time was worth all the practice and time spent.

Jonnyboy117Jonathan Metts, Associate EditorFebruary 25, 2004

I would add that, if you look at the time difference as a percentage of the total completion time, it's quite significant. And the guy thinks he can shave off another few seconds, too, which would double the margin of victory. It's even more impressive when you consider that the 5:20 record stood for YEARS, and some people thought it was impossible to beat the game faster.

ThePermFebruary 25, 2004

my biggest problem so far has been pirahna plant jumping
theres a certain way to jump on the pipe and jump off it without hiting the piranah plant buti its very difficult to do
my best time is like 7 mins..though i did go through it quite fast today(incomplete), once i got to the 8th level theres lotsa places here oi jhave to do this piranha plant jumping thing and ultimately i should prolly get a ton of lives before i practive world 8-1 and world 4-1 though i suppose if i got a fire flower somewhere i could at least beat the game in under 6 mins because id shoot the plants instead of trying to jump them.

http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jutut/nesvideos.html
ok so this vids like 12 seconds off but you get the idea

Ian SaneFebruary 26, 2004

"First they re-release games with the e-reader and put super mario bros. on all the gba mario games, just to call attention to them."

They put Mario Bros on all the GBA games not Super Mario Bros. Big difference. There's no record for beating Mario Bros since you can't beat that game.

GaimeGuyFebruary 26, 2004

Twin Galaxies and its whole concept have added a whole new dimension to my gaming experience. Sure, I only hold one world record, an inaugural one at that, for Super Mario RPG, (5 hours, 30 minutes, 21 seconds), but still, I try challenging myself in completion time of severalgames, now (I have my time in Ocarina of Time down to 6:15). It might seem ridiculous to do it, but it's quite fun, and it adds a new dimension to replayability, especially with some non linear games.

Bigworm2004February 26, 2004

hey THEPERM, I went to that website with all those videos, but when i downloaded the videos, they won't play. What program do you need to play the videos of those people beating those games really really fast?

Bill AurionFebruary 26, 2004

You need Bittorrent...You can get a decent client here

Aslan the LionFebruary 27, 2004

Direct linking to media is prohibited. -Bloodworth