Watch this Super Mario Bros. gamer beat his own speedrun record - again

By David Stubbings
Published

Super Mario Bros. is one of the most popular video games ever, but few people can complete it as fast as US gamer Brad Myers, better known as darbian.

Released in 1985, Super Mario Bros. has gone on to become one of the biggest selling games of all time with 40.24 million copies sold. 

darbian though is king when it comes to this game having broken the record for Fastest completion of Super Mario Bros. yet again with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it time of 4 min 56.528 sec..

Fastest completion of Super Mario Bros 2

It's a special game for darbian, who's played it a whopping 27,474 times: "Super Mario Bros. was the first video game that I can remember playing, so it's really fun to return to it as an adult to learn about it at a much deeper level."

"Super Mario Bros. is a fantastic slice of speedrunning. The any% category contains a wide variety of tricks common in many of the top games for speedrunning. These tricks include frame perfect jumps, pixel perfect jumps, wrong warps, RNG (random number generator) manipulation, hitbox abuse, sprite despawning as well as plain old luck all wrapped into a run that is only five minutes long at the highest level."

Set on 20 October 2017, Darbian shaved more than three tenths of a second off his previous time, 4 min 56.878 sec, which he described as "unassailable" when he set it in October 2016.

"After improving the record in October 2016 I didn't really play Super Mario Bros. until returning to it in late September. When I'm focused on the game I'll spend two-three hours playing it for a few days a week, usually three-six nights per week."

Darbian has a history of beating records on the game which he says are impossible.

In January 2016 he said the fastest anyone could complete the run (minus tools assistance) was 4 min 57 sec: he's since gone under that time twice.

Does darbian think his latest record can be beaten? Well maybe judging by this tweet:

And he's not ruling out another attempt in the future either.

"I'm sure I will, I don't know when though. I might try in a few weeks, or maybe early 2018, or sometime after that - it depends when it appeals to me again. In the meantime, there are a handful of other runners that match or surpass my skill in the game that will likely challenge the record very soon. The record could be improved at any time."

In total the Virginia gamer has broken the record six times in two years, lowering the time from 4 min 57.627 sec which he set in October 2015 to this year's time of 4 min 56.528 sec.

And he has some advice for anyone wanting to take on the game.

"I'd say the trickiest part is maintaining composure on good runs and executing until the end. Just about every level has something that's really complicated about it, and the final level of the run is among the hardest. Entering World 8-4 on pace to set a new record is a feeling that you cannot simulate in practice. All of the top players have the muscle memory to execute every trick in the game, it's just a matter of setting your emotions aside and playing well to the finish."

You can find more video game records in our dedicated Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition.

Watch his latest record-breaking run, which includes his reaction, below.