SethBling just posted the new world record for completing Super Mario World in an astonishingly quick 3 minutes and 7 seconds. The run takes advantage of getting the game into a strange memory state and then pausing to warp all the way to the ending credits.

Incredibly, who comes up with this stuff?

Travis   Admin wrote on 01/31/2015 at 06:24am

I watched a video the other day, like a week ago, where this was exploited for a 6ish minute run. 3:08 is insane!

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 02/02/2015 at 03:58pm

Is finding an exploit that takes you to the end credits what qualifies for completing a game these days?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/02/2015 at 08:08pm

I kinda agree with Script, but wow, that was interesting and impressive.

Travis   Admin wrote on 02/03/2015 at 04:00am

These generally don't count for "legit" speedruns. There are various levels of speedruns. This one wouldn't compete with a more "legit" speed run.

It's kinda like Magic: The Gathering. Some cards are just too powerful and get banned from the game, even in Legacy, but there's always the all-in formats where nothing is off the table.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 02/04/2015 at 02:19am

I'd say that this does count for a speedrun in that you can do it in the game as you normally play. Your right in that it isn't a traditional run of going through it. Like Travis says there are more traditional runs and then these kinds of bugged runs.

Travis   Admin wrote on 02/04/2015 at 03:08am

Yeah, it's not tool-assisted, so it's a legit speedrun, it's just not a "legit" speedrun. I couldn't think of a better way to put it! Traditional doesn't exactly describe it. I can't define it but I know it when I see it! :)

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 02/04/2015 at 04:12am

Glitch free?

scrypt   Supporter wrote on 02/04/2015 at 07:58pm

But it's still an exploit, right? Hypothetically, if Super Mario World was another game released in today's market, it might likely be patched to fix the bug. Should exploits like this just be considered "part of the game"?

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 02/04/2015 at 09:42pm

It is part of the game, yet not designed at all. So i'd say it's valid for this version of the game YET think that separating bugged from traditional is a good point.

There was a Zelda Links Awakening bug that if you did the magic right caused you to warp to the other side of the screen which meant you could easily clip and get past areas they didn't intend. They did release a patch to fix it in later karts so I imagine some runs are shorter because they don't have this exploit.

That said a traditional run wouldn't be impacted.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 02/04/2015 at 09:44pm

And since I had to bring back my memory of it, here is a video showing it off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbs0bcg9U68

Travis   Admin wrote on 02/04/2015 at 09:45pm

Every Super Mario Bros. speedrun uses glitches though. Little things like being able to stick to the wall if you hit it at the right angle and jump again. That's why I didn't go with "glitch-free" as a description because they're widely used. There's a line somewhere, I just don't know where!

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 02/04/2015 at 09:49pm

I saw a Half-life speedrun that was using clipping like crazy. It seemed a bit out there but it seems the census it's legit if it's non tool assisted.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 02/05/2015 at 06:58pm

I'm by no means an expert, but I think there are four generally accepted types of speed runs: With glitches/bugs, Tool assisted, any percent, and 100% completion. I have no problem with someone using and abusing glitches/bugs for a speed run, especially since this sometimes requires a very deep understanding of how the game code works. But I do think there needs to be separate world records or whatever for people who do and don't use them. :)

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.
Sign Up / Log In