Super Mario Bros. speedrunner sets new blindfolded world record
Not mushroom for error.
This year's Summer Games Done Quick is all wrapped up, but if you're looking for another exciting speedrun to watch, this world record-breaking blindfolded Super Mario Bros. run seems like a good place to start.
Speedrunner Crescendo posted a video of the world record run last night, with the timer showing that he managed to beat the game in 11 minutes and 55 seconds. It appears the previous record was held by speedrunner dodai, who achieved a time of 14 minutes and 46 seconds back in 2016.
This all sounds impressive on paper, but the run itself makes for remarkable viewing: at one point Crescendo has to accurately count down the seconds needed to run a sufficient distance before making a series of perfect jumps. He uses fireballs as an echolocation device, and is able to figure out his surroundings from the noise they make when hitting a wall. He also seems to break bricks to figure out his position.
"I started planning this run on 29th May and started doing full-game attempts on 19th June," Crescendo explained in the video description. "I played in one-hour sessions once or twice per day. All told it was about 40 hours of attempts." Crescendo also noted that his skills as a musician may also have helped him master the run.
Over on the r/speedrun subreddit, users commended Crescendo for the achievement - noting that SMB1 is a particularly tricky Mario game to run blindfolded. "SMB1 has time limits, a much more unforgiving play style, and basically no sound clues to go off of for navigation help outside of hitting a block or an enemy," said user AKittyCat. Others noted that taking damage during the run would mean losing the ability to throw fireballs, which is essential as an audio cue tool and weapon.
If you want to learn a little more about the strategies used by Crescendo, the speedrunner is working on a tutorial video to discuss his strategies - and has promised to upload this to his YouTube channel soon. And if you want to fully go down the blindfolded mario run warp pipe, have a gander at this Super Mario 64 blindfolded run from this year's SGDQ.