World Record

Chances are you've probably played Super Mario Bros. - the classic NES title that helped catapult the little platforming plumber into stardom has been available to play on so many different consoles at this point that we've actually lost count. It's even available on the Switch thanks to the recent addition of NES games in the Nintendo Switch Online service, so you can always give it a try there if you're subscribed.

Despite that fact, though, we doubt those of you who have played it have ever managed to complete it with this level of precision, speed, and skill. Kosmic, a speedrunner who knows the game backwards, inside and out, and presumably every way imaginable, has just beaten the world record time for its completion, somehow making it to the very end in just 4 minutes and 55 seconds. Wow.

You can see his achievement listed here on the world record leaderboards; the run was part of the 'Any%' category which means that any in-game tricks can be used to get to the end, and not all levels have to be completed. He used this to amazing effect, perfectly clearing the first two levels, warping to world four, onwards to world eight, and bam. You can check it out below.

The run was so impressive that Kosmic was actually "tied with the TAS" while playing on level 4-1. 'TAS', or 'tool-assisted speedrun' refers to a tool which can be used to program exact inputs in games, allowing the user to then figure out the best possible time that a game can be completed. This means that, at that point of the run, he had pressed every button to perfection - even an automated computer wouldn't have been able to do any better.

We find it hard enough just to make it to the end of Super Mario Bros., never mind finishing it in less than five minutes. If you're reading, Kosmic, congratulations!

Could you pull off something like this? Have you ever tried to speedrun your way through a game? Let us know below.