The rules of Super Mario 64 are well known. Jump, flip, and swim through treacherous levels to collect the shimmering power star at the end; speedrunners take this premise to the extreme. They collect all 120 power stars in as fast a time as possible, using precise jumps and taking advantage of various glitches. Speedrunner akira6072525 has taken this idea one step further, beating the entire game in 6 minutes and 58 seconds.
They use a glitch that allows them to skip to every Bowser fight in the game. After tossing the koopa king around in each boss fight, the game can be beat without collecting a single star.
Players have been displaying their mastery of Super Mario 64 for years and this run shows that there are still many incredible feats to pull off, even 19 years later.
Akira6072525's entire 7 minute run can be viewed below.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 42
Am I the only one that thinks glitch-free speedruns should take prevalence over glitched ones? Otherwise records are beaten when new exploits are discovered, not when a player practices to get good enough to shave a few seconds off.
I don't even know how most of that is possible but old games do continue to amaze me.
What the heck just happened??????
@Espy
Both categories exist, and whilst the glitch-free runs or "all goals" runs exist, any% runs where anything goes are ever evolving because of new discoveries, more-so than their standard runs.
In Super Mario 64 alone your typical goals will be 120 stars, 70 stars, 16 stars or 0 stars. The 16 star run is largely obsolete in favour of the 0 star run as it supercedes it as an any% run. In fact the 0 star run is the very example of new strategies taking prevalence over old runs.
With 70 star runs, you have to consider which order of stars you will take, and which 50 you will ignore.
I also suggest you actually watch the run before you dismiss it as just a "new exploit", the glitches involved are so difficult that they were presumed for some time to only be possible in tool-assisted runs.
@RupeeClock No doubt it takes skill, It just tends to be these ones that make headlines because the completion times are so crazy, and I click them and realise the vast majority of the game was skipped. It just seems like cutting corners to me. I'm old fashioned.
@Espy "Am I the only one that thinks glitch-free speedruns should take prevalence over glitched ones?"
You're like 90% of Nintendo Life or Kotaku etc.
@Espy That's because they're quicker, and more people have the time (and patience) to do it. Seeing legit speedruns without glitches can be very boring if a game doesn't offer much on a technical end (Super Metroid is probably the most technical game to speedrun at all).
Looks like he could shave 10-30 seconds off that judging by slip ups and not pulling glitches off immediately
Both are excellent tests of skill, but I enjoy watching glitch runs more, just because of how insane they are. They both take incredible amounts of skill, though.
Welp... So much for the never ending stair case
-_-
@Kaze_Memaryu
I wouldn't say they take less time to do! Lol. The person playing probably practiced literally 24/7 to beat this. Not to mention all the failed runs.
I could probably beat Mario 64 without glitches 20 times, before someone got good enough to beat it in 7 minutes.
Every time there's a speedrun in the news, there's people saying "Why glitches noooo, do it properly".
The problem with running "glitchless" or "intended route" speedruns is that nobody can agree on what counts as a glitch and what doesn't.
Did you know that, in Pokémon Gen 1, getting hit with stat-altering moves activates a glitch involving the stat boosts from gym badges? So what does this mean?...Should runs of Pokémon be considered ineligible for the Glitchless category if you get hit by String Shot after obtaining the Boulderbadge? of course not, that would be silly. But then, is it really "glitchless"?
Then there are things in games that aren't glitches, but can be used to skip parts in an unintended way. For example, it is perfectly intended by the developers of Ocarina of Time that Link will bounce away from a wall if he jump-slashes into it. In the centre of the Deku Tree's insides, it is possible to align yourself in such a way that a jump-slash will recoil you down on to the ledge that is a part of the second-half of the basement. This makes it possible to skip acquiring the Slingshot, and to skip completing most of the dungeon. This is possible without the use of a single glitch. Should it be allowed? Or not allowed, since it is "unintended"? How would we even know what is intended or not without a developer interview or something?
And then what about games where it's almost impossible to avoid glitches? How would you run "glitchless" in Sonic 2006, for instance?
Wow more speedrunners. Zzzzzz.....
Congratz, you abused a glitch and beat a boss quickly.
While I dislike Glitch-filled Speed Runs, I hate, and they should never be counted, the Tool-Assist Speed Runs.
There is no skill required to play/beat the games. All it is is cheating.
@No-longer-postin
A tool-assisted speedrun is a completely different thing from a normal speedrun.
A tool-assisted speedrun is NOT someone saying "hey guys look at me beat this game". A tool-assisted speedrun is something that is appreciated by a community of people who have already played a game, already beaten it several times over, and are already aware of everything that happens in the game.
A tool-assisted speedrun is a demonstration of the game purely from the perspective of what is possible within the game's programming. It's more like a fine-tuned, hand-crafted work of art, set in the context of a video game.
It may be interesting to consider the question "what is the absolute minimum amount of time it takes to get from a game's title screen to the game's end credits?". A tool-assisted speedrun is just a showcase of what it looks like to achieve that.
Nobody who makes TASes is trying to pretend they were playing the game in in real-time, that would be absurd.
Wowzers, more people complaining about speedrun glitches. Because none of you used Missingno. Say whatever you want about these types of speedruns, either way they're still really good at the game because they actually learn how to exploit game to there advantage.
Lol @ the end credits:
"Here's all the great moments you didn't see in the game."
"What game?"
I think he showed a lot of skill, glitches or no.
@No-longer-postin Your first sentence makes no sense lol.
@Espy I personally consider them to be in two different categories and I enjoy watching both.
Nothing that the 0 star TASes hadn't done before
(:
@BLPs
Can you name a single game that loads the ending sequence upon selecting the New Game option?
Both normal speedruns and tool-assisted speedruns use UN-MODIFIED games. Without game modification, there is no way to have a two-second run that ends as soon as it begins like this, unless there literally is a game that behaves like that.
That was highly entertaining.
Go, Mario, go!
@BLPs
...re-reading my post, I come off as indignant and irritated. I didn't mean any harm, I just wanted to explain it in such a plainly-spelled out way because these things can be difficult to grasp for a a lot of people, and I'm upset when people say they hate glitches and tool-assisted runs, because it just demonstrates willful ignorance on the subject...and that's just annoying to me.
Apologies for sounding rude.
So cool! Ever since I found out it was possible to beat SM64 without getting any stars I always wanted to give it a shot. Don't know if I'd be as fast as this though! Congratulations to the runner!
Those people who say "wah, wah, this takes no skills, wah, wah", I dare you to do the same. Go ahead, beat the game with 0 stars. I'll wait.
Absolutely fantastic speed run. I prefer watching 100% runs though, as any% is usually over too fast!
I think its funny that Bowser came up with this huge plan to capture Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom, and 7 minutes after she was captured she was saved. I almost feel bad for the King of Koopas.
Wow, Mario 64 really is broken, isn't it?
I mean it's still one of the best N64 games, but wow.
@JellySplat Yeah, but you'd need at least ten times the amount of time to get even halfway close to the current glitchless record, either. Glitched runs are always about breaking the games' boundaries to cur down the time more than ever.
@CrazyMetroid - Here you go. http://images.iherb.com/l/FBS-00340-3.jpg
@Geonjaha I think you should learn the meaning of "mad". Calling a person ignorant isn't being mad at someone, it just calling a person ignorant.
@EarthboundBenjy If you haven't already seen it, you should try looking up the TAS of "King's Bounty" for the Sega Genesis. Sometimes, all you have to do is start the game on the right frame!
@Kaze_Memaryu
I'm talking from a casual player standpoint. Probably more people have the time to just simply beat the game, then learn every obscure exploit in the games coding, AND learn how to shoot through every level like a ricocheting bullet!
Not dissing anyone, I was just pointing out that fact. I love to watch glitch runs personally, I think they're far more entertaining than non-glitch speed runs. However, for the reason stated above, I would never be able to actually DO a glitch run, haha!
"They use a glitch that allows them to skip to every Bowser fight in the game." No, they still fight all 3 Bowsers.
EDIT: nevermind, I misread it. I mentally deleted the "to"
@Espy No you're not the only one. I don't really rate speed runs involving glitches very highly (though I'll commend the skill involved in attaining the glitch).
To me, it's kind of like winning at a sport by exploiting a previously unnoticed gap in the rules, yet it was never intended to be allowed.
I'm always more impressed by those who are able to complete speed runs when constrained by the rules and boundaries set (and imagined) by the game's creators.
What was he playing it on?? I still play my N64 with Mario and no way does it run that fast??
TAS run?
@Espy Yes, you are the only one.
@RupeeClock @Espy They use lot of glitches even on the 100% too... Got no problem with it, but is there a run that doesn't use glitches at all?
@RupeeClock @Espy They use lot of glitches even on the 100% too... Got no problem with it, but is there a run that doesn't use glitches at all?
I agree with the folks here who prefer 100% speedruns over any% ones, but either way they are both great fun to watch in awe over. The only 'glitches' I may see on most 100% runs is occasionally the runner will do some sort of exploit to get an extra jump to shave off a few seconds that would be wasted if they went the way that was intended. I don't like the ones that glitch past walls.
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