Niftski has broken his own Super Mario Bros. any% speedrun world record during a Halloween livestream while dressed as Mario. He completed the run in 4:54.229, improving on his previous mark of 4:54.332 by 0.103 seconds.
The performance leaves Niftski two frames, or 33 milliseconds, away from the theoretical perfect run and a potential tool-assisted speedrun tie. According to Niftski, the lost frames came early in the attempt, after slightly slower accelerations in the first and second rooms cost one frame each.
Niftski announced the result in a post describing the run as a 4:54.299 SMB1 any% world record, although the body of the report identifies the final time as 4:54.229. He said that reaching the record while performing as Mario did not feel real and that the costume and character helped him stay relaxed.
The run was broadcast on Halloween and is available through Niftski’s YouTube channel. During the livestream, he joked in character that he hoped he would not achieve the record that day because it would be “very stupid.”
Niftski already holds the Super Mario Bros. records for the warpless, glitchless and any% categories. The any% category allows runners to finish the game by any available method, including exploits and glitches. With the latest improvement, the remaining gap to the theoretical limit is extremely small, leaving only two frames between the current record and perfection.
Sources: IGN.