During a Halloween-themed broadcast, speedrunner Niftski achieved a new world record for the original Super Mario Bros., shaving 0.33 seconds off his previous best time. The 22-year-old runner completed the game in 4:54.299, finishing just two frames away from a theoretical perfect run. This performance surpassed his own record of 4:54.332, which he had established only a few months prior in August.
Niftski began the stream with no intention of breaking records, aiming instead for a festive atmosphere. He spent the broadcast dressed as Mario, eventually adopting the character's distinctive dialect and struggling to keep a fake mustache attached to his face. Despite jokingly expressing frustration about maintaining the persona, Niftski later credited the costume and voice act with reducing his anxiety. He stated that the performance made him feel casual and removed any nervousness, allowing him to execute the run without pressure.
Upon completing the game by defeating King Koopa in World 8, Niftski exclaimed, "IT'S MARIO!" before immediately asking if he could break character. The new time brings the 1985 classic three milliseconds closer to a perfect theoretical limit, with the lost frames occurring during the initial stretch of the level. Niftski currently holds the top records for warpless, glitchless, and any percent categories in the title. The game remains one of the most competitive in the speedrunning community, having seen its record drop below the five-minute mark around 2010 following a new blueprint introduced by Andrew Gardikis.
Sources: Kotaku.