In context: Whereas most people celebrate simply completing a game, speedrunners strive for perfection through dedication, discipline and repetition. Witnessing the best of the best hone their skills is a real treat.
Elite gamers have been speedrunning Super Mario Bros. and other classics for decades. While times have come down over the years as new techniques and tricks are discovered, some gamers inevitably find that they need more of a challenge than a straightforward run presents.
This is where category extensions come in.
All-star speedrunner Kosmic recently completed a sub-five minute run of Super Mario Bros. in one of Speedrun.com’s most challenging extensions: OneHand. That’s right, Kosmic beat the game in less than five minutes while manning the gamepad with a single hand.
The feat sounds impossibly impressive (and it is) although Kosmic makes it look easy. The strategy seems simple enough – turn the controller sideways, use your thumb to manipulate the directional pad, your pointer finger to hold down the run button and your ring finger to press the jump button.
Kosmic said during the record-setting run that one of the toughest aspects of the challenge is dealing with your fingers slipping off the buttons. Best yet – at the end, he recounts making a few mistakes and said it could have been a low 4:58 run without them meaning there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Kosmic will be conducting this same one-handed speedrun as a bonus event at the upcoming Summer Games Done Quick. The speedrunning-for-charity event runs from June 24 through July 1 and will raise money for Doctors Without Borders.
https://www.techspot.com/news/74896-speedrunner-beats-super-mario-bros-under-five-minutes.html
