Twitch and Speedruns!

Alright, so I'm officially back to doing speedrun attempts. I'm now actively doing attempts for Super Mario Bros. any% (that is, fastest possible completion).

My current time stands at just under 5 minutes at 4:58.09. The current world record time is 4:57.62 by a runner named Darbian. So my time is a little under half a second (0.47) slower than the record. Since I am one of the top competitors, I feel the need to give a little background info regarding how the game itself works. Technical details in bold, ignore if you'd like!


From when you turn on the NES, there are these 21 frame cycles that continuously run. Due to this, one can only save time in 21 frame (0.35 second) intervals

From Scott Kessler: "Think of it like a window at the end of a level that is only open every 21 frames  Say you have two separate runs where you reach the window on the 50th time it opens. If you arrive just after it closes the 49th time then you have to wait 20 frames for it to open the 50th time. If you get there just as it opens the 50th time then you can enter without waiting even though you arrived up to 20 frames later. Generally speaking, you can only save time in multiples of 21 frames (0.35 seconds)."

The above is true with the exception of the final stage because we obviously stop the timer immediately upon hitting the axe and beating the game. 


Summary: The current world record can only be improved by 21 frames (0.35 seconds) in 4-2 + ~12 frames (0.2 seconds) in 8-4. Realistically, and as far as we know, there's only a little over half a second worth of improvement left in the game.



My goal is to achieve a "perfect" run. I would like to beat every stage with perfect in-game times in addition to getting every single frame rule. I guess I'd say my ultimate goal is a time of 4:56, but as of now, that is very unrealistic. However, that won't stop me from trying!