Impossible!

In my last post, I wrote about the craziness surrounding both the Donkey Kong high score and Super Mario Bros any% (fastest completion) world records. In the last 6 months, the impossible has been achieved on both titles. Both world records have been pushed even further than I thought was possible.

Donkey Kong:

The original arcade version of Donkey Kong has seen a surge in competition since the release of the movie, "The King of Kong," in 2007. The movie is based on the true story of the Donkey Kong high score competition between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, the former top 2 players in the world. Fast forward to 2016, and their top scores are in 19th and 20th place, respectively. We are overdue for a new King of Kong movie between the top 2 players: current world record holder, Wes Copeland and former champion, Robbie Lakeman.

So here's what has happened!

May 5th, 2016: 
Wes Copeland put up a score that may very well never be beaten. His score bested Robbie Lakeman's 1,190,200 score that was achieved just weeks earlier. He also bested Dean Saglio who had held the DK record uninterrupted for roughly 7 years (2009-2016). Dean doesn't get too much publicity due to the fact that his scores were achieved on his home computer instead of an actual arcade cabinet. The only actual difference between the computer and arcade version is the control set itself, and thus the scores are listed on the same leaderboard, but labeled for said differences.

Front Row, Left to Right: Robbie Lakeman, Billy Mitchell, Wes Copeland
(bonus points if you can name the 2nd row of gamers)

Wes Copeland's score is at very edge of Donkey Kong high score potential. He scored 1,218,000; He became the 2nd ever 1.2 million point player, the 1st to do it on an actual cabinet, and the 1st to ever best Dean Saglio. Donkey Kong gives you 4 lives to score as high as possible before reaching an impassible screen (the kill screen), and Wes took his 1st life to the end of the game. He was able to use those 3 extra lives to gain enough points to surpass Dean Saglio's 1,206,800 game by a fair margin! A huge congratulation is due to Wes for what I would call a "perfect" game of Donkey Kong.

June 21st, 2016:
Just when you thought it was over Robbie Lakeman put up a massive 2nd place score of 1,206,900. His score was also achieved on a cabinet and bested Dean Saglio by a mere 100 points (one barrel jump)! This is no minor accomplishment, and a huge congratulation is due to Robbie as well.

Current Standings

Super Mario Bros.:

In terms of speedrunning, Super Mario Bros is the equivalent of the 100 meter dash. Any time the any% (fastest completion) world record is broken, it is a big deal. Now, the times are lower than I ever thought possible!

It's me, andrewg

February 14th, 2016:
'Blubbler' set a world record warpless time of 19:05.89! I always had put my limit for this run at around 19:05, so a a big congrats to blubbler on his run through all stages. I enjoy this category quite a bit, and would like to do a run again in the near future.

July 3rd, 2016: 
Bryan Niskanen breaks my world record Twin Galaxies score of 1,435,100 with 1,441,150 points! It was an impressive run to watch.

August 11th, 2016:
Darbian sets a world record time of 4:57.244 for any% beating his personal best by a single frame.

darbian

September 29th, 2016: 
Kosmicd12 ties darbian's world record time of 4:57.244 for any% using a NEW, yes a new, speedrun technique. This technique is referred to as FPG or the flagpole glitch, which involves clipping inside the base of the flagpole to skip the flag's animation. It saves a frame rule, or simply, it saves 0.35 seconds per use, and there are at least 3 spots it can be utilized. That's at least 1.05 seconds that can be gained, which might not seem like much, but it is. Before the discovery of the FPG, the last improvement to the world record was a single frame or 1/60th of a second or .016 seconds. This discovery opened up a can of worms.

kosmicd

October 3rd, 2016:
Kosmicd12 breaks the tied world record with a time of 4:57.194. This run included the fastest ever last stage completion of 8-4 seen in a world record. This is the first time kosmicd12 has held the world record time.

October 5th, 2016:
Darbian reclaims the world record with a time of 4:56.878. This time is lower than the fastest possible just weeks earlier and is the first 4:56 time ever!

Current Standings

For years, I said that 4:57 was impossible and was proven wrong, and now 4:56 has happened. The time savings of the FPG blew my mind to say the least. I am currently tied for 3rd place with 4:57.69 with blubbler. I imagine it won't be long before we start seeing more 4:56 times now. It is only a matter of time. And maybe, just maybe, we'll even see a 4:55.