Super Mario 64 speedrun record destroyed following doomed run
It's been 28 years since we stormed Princess Peach's Castle, jumped into a variety of paintings, and saved the damsel in distress from the scaly claws of Boswer - all in time to get home in time for tea and a hefty slice of Peach's cake. Still, Super Mario 64 remains one of the greatest video games of all time.
We've sadly come to realise we'll likely never be able to recapture the Nintendo magic of the N64. Blowing on a cartridge and pressing that black button, we were treated to gaming legends like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and GoldenEye 007. There's a reason people are still speedrunning these games decades later.
Super Mario 64 speedrunner has his dreams shattered
Spedrunner Weegee is a bit of a pro on the Super Mario 64 scene and previously held the 120 Star category record from the end of 2022 into 2023. The crown was snatched away from him by the discovery of the "carpetless" trick that could knock 50 seconds off a run, but it's a tricky one to pull off.
Putting the crown in his sights, Weegee was back to try the carpetless trick and put himself back in the history books. All was going well, but sadly, that joy was short-lived as his run stumbled before his (and our) eyes on a Twitch livestream.
Taking to the notoriously hard "Big House in the Sky" on Rainbow Ride, Weegee was making great time and was a whopping minute ahead of the record at this point. Unfortunately, a botched wall jump led him tumbling back to the start. Things only got worse as Weegee repeatedly stumbled and turned his one-minute advantage into a two-minute loss.
Saying, "I don't know if I want to finish this," Weegee looked pretty defeated but powered forward regardless. Although Weegee ended outside of record rankings, the big kick in the nuts comes from the fact he could've legitimately set the record without the carpetless trick.
Weegee reclaims the Super Mario 64 speedrun record
Speedrun.com confirms the 120 Star record was held Karin, landing a ridiculously fast 1:36:48.5 in October 2023. This gave us the first sub-1:37 all-stars run. Weegee previously held 1:37:35 but was bested by the carpetless manoeuvre by just a second. Since then, others have been knocking him back.
Over on Reddit, fans lamented Weegee's loss, with one saying, "This could have legitimately killed the category for years. So insane." Well, in the case of good things coming to those who wait, Weegee didn't let failure get him down. Dusting himself off and heading back to the castle, he tried again.
Just days after looking like he might throw in the towel, Weegee reclaimed the world record, this time with a jaw-dropping 1:36:21.48. The replies were full of praise for the superstar streamer, but now, the question of whether he can achieve that lucrative sub-1:35? Better get practicing those wall jumps.
