Have you guys seen the documentary King of Kong about the acrimonious back and forth battle for the world record on the original Donkey Kong arcade machine? If not, we can’t recommend it high enough.
Anyway, we’re currently wondering whether a sequel might be in the offing based on the interminable struggle to knock fractions of time off any% speedrun record for the original Super Mario Bros. on the NES.
The master at this sort of malarkey is a fella by the name of Darbian, who has once again captured the record after losing it to a plucky upstart earlier this week.
Darbian knocked more than 0.3 seconds off the existing mark by completing the game in just 4 minutes 56.878 seconds and pulled a muscle during the celebrations.
In a discipline where competitors are usually separated by F1-like margins, a third of a second is a huge.
Related: Nintendo NES Classic – How to order
You can see his efforts, posted to YouTube yesterday in the clip below
If you’re wondering how Darbian did it (and don’t want to watch the video), he managed to warp to different worlds, meaning he only needed to complete a total of 8 levels to oust King Koopa and rescue The Princess.
Darbian’s return to the game wasn’t scheduled. When breaking the record back in April he claimed: “I have reached my potential in this category – I’m done! My quest is over.”
Can anyone take the record from him and force him back into competition again? With the NES Classic out on November 11, maybe you can throw your hat into the speed-running ring?
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.