An insanely skilled Mario Kart 64 speedrunner now holds the fastest records on all of the game's courses. Mario Kart 64 was released in 1996 as a successor to 1992's Super Mario Kart. The Nintendo 64 title brought the kart racing series into three dimensions and spawned a long line of racing sequels.
World records are a fascinating part of the video game industry, as new players are constantly finding ways to beat older scores or times. One notably ludicrous world record was recently beaten when a blindfolded speedrunner beat Super Mario Bros. in under twelve minutes. The extremely difficult feat forces players to memorize every single inch of the platforming games' layout. Timing sprints and landing jumps can be extremely difficult even with eyesight, but when blindfolded completing the game becomes nearly impossible. Even so, current record-holder Crescendo was able to break the blindfolded world record by about three minutes, demonstrating a never-before-seen mastery of Super Mario Bros. Another world record was recently broken for a speedrun of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker using a new feature in the game's high-definition remaster. Wind Waker HD allows players to skip cutscenes, and this fact allowed speedrunner Linkus7 to establish a new world record time.
A report from Kotaku reveals that Mario Kart 64 speedrunner Daniel Burbank now holds all 32 of the game's world record times. The Nintendo 64 classic features 16 different courses, and the speedrunning community tracks records for both single lap and three-lap races. During a livestream on August 8, Burbank ran world record times on the game's final two courses, thus becoming the first person to ever hold the world record on all 32 of the game's races. 13 of Burbank's 32 records are actually ties with other players, but the speedrunning community considers these times to be legitimate world records and 19 of the records are held by him alone.
Mario Kart 64 remains relevant in the speedrunning community, and the game maintains an important spot in video game history. The 1996 title was followed by a number of sequels, with the most recent game in the series being 2014's Mario Kart 8. An enhanced Deluxe version was released in 2017, and in 2021 Mario Kart 8 became the best-selling racing game ever. The racing game milestone was previously held by the game's predecessor, Mario Kart Wii, until 2021.
Speedrunning is a fairly small but extremely interesting aspect of the video game industry. Dedicated speedrunners must study every inch of their chosen game, knowing every detail in order to maximize their efficiency while playing. Many gamers have sought world record times in Mario Kart 64, but Daniel Burbank has truly dominated the title by acquiring all 32 world record race times.
Source: Kotaku, Daniel Burbank/YouTube