If you ever thought you could finish a game more quickly than others, or thought you knew everything there was to know about a classic title--think again. Speed runs are different beasts than just playing a game quickly, requiring you to take advantage of game-breaking tricks and glitches to post seemingly impossible completion times.
Speed-runner Siglemic just set a new world record for the already crazy barrier of Super Mario 64, completing the game in a mind-numbing one hour, 43 minutes, and 54 seconds. You can watch the feat in the video below, where you'll see some things that defy what you thought you knew about Mario 64.
Perhaps you'll question every game you've ever played, your entire childhood (depending on your age), or your very existence. Or maybe you'll just appreciate how many different tricks and exploits exist in games like these, ones require a lot of time to perfect. Siglemic stated that he played around 5,000 hours of Mario 64 to master his speed runs--a truly ridiculous amount of time.
His FAQ below the video gives some details about his run, including his reasoning for using the Japanese version (the introduction is 2.7 seconds faster--every second counts!). He is also playing the original N64 version rather than the Wii Virtual Console edition with faster load times. He notes that, despite the load times, there is less of a dead zone on the original version and he feels that he benefits more from the tighter controls.
His reasoning seems to have worked regardless of any conflicting opinions, because he's the new record holder--congrats Siglemic!
Source: Eurogamer