Gamer Breaks Mario 64 Record After Declaring Himself Too Tired

Sometimes the best achievements happen when we're ready to give up.

Speedrunner Suigi broke his own world record for completing Super Mario 64's grueling 120-star run on April 12, finishing in 1:35:25. The twist? He'd just told his viewers he was "cooked" and ready to quit for the night.

The 20-year-old had already been streaming for six hours. He'd spent four hours practicing and abandoned five attempts after early mistakes. His last serious try fell apart after an hour and 20 minutes when a triple-jump failure ended his hopes.

But then he started one more run, seemingly out of habit.

An hour into the attempt, things didn't look promising. Suigi was already 21 seconds behind his previous record from November 2024. Still, he saw a path forward and kept going, acknowledging chat subscribers and cracking jokes between levels.

Then the magic happened. In one brilliant sequence, he regained 22 seconds in a single level, putting himself ahead with 15 minutes to go. By the 1:27 mark, he'd built a comfortable 13-second buffer.

Why This Inspires

What makes this story special isn't just the record itself. It's watching someone push through exhaustion and self-doubt to achieve something extraordinary. Suigi's casual attitude and persistence in the face of mounting mistakes shows the kind of resilience that applies far beyond gaming.

Even during moments requiring intense concentration, he stayed connected with his community. He thanked donors and chatted with viewers in the split seconds between Mario's jumps through paintings. That ability to stay present and grateful while chasing excellence is rare.

The run nearly fell apart again inside Tick Tock Clock, where a brutal error wiped out his entire lead. "Is it over?" he asked himself. Then he answered his own question: "No, it's not."

His final battle against Bowser went perfectly. Victory came down to the wire, pulled from what looked like certain defeat. Suigi beat his previous record by 2.6 seconds, a massive gap in the speedrunning world where fractions matter.

The humility afterward showed his character too. Instead of celebrating a flawless run, Suigi pointed out his mistakes and noted how much room remains for improvement. At one point, a sub-1:27 time even looked possible.

Other speedrunners had come close to his previous record over the past 16 months, with Karin getting within two seconds eight months ago. Now Suigi has moved the target even further away.

For a game released in 1996, ten years before Suigi was even born, Super Mario 64 continues bringing people together in pursuit of perfection.