600 Points, No Deaths, One Rescued Princess

[Earnest Cavalli]

600 Points, No Deaths, One Rescued Princess


What is the lowest possible score you can achieve while beating NES classic Super Mario Bros.? 600 points, and we've got proof.

On June 27, a thread was created on the SydLexia.com forums containing footage of a player completing Super Mario Bros. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0E2SCGKtLI&feature=player_embedded] while only scoring 700 points. The site's resident retro gaming deity (he calls himself "Not Sure," so we'll go with that) immediately decried the clip, saying it was created using savestates within a NES emulator, and that he could complete a legitimate run with an even lower score.

Surprisingly, no one scoffed, which I can only take as a testament to Not Sure's famed prowess in the field of platforming titles from two decades back.

Fast forward to July 1, and the thread is host to another clip, this one created by Not Sure and documenting his 600-point, no death trip through Nintendo's classic title. As far as I can tell, everything in the clip is legit, albeit occasionally edited for time, and just like he said, Not Sure bested the earlier clip's efforts.

The majority of us common folk will never find a reason, or the dedication to complete a task like this, but, like the Olympics or those awesome World's Strongest Man competitions on ESPN 7, the resulting footage makes for compelling entertainment. The lengths Not Sure goes to in this clip in order to not score points are just hilarious. Dodging goombas, waiting out the clock, leaping over question mark blocks; it's so antithetical to everything we know about Super Mario Bros., that you can't help but be transfixed by the absurdity of the entire thing.

Scratch that last metaphor I made about this being like the Olympics. If anything, this is like watching a penguin trying to fly a plane [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JsZbSzMi08]. Everything it does is so patently wrong, that you can't help but laugh when he somehow manages to figure the whole thing out.

Source: SydLexia [http://www.sydlexia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15784&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=5fba536485e6cc13c3f827b86d3110e8]


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[JUSTINtimeforalaugh]

He's clearly hitting the piranha plants

 

[redisforever]

That's very impressive. I wish I could do that.

 

[Roserari]

Congratulations, you have just won yourself the "Wat of the Year Award"

 

[Podunk]

He's clearly hitting the piranha plants

Hitboxes are a funny thing like that.

 

[TheFinalFantasyWolf]

That is some well deserved "cake".

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

If it was done with hacks or an auto computer player then I will admit to this guy being the best Super Mario Bros player in the world... if it was legit. I can't help but feel it isn't legit.

 

[Dr.Sean]

Does stuff like this give Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka warm fuzzy feelings in their tummies? They must be proud that people are still playing their game after twenty six years.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

After watching the entire clip, it's safe to say Not Sure has got to be the most patient and skilled Super Mario Bros player I have ever seen. I mean, the part in World 8-3? Dodging the hammers from two crossing hammer-lobbing Hammer Bros?

That was ridiculous, and also completely awesome. I bow to those skills.

-Snip-

Also, the title of this article makes it sound like the opening words to an epic movie trailer. Well done.

 

[GasMasksAreForChumps]

He seemed to walk over some gaps....or is it just game design? Anyways, I was laughing my butt off at the hammer bros, when they can't hit him when he's right in front of them.

 

[tomtom94]

Looks legit to me, and the only words I've got are...wow. that was...interesting.

However, if someone finds another way past the two coins (where this guy jumped on the Goomba, giving him an extra hundred points) there remains the possibility of a 500-point run.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Scratch that last metaphor I made about this being like the Olympics. If anything, this is like watching a penguin trying to fly a plane [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JsZbSzMi08]. Everything it does is so patently wrong, that you can't help but laugh when he somehow manages to figure the whole thing out.

An entertaining news article AND a reference to The Critic? You just made my day.

The part where Mario jumps to the music around the 4:20 mark always makes me laugh.

 

[rated]

gonna have to call bs on this one after 4 watches and actually experimentation on my part he did indeed hit the piranha plants twice in world 4-1

 

[jerrrry]

If it was done with hacks or an auto computer player then I will admit to this guy being the best Super Mario Bros player in the world... if it was legit. I can't help but feel it isn't legit.

I think it looks pretty legit. Almost everything he does is stuff I've done in person at some point (maybe not all strung together in one super-impressive run like that though). Never though to try to get as few points as possible though...I don't think I'd have the patience to wait for all the timers to wind down and some of those jumps require crazy precision(mostly that goomba).

The one thing I don't understand though is how he got up to where the vine takes you via that pipe in 4-2. Can anyone explain what happened there?

 

[Denmarkian]

He seemed to walk over some gaps....or is it just game design? Anyways, I was laughing my butt off at the hammer bros, when they can't hit him when he's right in front of them.

It was in the game design that you could run over a one-block-wide gap while holding B.

 

[RidetheLightning]

A prime exampe of people with wayy too much free time

 

[coldfrog]

If it was done with hacks or an auto computer player then I will admit to this guy being the best Super Mario Bros player in the world... if it was legit. I can't help but feel it isn't legit.

I think it looks pretty legit. Almost everything he does is stuff I've done in person at some point (maybe not all strung together in one super-impressive run like that though). Never though to try to get as few points as possible though...I don't think I'd have the patience to wait for all the timers to wind down and some of those jumps require crazy precision(mostly that goomba).

The one thing I don't understand though is how he got up to where the vine takes you via that pipe in 4-2. Can anyone explain what happened there?

Yes! This is exactly what I was wondering.

Additionally, he was clearly not against using glitches, so why didn't he do the wall jump where he stomped that goomba to end with 500 points? or am I wrong about that? I just play Mario the regular way, so I could be misinformed. Is that a glitch that can ONLY be used with tool assisted stuff?

 

[SoopaSte123]

gonna have to call bs on this one after 4 watches and actually experimentation on my part he did indeed hit the piranha plants twice in world 4-1

That's the only part that looks fishy. You tested it? Full speed jump over the plants doesn't work like that?

 

[-Dragmire-]

The one thing I don't understand though is how he got up to where the vine takes you via that pipe in 4-2. Can anyone explain what happened there?

That part confused me too, there's even the hole for the vine to come up.

Was it a vine or a bean stalk? I can't remember.