Since
Super Mario World came out for the Super Nintendo on
November 21, 1990, war and famine have taken untold millions of lives,
nations have risen and fallen, and some dudes in an obscure corner of
the Internet have dedicated countless hours to making insane obstacle
courses for Mario and then beating them. As we all know, every single
conceivable thing in all possible worlds has its own Internet subculture
dedicated to it, almost invariably complete with a 1999-era forum to
bring enthusiasts together. No exception,
Super Mario World hacking has a new hero in YouTube user PangaeaPanga, who
spent three years assembling and now beating “Item Abuse 3,” a custom creation touted as “the hardest
Super Mario World level in existence.” The results are oddly hypnotic:
PangaeaPanga
accomplished the feat using a Super Nintendo emulator that allows for
tool-assisted speedruns—video game playthroughs that let a user advance
through a level frame by frame, recording only successful advancement
(and omitting every character death). PangaeaPanga says it took him
78,160 total recordings to get all the way through the absurdly
punishing level, all the while thrusting Mario into a hellish nightmare
of eternal death, rebirth, and incremental progression. When he finally
escapes the
samsara of his existence, Mario does not achieve
nirvana, but he does get a “Course clear!” message, so congrats for
that, little buddy. This being the Internet, there is naturally also a
sub-sub-sub-culture that
contends that tool assistance is cheating and says some other guy’s tool-free
playthrough of a similarly grueling custom level is more impressive.
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