Super Mario Bros. speedrunner Niftski is continuing to push the game ever closer to perfection. 490 days after setting his last world record, he's now achieved a new best time of 4:54.56, which means that human runners are now just 18 frames away from a literally perfect run.
Tool-assisted speedrunners, programming precise inputs and using tricks that are typically impossible for humans to replicate, have established that the theoretically perfect Super Mario Bros.
time is 4:54.26. Niftski is now just .3 seconds away from that time, which comes out to being exactly 18 frames away from perfection.
You can watch the new world record in full through the video below, which includes an all-timer of a pop-off, where Niftski says he resists the temptation to rip his shirt apart in celebration only because it was a recent Christmas gift from his mom.
In the video's description, he assures viewers concerned about his heart rate - which is displayed throughout the run - that he is "completely healthy and [does] not have any heart condition." Super Mario Bros.