Bubzia, the blindfolded speedrunning specialist, is looking for a new category in Super Mario 64. Earlier this week, he embarked on a race that immediately turned into a disaster, filled with deaths, failed tricks, and bad jumps. It turned out to be a new world record.
In early October, Bubzia completed a 118-day routine to achieve a new world record in the blindfolded 16-star category with a sub-20-minute world record that the community once thought was “completely impossible.” His new goal is a new world record in the 70-star category blindfolded, and to practice for this it will be his first attempt in the 31-star category. Virtually all 31-star tricks become 70-star tricks, so attempting world records in the shorter category is a perfect way to practice the new tricks and routes that will be essential for the bigger goal.
This week, a 31-star attempt got off to an immediately terrible start with a botched clip on the first level forcing Bubzia to use a backup strategy. “Normally I would restart here if we wanted to beat the world record,” he said. “I don't want to waste time restarting when we can practice with so many stars on the fly.” About eight minutes into the race, he lost track of his position in the game while blindfolded. He managed to find a door to get his bearings, but noted that “that's a restart of the journey” under normal circumstances.
When he flew off a cliff carrying a baby penguin on the Cool, Cool Mountain course, Bubzia could only shake his head and say, “I give up. Honestly, screw this star so much. It's ridiculous at this point.” He died again a few minutes later when he forgot to adjust the correct camera angle. Then he died again and again. Finally, the game was completely over, forcing him to run from the initial area. He eventually died four times on a single star in Lethal Lava Land before finally claiming the prize. “If you think about it, that was basically the first try,” he joked.
Blindfolded SM64 – 31 stars in 39:12 world record by Bubzia – YouTube
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After once again forgetting to set the correct camera mode 27 minutes into the attempt, Bubzia declared, “ugh, this race sucks, man.” A couple of minutes later, he did a decent tour of a chunk of Hazy Maze Cave and noted that “that was a really clean star, really, really clean.” But once again he lost his position just before grabbing the star itself. “I lied. I lieddude. Well? I lied, man. Where's the star?” He still managed to get the star after a few seconds of trial and error, but it served as “proof that I'm blindfolded, right there.”
As the attempt reached its final stages, Bubzia said, “I can't wait until we get some good racing going again,” and that was pretty much the tone of the final minutes of the video. But by this point, it had started to become clear to the Twitch chat, who were obviously not blindfolded as they watched the split times compared to Bubzia's previous efforts, that this race was somehow at world record pace. . The new tricks and routes were enough to overcome all the failures along the way.
“Imagine having to bring up this mess as a WR,” one commentator joked as the end of the game approached. But that's exactly what happened. Bubzia grabbed the last star, lifted her blindfold, and stared in utter disbelief as she saw her last. “Is this a world record? Oh my god, this is a joke. World record by five seconds. Oh my god. What the fuck? Dude, this race sucks. I'm not saying this to make the speedrun meme. This race literally sucks. “This is so stupid,” he said, laughing the entire time. “But hey, GG, I guess! Yay!”
So, yes, Bubzia's 39:12 finish in the blindfolded 31-star category is currently a world record, although given all the obvious room for improvement and Bubzia's continued efforts in the category, it probably won't stand. for much longer. Your goal is to achieve a time of about 35 minutes before moving on to the next category.
Bubzia's current, completely damned record is in good company, at least until he's replaced. Super Mario 64's speedruns are littered with triumphant misfortunes, like the “most embarrassing world record of all time” set in 2023, or the single-level record that was set earlier this year seconds after the racer called his effort “careless.” Friends, you should take your Ws where you can get them.
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