Super Mario 64's 120 star speedrun world record has been broken by a Japanese player

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-04-09 23:00 (JST)
Translated by. Nick Mosier

The Super Mario 64 120 star RTA (Real Time Attack) speedrun world record has been broken by Japanese speedrunner Batora, with a time of 1:38:21. This is roughly 4 seconds faster than the previous record, held by speedrunner Cheese05, and the first time since 2015 a Japanese player has held the record in this category. The last time Batora held the world record was nearly 11 years ago in 2010. See Super Mario 64 – World Record Histories / Progression for more details.

Batora’s tweet following the run:

WORLD RECORD pic.twitter.com/ULfknK7ncr
— バトラ (@batora324) April 9, 2021

Batora’s world record run on Twitch:

The 120 star RTA category could be considered the main speedrunning category for Super Mario 64 due to its popularity and heated competition. It’s also an extremely crowded category where, before the current record was the set, the top 4 positions were in a dead heat being within 7 seconds of each other. Because of the category’s long history, there are many refined techniques that exist, and despite runs hovering around 90 minutes, it’s a very popular streaming category that viewers can’t take their eyes off of.

Batora set their sights on the world record and started streaming nearly every day on Twitch, with the last few weeks especially having some really close runs. It seemed to only be a matter of time before the record was broken. The hard work and perseverance paid off, but with mistakes on Rainbow Cruise and various other spots, there’s still room for the record to be updated even further. If Batora keeps pushing for a better time, 1 hour and 37 minutes could be within reach. Of course, other speedrunners such as Puncayshun are aiming for the record as well, so don’t expect the competition in the 120 star RTA category to slow down anytime soon.