Summer Games Done Quick 2026 was filled with many impressive speedruns and challenge runs. A Balatro player achieved infinite score in just over an hour. Another player beat The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the same amount of time. But one of the craziest runs was the premiere of a new tool-assisted speedrun of Super Mario 64.
For those who are unfamiliar, a tool-assisted speedrun (or TAS for short) is a pre-programmed series of inputs that is meant to complete a game as quickly as possible, often using tricks and techniques that are too precise or otherwise impossible for a human player to perform. A well-made TAS can take months or years as the creators meticulously comb through the run frame-by-frame searching for any minuscule adjustments that could make the run even a single frame faster.
The TAS showcased at SGDQ 2026 was a 120-star run, the first new TAS in this category since 2012. If you’ve never seen a TAS before, it’s nearly incomprehensible. Mario squeezes himself into corners, jumps a few times, then seemingly teleports across stages. He phases through walls and bounces on thin air. At times it’s hard to believe that it’s the same game I’ve played and replayed since my early childhood.
Video Credit: pannenkoek2012
This astonishing project is a landmark achievement in the Super Mario 64 speedrunning community. It took 27 contributors several years to complete, and the end result is an improvement of more than six minutes over the 2012 TAS. A lot of the time saves come from recent glitch discoveries like geometry misalignment, along with new tools like a brute force tool that lets the TAS get perfect, consistent coin drops from enemies.
As someone who casually follows a few Super Mario 64-specific YouTube channels, I am constantly astounded by the amount of time, thought, and computing power people have dedicated to understanding every intricacy of this 30-year-old game. No detail is too small for scrutiny, no line of code is overlooked. It’s a testament to the staying power of Nintendo’s seminal work that we’re still finding new ways to enjoy it decades after release.
If you’re interested in checking out this incredible run, I highly recommend watching the live premiere on the GamesDoneQuick YouTube channel. A few of the project’s team leads were at the event to provide commentary, and the fact that they can explain the mechanics of Mario’s bizarre, lightning-fast movements in real time is almost as impressive as the run itself. For a more in-depth breakdown of the run, you should also check out the YouTuber Bismuth, who is producing an eight-part series explaining the run in much more detail.
Do you have your own favorite speedruns? Want to geek out more about glitches and speed tech? Comment down below or head on over to our Discord and join the conversation!
Nintendo Pow Block – A Nintendo Podcast by Boss Rush
Nintendo Pow Block is a weekly Nintendo podcast hosted by Edward Varnell, Corey Dirrig, and their friends from around the internet. Each week, they dive into the latest Nintendo news and rumors for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, new and upcoming releases, updates to Nintendo Switch Online and the Nintendo Music app, and discuss what they’ve been playing in the Playing with Power segment.
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