A Stunning Demonstration of Retro Gaming Mastery – Mitchflowerpower‘s Mario Bros 3 World Record Speedrun

Imagine perfecting your skills on a beloved game for years, pushing your abilities to superhuman levels, reaching the very edge of human capability – and smashing through to achieve a new world record time thought near impossible.

This is exactly what influential retro gaming icon Mitchflowerpower accomplished last November when he utterly shattered the previous completition time for a 100% run of the Nintendo classic Super Mario Bros 3, coming in at a lightning fast 1 hour 9 minutes and 38 seconds!

For context, the prior record of 1 hour 10 minutes and 10 seconds by runner Kirua already seemed almost unbeatable. And yet Mitchflowerpower found a way, fully completing every level, defeating every enemy, and collecting every collectible at world record pace.

As a fellow retro gaming fan, I was blown away by this incredible achievement. Let‘s dive deep into what makes Mitch‘s run so special, and the highly skilled Mario Bros 3 speedrunning community supporting players in their quest for glory.

What Is "Speedrunning" and Why Does it Matter?

For the uninitiated, speedrunning is the practice of playing through video games as quickly and skillfully as possible, often utilizing glitches and highly complex techniques. Timing starts on initial player input and runs until the game credits roll.

While speedrunning may seem niche, it has exploded into a hugely popular phenomenon over the past decade. Top runners like Mitch regularly get millions of YouTube views and thousands of fans watching live on streaming sites like Twitch.

Dedicated communities even gather to watch world record attempts in person! For example, Games Done Quick regularly hosts charity events where top speedrunners show off their skills to excited live audiences.

And few games inspire more passion from speedrunners and fans than Super Mario Bros 3 – considered by many to be among the best platformers ever made. Released in 1988 for the NES console, Mario Bros 3 took the formula of earlier Mario games and amped everything up to the next level.

More power-ups, more levels, more moves and abilities. Add in multiplying hidden secrets, shortcuts and exploits for devoted fans to find over 30+ years, and you have the recipe for an enduring speedrunning classic!

The Rich History of Mario Bros 3 Speedrunning

Mario Bros 3 speedrunning history stretches all the way back to the late 1980‘s when early gamers first began competing informally to set record times. Primitive video capturing technology limited verification but the community and competition steadily grew over time.

As internet access, streaming sites, and video capture devices improved, Mario Bros 3 speedrunning saw an explosion in formal record keeping, viewership and participants starting in the 2000‘s. Forums and groups were created to verify submitted tapes and share strategies.

Over a decade later, Mario Bros 3 speedrunning is more popular and competitive than ever! Let‘s look at where Mitchflowerpower fits into the history of this great community.

The Reign of Mitchflowerpower

While many consider Kirua the founder of modern Mario Bros 3 speedrunning, Mitchflowerpower‘s explosive debuts in the early 2010‘s cemented his status as the dominant Mario Bros 3 speedrunner to beat.

Across categories like any%, 100% completion, low%, no warp and beyond, very few have challenged Mitch‘s Mario mastery for long. He set unprecedented records and even today innovates new routes after a literal decade atop the Mario speedrunning world.

To quantify Mitchflowerpower dominance, let‘s check some record-holding stats:

And those are just a few of many untouchable Mario speedrunning records bearing Mitch‘s name, some standing years running.

Of course Mitch isn‘t the only dominant Mario speedrunner. Names like GrandPOOBear, dota, Cardboard, hover, and so many more routinely set and exchange world class times across Mario titles.

But in Mario Bros 3 specifically, Mitchflowerpower‘s continuous world record setting over a decade straight cements him as a master class in what dedicated retro gaming grind can achieve. Let‘s break down his methods.

Mitchflowerpower‘s Core Speedrunning Strategies

While raw skill is important for Mario speedrunning, strategy optimization is just as critical in routing a world record run. Here are some of Mitchflowerpower‘s essential tactics:

Perfecting Movement – Controlling Mario‘s physics and smoothly stringing complex jumps, slides and maneuvers together allows Mitch to almost glide through levels. Must see to believe!

Maximizing P-Speed – Building up Mario‘s hidden momentum stat, P-Speed, then exploiting it for huge jumps and flight speeds saves large chunks of time.

Pixel Perfect Clipping – Frame and pixel perfect level exits let Mitch clip out of bounds to skip big sections. Require endless grinding to execute at full speed!

Of course, masterful fundamentals like pattern recognition, muscle memory, quick reflexes, and creativity are all critical too. But it‘s the way Mitchflowerpower synthesizes everything together that places him leagues above the rest!

This all culminated in Mitch utterly demolishing the presumed barrier of 1 hour 10 minutes in his November 2022 run with a time of 1:09:38 – likely the maximum potential for human players.

Let‘s break that incredible run down!

Mitchflowerpower‘s Super Mario Bros 3 100% Speedrun World Record (1:09:38)

On November 2022, Mitchflowerpower stepped up to set yet another seeming impossible record time – fully completing Mario Bros 3 faster than any human in history.

Bounding over endless pits, outpacing lethal Hammer Bros, and sliding through walls to warp past entire levels, Mitch showed absolute mastery playing Mario at the very limits of human capability.

Of course Mitch makes it looks easy but as a fellow retro gaming fan, my palms were sweaty the entire run! One small mistake means game over and losing precious seconds.

Yet Mitchflowerpower makes almost no errors across a 70+ minute marathon requiring endless skill checks and unintuitive exploits. From frame perfect jump sequences to pixel perfect clipping, no challenge is too great for Mitch.

Don‘t just take my word for it though! Check out highlights of Mitchflowerpower‘s epic Mario Bros 3 world record speedrun below:

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That clip alone should give you appreciation for Mitch‘s abilities. But imagine that level of mastery sustained across the entire Mario Bros 3 game for over an hour without pause! An incredible achievement.

Forfellow passionate Mario fans, Mitchflowerpower‘s run is breathtaking yet clearly the result of countless hours mastering a beloved game. It represents the very pinnacle of Mario Bros 3 play and may never be topped by human challengers.

We are witnessing a masterclass in retro gaming skill and strategy built to stand the test of time, just like the iconic Nintendo classic it triumphs. Bravo Mitchflowerpower!

Appreciating Gaming History

While modern AAA titles with movie budgets and cutting edge graphics rightfully get attention, for longtime gamers like myself, retro classics hold a special place in our hearts.

Masterpieces like Super Mario Bros 3 represent the imaginative, engaging, and just plain fun experiences many of us grew up loving before gaming was mainstream. And thanks to the speedrunning community, these games stay alive decades later!

Now a new generation of young gamers discover these same classics anew each day. They fall in love with Mario‘s jump mechanics and 8-bit charm just like we did 30 years ago! And perhaps some may devote themselves to speedrunning too, passing gaming history on.

So while not every gamer speedruns, we all owe thanks to this passionate community that pushes our favorite retro games and gaming skill to their absolute limits, decade over decade. All while introducing new fans every day!

Mitchflowerpower‘s world record may stand forever as a testament to this wonderful culture keeping gaming history alive. We all win thanks to devoted fans like him!

So if you‘ve never seen expert Mario Bros 3 gameplay, check out Mitch and other talented Mario speedrunners when you can. It may rekindle some nostalgia for beloved childhood memories while showing you heights of skill you never imagined possible!

Thanks for letting me share my passion! Game on friends 😉