--- title: "Niftski Just Broke the Super Mario Bros. Any% Record Dressed as Mario: 4:54.299, Two Frames From Perfect" description: "A Halloween stream ended with a new world record, a Mario costume and a run that sits two frames from the practical limit of the game." url: https://gaming.skoop.news/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costum-08a6da/ published: 2026-11-02T03:41:16.116565-05:00 modified: 2026-11-02T03:41:16.116576-05:00 section: "Gaming & Streamers" publisher: "skoop.news" language: en keywords: ["Niftski", "Super Mario Bros", "Andrew Gardikis", "LeKukie", "NES", "TAS", "stream"] hashtags: ["#SuperMarioBros", "#AndrewGardikis", "#Niftski", "#Stream", "#gaming"] image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Super_Mario_Bros._World_1-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled --- # Niftski Just Broke the Super Mario Bros. Any% Record Dressed as Mario: 4:54.299, Two Frames From Perfect > A Halloween stream ended with a new world record, a Mario costume and a run that sits two frames from the practical limit of the game. Published 2026-11-02 · Updated 2026-11-02 · Gaming & Streamers, [skoop.news](https://skoop.news/) ## In brief - Niftski set a new any% Super Mario Bros. world record on Halloween while dressed as Mario, completing the NES game in 4:54.299 [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). - Niftski said he committed to the Mario bit around the middle point of his five-hour stream [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). - The relevant TAS benchmark is 4:54.265, created under the same rules used for real-time runs [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). ## A record two frames from perfect Niftski set a new any% Super Mario Bros. world record on Halloween while dressed as Mario, completing the NES game in 4:54.299 [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). The run moved Niftski within two frames of a theoretically perfect run [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). Niftski was dressed as Mario and spoke in a Mario voice during the stream [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). Niftski shouted out the name Mario upon setting the record [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). ## How the stream went Niftski said he committed to the Mario bit around the middle point of his five-hour stream [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). He said the goofy voice made him not nervous during the run, and that it felt casual [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). Niftski said the two frames were lost in the initial stretch of the game [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). ## What the theoretical limit is The relevant TAS benchmark is 4:54.265, created under the same rules used for real-time runs [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). That benchmark is treated as the practical theoretical limit for the category [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). A faster TAS time of 4:54.032 exists, but it uses simultaneous left-and-right inputs that are impossible on a standard NES controller [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). Those inputs are banned from human attempts [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). ## Why every frame counts Super Mario Bros. runs at 60 frames per second, so each frame lasts roughly 16.7 milliseconds [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). The game uses 21-frame cycles to determine when most levels are completed, so a runner can lose a few frames in some stages without losing time on the final clock [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). The final level, World 8-4, does not offer the same frame-rule cushion, so every successful jump, movement and button press can affect the final result [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). ## The race with LeKukie Brazilian runner LeKukie briefly claimed the world record in June with a 4:54.365 run [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). That run cut the gap to the theoretical limit to six frames, before Niftski reclaimed the top spot two months later [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). LeKukie remains close behind, and both runners have been streaming attempts at the same goal [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). ## How we got here Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985 [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). The record only dipped below the five-minute mark around 2010, when Andrew Gardikis reignited the scene with a new blueprint for future runners [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). In 2021 Niftski became the first player to complete the game in under 4:55, a milestone that was compared to breaking the four-minute mile in speedrunning [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). Niftski is 22 years old and holds the current world records for warpless, glitchless and any percent Super Mario Bros. [[2]](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087). ## What it means for you If you watch speedruns, the number to track is 4:54.265, the benchmark treated as the practical theoretical limit for the category [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). Niftski’s 4:54.299 run is two frames from a perfect run [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). LeKukie remains close behind, and both runners have been streaming attempts at the same goal [[1]](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/). ## Sources 1. [Niftski breaks Super Mario Bros. world record in Mario costume as perfect run comes within 2 frames](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/niftski-breaks-super-mario-bros-world-record-in-mario-costume-as-perfect-run-comes-within-2-frames-3423721/) — Dexerto 2. [Mario-Dressed Speedrunner Breaks World Super Mario Bros. Record On Halloween Stream: ‘Can I Please Break Character’](https://kotaku.com/mario-dressed-speedrunner-breaks-world-super-mario-bros-record-on-halloween-stream-can-i-please-break-character-2000752087) — Kotaku Image: Photo: Umweltschützen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Super_Mario_Bros._World_1-1.jpg) --- Written from the sources above and checked twice (rules and an independent model) before publishing. How we work: https://skoop.news/how-we-work/ · Corrections: https://skoop.news/corrections/