The Gold Split - Week #39: Mario's Next ACE
Week #39 (April 23): Super Mario Bros. TLL ACE; Super Mario 64; Literature Review; Echoes of Wisdom; Event News; New Records: Portal 2, Vice City, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Dishonored
Happy Week #39!
There’s a new ACE on the block. Almost 39 years after Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels’ initial release in Japan, some incredible individuals have found yet another improbable way to reduce the time it takes to beat the game by a few seconds. It’s the Story of the Week!
In other major news, Twitch’s Vodpocalypse got delayed by a month! More details in Up to Speed. Get ready for another month of constant reminders to save speedrunning history.
Contents
I encourage you to think about what happened recently in the communities you are a part of. If there are any stories, articles, glitches, events, or other topics I should cover, go ahead and submit them here or in the Gold Split Discord! 📨
Story of the Week ✨
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (TLL) is a sequel to Super Mario Bros. It was released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan in 1986 and initially deemed too difficult for the North American market. Only seven years later, it made its debut in the West as part of the Super Mario All-Stars compilation on the SNES.
The best players are already able to complete the game in less than eight minutes, but for the past month, speedrunners and TAS creators of the game have been musing about a new way of crashing the game that was discovered in March 2025, almost 39 years later. The end result is a method of performing a glitch called Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) that yields a 17-second saving during the final level of the game. For a speedrun as optimised as this, that’s huge.
Arbitrary Code Execution
Broadly speaking, ACE implies a way to inject custom code into the game, often through regular controller inputs, and then execute it. This can be done by manipulating the game’s memory and writing code through a complicated and precise series of movements. Executing the code can have almost any desired effect, including warping the player straight to the credits.
Some players call it the Holy Grail of speedrunning, but for others it’s a curse they’d rather not see on the leaderboards at all. On one hand, more often than not it becomes the fastest way to complete the game. On the other hand, the gameplay that players originally fell in love with, the main reason they enjoy replaying the game over and over again, may feel barely recognisable. Thankfully, at the time of writing, the possibilities of its application in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels are still a lot more limited.
For the most impressive display of what ACE can do, look no further than TASBot’s showcase at SGDQ 2022, put together by Sauraen, Savestate, dwangoAC, and countless members of the community:
Discovery
On March 13, 2025, Twitter user LuigiSidekick posted a clip of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels crashing while playing on Nintendo Switch. It’s worth noting that this person is not involved in the speedrunning scene, and so the clip took a few weeks to be noticed. Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that it was at all. Anybody (me included) not extremely well versed with Super Mario Bros. speedrunning would just disregard it and shrug it off. Games crash all the time for a variety of reasons.
However, some people are built different. On March 28, Simplistic6502 was the first to replicate the crash with an emulator, research its cause and recognise its potential. On the Super Mario Bros. speedrunning Discord, this gained traction quickly and led to extremely technical and daily discussions about the possibilities: using inputs to skip to the end of a level.
Many members of the community collaborated and iterated quickly after each new discovery. They realised that the only level that makes ACE possible is the final one, 8-4, and quickly went from artificial recreations into proof-of-concept demos and a tool-assisted speedrun incorporating the glitch. The final frontier was always an RTA-viable setup that is possible to be executed by a human during a full game speedrun.
threecreepio, LeKukie and Niftski were the first to come up with one, and Niftski was the first to pull it off; not in a full run, but in 8-4 exclusively.
How it works
In this explanation, I won’t go beneath what I truly understand, but there are several levels of complexity, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, it relates to the setup at the time of writing. Over time, the way it is executed is going to change.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels stores objects in six memory slots. These include things like enemies, but also spawned coins, power-ups, firebars and fireballs. Immediately after those six slots is a two-byte value the game later uses to decide where to jump at the end of the room. Through the introduction of a seventh entity, the player can overwrite that value. In order to even spawn a seventh entity, it’s important that a second controller is also connected, continuously holding down the B and Select buttons. This stops the game from clearing the slots.
It’s relatively easy to cause a crash this way, but through a series of frame-perfect inputs and precisely positioned fireballs, players can write the two bytes which equal the address of the code that shows the credits. When the room ends (in this case through Mario’s death in the lava), the game skips the rest of 8-4 and jumps to the end.
Just today, Niftski was the first person to successfully pull off ACE in a real run, saving more than 12 seconds over his previous world record.
Knock-On Effects
In the grand scheme of things, and as far as other ACE discoveries are concerned, it is a relatively small timesave. However, it is now the fastest way to beat the game using the general definition of speedrunning: reaching the end of the game, usually the credits, as fast as possible and by any means necessary.
These are still early days for the glitch and it’s unclear how much the setup will improve in the weeks and months to come. If it becomes easy enough to learn and execute, it might be adopted by the majority of the community and not much would change. Any% would still remain the main category on the official leaderboards.
However, it’s much more likely that the community will ultimately opt to split the categories. Whether ACE would remains a part of Any% and a new category without ACE is created or if skipping to the credits becomes its own category and banned from Any% will be the result of longer discussions.
Considering other Super Mario Bros. games, it’s unlikely that this particular way of achieving Arbitrary Code Execution and skipping to the end will spread to more of them. It’s hyper-specific to TLL and relies on its memory organisation and level layout. However, given what I’ve already seen and how little I truly understand of the subject matter, I hesitate to make a definite judgement.
Further Reading
For more technical explanations, I highly recommend checking out the author notes for the latest tool-assisted run on TASVideos.org as well as Niftski’s explanation video about the setup used and all its frame-perfect tricks.
If you’d like to join the fun yourself and have questions, there’s no better place than Super Mario Bros. Speedrunning Discord Server.
Up to Speed ⚡️
⚠️ Twitch Vodpocalypse delayed until May 19 (3-minute read)
In an effort that can only be seen as acknowledgement of the poor performance of their tools to export videos off the platform, Twitch announced that they will be extending the deletion deadline to May 19. At that point, every user with more than 100 hours of saved Highlights will see videos in their library sucked into the void until the capacity limit is reached. It can’t be restated oven enough how important it is for the speedrunning community to come together in an effort to save footage that is threatened by this. If you’re still unaware, catch up on the story, use speedrun.com’s tools and tell your friends.
📜 The History of Super Mario 120 Star’s Early Era (73-minute video)
SummoningSalt’s latest history piece focusses specifically on the time between 2004 and 2014 in Super Mario 64. It covers the early days, the dominance of the Japanese community, the rise of Siglemic and other big names in the community. As always, the video is well researched and features great storytelling as well as an ending that can only be described as absolute cinema.
🏆 Speedrun.com METAL EDEN Competition (Results)
The results are in and the times have been officially verified. KeremOR9 will once again take home the lion’s share of the generous $1,000 prize pool. Congratulations!
📚 Still Running (Vol. 1): Speedrun Studies in 2022 (10-minute read)
Still Running is a review of studies and scientific literature from 2022 that include speedrunning as a central or side topic. Composed by Davy R. Howard, it offers a unique showcase of how speedrunning can intersect with a wide range of scientific fields, from mathematics to gender studies, law, and media theory. I’ve never read anything quite like it before, and it’s genuinely cool that something like this exists.
🗡️ Echoes of Wisdom leaderboards won’t allow skipping the intro (7-minute read)
The The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom community recently voted on whether or not they would allow skipping parts of the introduction. The document consists of a full breakdown and analysis of the results and shows that there is no strong majority for either side. The community’s moderators proposed a tentative plan to move forward, which includes allowing the intro skip only for their category extension leaderboards and revisiting the question at a later time.
👽 The holy grail of Ben 10: Power Trip (7-minute read)
Ben 10: Power Trip is a 3D action-adventure released in 2020. A new glitch dubbed All Aliens Whenever promises to unlock the sub-hour mark in the All Bosses category by allowing access to all alternate forms, saving time through faster movement and easier combat. An in-depth explanation of the glitch, how it is executed, and how it was found is available in the post.
🎥 How Speedrunners destroyed Quest for Glory II (77-minute video)
In my opinion, point-and-click adventure games are often underappreciated when it comes to speedrunning. And this video essay by OneShortEye about Quest for Glory II: Trial By Fire demonstrates why that sentiment may sometimes be deserved, but also why these games can have storylines, glitch discoveries, and world record progressions that rival the large speedgames we all know and love. It’s exceptionally well put together and includes interviews with many of the key figures who that shaped the game’s speedrunning history.
🌐 SpeedrunningLeague.com can host your long-term competitions (New Site)
Originally developed specifically for the Super Mario 64 rom-hack community, SpeedrunningLeague.com wants to become available for all communities eager to run league-style competitions. Among many other features, it supports a customisable scoring system, live leaderboards, teams, and a fantasy league. A full list is available on the website. As of right now, access to league creation tools still needs to be requested manually.
Event News 📅
Five successful events raised a combined $50,000 for various charitable causes during the past two weeks!
For the remaining week of April, No Glitches Allowed 2025 (Variety), Retrothon 2025 (Older Games) and Across the Runner-Verse (Spiderman Community) will take care of your marathon needs.
🏁 Finished
GTAMarathon 2025 raised £3,305 for War Child
NSG Spring 2025 raised 26,689 NOK (~$2,570) for the Norwegian Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted
Mario Summit raised $36,409 raised for Urban Arts
Midwest Speedfest 2025 raised $3,629 for the PFund
Game Over, Cancer! 2025 raised $4,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society
⏱️ Running
Until April 27th: No Glitches Allowed 2025 (Schedule), benefiting the Go Rescue Pet Adoption Center
Until April 28th: Retrothon 2025 (Schedule)
🔜 Upcoming
Starts April 26th: Across the Runner-Verse (Schedule)
This Week’s Top Times 🏆
🥇 First Place
Portal 2 (Single Player: No SLA) in 00:55:23.733 by Burger40
Video • Twitch • YouTubeAstro Bot (Any%) in 02:06:37.000 by MoxyK (She/Her, They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeGrand Theft Auto: Vice City (Any% (No SSU)) in 00:48:02.000 by oldweak
VideoDonkey Kong Country Returns (Any%: Console) in 01:17:35.000 by Leah (She/Her)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSuper Mario Bros. 3 (Any% Warpless) in 00:49:50.000 by Kuto1k (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSuper Mario Galaxy 2 (Any%: 1P) in 02:54:09.000 by NolifeVV (Any/All)
Video • TwitchDishonored (Dishonored: Any%) in 00:30:31.579 by Long_John_Steven (Any/All)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeCrash Team Racing (Any% (No Major Glitches): Disc) in 00:48:15.000 by Hypnoshark
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSuper Metroid (Low%: Ice) in 00:47:56.000 by Oatsngoats
Video • Twitch • YouTubeGrand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Any%) in 01:22:55.000 by Artacer
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥈 Second Place
Hollow Knight (Any%: No Major Glitches) in 00:31:17.000 by zVypurr (Any/All)
Video • YouTubeGetting Over It (Scratch edition) (Any%) in 00:00:43.932 by Trynera (He/Him)
VideoFinal Fantasy IX (PSX Disc: Any%) in 08:35:56.000 by PeteSwanson (He/Him)
Video • TwitchSonic CD (2011) (Sonic: Beat The Game) in 00:11:28.970 by inceptionkitten (She/Her)
Video • YouTube
🥉 Third Place
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (Hero Story: New Game) in 00:21:07.779 by iden
Video • Twitch • YouTubeJak 3 (Any% No OoB: Original) in 00:24:04.000 by Bintendo (She/Her)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you next Wednesday, April 30th 2025. 👋🏻
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Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Thanks for reading.