Created in collaboration with the Deltarune mod team, this challenge features a custom category set in the current most popular chapter. Whether you're here to compete or just want an excuse to revisit some fresh content at top speed, this one’s for you!

### **🕹️ Featured Category: Chapter 3 - Egg%**

Crack open your timer, **Chapter 3 Egg%** is here! This run starts off along the familiar Any% route, then veers into a deep sidequest inside the TV World, blending familiar skips with all-new routing challenges. It’s fast, fun, and perfectly chaotic.

### **📅 Challenge Schedule**

- **Start:** June 27, 2025 @ 7:00 PM UTC / 3:00 PM EST
- **End:** July 4, 2025 @ 11:59 PM UTC / 7:59 PM EST 

All runs must be submitted to the official [Challenge leaderboard on Speedrun.com](http://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og376qpv) before the dealine.

**Reminder:** To be prize-eligible, runs must be **livestreamed** and follow all formatting + rules listed on the leaderboard.

### **💰 Prize Pool - $500**

- 🥇 1st Place: $250
- 🥈 2nd Place: $150
- 🥉 3rd Place: $100

Prizes may be subject to tax withholding depending on the winner’s country of residence.

### **🎁 Participation Rewards**

Submit *any* valid run (even if you don’t rank amongst the top!) and you’ll earn:

- **1 Month of Speedrun.com Supporter**
- **The “Darkner” Title** for your profile

![](http://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdK0iVUHLMOX_amus5L1f_Ix8E0Uo38uQj4nvwxJfg_IZLbeuEuAMYsSnK44lCuN5297x-ftOr3vCZnBSEO5zPvLU00glIAcyBbJilfjRMdaLZmn8SNSkV9FpLzPyENxu3sGbihXw?key=ckdu2fWPklsuwzU1CeKwMw)

Supporter helps fund the platform and unlocks perks across the site. Titles are exclusive and only obtainable through official Challenges like this one.

### **🌍 Cash Prize Eligibility**

- Open to players 18+ worldwide, except residents of North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela
- Players under 18 may still participate for non-cash rewards (Supporter + Title)
- Runs must be submitted to the official Challenge leaderboard on Speedrun.com, and prize-eligible runs must be livestreamed.

### **📤 How to Submit**

1. Be sure to read the challenge and contest rules
2. Record your run - and/or If you’re gunning for a top spot on the leaderboard, make sure your run is **livestreamed**
3. Submit it to the official Challenge leaderboard
4. You’re in!

For full rules and leaderboard access, visit [the challenge page on Speedrun.com](http://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og376qpv)

### **Where To Start**

- Join the [FAST LITTLE BOYS Discord Server](http://discord.gg/W6uckvkuer) (thanks for the name, Toby Fox) to follow along, ask questions, and share progress!
- Follow the challenge on Speedrun.com to receive notifications about challenge activity!

Deltarune Chapters 3 & 4 have finally dropped  - and we’re celebrating the best way we know how: with a brand-new SRC Series Challenge!

SRC Series Deltarune Chapter 3 Egg% Speedrun Challenge!

New Category for Twisted Metal 4!!!! We now have separated Individual Levels into separate categories. Tournament Levels (Campaign ILs) and Deathmatch (Customizable ILs) with more refinements on the way for Boss Characters and maybe even a Cheat% category for these 2 new ones.

![](/static/blob/7e93w24e.jpg)

Rules are changing for PS1 emulated games in the series! Showing Emulation speed will soon become mandatory for any verifiable runs. The PS2 Emulator PCSX2 has been banned from the PS1 Titles in the series as it, by default, has a roughly 2.2x Loading Time speed increase. Hardware wouldn't be able to keep up if it stayed as an option. Speaking of options soon to be moved, Twisted Metal 2: World Tour has had an important paradigm shift regarding a secret sitting in plain sight. Twisted Metal 2 PC has until now been hiding a 10 second shave off per load and a spammable input system with no theoretical limit. So now we have a new board under construction, announcing Twisted Metal 2 PC!!!! Who knows maybe even by time this article is posted the board will be fully operational. There is even plans to make guides to help with actually playing the PC version as it's quite quirky.

![](/static/blob/pzm79kkz.gif)

With all the sweeps that have happened since the last article you figure we won a damn Sweepstakes. This next section is dedicated to the Janitors killing it in these games.

Runner inSAMity has swept the entire Cheat% in Twisted Metal 1995 and Minion Cheat% in Twisted Metal 2 even receiving the first Sub 4 Easy Mode Cheat% ever. Speaking of first ever sub 4 for Easy Mode. I have personally broken the Sub 4 barrier as Outlaw 3 in Twisted Metal 3 Cheat% Creme Puff!!! Not to mention for the time being I have swept Twisted Metal 3 Cheat% Single player entirely! Including 2 records that remained standing for years. Still on the topic of Twisted Metal 3, runner VicariousNick has taken the record for 100% Medium Diff Category, in which you have to beat the game once as every vehicle. The run has improved over the prior record by over a half an Hour.

Then news about him, the Smallest Brawl of them all, Twisted Metal Small Brawl! Runner sharkywastaken has winded up a hell of a Spirit Bomb and destroyed All Challenge Levels on all Difficulties!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQkx0ww8EmIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQkx0ww8EmI

But wait...what's that...

http://www.youtube.com/shorts/6KsMofUiT90http://www.youtube.com/shorts/6KsMofUiT90

All that was left to stop the 33 Run reverse sweep was my own Meet Your Maker Medium run. I'll have to retaliate to get my championship belt back but all jokes aside these runs are CRAZY

![](/static/blob/7n6v3ojz.png)

More Records have been broken on top of all of this, Small Brawl Cheat% has finally been beaten after a year and as a brand new off-meta character Crimson Fury! That was allllll me baby. sharkywastaken has also toppled Tournament Easy as the Semi you know and love, Darkside which used to be considered worse for runs then Outlaw and Thumper, well Darkside had so much potential hiding within. Runner Najawa11 is still just making constant improvements on ILs and raking in golds!

New runner cecron has debuted with Twisted Metal 4s new category Tournament levels,

New runner floppydisco62 has dropped right into TM2 and TM3 Cheat%s! Glad to have you guys!

![](/static/blob/rnqv2dre.gif)

Discoveries have been found in Twisted Metal 3 after years. As it turns out because no one would have really wanted to test this but if you use the built in cheat codes for removing items and health-kits from the map that the game runs significantly better and load times are improved, this new strat has been brought in by me to beat the prior supremacy in Cheat% is next level difficult as you can't pick up super weapons that are the strongest in the game like normal. Cheat% Pure Lunacy has been beaten with NO GOD MODE, NO DEATHS, NO SPECIAL MOVES BESIDES REAR ATTACK, SPECIAL ONLY!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6tlpjOrg8Yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6tlpjOrg8Y

And that's it for the Twisted Metal Minute this time! Stay tuned for more and keep it Twisted out there Drivers! Now for the showcase for all of the mentioned runners.

http://www.speedrun.com/users/floppydisco62

http://www.speedrun.com/users/sharkywastaken

http://www.speedrun.com/users/VicariousNick

http://www.speedrun.com/users/TheDollMask

http://www.speedrun.com/users/AudiblySmiles

http://www.speedrun.com/users/Xencryptous

http://www.speedrun.com/users/HoonGoons

http://www.speedrun.com/users/cecron

http://www.speedrun.com/users/JayTheIdiot

http://www.speedrun.com/users/NoraMaclean

HUGE WAVES HAPPENING ALL ALONG GAMES SERIES! New players are coming in, old players taking their leave. Players all over the World are sweeping records like crazy! Even a new board is on the horizon

The 2nd Edition Twisted Metal Minute is crashing through a windshield near you!

Game: Jetrunner Demo
Categories: Individual Levels, and World Runs
Price of Game: Free Demo
Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/2865700/JETRUNNER_Demo/

Video: http://youtu.be/CV9feICJunE

**HOW TO GET ALL 10 LEVELS**

These steps begin after installing the demo on steam.

**1.** Open Steam Library
**2.** Search for "JETRUNNER DEMO"
**3.** R-Click on JETRUNNER DEMO and open properties
**4.** On the left L-Click "Betas"
**5.** Under "Private Betas  Enter beta access code to unlock private betas", type in "godspeedjetrunner" in the blank bar.
**6.** L-Click on Check Code

**HOW TO UNLOCK WORLD RUNS**

To unlock world runs, you must go through every stage and collect the Arcade Tokens.
The fastest ways of doing this is...
If on your 1st playthrough collect the arcade tokens and complete the level at the same time.,
If you have already completed every level once, the fastest way to complete this is grab the  arcade token then pause the game and select 'next level'.



**Prizes: Prize Pool $600**

*Individual Level - 1st $20* 

*World Runs (Subway & Central Park) - 1st $75* 

*World Run (Prologue: New York) - 1st $100 (Must be Live Streamed)*

*World Run (Prologue: New York) - 2nd $80 (Must be Live Streamed)*

*Additional Incentive - If the record run at the end of the bounty was done live on stream, they will be rewarded and additional $5. ($70 in-total)*



**Event Ends: Tuesday, June 17th, 2025 11:59PM EST**



**Rules:** 

- Runs will be timed IGT. 

- When submitting your runs please include 2 to 3 seconds of your previous attempt and after your run is completed. Not doing this may cause your run to be disqualified.

- Minimum FPS required is 30, there is no upper limit to FPS.


**Submitting your time:** 

To submit your time please join the **RapidRuns4Fun discord** ( http://discord.gg/MVYRjgYAHW ) and place your video in 'open_bounty' -> Jetrunner (Demo).

**Jetrunner Discord:** http://discord.gg/KJZv8QgMPC



**Disclaimer:**

All rules are subject to change.

Use of 3rd party applications will result in you being pulled from the competition. These are however allowed for testing while routing.

RapidRuns4Fun is back at it again with a new and exciting Speedrun Bounty for you all!

Jetrunner Demo $600 Speedrun Bounty - Hosted by RR4F

New game any% is a category of ULTRAKILL that is not ran by many. With it being a category extension, its existence is either unknown or overshadowed by more popular categories. This event aims to bring attention to the category with this event, including a cash prize for the top three runs by the end of June starting the 7th of the same month!

The rules for this event are as follows:

- Players must run the game on the most up to date version of ULTRAKILL (patch 16d)
- Standard NG rules apply. This includes things such as the run being timed in RTA and must have a livesplit timer.

The Cash rewards will be given out at the end of June based on the top 3 runs. The only requirement is a valid Paypal account.

- 1st place will receive $60
- 2nd place will receive $25
- 3rd place will receive $15

Only runs submitted after June 7th will be accounted for when determining placement.

# Why should I run this?

A good question! NGany% is not ran by many top level runners in the ULTRAKILL speedrunning scene. Due to many qualities that the NG category has specific to it, such as its length, many established runners write off the category. The run is scarcely done and as such there's much room to improve and break the time down!

NGany% also keeps many things in mind when running that other categories dont. Such as style management, Consistency, and overall cost vs benefit when running. There are many points where taking an early timeloss can save you time later on, and as such makes the run unique in the ULTRAKILL scene!

As an ULTRAKILL runner myself, I hope you check this category out! Its a unique twist from other categories, still getting off its feet, and overall pretty fun! hope to see you there!

Starting on June 7th; this event is made to bring attention to under-ran categories in the ULTRAKILL speedrunning scene. This friendly challenge aims to not only bring attention, but reward the most fierce!

ULTRAKILL Speedrun Challenge! 

The Megaten Community is holding a Persona Relay from June 6th to June 8th, which will feature a run of every mainline Persona game, bringing the total to 6 games, spanned across 60 hours. The relay will be hosted on the Really Really LongAThon channel.

The games and categories featured will be:

- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona - SEBEC
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin - PSP Any%
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - PSP Any% New Game
- Persona 3 FES - Hard, Great Seal
- Persona 4 Golden - Hard, Golden Ending NMG
- Persona 5 Royal - Hard, True Ending

You can find the schedule [here](http://horaro.org/personarelay/2025) and our discord [here](http://discord.com/invite/pwe7yncyHF).

The first edition of the Persona Relay will be happening on June 6th, featuring a run of each of the mainline Persona games. 

Persona Relay 2025 June 6th | 60 Hours of Persona Speedruns!

**You are a pistol with a dream.**

From the quiet perch of your windowsill, you gaze longingly at the stars, certain you belong among them - but to earn your place in the sky, you’ll need to blast your way through a merciless ascent using only recoil and grit.

**[Shoot For The Stars](http://store.steampowered.com/app/3498260/Shoot_For_The_Stars/)** is a physics-based rage-platformer where patience, precision, and sheer willpower are your only allies.

The stars await.. but they won’t make it easy. The fastest completion times will take home a cut of the $500 prize pool!

## 📅 Challenge Details

- Start Date: May 22, 2025, at 9pm UTC / 5pm EST
- End Date: May 26, 2025, at 11:59 PM UTC / 7pm EST

All qualifying runs must be submitted through the official Challenge leaderboard on Speedrun.com. Prize-eligible runs must also be livestreamed as part of the submission process.

## 💰 Prize Distribution

Total Prize Pool: $500

- 🥇 1st Place – $250
- 🥈 2nd Place – $150
- 🥉 3rd Place – $100

*Note: Prizes may be subject to tax withholding based on the winner’s country of residence.*

## 🎁 Participation Rewards

Submitting any run, regardless of your placement, comes with perks:

- One month of Speedrun.com Supporter
- The “Stargazer” Title for your profile

![](http://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdHutKWqoIxkGaXjwrPWONP-xDLweYsRTmxV-vwVoAbRUgqh-tDqeqRcC_nTlgDtguyWPgd0A2xGZixC-t1F6rgleC1jycsS3khtm8Z9ax_IbNwPJUY2N7J_pC0sqOMmqRhTYgicQ?key=G8_0JTcmXD_n8Zy5vP4_Mg)

- In-Game Speedrun.com Gun Skin

![](http://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf_xkmiu_ky8BjUGo0wecURc0qST0cvImMiSiMxRO4FQsb71YKwdf1FmKDGyo5rbvDmwsVXTV-M2idk7qkIPjMldX7gDdhJ3g3nht070WCmI_uFTJWNric9taP6f71EQN3Yd2nS9Q?key=G8_0JTcmXD_n8Zy5vP4_Mg)

[Supporter](http://www.speedrun.com/supporter) helps fund Speedrun.com and unlocks site-wide benefits, while [Titles](http://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles) are exclusive profile tags only obtainable through participating in official Challenges!

## 🌍 Eligibility

The challenge is open to players aged 18 and older worldwide, except in the following restricted countries: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.

If you're under 18, you're still welcome to participate and can earn participation rewards - but you will not be eligible for the cash prizes.

## 📤 Submitting Your Run

- Record your speedrun and submit it via the Challenge leaderboard on Speedrun.com
- Prize-eligible runs must be livestreamed
- Ensure your video follows the formatting and rules listed on the leaderboard

For complete contest and category rules, please visit the [challenge leaderboard.](http://www.speedrun.com/challenges/kwyj2pgm)

## 🕹️ Category

The featured category for this challenge is Any% - a full-throttle ascent from the starting point to the final platform. You'll be starting from a fresh file and navigating every obstacle the game throws at you.

It’s fast, it’s brutal, it’s satisfying - and it showcases exactly what makes Shoot For The Stars tick.

For complete contest and category rules, please visit the [challenge leaderboard.](http://www.speedrun.com/challenges/kwyj2pgm-Shoot_For_The_Stars-shoot-for-the-stars-speedrun-challenge/rules)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1wRy9neR-M

## 🧠 Preparation Suggestions

To find tips & tricks for the speedrun, please join us in the [Speedrun.com Discord Server](http://discord.gg/0h6sul1ZwHVpXJmK) and chat in #challenge-discussion. You can also follow the challenge on Speedrun.com to receive notifications about challenge activity!

Buy Shoot For The Stars on Steam! [http://store.steampowered.com/app/3498260/Shoot_For_The_Stars/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/3498260/Shoot_For_The_Stars/)

In partnership with Upsprite Games, we're launching the Shoot for the Stars Speedrun Challenge on May 22nd, 2025 - dropping just a week after the game launches on May 16th!

Shoot For The Stars Speedrun Challenge!

Games on Fast Forward is holding its 3rd year marathon, and this year they will be supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Games on Fast Forward is a small 1-2 day long marathon where a small group of friends and acquaintances join each other online to speedrun their favorite games, show off their skills, and generally have a great time.

All donations made during the Games on Fast Forward Stream will go directly towards the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The schedule can be found [here](http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nq-aXFdBg8gTZGnqY_gFNTcFGVZta4Curgf2GAZsUBI/edit?gid=0#gid=0), and the stream will be happening [here](http://www.twitch.tv/exclamation_markyt).

Games on Fast Forward is a charity speedrun marathon held by a small group of friends, and you are invited to come watch and support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

Games on Fast Forward Marathon Happening May 24th-25th

**Speed, Strategy, and Synergy Collide at “The Co-Op Cup 64” — A Three-Weekend Speedrunning Showdown**

Mark your calendars and ready your controllers—**“The Co-Op Cup 64”** is here to redefine competitive speedrunning. This electrifying three-weekend tournament promises not only glory, but a slice of the **$1800 USD prize pool**, with the fiercest co-op competitors from around the world battling it out for supremacy and bragging rights.

Hosted by Logaaaaan64 over three action-packed weekends, The Co-Op Cup 64 puts collaboration at the forefront, pitting tightly coordinated teams against the ticking clock—and each other.

### **🏁 Week 1: Two-Player Team Eliminations (May 3)**

The action kicks off with 2-player teams entering a gauntlet of elimination rounds. With pixel-perfect precision and high-stakes pressure, only the best duos will survive this initial phase to qualify for the grand finals. Expect wild comebacks, near-misses, and pure clutch performances as competitors speed through Super Mario 64

### **👥 Week 2: 5-to-9 Player Team Races (May 10)**

Bigger teams, bigger chaos. Week two turns up the heat with large-scale 120 star races trying to work together and split up to save the princess as fast as possbile! With a **$500 grand prize** on the line, coordination is king. Will strategy or raw skill win out when so many runners are in the mix?

### **🎮 Week 3: 2-Player  Finals (May 17)**

The climax of The Co-Op Cup 64—an elite showdown of the top duos from Week 1. The final weekend brings intense, head-to-head co-op runs for a **whopping $1000 grand prize**. It’s more than speed; it’s synergy under pressure. The victors will etch their names into the speedrunning hall of fame and perhaps set a new record.

With stream coverage, live commentary, and special guest appearances from legendary speedrunners, **The Co-Op Cup 64** is set to be one of the most community-driven and entertaining tournaments of the year. Whether you're a veteran runner or a casual viewer, there's something here for everyone—plus a ton of high-level play to admire.

Hope to see you there at [http://www.twitch.tv/logaaaaan64](http://www.twitch.tv/logaaaaan64) - Sat 3rd at 6pm EST

The Co-Op Cup 64 starts this weekend! The 3 Weekend, 120 Star showdown with $1800 USD in prize money starts on Saturday May 3rd.

The Biggest 120 Star Tournament is here! 

Licenseathon is back for 2025! We're very excited to return for our fifth year of licensed speedrunning fun; Join us once again this summer as we speed through movie tie-ins, advergames, and cartoon adaptations all in support of the [Transgender Law Center](http://transgenderlawcenter.org/).

*"What's a licensed game,"* you ask? Licensed games are based on an existing franchise, like movies or TV shows. They aren't limited to movie adaptations though! Advergames like Chex Quest and celebrity pieces like Michael Jackson's Moonwalker also count! If you're not sure and want to submit a game, come ask us in our Discord server.

## Key Info

- The event will run June 27 - 29
- Submissions will close June 1st
- Submissions are open NOW at [http://oengus.io/marathon/licensed25](http://oengus.io/marathon/licensed25)

Go get those runs in!

# Contact

- Find us on our website at [www.licenseathon.live](http://www.licenseathon.live)
- We also have a Discord: [http://discord.gg/NByYbRq8Sw](http://discord.gg/NByYbRq8Sw)
- Finally, we post updates on [Bluesky](http://bsky.app/profile/licenseathon.bsky.social)

Licenseathon is an online speedrun marathon focused exclusively on licensed video games. On June 27th, we'll be raising money for the Transgender Law Center.

Licenseathon is happening June 27th, accepting licensed game speedruns now!

# The Gold Split Newsletter - Week #39 - Mario's Next ACE

The Gold Split offers a free, weekly digest of news from the world of speedrunning and beyond.

This **Story of the Week** is all about the discovery of a new glitch in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and was featured in this week's issue. The full post includes **more news**, briefly, as well as event news and this week's top times. Check it out **[HERE](http://goldsplit.substack.com/p/week-39)**.

## ![](http://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/wzxxw3qz.png)

# 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](http://www.youtube.com/c/Sauraen)**, @Savestate, **[dwangoAC](http://www.youtube.com/@dwangoAC)**, and countless members of the community:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x_pqyrf9lA

### Discovery

On March 13, 2025, Twitter user **[LuigiSidekick](http://x.com/LuigiSidekick)** posted a **[clip](http://x.com/LuigiSidekick/status/1900072261555458205)** 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](http://tasvideos.org/6503M) 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKovuVj4N0A

### 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WgAnlrdGu0

### Knock-On Effects

In the grand scheme of things, and as far as other ACE discoveries are concerned, this one 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](http://tasvideos.org/9613S)** for the latest tool-assisted run on TASVideos.org as well as @Niftski 's **[explanation video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktTxi4_RmjE)** 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](http://discord.gg/KjAV9Xa).**

![](http://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/rz251jdz.png)

Thank you for reading! If you're curious about more of this week's news or would even consider subscribing to the newsletter, you'll find the full post over **[HERE](http://goldsplit.substack.com/p/week-39)**.

Finding new stories to cover can be challenging. 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 be taking a look at, go ahead and **[submit them here](http://forms.gle/F1VJ4PG68FTZKqn49)** or on the **[Gold Split Discord](http://discord.gg/SpbFCgsYkU)**! 📨

The Gold Split is a free weekly newsletter focused on speedrunning. This week's main story is all about the discovery of a new glitch in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Mario's Next ACE - The Gold Split - Week #39

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Twisted Metal 2

ULTRAKILL - Category Extensions

Super Mario 64 Co-Op (PC)

Shoot For The Stars

Fatzke

Tempystral

xo7qoy9l

Sioneus

Logaaaaan64

ExclamationMarkYT

VexGamingTV

AudiblySmiles

booshican

xwpw4y0l

The leaderboards will be opening at 8pm UK time on June 26th 2025. Happy Karting!

Mario Kart World

Welcome to the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Speedrun Page!

Unfortuntely due to a recent patch, a debate around downpatching has appeared causing ongoing conversation around whether to allow it or not.

So I ask for a few more days for the boards to go live 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Join the Discord server while you wait! http://discord.gg/VD8dEWSz

PEAK

Leaderboard embargo to allow us to all enjoy the game and discuss rulesets for said categories! 

Cant wait to see everyones runs!! 