Allan “Cheese” Alvarez continues to prove that he’s the best Super Mario 64 speedrunner in the game’s history—and maybe one of the best speedrunners ever period.
After improving his world record in the 70-star category on Jan. 24, Cheese beat his own 120-star time last night.
Cheese’s previous mark of 1:39:28 was the 120-star world record for eight months, until he shaved eight seconds off that time yesterday. But this run had the potential to be so much more—which is crazy to say since it’s now the best run in Super Mario 64 120-star history.
Heading into the game’s 14th stage, Tick Tock Clock, Cheese was remarkably ahead of his world record time by 57 seconds. That put him on pace to become the first speedrunner to break the 1:38 mark. Some minor errors on this stage cost Cheese 17 seconds, however.
Then Cheese lost another 10 seconds after an unfortunate death in Rainbow Ride. Heading into the final boss, Bowser in the Sky, Cheese needed to be almost perfect to achieve 1:38.
But Cheese missed two Bowser throws in the final fight, which cost him dearly in the end. With over 14,000 fans watching the conclusion of his run, Cheese collected the final star at 1:39:20, decreasing his 120-star world record by eight seconds.
This was a bittersweet moment for Cheese—he seemed happy that he improved his world record time, but viewers could also tell that he was upset about not finishing in under an hour and 38 minutes.
But the obvious silver lining here is that Cheese proved that it’s possible to reach the 1:38 mark. For the longest time, that wouldn’t even have been dreamed of.
