Super Mario 64 might be one of the most popular speedrun games of all time, and it’s still absolutely huge. You’d think runners would know absolutely everything about this almost-30-year-old game, but recently, a brand new trick was discovered that will potentially change the nature of speedruns, particularly the 1 Star Speedrun, forever.
Bubzia, a speedrunner who specialises in blindfolded speedruns, has documented the discovery of this new technique that has essentially wiped out one of the most famous skips in the game, the side backwards long jump (SBLJ, as it’s more commonly known), which is used to skip the 30-star door in the basement of Peach’s Castle. It’s incredibly tricky to pull off but it’s been a staple in the community for years.
But two speedrunners — FramePerfection and Crackhex — have found a workaround that eliminates the need to even do this. Amusingly, it’s been dubbed the “crackslide” by the community, and while the the original trick was created using emulation tools, runner haribo39 managed to recreate the trick.
You can see Bubzia demonstrating the trick at around 8:53 minutes in (warning for strong language), and even he’s surprised at how quickly he pulls it off.
Essentially, “all” you have to do is line yourself up against a particular wall in the basement, backflip up against it, butt slide on the railing next to the wall, and you’ll be catapulted up to the door and, after some text, go through the wall.
While this is a huge discovery for the basic 1 Star run, it’s especially big for blindfolded speedruns, a category which has been trying to crack the 10 minute mark for a while. Now, it could very well be possible.
Bubzia has already managed to get below 11 minutes while making a few big mistakes, and only a few seconds off the current world record. Sounds like Super Mario 64 speedruns are going to be extremely competitive.
If you want to have a crack at it yourself, then Bubzia has laid out all the steps in a tutorial at the end of his video.
Are you impressed to see Super Mario 64 speedruns thriving in 2025? Ever tried one yourself? Let us know in the comments.
