Andrew Gardikis, a high school junior, has made his way into the records by claiming dozens of video game records. But he won’t rests until he gets the holy grail.
“…For a little over a year, Gardikis, who is also a remarkable juggler and seems gifted with superb hand-eye coordination, shared the world record for the “minimalist completion speed run” — which allows players to take the shortest route through the game using “warp zone” shortcuts and is easily the biggest of the Mario records — with a time of 5 minutes, 9 seconds.
In October, that record was broken by Scott Kessler, a 31-year-old from Monroe, N.C., who is a heavyweight in the gaming world. Kessler holds 137 world records — including the speed runs for Metroid, Zelda II, Super Mario Brothers 2, and Super Mario World — and came out of a two-year retirement to snatch the crown for the original Super Mario with a time of 5:08.“I know I can do a 5:08,” Gardikis says as he begins another attempt at the record, breezing through the first world without even a hint of a mistake. “I’ve studied each level. I can play them all perfectly. Some people think a 5:07 is impossible. I think I might be able to do it, but it will probably take a live performance [in front of judges] to overcome the VCR lag.” (Gardikis believes the VCR records just a bit slower than his real speed, costing him about a 10th of a second every minute.)Â
Whatever. I have longer hair.
