Super Mario 64 Speedrun Breakthrough: The Crackslide Trick

About three weeks ago, blindfolded speedrunning whiz Bubzia unveiled a groundbreaking Super Mario 64 hack that he claimed would change the game “forever.” Spoiler alert: he might just be onto something. As our own speedrunning aficionado, Dustin Bailey, noted, this new technique, dubbed the crackslide, has totally transformed a notoriously challenging maneuver—once essential to the 1-star speedrunning category—into something that’s now a breeze.

Fast forward to today, and we’ve got drumming-centric speedrunner CZR bagging the record for the first-ever 1-star completion of Super Mario 64 using a drum kit—a feat he credits to this innovative crackslide strat!

For those wondering how this works, CZR’s setup maps the drum kit controls so that each drum head corresponds to actions typically handled by the analog stick on a standard controller. The outer rims of the heads manage the C buttons. The different intensities with which CZR strikes the drum heads add another level of complexity, making this achievement even more astounding. Talk about rhythm gaming!

You can check out CZR’s entire adventure from Peach’s Castle to the final showdown with Bowser in the embedded video above. At just 12 minutes, it’s not only a thrill to watch but also showcases CZR’s endearing enthusiasm with a triumphant “let’s fucking go!” at the conclusion.

If you think Super Mario 64 is sacred, think again. Modders have already done the unthinkable by running it on PS1. As one modder aptly put it, “The best reason to do something is simply because you can.”