“Speedruns” are a weirdly enthralling piece of video game culture, wherein a gamer takes on titles, often older ones like Super Metroid or Sonic The Hedgehog, using every trick in the book to beat their chosen game as fast as possible.
Brad “Darbian” Myers currently holds the Super Mario Bros. speedrun world record, completing the classic in four minutes, 56 seconds. Tera Melos guitarist and singer Nick Reinhart recalls one of Darbian’s recent live streams as “the closest thing I’ve ever felt to being a real sports fan,” he tells NPR. “My heart was racing and I was yelling at my phone screen."