If you grew up in the 80s or 90s there’s a good chance you’ve played Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System. More than 30 years after its release in 1985 the side-scrolling platformer remains one of the best-selling video games of all time. Maybe you can hum the theme song, and you’ve found the secret warp pipe in World 1-2, but have you ever actually beaten the game? If so, how long did it take you? Hours? Days? Weeks? In late 2016, an American gamer known online as darbian rescued the Princess Peach in 4 minutes and 56 seconds. This is video game speedrunning and darbian is one of the best speedrunners around. Speedrunners use their knowledge of the game and quick reflexes in an attempt to complete video games in the fastest time possible. In this book you’ll learn about the history of speedrunning, the techniques involved, and what it takes to play games fast in ten interviews with star speedrunners like darbian.