Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 is in full swing, with the annual speedrunning marathon once again raising money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. One particular runner saw his run ascend into rarified air, as he set a new world record for a speedrun of Super Mario Galaxy 2.
According to IGN, speedrunner Jhay set the new record during a four-player SMG2 race in the Any% category–an “anything goes” format where level skips and other glitches are fair game–in just under three hours with an official time of 2:54:51.33. Jhay’s run beat the previous world record, which was also set by him, by 4.4 seconds.
After completing his run, Jhay sent out a celebratory tweet, saying “I JUST GOT WR LIVE AT GDQ IN FRONT OF 80K PEOPLE HOW IN THE ACTUAL UNIVERSE” and shared a screenshot of his run’s stats.
This is the first world record set at an Awesome Games Done Quick marathon event since AGDQ 2019, when speedrunner Krankdud achieved two in the same event–one for Mega Man Zero 2 on the Wii U Virtual Console and the other with AND4H in a co-op run of N++ for PC.
Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 continues through Saturday, with featured speedruns in Cult Of The Lamb, Final Fantasy XIV, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus still to come. Donations to the Prevent Cancer Foundation in support of the marathon can be made through the event’s official website.