Blindfolded Super Mario 64 World Record Attempt Ruined by Webcam Failure

Blindfolded Super Mario 64 speedrunner Bubzia nearly faced a devastating disqualification during a world record attempt when his webcam shut off mid-run, violating official verification rules.

On February 10, Bubzia was attempting to break his 70-star blindfolded speedrun record of 1 hour, 25 minutes, and 11 seconds, which he set in June 2023. About 24 minutes into the run, his facecam unexpectedly disconnected—a critical issue since Speedrun.com regulations require visual proof that a player remains blindfolded for the entire attempt.

Because speedrun rules prohibit external assistance, Bubzia was unaware of the issue, and neither his Twitch chat nor Discord messages could alert him. He unknowingly played on for over an hour, believing he was on track for a potential record-breaking finish.

In the end, his time came in at 1:26:09, just 58 seconds behind his own world record—a fortunate outcome, as any faster completion would have been invalidated due to the webcam failure. When he finally removed his blindfold and saw that the facecam had been off, Bubzia reacted with frustration and relief: “If this would have been world record, I would have cried. I would have quit SM64, man.”

Originally released in 1996 for the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 is one of the most influential 3D platformers in gaming history. The game has remained a cornerstone of the speedrunning community for decades, with categories ranging from 16-star runs (Bubzia also holds a WR in this category) to full 120-star completions that require collecting every collectible in the game.