MM 3

Well, that didn’t take long. It was just a couple of days ago that we took a look at Mario Maker user PangeaPanga’s course titled Pit of Panga: P-Break and shook our heads in awe at its diabolical difficulty. While it’s true that Nintendo doesn’t allow you to upload Mario Maker levels unless you can prove they’re beatable, we wouldn’t have been surprised if no one other than PangeaPanga himself was able to clear his creation.

But in less than a week, the hardest of the hard-core have risen to the challenge, and while this video of a Japanese gamer finishing the level is a display of some impressive platforming skills, what really makes it worthwhile is the surge of adrenalin that sends him shouting his victory to the heavens, and how it leaves his body in pain and his psyche tattered as he breaks down in tears of joy at his gaming accomplishment.

The video, uploaded to YouTube by Hiroki Aaa, starts off pretty much like you’d expect it to. Less than 10 seconds after the level starts, Mario plummets to his death in a fiery abyss. Even Hiroki seems to feel like this was a foregone conclusion, offering a resigned “Geez,” as his only audio commentary to the outcome.

MM 1

From his tone, it sounds like this is just one of many setbacks for Hiroki while challenging Pit of Panga: P-Break, but little does he suspect that this failure is also his last. The relatively stingy timer for levels in Mario Maker means they’re fairly short affairs, and on his next try, Hiroki pulls off a series of spectacular jumps to make it to the half-way point. Once there, he stops to gather his composure, and then chant his own name to psyche himself up for the final stretch.

▼ “Hiroki! Hiroki!Hiroki!” – Hiroki

MM 2

MM 3

Once he unpauses, he completes the final series of jumps, and at the video’s 1:10 mark he finally reaches the level’s end…but the show is just getting started.

▼ Jump to 1:10. Oh, and you might want to turn down your speakers just a bit…

So what’s all that translate to?

“I did it! I DIIIIIID IT!

That’s the stuff! How you like that? Huh? THAT IS THE STUFF!

Oh man, my hands are numb. Oh man! They’re like totally numb. Hey, seriously, my hands are like…it feels like they’re gonna fall off. Seriously, like they’re gonna fall off. Oh man, they’re shaking from the adrenalin. Oh man oh man oh man oh man ouch ouch ouch ouch. Ouchouchouchouchouch that hurts so bad. I’m telling you, they really hurt. They really hurt.”

[additional 30 seconds of repeated “Ouch my hands hurt oh man they hurt” omitted]

I did it. I did it. I did it! I’m so happy!”

At the 2:40 mark, Hiroki’s voice cracks as he succumbs to the flood of emotions, and for the next 30 seconds or so all his mike picks up are the sounds of him softly weeping, before he finally tells us that his hands have stopped shaking.

Not only is the video a useful guide for those looking to improve their manic Japanese proficiency (keep an ear out for Yatta/“I did it”, Kita, literally “Here it comes” but used to describe a sudden rush of excitement or euphoria, and Yabai/“Oh man”), it’s also an amazing display of how emotionally invested some gamers can get in their favorite titles, and a testament to the power of Nintendo’s most famous franchise to provide pure, unaltered joy to its fans.

Still, we hope Hiroki at least took the time afterwards to explain to his family and neighbors that he was OK, and had only temporarily lost his mind.

Source: YouTube/広樹 あああ, H/T Kotaku US
Images: YouTube/広樹 あああ