Snowball Beats a 2-year-old World Record
Written by BusyGamerBelle
Published on March 2nd, 2024
BusyGamerBelle: What got you into speedrunning? And did you start with Banana Mania?
Snowball: My older sister bugging me to watch a speedrun with her was my first exposure to speedrunning in general, and I quickly fell in love with the idea. I decided a little while later that I wanted to try speedrunning in as many charity marathons as I could, too, as the goal of doing charity streams is what got me into streaming long before this. I started speedrunning Rolled Out! (an indie marble roller that's heavily inspired by the Super Monkey Ball series) a couple of months before Banana Mania released, and I added Banana Mania to my list of speed games the first day it dropped.
BusyGamerBelle: At one time you held the second fastest time behind your friend in Banana Mania. Some people would stick with second place, but you didn't. What drove you to keep at it until you beat the WR?
Snowball: The Jumping mechanic in Banana Mania opens up some ridiculous strats that otherwise wouldn't be possible, but Jumps categories don't tend to get a whole lot of play. I recently started doing some Jumps IL speed runs for fun and to try and get a more versatile set of IL records in the game. It didn't take long for me to realize that, while the previous world record was a very strong run, a handful of the strats were outdated, as it'd been two years since that run happened. Knowing that certain stages could have strat upgrades in the current day and age made me really curious what could be possible in this category. And on top of that, the Jumps and Jumpless records had been at the exact same time, and I knew that Jumps could be a decent amount faster.
BusyGamerBelle: How did you prepare for this speedrun? Was there anything different this time around that made this achievement different?
Snowball: Prepping to go for this record honestly wasn't that different than any other speedrun I've practiced for in the past. It was simply to get a rough understanding of the strats that I would need in this category, do a first run, and then put a lot of effort into making my weaker stages/strats more consistent. I ended up gaining over 2 whole minutes over my previous pb during my record run in one world due to gaining a lot of consistency on only two problem stages (Flat Maze and Cork Screw).
BusyGamerBelle: How did it feel to accomplish your 30:30 time?
Snowball: I was over the moon when I hit my 30:30 run. I wanted to break a new minute barrier so badly when I got the record, breaking it kinda deep felt so amazing. The back half of the category has always been a daunting challenge for me in both Jumps and Jumpless speedruns, and this record was entirely carried by a near deathless back half. And there's no feeling in Banana Mania quite as satisfying as nailing every stage in World 10 while playing with nerves.
BusyGamerBelle: What's next for you in speedrunning this game or in general?
Snowball: Honestly, my next goal in speedrunning is just to have as much fun as possible and continue to run in events. With the modding community for Banana Mania recently figuring out how to implement custom stages, I definitely plan on focusing on custom-level packs when they start releasing. As for other games, I plan on continuing to speedrun Sonic games as Amy Rose (Sonic Origins, Sonic Mania - Amy Mania mod, learn Project 06 Silver's Story, etc.). I find so much joy in speedrunning, and continuing to feel that enjoyment is my current goal moving forward.
Follow Snowball on social media!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SnowballSMB
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/snowballsmb.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SnowballSMB
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/snowballsmb