Flashing lights warning at 38:54 UPDATE: When this video was made, the SPO community's understanding of the probabilities of different RNG events occurring was partially inaccurate. Most notably, the odds in getting low times on Narcis and Hoy were diminished by ~8 and ~3 times what they actually are. So, the odds in FatPotatoSeal's 2:27 paced run at the end is closer to 1/155,000 than 1/2,688,000 - still a really crazy pace, but not quite as mind-boggling as before. I'm sorry for any confusion, but at the time we were working with the best estimates we had available. Thanks to the following people for help with research! Be sure to check their channels out: zallard1 - www.twitch.tv/zallard1 Mysteryman95 - www.twitch.tv/mysteryman9512 Hootey - www.twitch.tv/hootey FatPotatoSeal - www.twitch.tv/fatpotatoseal And check out the other top runners too! You can find them here: www.speedrun.com/spo

Feels like Christmas whenever Summoning Salt uploads

Was disappointed to not see Matt Turk dominate the early days of this as well

"He was going to do nobody else had done before. Become the first Super Punch Out single segment record holder, not named Zallard1. His name... Was Zallard2-- I mean Mysterman95."

bro, the fact that Nick Bruiser doesn't ruin runs through luck, but just through sheer difficult execution is actually kinda cool. Even though it makes it so brutal when people lose to him, it just feels cool to me. The art/animation style for him definitely contributes to that though. Also, this just cements in my mind that Zallard is one of the greatest gamers of all time. Right alongside Matt Turk.

The fact that in 50 minutes you can make me go from knowing nothing about a game to my heart sinking watching someone lose the perfect run blows my mind. Absolutely fantastic video as always.

Back in the 90s, used to rent this from my local videostore. There was a guy a little older than me who worked certain days and asked me if I was good at the game. We eventually competed against each other for fastest times saved on the cart's Time Attack memory for about a year, lowering each other's times, not letting anyone else rent it. The best part of it all was us not telling each-other in person what new times we achieved and we would only find out when going into time attack mode to see the history. I made a new friend and from that day onward, every game and movie rental from that store was on the house. Thank You Super Punch-Out!

So here’s what I learned: To get world record in Super Punch-Out, the opponent needs to stand still.

The fact Zallard's final record was one he was frustrated with really bums me out.

It's so thematically fitting on a meta level that for most of the run you're facing all these crazy kooky characters as you mostly need luck to proceed, but right at the end you face the stoic Nick while you have to be just as stoic and pure execution.

Can we appreciate for a second the fact that there were basically no new strats, no newly found glitches, exploits or techniques, no new routes, no new ways to save an extra frame rule… just pure unadulterated skill, and grind versus the odds? this is one of the most straightforward history videos and yet it manages to hit just as hard. pun intended.

i love how the game is all “wooo!!! you win!!!” as the camera zooms in on FPS’s reaction after losing a god run. That juxtaposition is brutal

The way you slowly unveiled the characteristics of each boxer and the style used to defeat them was superb.

I like the dots with the timeline visual, gives a real sense of how far the community has got. May I suggest coloring the dots based on the runner that achieved the record? Maybe matching their color in the leaderboard and with an indication to the side of who is who, I think it would add a lot to the narrative of the graph. In this case it would show inmediately how many records zallard1 has, showing a lot of orange dots in the early history.

I love that your thumbnail for this is a reference to one of the most legendary footnotes in the history of a speedgame that I know of. For those who don’t know, the thumbnail is a screen cap from one of Zallard’s many attempts, where for some reason, the game bugged out and turned Nick Bruiser green. This glitch, as far as I know, has never been seen before or since. It was a purely visual bug that didn’t affect the gameplay, and the run wasn’t anything special until it happened. But it was so jarring and strange that “Green Nick Bruiser” remained Zallard’s Twitch PFP for many years, and it certainly makes for an interesting footnote. And there’s one more tidbit to it; during AGDQ 2014, Zallard performed a blindfolded run of Super Punch-Out. I’m a momentous and at the time unprecedented achievement, he actually completed the run. And if you look very closely, there is one brief moment lasting less than a second where, unseen by the blinded Zallard or the crowd watching from a distance… Nick Bruiser momentarily turned green again.

My heart brakes for Fat Potato Seal and his once in a life time run. I am a giant fan of this video and am such a happy camper to see Zallard1 get so much time on this video because he is my favorite and best Punch Out player there is.

I like how most punch-out speedrunning comes down to "Never stop beating the shit out of your opponent and hope they let you"

The reason I think SummoningSalt is up there with the best content creators ever is that you can never predict what’s going to happen. He’ll show a god run, explain exactly how it can so easily fail, and then we see it succeed anyway. He’s mastered fake-out foreshadowing to such a degree that he can successfully tell the story he needs to tell without us ever being sure what will happen next. It’s genuinely incredible to watch, and it works so flawlessly for this style of content.

Love the addition of the timeline graph. Really cool way to see the WR’s change over time rather than just a list of times and dates

I first saw Zallard at GDQ where he did a blindfolded Punch Out run. Completely blew my mind.

When you introduced the runner whose goal was to become the first Super Punch-Out single segment world record holder not named Zallard1, I was really hoping it was Zallard2.

That ending was so incredibly emotional. Its like winning the lottery, only to lose your grip and drop the ticket over a railing...

When the main theme slows down, you know it's serious business. Also, I love the time graphic used here. Really helps visualize the progress over time.

I swear, Salt just never bringing up the fact he has the PERFECT Mike Tyson WR is so damn humble, I love you Summoning Salt

Probably the most iconic intro song on the internet. That first note always gives me a smile.

"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is Super Punch-Out." - Jean-Mac Picard

I was fully expecting Matt Turk to just jump in at the very end, end up with a 15 second run, not say anything and dip

update: awosomeandy has actually done it! he has gotten the first sub 2m 30s with an unbelievable time of *2m 28s 79ms!* great video salt! and great job andy!

Never fails to amaze me how I’m continuously brought from “I have never played this game in my life” to “OH NO, HE COULD’VE SAVED .05 SECONDS IF THE FRAME PERFECT TECHNIQUE WAS UTILIZED!” type of informational and emotional roller coaster in these videos.

Showing the graph for each record and its impact on the whole graph made this video so much more dramatic than I could have anticipated, very well executed on your behalf. Really well done!

Man, I remember playing the heck out of Super Punch-Out when it came out on Wii Virtual Console, my dad introduced me to the series thanks to him just buying the original, inputting the Mr. Dream code from memory even though he hadn't played for nearly 20 years, and beat him in the first round. One of my most fond gaming memories to this day, and a fantastic video to see come out today, you always do fantastic work Salt!

Damn, this vid made so many of the characters of Super Punchout even cooler than I already found them. It especially did sucha good job of making Rick and especially Nick Bruiser so much cooler and more memorable than I've ever found them before; going from "we're not gonna even try for a license like Mike Tyson again" to "the ultimate gatekeepers of good speedruns even decades later", especially Nick with those damn awesome animations and expressions. Your storytelling and editing just get better and better, able to take characters designed for totally different purposes long ago and breathe new life and purpose into them.

0:01 Introduction 1:30 Single Segment Explanation 1:56 The Game Being An RNG Gauntlet 2:45 Zallard's First Run 3:17 The 2 Fight Types 3:25 Gabby Jay 3:43 Super Meter 3:57 Dizzy Meter 4:30 Dizzy Frames 4:45 Buffer Strategies 5:36 Difficulty Increase 5:44 Aran Ryan 6:05 Other Nonrandom Fights 6:26 Random Fights 6:50 Dragon Chan Phase 1 7:06 Dragon Chan Phase 2 7:58 The Amount Of Random Fights 8:08 Zallard's 3:10.72 8:20 Zallard's Attempts 8:34 Zallard's Promising Run 8:43 Bob Charlie 9:41 Zallard's Bob & Chan 9:57 Zallard's Good Times 10:05 Hoy Quarlow 11:32 Zallard's Lucky Hoy 11:42 Zallard's 2:54.02 (11:57 ...wat) 12:00 Zallard's Break Time 12:30 Super Punch-Out!!: Return of Zallard 13:09 Zallard's Unlucky Hoy 13:29 Zallard's Further Attempts 14:04 February 27th 2014: Zallard's Great Run 14:45 Nick Bruiser 17:15 Zallard's Successful Phases 17:55 The First 2:49 18:24 Break Time Again 18:49 Zallard's Return 19:22 That Nick Ruined 20:09 How Much Time Was Saved 20:48 Mad Clown 21:59 Zallard Bringing The Run Back 22:15 Zallard's Give & Take Run 23:05 Zallard's Next Great Run 23:31 Super Macho Man (Hey Look He's Very Luck Based Again) 23:59 Macho's Countdown Knockdown 25:06 Macho's Muckery 25:25 Narcis Prince 26:14 Narcis' Destruction Of The Run 26:51 Super Punch-Out!!'s Lack Of Care 27:21 The Record's Stagnation 27:30 Hooty's 2:53 27:46 Zallard's Further Runs 28:56 Rick Bruiser 29:12 Rick Phases 1 & 2 29:28 Rick Phase 3 30:25 Super Punch-Out!! Being Super Punch-Out!! 30:51 Zallard's Brief Break 31:05 Zallard's Return³ 31:46 Successful Rick & Nick 32:29 Zallard Stepping Back From Running 33:04 Zallard Stepping Forward To Running 33:27 Another Great Pace 34:49 A Heartbreaking Finish 35:28 A Path For Redemption 35:56 Redemption Cut Down 36:19 A New Record 36:34 He Wasn't Fond Of 37:24 Timeline Lookback 37:53 Zallard's Slow Down 38:04 A New Challenger Approached 38:54 Mysteryman's Input Delay 39:39 Mysteryman's Strats 40:37 Hooty's New Strat 40:48 Mysteryman's Attempts To Take Down Zallard 41:49 Mysteryman's World Record 43:00 The New Runners (Hey Look It's KHANanaphone) 43:25 Stocc 43:41 Stocc's Barely Sub 2:40 44:16 The 2 New Runners 44:37 Cranklinson's Run 46:00 Even More Sub 2:40s & Zallard's Fall Down On The Leaderboard 46:29 New Strats 46:48 3 Record Pace Runs That Failed 47:16 The God Run 47:41 MrMega's Run 48:52 Mega's Successful Record 49:54 FatPotatoSeal's 1/155,000 Pace 52:41 The Most Heartbreaking Finish To A Speedrun Ever 53:49 Conclusion 54:15 Credits

That ending is heartbreaking, holy mother of god Just seeing the numbers on screen made my heart sink I've never rooted for someone so hard :') Thanks for the amazing video as always!

When he talked about switching from 3rd to 1st person I thought he was gonna go back to his OG punch out days and introduce himself as the next world record holder lol. Great video as always!

I’m not even into speedrunning, but your storytelling ability is captivating. Love the content!

Just for reference, 2:16.41 is the fastest theoretical time any player can possibly get in this game.

I love Zallard. Easily one of my favorite runners. He swears like a sailor but he’s extremely humble. It’s like all Punch out games were made with his strats in mind, he just had to break them.

8:25 I smell some Jon Bois inspiration

The way Nick Bruiser was animated, the way he looks down on you, how he doesn’t react much to hits, how he walks to you, topped with being the last one to beat with such incredible difficulty gives off this idea that he’s the biggest villain in the game

That slight nod to Jon Bois in 18:45 gave me goosebumps, you two are the best storytellers in KZfaq

Imagine that if FPS' run would've succeeded, that time would essentially be unbeatable and probably stay as the wr until the end of time, unless a new strategy was uncovered

FatPotatoSeal and MR's 31/32 are two of the most heartbreaking moments in speedrunning ever.

This is not a game I would personally play and yet Summoning Salt's narration brings me to tears in these videos. Thank you for all the hard work you put into making this a reality

The editing on this video is incredible tbh

There are occasional instances in which Mr. Salt uploads videos about games with which I'm relatively unfamiliar. That being said, you can be damn sure I'll be an expert in the next 54 minutes. Keep up the great work brother!

If that run at the end had succeeded, I honestly would have suspected something. Seeing it fail, and knowing it was real, was heartbreaking.

These Summoning Salt videos are closest thing there is to Jon Bois videos for speedrunning. And that is the biggest compliment I can give to a KZfaq video. The style and narrative choices are very similar and I love it. So glad I gave these videos a go after KZfaq has been shoving them to my face for months.

I don't think the music to Summoning Salts videos could be any more nostalgic or accurate for the subject of retro video games, reminds me of being a kid and the wonder felt when playing a game you love and overcoming the challenges and doing the fun miscellaneous objectives and tricks there are to do in so many of the great games of the 90s and early 2000s. Keep up the great work summoning salt.

I loved the ending. Bittersweet. Heartbreaking, but with a fistful of hope. Thanks for the amazing videos ♥

I love the time graphic used here

It was a lost opportunity not calling this video “the Ballard of Zallard”

Mr. Summoning Salt, excellent video as always. I would like to cast a vote to see "The History of Toejam & Earl Speedrunning"

This is 100% going to be lost in the sea of comments, but on the same day this was uploaded FatPotatoSeal achieved a PB of 2:33.24, just a bit slower than the WR, and he is quiting Single Segment for the future. What Salt said was right, it is entirely possible he will NEVER see that pace again in his life, truly a tragedy. Massive props to him for having the dedication to keep playing the game after that.

Zallard is hands down my favorite speed runner. If there was ever someone I'd want to meet in person it would probably have to be him. I feel like he's such a rare breed of extreme humbleness without being too hard on himself. Even if someone achieves something like a world record it typically goes one of two ways: either they become extremely arrogant, or they don't give themselves enough credit with statements like "I could've done better..." I feel like Zallard has found that perfect middle ground where he's motivated enough to make improvements, but not killing himself over something that's impossible. The man can crush a world record and still keep his cool like it's no big deal, but if someone else claimed a record he would sincerely congratulate them because he knows the work that goes into these games.

You never fail to absolutely amaze me Mr.Salt. I’m watching a game that I have never even heard of, never mind actually care about, and by the end of the video I was so invested I went from laying down to sitting on the edge of my bed, legit YELLING at my TV. That was the most DEVASTATING ending to a “world record progression” video I have ever seen. I don’t think a run like that last one will EVER be seen again. I do believe a 2.30 or even a 2.29 IS possible, but it won’t be as insanely lucky as Potatoes run. Again, ABSOLUTE BANGER or a video Salt. Keep up the GREAT work, soon you’ll be everyone’s FAVORITE game commentary/essay KZfaqr. Who knows, maybe in even some more time, everyone’s favorite just KZfaqr in general, I know u already in my top 3 and you’re not 3. Love the vids and all the effort

The master of storytelling, investment, emotion, tension. Seriously. The skill to tell these stories is next level. You know it’s great when you have people watching that don’t play or speedrun any games! I’d be very curious to see what kind of retention you get, as a KZfaq stat nerd. I guarantee it’s very high, which to do on an hour video is awesome

I discovered this game as an adult on emulators and I loved it none of my friends knew about it I was bummed that I didn't get to experience this game in my childhood with my cousin child me would've love it and later I realized that the arcade version was super popular. makes sense since the ideas behind this game are awesome nice video once again

This channel is the sole definition of "quality over quantity".

I think this is by far one of my most favorite Summoning Salt videos. The game is fascinating to hear about and you've done a great job capturing it. Super Punch-Out!! has been a childhood game and it's awesome to see it like this. Thank you!

Regardless of minor errors, these videos are amazing. The way you break the mechanics down and explain the history is really impressive. You are very talented.

New summoning salt vid on a Saturday night. The best feeling ever.

End of this video made me cry. Not going to lie. You're a remarkable content producer. Thanks for everything.

The effort and research required for these is very impressive. You deserve all the success you have!

Interesting Fact: At the same day this video was published, FatPotatoSeal got a crazy 2m 33s 240ms time, making him second place. Less than half a second from world record.

16:05 is that an 7 frame reaction? That's completely nuts. No way any anywhere "normal" human would have such an amazing reaction time. "Normal" is like 12 frames, maybe 13 even. I get anxious just by imagining myself in a situation in which I have to react so quickly... at the end of a run.

You make such amazing videos. I’ve never played any of these games but the way the story’s been told is just straight up amazing. The skill or the gamers unimaginably good

Damn dude, you made me tear up in those last minutes. The first person narrative and the crushing defeat at the last fight were brutal. Never thought I'd cry because of a speedrun.

18:50 I love how Jon Bois is such an influence to visual storytelling like this. That moment is straight out of his videos.

32:49 I really love this subtle bit of foreshadowing here with how the leaderboard was used here. Not even a couple of minutes before this point, essentially this same leaderboard of the then-current Top 3 runners was pulled up to show how large the current gap in competition was between Zallard and the times of next runner after him. But when it got pulled up _this_ time to show 2nd and 3rd place were still the same times even after the half a year gap between Zallard's WRs, there's suddenly just this 4th name on the board that wasn't there before with Mysteryman, who goes completely unmentioned in the moment, only for that same name to then come up properly in a BIG way later on when they stormed into the scene to completely _demolish_ Zallard's record in spite of the extra layer of difficulty they had to deal with of the input delay they had to work around. Even if that wasn't actually an intentional bit of foreshadowing at work there to hint at what was to come later on, that was still some good stuff nonetheless.

Keep making this excellent content. Loved this game growing up and honestly if you made a doc about a game I never played or didn't care about, I would still watch the content you're creating here.

Definitely my new favorite video of yours, kept me on edge till the very end and was so hype! Thank you for all the content you put out for us Salt!~

That ending was heartbreaking for me. Love the new style of editing with the graph of progression, great watch and gg to all the runners accomplishments on this video.

Man, even I felt my soul get absolutely crushed at FatPotatoSeal's run at the end. I can't even possibly fathom the absolute pain he suffered at the end of that run. Heartbreaker can't even begin to describe that.

I was just going to like the video and close it because I was not interested but ended up watching all of it. That's your power, the writing and everything is so nice that you can make people watch hour-long videos about games they have zero interest in. I've watched some of your videos before about games that I also had no interest in too. I'm happy your extensively worked-on videos get the recognition they deserve with millions of views. You're a gem of the internet for documenting so many speedrun histories, it's like an archive, a concentrated place to watch the history of a decently big portion of the speedrunning community as of now, and the portion is growing bigger with every video. Our little gem of the internet that everyone loves and appreciates, it's nice.

One of your best yet! Keep em coming! I was on the edge of my seat all 50 minutes

18:37 the editing here litterally made my heart drop. i loved this new style of giving a physical timeline for us to see and to execute it to make us angsty was so dope. much love

Awesome stuff once again!

I just love how chill and epic these feel every time. Makes my day,thanks for all the hard work. I can't imagine how I would react to getting that final run. Absolutely unprecedented.

Always a fan of the beautifully paced storytelling from this channel. One of the main highlights from me is the music used as I have now downloaded several tracks from HOME and really REALLY enjoy the music list that accompanies these videos. I feel like there could be a speedrun community for paint drying and Summoning Salt can make it a compelling narrative.

That was absolutely heartbreaking. I kinda hope Zallard comes back and retakes the lead and shakes things up again. Great video as always!

Last time someone got a run with odds like that, they got investigated in a 29 page report. Jokes aside, I half expected a Matt Turk cameo somewhere in here. Great work as always.

I’ve watched quite a few of your videos lately and all I can say is wow. From the opening music (PLEASE don’t change it by the way) to your amazing story telling abilities. Every video truly feels like an absolute journey through the timeline of whatever game is getting broken this time. I always look forward to watching your videos and I’m honestly super excited for whatever game is being broken for the sake of shaving off .01 seconds.

Great editing. The extra effort taken to keep the background stage positioning consistent as you fade between different fighters is cool.

The absolute rhythm in storytelling of this video. Only introduces strategies for specific boxers when it is relevant to a run in question. Legit impressed.

Sometimes I feel like I live in a simulation. I literally tried this game for the very first time just a few hours before you upload this. REALLY excited to sit down the next hour to watch this. Love your content dude!!!🙌☺️

I don’t even play video games often but these videos are compelling and enthralling. I do not zone out or get bored at any point.

I just heard about your channel from a short animation and wanted to check it out. I clicked on the first video I saw with no intention to finish it. Not only did I finish it, but I enjoyed every second of it. I really mean it when I say Summoning Salt is the best story teller I've seen on youtube

As someone who casually speedran this game for a while back in 2020, this video hit me hard. That Nick Bruiser counter with input lag is exactly as hard as it looks. Fun Fact: The right jab (or face punch) is slightly slower, but also slightly more powerful than the left jab. Same goes for right body blows and left body blows. So when you see a runner doing a right punch specifically, it's so they can do the exact amount of damage to knock someone down (as in, if they did a left punch instead, it would leave the opponent with a sliver of health). This is most notable with Phase 3 of Mr. Sandman and Phase 2 of Rick Bruiser. It's also important when doing buffer strats, due to the different timings. Awesome to see a video about this game, it absolutely deserves more attention.

The old saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is the best compliment I can give you about your videos. Thank you for making the best videos on the platform. Even though they take a while to get to us lol.

I was truly on tears by the end of the video. Stellar story telling. Thank you for your spectacular content.

Dude your videos have stepped up even more with the suspense and editing. This is the best channel on KZfaq.

I feel so old right now. I remember getting this for Christmas..... which means i was 12. I'll never forget that Christmas, because i had the flu. I felt so shitty but so pumped! My shortest playthrough was 20 min., and my friends thought i was awesome. Thank you for bringing me back to reality. Love the channel, keep rockin' it!

The closest I've ever really come in my life to speed running anything was super punch out. Back in the 90s I got my copy used and whoever had owned it before me had clearly put thousands of hours into it, setting times on every fight WAY beyond what I thought was even possible (keeping in mind this was the 90s so the internet was young and lacking in information so I have no idea how good those times actually were). The result was for the first time in a game of this variety, I had something to shoot for, not just beating my own personal best, but extremely high goals that were intimidating but that I knew were actually possible, even if it took me thousands of hours myself to figure some of them out. I have no idea what my times were anymore, and I'm sure the battery back up has long since died, losing them forever to time, but I don't think as a kid I was ever as proud of something no one else in the world ever saw (or would probably care about if they did), then I was of grinding my way to taking the top high score in every fight in Super Punch Out. In a lot of ways that makes this video vary nostalgic, especially that unique combo of losing perfect runs to RNG, and RNG perfect runs to execution errors, that would both crush my soul, and make me even more so want to give it one more try.

This video was truly fascinating cause it's rare that a single runner gets covered for such a long stretch of time, it was really cool seeing one person's history and their own personal improvements. And by the time the video had to leave him to focus on other runners, there was such an appreciation built up for all the timesaves made that these other runners felt even more impressive. I truly love these videos and what they're doing to highlight the speedrunning community

I hadn't heard about super punch-out before this video, I watched a few minutes and it instantly made me want to play. Fast forward to today, I just beat Nick Bruiser and this is now one of my favorite games ever. I just wanted to say thanks a lot, and great video.

Crazy to see how your voice and script writing has developed over the past 4 years. Also I had no idea that your channel used to be based on this game until I just scrolled through your channel history.

I just watched 54 minutes of a game I've never played and I enjoyed every second of it. Also, that ending was brutal. Just goes to show that no matter how incredible your run can be, all it takes is ONE thing and it's over. It doesn't even have to be your fault and that's the risk that speedrunners have to deal with all the dang time which is why I respect them so much.

Holy fuck how do your videos almost always have me crying by the end. It's incredible how you manage to make us feel emotional over someone getting screwed over by RNG in a 20+ year old game

I just looked up leaderboards for MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!! (1987) after watching blindfolded history of punch out, I can't believe you hold 6 out of 6 WR in EVERY category. You're madman, I don't know what is better, your skill or your beautiful editing and storytelling. I knew you were on top, even your channel beginning are punch-out videos but having ALL of WR in that game is beyond amazing