The internet can't get enough of this insane 'Super Mario Maker' level

Image: Dan Salvato/Youtube

An insanely difficult Super Mario Maker level has been making the rounds on the internet, and it's one of the most stressful 60 seconds of Mario imaginable.

The level is called "P is for Pain" and consists of nothing but spike traps, P switches and trampolines carrying P switches. Something that is notably missing from that list: anything solid to stand on.

After the first patch of ground right at the start, Mario has to constantly jump and move to avoid death. P switches only offer a brief moment of respite before they disappear completely, so there is no spot to catch your breath anywhere on this level. On top of that, there are no powerups, so Mario dies in one hit.

The fact that someone was able to publish it in the first place means they had to beat the terrible creation they made — Super Mario Maker doesn't allow players to share unbeatable levels.

The mastermind behind "P is for Pain" is Dan Salvato, a former Smash player and current world record holder for two different Yoshi's Story speedruns. He originally published the video of himself beating the level in October 2015, but the internet doesn't soon forget something so crazy.

After the video resurfaced on Reddit Thursday, Salvato gave some insight into why he created the level and how difficult it was for him to beat it.

"Some people find satisfaction in failing thousands of times until you become skilled enough to achieve the impossible."

"I'm a speedrunner and have always been a big fan of 'superplay' style gaming in general, where hours and hours of practice result in what looks like inhuman levels of skill," Salvato said in a comment. "So I wanted to make a level for that community of people, having a good understanding of it."

He also drew some inspiration from classic, difficult video game.

"In the '80s and some of the '90s, many video games were literally designed to make you fail," he said. "It's how arcades would take your money, and how short NES games would provide the illusion of more gameplay. But it turns out some people find satisfaction in failing thousands of times until you become skilled enough to achieve the impossible. And that's why that strange relic of the industry is still relevant in some games today."

Salvato's creation is certainly a difficult level, considering it boasts a 0.04 percent completion rate according to Super Mario Maker Bookmark. YouTubers Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson and Danny Avidan of Game Grumps spent an entire 13-minute episode trying to beat the level, giving an idea of what it's like to play through it without practice.

Salvato admitted it took a lot of practice to get through the level.

"I got a lot of practice while making the level, but after it was finished, I completed it in about 45 minutes," he said on Reddit. "So I would estimate around 150-200 attempts. The most skilled players, after becoming experienced with the level, can complete it in less than 5 minutes of attempts."

If you have Super Mario Maker and want to try the level out yourself, the code is 7FD3-0000-0095-698B. 

Good luck.

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