The 11 Year Old Who Won Multiple World Records Overnight - Mario Kart DS Speedrunning
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- In late 2020, a sixth grader named Taiga appeared out of nowhere to set multiple WRs in MKDS. Today, he's one of the best players in the game's history. He's also one of the most interesting characters in speedrunning today.
I'd love to make some more videos like this about other speedrunning communities. Have a story for me? Leave a comment below, or DM me on Twitter: / gaming_observer
Prefer videos with subtitles? I've transcribed this entire video! Just hit the "CC" button on the video player.
A HUGE thank you to the players who agreed to talk with me to make this video. It wouldn't have been possible without them.
• Abel: / mkdsabel
(Make sure you watch his documentary: • MKDS 2021: The Story o... )
• Puddings: / puddings
• MKDasher: / mkdasher
• Max: / @maxmkds
• Keverage: / @keverage
And of course, the subject of our video...Taiga: / @user-uc2zj3zj9g
And here are some resources if you'd like to get involved in MKDS racing:
• DISCORD: / discord
• BEGINNER'S GUIDE: • How to Get Good at Mar...
• PLAYER'S PAGE: www.mariokart64.com/mkds/
• WORLD RECORD TRACKING: mkwrs.com/mkds/
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:45 Discovering Taiga
7:28 Understanding MKDS Techniques
8:44 Ascending to the Throne
13:24 Clouded in Mystery
17:34 Looking Forward
20:30 Advice For New Players 
Игры
Taiga is a chad. He was so good at MKDS that his parents have to upload videos of him playing and refuses to elaborate, leaving the MKDS community in shambles.
Fr
XD
Also, I didn’t realize Mario Kart ds still had a huge community. Hopefully he’s being so private because his parents are protecting his privacy.
I was so surprised about the depth in the community as well! And yeah, that's definitely the impression I get too. And honestly, good for them. Can't imagine raising a kid in today's tech-dominated environment. This seems like a good middle ground of slowly integrating them online while still keeping their privacy front-of-mind.
@@AdrianSimple yeah
As of October 4th, Taiga's the champ.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLL
Taiga is probably also so good because young people tend to be extremely fast learners. An adult can try to learn one certain tricks for months, while some kid gets it consistently everytime.
that's actually because adults almost always "forget how to learn" because after getting work you don't learn much more new stuff and the brain isn't used to picking up new stuff anymore
7:15: "I'm going to tell you about that, but before we do..."
*I instinctively prepare to skip a sponsor read segment*
"...I need to tell you about some of the major techniques and terminology..."
Oh.
LOL
Considering he's a young kid, I wouldn't be surprised that the reason he hasn't improved his Moo Moo Farm time is simply he doesn't like the level, lol.
pretty much nobody likes the level i think lol
Little kids can usually learn better at a young age because their brain is still developing, so maybe this was how he learned so quick
This is freaking insane!!!! This kid picks up this game, pushes to this level, AFTER they take down the servers? Wow! For people who havent played this game competitively, it’s impossible to understand just how crazy this is… without that community to self-motivate to push this hard is just wild. Wow wow wow
It's talent.
When I was 11, I used to play MarioKart DS 24/7. He probably has all day to master these tracks.
He's very talented. Talent is a factor in everything.
@@KingBoo97 Oh yeah for sure, but talent only goes so far. This kid got some crazy work ethic
@@KingBoo97 his only talent is to play the same game for hundreds of hours w/o being bored
He worked for what he accomplished
@@fred6o What a joke, he's the best at the game and at that age. A total prodigy.
99.9% of people wouldn't get nearly as good as him despite spending hundreds of hours.
@@fred6onah. He’s legit a prodigy.
There are people that have been grinding down times in this game for longer than he’s been alive.
Just because you play a game a lot, doesn’t guarantee you great times.
This kids talent is insane. He’s the real deal.
It looks like this video has been picked up by the RUclips algorithm recently. Thanks for stopping by everyone! Be sure to subscribe if you're a fan of speedrunning videos, I'm trying to do lots more about them :)
Nearly 1 year later, this video is still doing way better than I ever expected! I am still making lots of videos about speedrunning, so if you enjoy that kind of thing be sure to subscribe =)
This is my favorites video of yours! I rewatch it every now and then and always enjoy watching you explain the story.
Great video, love the consistent energy, speed and pacing. It's not very common that someone outside of the kart community is able to put in such an indepth video without twisting the story or skipping over important community context. As an MKDDer myself I knew a decent amount about Taiga, but clearly I was missing some things so having a video like this is awesome
one thing that might help set the tone of each segment a little better / build up a little more is making the music a tiny bit louder as it was barely audible for me when I listen at a comfortable volume, which to me often resulted in it just being random noises rather than it setting the mood :d
Appreciate the feedback! I was a little worried about audio balance so getting a comment like this helps a lot. And thanks for the kind words :)
Mario kart DS came out 19 years ago, this kid was born when Mario kart 8 came out
Thank you so much for your hard work on this tremendous video and for shedding light on the Mario Kart DS scene. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and am honoured to have been a part of it.
Looking forward to more content coming from your channel!
This video couldn’t have happened without your help Abel, thanks so much!
I've seen this anology across the community a couple times already, but let me write it down here as well:
The MKDS Speedrunning scene; before the arrival of Taiga it was mainly experienced adults/teenagers at best. They all competed with each other and had rivalries over course times. Then out of nowhere, a japanese kid pops into the scene, with no one ever having seen him before. And he likely doesn't know anyone from this scene prior to meeting them either. He smashes records after records without anyone knowing how he's doing it and how he acquired that skill. And he's also doing it using a very odd, unorthodox method which many believe to be absurd (c stick). Later on he would have a back and forth rivalry with mkdasher, a veteran with more than a decade of experience. This forces mkdasher to find new ways to cut time and in general practice hard to reclaim the records. But in that sense, now that the kid is known in the scene, he also has to get better and find new techniques if he wants to hold the records.
If you're an enjoyer of the car culture, preferably the japanese car culture alongside anime, you might know where i'm getting to.
This is pretty much a perfectly accurate analogy to the story of the hit anime "Initial D". There, the story starts with an introduction to several mountain pass street racing teams, a good bunch of them being very skilled and the "Akagi RedSuns" team consisting of the best drivers, their leader having never even lost once and dominating every course record. We then get introduced to an 18 year old high schooler, Takumi Fujiwara, who seems like a normal boring guy at first, but is secretly a monster on the mountain passes without even knowing himself. One night, Keisuke Takahashi, a member of the Akagi RedSuns, drove home from practicing on Takumi's home pass. He then spots a car going very fast, thinking it was a race challenge. He then gets absolutely dusted by a completely underpowered and outdated car. Later on he would challenge Takumi to an official race after finding out his identity, and losing again. Those challenges kept coming forever, with Takumi only ever struggling when racing against the Akagi RedSuns leader, Ryosuke Takahashi, who Takumi ultimately barely defeats before the finish line. Some time after that, Ryosuke invited Takumi to join a new racing team dedicated to smash every record on all japanese mountain passes alongside his teammate and younger brother Keisuke. This is when Takumi finally meets his limits and has to improve at an extremely fast rate in order to keep the winning streak. Keisuke as well practices even more, to the point where both are pretty much equally skilled at the end.
(Also, Takumi's father Bunta Fujiwara is a tofu shop owner and is likely THE actual fastest street racer in the entire series, even Takumi at the end doesn't stand a chance against him, but Bunta was only training Takumi by making him do the tofu deliveries from a very young age illegally. But since we don't know anything about Taiga's father, this is not really part of the analogy)
The parallels are:
- Takumi Fujiwara = Taiga
- Ryosuke/Keisuke Takahashi = mkdasher
- Myogi NightKids/Impact Blue/Literally anyone else up until the formation of the new team (Project D) = mkdsabel, puddings, max, Beta, etc.
- AE86 (Old underpowered outdated car) = C-Stick on 3DS
- Both suddenly appeared out of nowhere
- Both extremely skilled from the getgo, probably without really realising how insane both are
thank you if anyone would ever have read this all the way to the bottom lmao
awesome video, very well made for someone not intimately familiar with the community and ESPECIALLY someone who's new to these kinds of mini speedrunning documentaries in general, I really hope you do more of these in the future
Thanks so much! Yeah I really wanted to elevate the voices of the people in the community, since it's never fun for an outsider to tell the whole story (and possibly get it wrong!). Speedrunning is obviously so community driven as well.
Definitely want to do more! Just have to find fun stories like this one :) I felt very lucky to stumble across this one.
So happy with how this video came out! I'm really glad I could help contribute, thanks so much for all your hard work on this!
This is the kind of thing speedrunning communities need to share our stories. Looking forward to many more videos from you!
Your insight and support were so so invaluable. Thank you Max for everything!
Moral of the story: if you think you're good at a game, there's always a Japanese kid thats better
And if your a Japanese kid, there's still another Japanese kid better than you
It's just Japanese kids all the way down.@@NetullaGD
These games that have these small niche communities that still play years after they release is so fascinating to me. Especially when new younger people are playing them. Im sure Tiaga wasnt even born when this game first came out. I knew nothing about any of this and watched this whole video in one sitting. Very well made.
This was a really well-made video! personally, I thought at the beggining that Taiga was hidind something. And he still in kind of hidden, however he proved he's a legit racer and an MKDS whizzkid
Woohoo! Yeah I love this story. He's so talented.
“At this point he’s our new god” lmao this is wild!
Puddings was such a pleasure to talk to. They were always so expressive and informative.
This video came out amazing, so glad I got to help contribute to this!
THANK YOU for all of your support and help in this project!
This video is awesome man! Love seeing this game get more attention. Taiga is a phenomenal player.
awesome video, definitely one of the best mkds speedrunning videos on this site. very enjoyable video on the mystery that taiga
Finally got around to watching this video! I was a very active MKDS player in 2006-2008, but unfortunately I lost touch to the community after that. Recently, basically since Abel's fantastic documentary, I've been trying to follow a bit more what's happening. It's crazy to me that the community around this game is still so active! Thanks for putting more light onto this game! It was a really good mini documentary. 🙂
I also found out that 1) Taiga still hasn't played Moo Moo Farm, and 2) even my old Moo Moo Farm times are better than his. He must really not like that track. 😂
Hahaha I can't wait to see Taiga finally get those times improved. Thanks for the kind words!
Thanks for watching! Please drop a comment if you have any feedback or questions :)
Does your speedrun community have a fun story that hasn't been told yet? Please let me know!
yep. it happened on 21.01.2022:
i was grindin for a WR on Mario Circuit nonPRB flap. The WR back then was by Beta, with a time of 29:231 (a WR over 1year already). I was grindin for a month, when I finally got a great run, with a time of 29:208! A WR! or as I thought.... Beta, who didnt play for 6months, suddenly came back and uploaded just FEW MINUTES before my run a new WR of 29:193....bad luck XD
I love these sorts of highlights of the speedrunning and gaming community. I love the inclusion of interviews and really appreciate having a segment at the end with simple advice on getting started running the game. I look forward to seeing what else you cover!
Thanks for all of your support!
These MKDS documentaries are amazing! Great job
Thanks so much!
Incredibly well made video! It is rare to find such high quality videos about MKDS on youtube, especially from someone not directly involved in the community. I loved the style of the video, incorporating interviews from higher level players (also rare for videos about mkds) made the video much more solid than it otherwise would have been. As a member of the mkds community watching this unfold, this video really captured and delivered the story of Taiga. I really hope you continue making more videos like this!
Thank you so much! I probably won't be sticking around with MKDS content but I'm really interested in uncovering stories from all communities. So happy that this one has given their stamp of approval :)
11:23 that is one huge thing, this is just some kid with all the time in the world to play going up against adults where mkds can’t be their main priority. they got jobs and bills to pay and taiga is just living the life glued to his 3ds as much as possible. it’s a very interesting dynamic.
I found a comment on one of his videos that asked how much he usually played, and his google translated response was "thirty minutes to an hour on weekdays, and two to three hours on weekends and holidays."
Great vid. Very informative and well structured. I appreciated going over terminology and the incorporation of the speedrunners sharing their perspectives on the subject. I felt like I got a complete story. Cheers.
Really well made video, thanks for putting so much work into this 😊 Its very rare that somebody cares about a small community like ours from MKDS, even if something insane like Taigas appearance happens, so I really really appreciate it, thanks!
I'm so so happy that the community has received this well. It has made my night.
Great video, I remember hearing about Taiga. MKDS was my first MK game so while it's not my best I liked the time trial mode. When I was 12 I submitted my MK7 times since I liked that game too, it was the first time I submitted any speedruns and the only time I did so for 6 years. I was at the bottom of the leaderboards but I liked time trialing there. And right now I like time trialing in MK8DX!
I think when players tried migrating to a C-Pad, they tried playing as if it were a D-Pad, i.e. hands upright.
Taiga always braces his left hand and holds from the side. I think this would probably make learning to use the C-Pad for quick MTs much easier
Ayyyy topspin
what is a C Pad? Circle Pad?
@@tabbywarrior yeah
I was pretty invested in the community back in 2010-2013, and there's even a hands video hiding way back on my channel. I'm so thrilled to see a surge of new activity and some quality journalism chronicling it.
Awesome video! You did an incredible job telling this story and the more minute details that I wasn't even aware of. Would love to see more videos like this about MKDS, or any other kart game. There's definitely some incredible stories in kart that I feel might make good videos, like perhaps SMK, MKSC or MKDD, games that don't exactly have the largest amount of videos made about them. great video, really enjoyed it!!
Thanks! If you have any specific stories in those communities that you think would be worth chasing, please let me know!
@@AdrianSimple here's some things that come to mind
-the history of the CDM tournament that the SMK community holds in France/the Netherlands, and some of the great matches that have occurred
-the history of MC1 5lap in SMK or GV1 flap, two incredibly strong times that were dominated by different legends of the game, Sami and KVD respectively, and the attempts by take it down
-Shock's quest for 80/80 Non-SC WRs in MKSC, and the set of players who fought to stop him
-how rKB1 flap, the shortest non-sc lap in any kart game, became revolutionized by using Luigi
-how MKDD was supposedly almost impossible to find shortcuts in, and then Goomba and iMathii finding several new strategies which opened the door for several new ones.
-Baby Park flap, a simple oval that got optimized to an crazy level with sideways driving and a different kart choice (might work in a video with rKB1 flap, two short laps that got revolutionized, idk)
just some ideas that came to mind, but these games have quite the rich history to them
Great video! Well done Taiga! Keep playing the game your way. I never liked Moo Moo Farm either lol.
I tried using a 3ds circle pad once when the new Rainbow Road loop shortcut was found, but I couldn't do it and used the 3ds dpad instead. I narrowly missed the wr on a 3ds... I later joked that I almost got the world's only 3ds world record... Then someone told me about Taiga, and his hands video still blows my mind.
I just got this video recommended to me, thank God! Also, as an outsider to the MKDS community who just enjoys watching the game, I had no clue at all that Taiga was so young! Jeez
Looking forward to the future uploads in this format, you're great!
Hey, thanks so much! Very kind
Very interesting video, can’t wait to start grinding mkds
Incredibly interesting! And the video is very well done
surprised this is your first vid, really well made!!
Never thought i would enjoy a video about my most hated Mario Kart game. But you and the MKDS community made it so enjoyable to watch. Thank you
Hahaha why is MKDS your most hated?
This is amazing. If this is what you're doing instead of TGO, then... okay with me!! I can't think of anyone else who does this type of journalism. Also, what a joy to see you instead of just hear you! So this is the person I listened to every day for a billion days and come to think of as a friend! You rocked it with this video, and I'm so happy, and oddly proud??? All that aside I would have watched this video either way. This kind of stuff fascinates me. This is like video game meta lore, the type of stuff that will never be documented without fantastic journalism like this. Loved the multimedia approach, variety, editing, interviews, and the way you spliced it all together. I hope you can keep making videos like this. At some point, one will go viral, and you'll get an audience. This is sort of a new approach. People will need time/chance to find it. Anyway, sorry for all the words. Truly love you, friend, but would love this video either way.
Underrated.
I'll be back in 2 and a half years when this channel blows up.
Thanks so much!
just two more years
Incredible video I really enjoyed it :D
Thanks so much!
Such an underrated RUclipsr. You earned my respepct bro
Well done my friend. I'd heard about the Taiga cyclone, but had no idea he was that young. I hope he stays with the community for a long time.
Me too! Though, if he doesn't want to stick around, that's perfectly fine as well
It's nice to see MKDS content
Awesome video man! :D
Thanks so much!
Taiga probably gets home from school then sits down to play mkds until dinner then to bedtime
This is a brilliant video, goodness.
Great Vid Bro. Extremely well made especially from an outsider. This could be enjoyed be hardcores and casuals alike.
Thank you so much!
this video is so good!!! truly did an amazing job of capturing every aspect of this taiga situation, please make more mario kart videos :D
What a great video Adrian 😃👏👏👏
Fascinating content, well produced and the usual slick delivery from Adrian.
Might have to dust off the DS and locate my MKR cart!
Hahahah I was thinking of doing this too. Emulator would be much easier for me though -- too bad times through that aren't accepted (I don't think, anyway)
It’s interesting to me that there are people sitting around with world record speedrun times in games, but just don’t share it for whatever reason. So the top runners could think they have the number 1 time, but really some random person in 6th grade has it. That’s wild to me.
I love it so much
Very well made and interesting video! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it!
This video is excellent! not much to say, just want to boost this video in the algorithm.
Really well done :)
Loved the video!
So kind, thank you!
What the heck, I expected this video to have hundreds of thousands of views??? Insanely well made, commenting to boost the algorithm.
Bro out here beating grown men with more developed brains, and he's using the CIRCLE PAD
This all is so improbable. Insane story
Right?! Child prodigy stories are always so cool
the circle pad video is otherworldly
Taiga must have got his MKDS through his dad or mom then one of them noticed that their son is making good times in courses and uploaded them to youtube, they didn't know that they opened the flood gates.
wow cool! What a surprise to get a great documentary from someone unknown! :O
Appreciate it :)
You should do more of these
Adrian simple is an underrated documentary channel
This would make a good movie!
The web game escape from school has a pretty interesting history
Got sick of Alexa telling me TGO has no new episodes. Had to see what you're up to. I'm liking the Summoning Salt pivot. You've got a great voice for media
Such a great video summing up a pretty niche scene. I think there's just such a culture separation and so because people can't really communicate with this person they turn him into an unbeatable god in their minds.
nice video, i like mkds
Me too!
what im scared about is this might be too good to be true,
there was a very trusted player in geometry dash (seperate game) which got good just in a matter of time (icedcave)
he literally beat all the world records until someone caught him.
i'm not saying taiga is fake, i believe he's real on his speedruns but it might be.. yeah
You know I did an Ultra Shortcut at Koopa Beach 1 SNES on Super Circuit as a child.
Good video
When I was 7-8 I got within a 1 second of the mk7 toad circuit world record but I dropped the game in my couch and we couldn’t get it out💀💀
i remember playing against MKDasher on the Wii U for days to beat him only 2 times out of 60.
I was just looking for short cuts for mkds because I'm emulating it. I played it a ton growing up in Japan and played multiplayer. Was no joke and i got uh pretty good back then.
Everyone surprised with the C-Stick from the 3DS...
Like dude, i played with that my entire life, since i have a 3DS and a R4 card lmao.
Yeah, but you're (probably) not a top speedrunner of the game...
What feels weird is not the fact that he is using it, overall there sure are a lot of players who play that way overall... It's the fact that at such a high level, he manages to be on the top with a tool that is usually considered less precise than a standard cross pad
Good video, you have a cool voice
this kid must have an UNBELIEVABLE amount of clout at his school
A Takumi Fujiwara in the making.
My pb is 12 WRS in a single day but that was only in categories where anywere from a couple to no one else running them but I guess still a fairly decent amount
Miss you buddy
That's hilarious because MMF is the only track I ever got World Record on xD
incredible
Thanks!
So what I am wondering is, did Taiga discover and learn all the techniques to drive the tracks fast by himself? Or did he actually look up information online to improve himself?
If and when an ACT run of MKDD! comes out with some of the new strats , it will be worth doing a video on it.
What is ACT? :)
@@AdrianSimple ACT stands for All Cup Tour. (16 tracks)
Taiga is cracked
This kid is godlike
Everyone's shocked, meanwhile I'm just sitting here thinking "it's the 9 year old competitive aerobatic RC helicopter pilot all over again".
Cool video. I added you to the chart I made a little back.
He's cooking with a circle pad
This makes me wonder if some random person in the world has records that have never been shared
Probably unlikely, right? Most people who do this are seeking the validation of being the best in the world 😅
Now imagine if this video gets a reply from Taiga themselves....
He uses the circle pad ....... Wtf
My man literally just Little Mac'ed his way into mario kart ds lmao
SUMMONING SALT WYA
Where can we see speedrunners in a vs race instead of time trials?