Incredible streamer smashes through Super Mario World using only his voice – and it’s jaw-dropping
DataDave plays Super Mario World. (Twitter, screenshot)
Gamers play games in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, like playing Hades with a pomegranate or using a banana as a PlayStation controller. But this streamer is playing Super Mario World using only his voice.
Twitch streamer and voice actor DataDave has set up the SNES classic Super Mario World to be controlled using voice commands only. And he plans to play through the entire game in this way on his channel.
“I saw someone go viral doing this type of play through and wanted to see if I was able to do something similar using voice commands with Super Mario World,” he said. “I set it up and it didn’t take too long to figure out, but after the many tries after we cleared one stage, I wanted to try and beat the entire game this way.”
He’s shared a clip on Twitter showing the World Two Ghost Stage. These stages are notoriously tricky for their Boo ghosts that follow Mario when his back is turned.
The video shows the intricacies of voice commands as DataDave uses a variety of phrases to get Mario to run, jump and step to the side just the right amount.
Another CLEAR! World 2 Ghost Stage! We're Making more Progress LIVE NOW on Twitch! Come join!
Peep how we beat this! (This took AWHILE) pic.twitter.com/I7csymAnMe
— DataDave (@DataDaveTV) March 5, 2021
So how does it all work? He explains: “I’ve downloaded software where you can map voice commands to different macros on my keyboard. For example, if I say the word left, then the left key in game will be pressed and released for a set amount of time.
“The process is just adding more and more macros to commands. Like having a mini left, press and release key for 0.2 seconds, compare to a long left, press and release for 4 seconds. Setting up commands like that helps based on the stage.”
It’s an impressive feat, not only for mapping such a variety of commands but for instinctively knowing which to use in which situation. And with voice taking longer than a button press, there’s a slight delay between the command and the on-screen action that must be accounted for.
The commands can also be mapped to any word, like “yeet” instead of jump. DataDave even has his subscribers choosing the words for him.
As a long time Mario player, playing Super Mario World was an obvious choice for the streamer. “I grew up with the game and still stream and play Nintendo based games,” he says. “I felt this one was a good enough pace so that if I did voice commands, it may be possible to set it up and clear after a lot of attempts.”
And Super Mario World won’t be the only game he’ll be playing in this way. “I have streams where we start with no commands and make them on the spot. We’ve done this with Street Fighter, and lost the first battle, but we were able to do some damage!
“Other games I’m considering are Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby, and other retro games to see if it’s possible to beat them with only my voice!”
Check out DataDave’s Twitch channel to watch his progress.
