The Nintendo World Championships closed out in a finale reminescent of The Wizard. The two finalists, John Numbers and Thomas G., raced across three levels of the upcoming Super Mario Odyssey, working to beat unseen levels of the upcoming Nintendo Switch game.
Thomas G. surged up through the “underground,” the loser’s bracket, after overcoming opponents in games like Mario Party 2 and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. John Numbers, the 2015 champion, was coming in from the winner’s side to defend his title.
The first level forced the two to do a little timing-based puzzle solving, hitting buttons with their caps to create platforms on walls, which they could then hop across to the moon.
Level two was a vertical platforming stage using Mario’s new cap abilities to fling and fly up the side of a tower.
The final boss fight from above closed out the race, with Thomas G. landing the final punch to the boss’ face and taking home the trophy.
Update October 8, 1:52 PM: Eagle-eyed readers noticed the Mario level in this competition was featured for a second in the January Nintendo Switch presentation, so we’ve tweaked the headline.