Introduction
Leyla Hasso is a female Super Mario Kart (SMK) player from London, UK and is the niece of Sami Cetin. She is an active player of SMK and briefly played MKDS until receiving a Wii for her 9th Birthday in 2008. Leyla has been one of the youngest active karters on any of the kart sites and also achieved many Women's World Records on Time Trial for SMK. Leyla is currently ranked the fastest female Super Mario Kart Player in the World for both the PAL and NTSC version and holds all 40/40 PAL records and the majority of NTSC records for the female category. She is perhaps most famous for defeating top MKDD player Vincent van der Fluit in a SMK Grand Prix 150cc Mushroom Cup tournament for karters around their skill level in 2007. Videos of those races are available on youtube and have also been created into a DVD. Her latest Time Trial videos are also uploaded on her youtube channel as they are made. Leyla Hasso has been featured in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2013 for her Women's World Title on Super Mario Kart SNES.
Her first years
Leyla Hasso was born in May 1999 as the first daughter of Ayla Hasso (née Cetin) and Karim Hasso. When she was 1 day old, her Uncle Sami Cetin was asked to tell her all about his SMK World Records at the time, and that one day when she grew older he could teach her how to play. At the time this seemed far fetched but as they say, no one knows what the future may bring. She initially didn't play any games except for a few applications on the PC (e.g. Baby Type) with her Uncle Sami Cetin. The PC usage included once assisting Sami with an SMK Time Trial site update in November 1999 when she was just five months old. Suffice to say she wasn't able to type too well at the time but she was an excellent assistant for her age.
Leyla took a keen interest in books and drawing from a young age plus watching cartoons including classics from the 80s / early 90s despite being born much later than this time. Sami, preferring the programmes on from his childhood encouraged her to watch some of the things that he did many years before and perhaps this spurred on the interest in more of the retro classic gaming as opposed to HD / modern Era gaming when she grew up. She thoroughly enjoyed these times and it wasn't long before the two would venture further into another long lasting hobby.
Starting out with some games and introduction to Super Mario Kart
When Leyla was 1 year and 10 months old Sami attempted to give her a SNES pad to give Super Mario Kart a try. It wasn't a great success as she only completed a lap of Mario Circuit 1 in 3 minutes and 24 seconds. After she was around 2 - 3 Leyla begun to play a little on some of the old handheld consoles including the original Nintendo Gameboy. and took an interest in games after a few years due to her Uncle Sami Cetin and his SMK activity. She then played with the Nintendo Game Boy Advance on some basic platform games and a few Disney titles. This begun developing her hand eye coordination skills on platform games, which become useful when she would try some of the more difficult ones later on. When Leyla was 3 he gave her a quick go again on Super Mario Kart SNES and she was able to drive a little better this time but only on a few tracks. They ceased to play this further while Sami left for University, but Leyla vaguely remembered this interesting game for later.
After Leyla turned 5, Sami was visiting back one summer from University. Leyla then asked if Sami remembered that game they once played "Super Mario Cartoon" a long time ago. Sami at first didn't realise what she meant, but then clocked on that it was infact Super Mario Kart and corrected her on this. Keen to give her a try they played together for a little while and she was able to drive cleaner with Toad this time. During that summer, Sami decided to get her her own SNES with Super Mario Kart and Super Mario All Stars. Although she didn't play it often due to the complexity of the setup on the old televisions, she enjoyed having her own copy and probably played a bit more of the platformers than SMK at the time. Shortly after putting together a full timeset on Super Mario Kart. she then officially joined the Super Mario Kart Time Trial World Records Site in Summer of 2004 while still 5 years old. Her initial competitor on Time Trials was Tanja Huber of Germany who turned 6 and presented a good challenge as they both started out on the site. Leyla overtook her on Time Trials and passed a few more karters till she stopped playing for a while.
Leyla Hasso vs Louise Bedford on SMK Match Race
On the 29th April 2006 Leyla attended a UK Meet held by Sami Cetin. A mini beginners SMK Tournament was set up and Leyla entered using Toad. Her big moment came when she raced UK rival Louise Bedford. The Race on Mario Circuit 2 was intense.
Leyla started off poorly with a missed zoom start and then struggled to keep the pace going as she continuously went off the road and clipped pipes on the opening laps. Louise drove safe and took the lead; also throwing a red shell back in the open that hit Leyla pushing her further behind. Leyla continued to drive on lap 3 picking up the pace a bit and gaining a red shell. A green shell was approaching at the start of lap 4 and she fired the red shell which arc'ed into its path and killed it off. Leyla then reached top speed at the end of lap 4 and was on pursuit. With some fantastic cornering she picked up a star but didn't use it yet. Louise had an accident where the enemies were underneath the flyover jump and Leyla overtook. She activated the star before the jump and managed to defeat Louise on this final lap. She then stopped playing SMK for the remainder of 2006.
Comeback to SMK in 2007 with Bowser
During 2007 Leyla returned to SMK trying out Bowser on certain tracks (mainly Mushroom Cup) to make some faster times, she became the fastest female SMK player in London and 2nd fastest in the UK. She switched to Toad on a few tracks, then one day after several attempts she managed to drive a Women's British record on the fastlap of Choco Island 2 with Toad, beating the time of Sue Cladingboel by a few hundredths. One of her proudest achievements was reaching 1'03" on Mario Circuit 1 Time Trial, close to the record of her father Karim. Leyla also played a lot of the Grand Prix mode also and developed good skills there, mainly just 150cc Mushroom Cup.
Leyla Hasso vs Vincent van der Fluit
A Tournament was organised on the 25th Birthday of Leyla's Uncle Sami Cetin in October 2007. This included karters of the Intermediates to Beginners on SMK. Leyla joined 'Team UK' (as established by Jonathan Sifleet) in the tournament and wore her own t-shirt with 'London Women's Champion' for Super Mario Kart written on the back. This was probably Leyla's most famous break on SMK and videogaming in general. 8 players entered the Tournament which would be set on 150cc Grand Prix mode of Mushroom Cup. The battles were fantastic, Leyla had an early match vs Lindsay Molenaar of the Netherlands who visited also. Leyla advanced to the later rounds. Vincent van der Fluit defeated the remainder of strong UK players including John Barber, placing Leyla and Vincent in the final. The races have been taped and are available on youtube and on DVD. Prior to the races, a 3 part Intro Video was created to detail Leyla's rise to fame from her first day until the start of the Tournament on SMK ((Intro 1), (Intro 2), (Intro 3).
Leyla selected Bowser and Vincent selected D.K.Jr, the races then started. Here was a breakdown of each race of the final along with their associated video links:
- First Race : Mario Circuit 1 (video link)
The race begun and Leyla as Bowser got off to a bad start, with Vincent getting a boost start and taking the lead while Leyla made a few minor mistakes. The first part of lap 4 was on error on Leyla's part as she took a risk to overtake Vincent when he had the red shell. He fired and unfortunately she was knocked off the road. The crowd let out a sigh of disappointment as this could have cost her the race. She continued to pursue, approaching Koopa Troopa (CPU) with a well timed Green shell that caused her to overcorrect her turn at the start of lap 5. It didn't look possible for Leyla to win this race, however Vincent ahead had a Mushroom thrown in front by the CPU Toad that shrunk him. The CPU Toad went ahead to win the race as Vincent struggled as Mini D.K.Jr. He did however pick up a Mushroom. Leyla was speeding through 3rd place desperately trying to catch up, the crowd starting cheering as she also collected a Mushroom. Vincent used his to cut across the dirt on the 2nd to last corner. Leyla's top speed was helping her catch up, Vincent approached the last corner but his speed failed him, Leyla cut in and shroomed to the finish line ahead of Vincent as the audience let out a loud cheer.
- Second Race : Donut Plains 1 (video link)
The second race Leyla realised the overall battle wasn't going to be easy, she managed to land a well timed boost start, this time with Vincent stuck at the line. She zoomed off at high speed and pretty much dominated the race. As Leyla reached the 5th lap she could see Vincent ahead and was set to lap him, however he received a Lightning from the Item Boxes, using it immediately to shrink Leyla and the other CPU racers. However Leyla had built too much of a lead. Her Bowser grew to full size and she approached the last corner to almost lap Vincent as he approached his final lap, but as her top speed was not so great, she got caught on the last corner wall, winning the race a few moments later.
- Third Race : Ghost Valley 1 (video link)
Leyla and Vincent both got off to a bad start at the beginning of lap 3, but Vincent was determined to keep up the pace on this track, having recently made a faster Time Trial Record than Leyla so he was familiar with the racing lines. Vincent took some sharper turns and took the lead in lap 1, with Leyla getting stuck at the back towards the end. Leyla received a Mushroom in lap 2 and Vincent a feather. Leyla opted to do the Mushroom to bumper jump but decided not to go for the platform as it may risk her position, so she took an interesting turn to the right to land in the open space, cutting off less time but keeping the speed up. Vincent skillfully jumped the gap to the platform with the feather and cornered to the finish line to meet Leyla equally at the line again; the battle would continue into lap 3. Leyla pushed ahead into 1st place with the Top speed and some sharper cornering. Vincent also made it into 2nd and continued to pursue Leyla only a few seconds behind. Leyla played defensively leaving behind a Green shell and later a banana, then as Vincent passed the items on lap 5 he hit a wall causing him to lose some speed, but remain in 2nd for the moment. However he hit another wall and fell into 3rd as Leyla sped ahead to win the race. Vincent had an accident on the following corner where he hit a block then fell off into the hole costing him the race.
- Fourth Race : Bowser Castle 1 (video link)
At the start of Bowser Castle 1, Vincent put on a good show raising his pad to help him time his boost start which he managed to reach, however Leyla failed hers. However with accurate cornering and meeting both zippers, Leyla quickly advanced into 2nd place shortly behind Vincent in the lead. Leyla then overtook Vincent at the start of lap 2, overpowering with Top Speed. Vincent fired his green shell too attack and Leyla had to make evasive maneuvers causing her to crash on corner 2, with Vincent taking 1st place lead once again. Vincent then had a crash at the end of lap 2, firing another Green shell as Leyla passed him, narrowly missing a hit and Leyla took the lead on lap 3 with the CPU catching up with Vincent. Vincent caught back up to 2nd place as Leyla made a sharp corner on the last turn, riding the left wall without touching it. Vincent had an error on the jumps and fell into the lava once as Leyla continued to speed ahead towards the 5th and final lap. Vincent used a feather to save him from a crash on the final corner of his lap 4. Leyla's top speed was excessive at this stage and she was lapping a CPU while avoiding a stray Yoshi Egg on the track at the hairpin. Vincent picked up a lot more speed to stay ahead of the CPU in 2nd while Leyla reached the finish, winning the race.
- Fifth Race : Mario Circuit 2 (video link)
Leyla got a zoom start on Mario Circuit 2 and went for it cutting corners very sharp to gain a huge lead. Vincent got off to a bad start in 8th place throughout lap 1 while Leyla stormed into lap 2. However Leyla over corrected and hit a pipe after the first corner putting her speed to a complete stop. She began to drive again after. Vincent picked up a star making it into 7th place but some controlling difficulties led him off the road into the green after the jump, with Leyla picking up speed once again and lapping him at the end of lap 3. Leyla picked up a Mushroom on lap 4, and was speeding round the track again, however a well placed green on the previous lap was in the way and she crashed into it where the flyover is. On the hairpin corner before the jump as Leyla was accelerating she got caught up a CPU that caused her to turn inwards and be stuck on the corner. Vincent, still a lap behind also made an error crashing into that same corner. Leyla was in 6th place and it was her last lap, 4th for Vincent. The crowd reminded her that she needed to come at least 4th to advance the race, and thus win the tournament. Leyla picked up another Mushroom and when approaching the jump, shroomed and passed the CPU to land 4th and advance the race the same moment as Vincent shroomed to land next to her on the finish line.
Retirement from SMK to play MKDS and MKWii
Following some more PRs in 2007, Leyla stopped SMK as she got a Nintendo DS and begun competing in races on Mario Kart DS (MKDS), however she still played a little SMK from time to time and has shown interest in a comeback some day but she did not at the time confirm a date when this would happen. She has been since playing other casual games on the Wii, DS and PC.
Leyla Hasso Interviewed by Nintendo
In December 2008, Leyla had the opportunity to be interviewed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii Channel where she was featured at a similar time as the interview of her uncle Sami Cetin took place. The interview highlighted her success as a young gamer; reaching #1 on the Women's ranking in London and #2 in the UK on SMK and how participating in an international tournament went. The video was featured on the Nintendo Wii Channel in early 2009 and remained there for most of the year. (Watch her Interview Video with Nintendo)
Super Mario Kart Foundation Match Race Mini Tournament October 2009
Despite a long retirement and almost no practice, Leyla made a small comeback to SMK to attend a small Tournament with UK and European karters on a Foundation level on Match Race. Two leagues were constructed and Leyla had to face off on a few races vs each player in her group. This included her first French rival Claire Leviach, the wife of Guillaume (one of the fastest Super Mario Kart players in the World). Leyla made quick work of the match and later defeated all in her group except for one 1-1 tie. She was however able to net the top seed in the group for the bracket stage.
She passed the Quarter Finals with ease to meet Andrew Redman in the Semi-Final who was the 2nd fastest player there on Time Trial ability. The racing was very fierce, but Leyla landed with a close 4-3 win and should have expected a slightly easier final. On the other side of the bracket Biff had advanced past Lindsay which came as a surprise. The final between Leyla and Biff took place. Leyla was comfortably advancing by outdriving Biff with top speed. However 3 lightnings acquired by Biff cost Leyla some races and she ended up in a 5-4 loss to her UK team mate. This was the typical style of SMK with weaponry randomness, however both competitiors did well landing ahead of the foreign competitors and Leyla acquired a Silver medal which was a great achievement on a short notice comeback.
Super Mario Kart UK Championships 2010 & 2011
Leyla participated in the one time only UK Championships for Super Mario Kart. On 2nd October 2010 there was a huge event in Fairfield Halls, Croydon South London which had 28 competitors from all over the UK, even as far as Scotland. Leyla placed 16th overall in this event with the Time Trial one try mode being her strongest placing at 14th. The 2011 Championship was a much smaller event held at her Uncle Sami Cetin's; it consisted of a focus group of 10 players only, a blend of Champion level UK players, intermediate and casual level. Leyla placed in 6th Place overall at this event. She has expressed interest at attending a World Championship in future although she has limited experience in all areas of mutliplayer modes in SMK.
Mario Circuit 1 sub 1'03" project in 2011
Leyla returned to Time Trial in February 2011 to finish some unfinished business on Mario Circuit 1 Time Trial which was to reach a Non-NBT 1'02" time. After a tough session she was able to land a (1'02"98 course time) <- Vid link.
2012 Time Trial Return and Rise to the Women's World Title on PAL
Another comeback in 2012 led Leyla to improve more of her weaker records in Time Trial. Eventually she managed to reach her first Women's World Record on 7th January 2012 on Choco Island 1 lap with 0'12"78 <- Vid link. This has since been improved further.
Following this she continued to play between January to March working through all the weaker tracks and learning new strategies including platform jumps on Ghost Valley 1 and 3, and pushing some fast times on tougher tracks. She has hit many Women's World Records. On 11th March 2012 Leyla Hasso has passed Sue Cladingboel to become the UK's Fastest Female Super Mario Kart player and ranked 2nd in the World on PAL. One week later Leyla drove some more great times and passed Tanja Bronnecke (Germany) to become the fastest Female Super Mario Kart Player in the World for PAL version.
Super Mario Kart World Championship 2012, France
Leyla Hasso made her debut at the Super Mario Kart World Championships in France in 2012. Her attendance was a surprise to many and she would enter the competition as Female World Champion for the first time. She joined her uncle Sami Cetin and six other Top members of Team UK for the Tournament and was up against 50+ of the best Super Mario Kart competitors from 8 countries around the World.
She placed 32nd overall which was a pleasing result considering limite experience in Match Race and some of the other modes. She did however place well in the Time Trial one tries and Battle Mode, up at 27th. Leyla was also one of few karters at the event who achieved all 20/20 zoom starts during the PAL Time Trial one try event. She has expressed an interest in returning for a future World Championship in SMK.
Match Race Open at the Play Expo 2012, EventCity, Manchester, UK
Leyla Hasso and her Uncle Sami Cetin travelled to Manchester on 13th / 14th October 2012 to attend the Play Expo 2012 event. A section was set up for a Match Race tournament that began with a Time trial one try qualifier; the Top 16 would then advance to the Tournament Bracket. Leyla reached 1st position on the qualifier then made her way through the bracket, losing a couple of races in the Quarter Final and eventually facing Paul Darbyshire, Liverpool's Super Mario Kart Champion, and big SNES enthusiast in the Final, which she won 9-4. Leyla earned a Gold SNES pad for her win and went on to drive four Women's World Record improvements live at the event the next day.
Leyla's Match Race Final vs Paul Darbyshire (Video)
NintendoLife article and reaches 40/40 PAL Women's World Records
On the weekend of 20th / 21st October 2012, Leyla worked on Mario Circuit 1 and finally breaks the 12 year long standing Women's World Records set by retired Sue Cladingboel (also a native UK karter). Leyla then proceeded with the final track Choco Island 2 and passed the 40th PAL World Record there previously set by the Female SMK Champion of France, Lola Zappara, which was also set some 10 years back or more. Not only did she dominate the list of records but she also climbed to her highest PAL World Rank yet (within the Top 100), 93rd!
Also the same weekend, the team over at NintendoLife who do articles and various Nintendo related news globally, kindly put together a summary on her achievements in Super Mario Kart and collection of videos:
See the NintendoLife Article on Leyla Hasso
Super Mario Kart NTSC debut and Double Women's World Title
Leyla made her debut on NTSC Time Trials in Autumn 2012 and within a short period of time put together a solid Non-NBT time set to land within the Top 75 on NTSC. She stopped it after that to return back to PAL. Her rank on NTSC got her ahead of the Female Japanese Champion, Yukiko Takada to become the NTSC and PAL Women's World Champion of SMK as of November 2012.
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2013
Following her uncle Sami's entry in the Guinness World Record books the previous year, Leyla had the opportunity for an entry into the 2013 Gamer's Edition book for holding more Super Mario Kart World Records for a female gamer than any other. A photoshoot was done in 2012 and this has been included into the book with Leyla wearing a Luigi hat (the L also conveniently standing for her name).
Games Expo East Kent 2013 Match Race Challenge and Vanilla Lake 2 Women's World Record
Leyla attended the Games Expo East Kent 2013 event in Margate, UK with her uncle Sami on Saturday 23rd February to volunteer for running a Super Mario Kart Tournament for the visitors. There were 73 entries and the winner of the first final was Dave Kingston, an old friend of Sami's who visited for the day from South London. A special exhibition match was set up between Dave and Leyla Hasso with most of the venue spectating. Dave, a Battle Mode Specialist put up a good match winning a couple of races and coming close on a few more. The final result was 10-2 to Leyla; Leyla Hasso vs Dave Kingston Match Race Video
Later in the day, Leyla had her sights on setting a new Time Trial Women's World Record on a very liked track, Vanilla Lake 2. She got more than she bargained for in the end, after landing a consistent race to finish at 53.31 seconds, which is also the 2nd fastest time in the UK after her Uncle Sami's record: Leyla Hasso Vanilla Lake 2 5-lap 53.31 seconds Video
LINKS
Leyla Hasso's PAL Super Mario Kart Time Trial Videos
- PAL Mario Circuit 1 Course - 1'01"86
- PAL Mario Circuit 1 Lap - 0'12"26
- PAL Donut Plains 1 Course - 1'18"30
- PAL Donut Plains 1 Lap - 0'15"38
- PAL Ghost Valley 1 Course - 1'07"64
- PAL Ghost Valley 1 Lap - 0'12"48
- PAL Bowser Castle 1 Course - 1'31"22
- PAL Bowser Castle 1 Lap - 0'17"99
- PAL Mario Circuit 2 Course - 1'18"36 and 0'15"43 Non-NBT
- PAL Mario Circuit 2 Lap - 0'14"99
- PAL Choco Island 1 Course - 1'01"59
- PAL Choco Island 1 Lap - 0'12"02
- PAL Ghost Valley 2 Course - 1'03"46
- PAL Ghost Valley 2 Lap - 0'12"48
- PAL Donut Plains 2 Course - 1'29"55
- PAL Donut Plains 2 Lap - 0'17"62
- PAL Bowser Castle 2 Course - 1'46"46
- PAL Bowser Castle 2 Lap - 0'20"88
- PAL Mario Circuit 3 Course - 1'33"37
- PAL Mario Circuit 3 Lap - 0'18"49
- PAL Koopa Beach 1 Course - 0'59"04
- PAL Koopa Beach 1 Lap - 0'11"45
- PAL Choco Island 2 Course - 1'14"42 and Lap - 0'14"71
- PAL Vanilla Lake 1 Course - 0'57"23
- PAL Vanilla Lake 1 Lap - 0'10"92
- PAL Bowser Castle 3 Course - 1'36"89
- PAL Bowser Castle 3 Lap - 0'18"53
- PAL Mario Circuit 4 Course - 1'42"88
- PAL Mario Circuit 4 Lap - 0'20"24
- PAL Donut Plains 3 Course - 1'21"94
- PAL Donut Plains 3 Lap - 0'16"20
- PAL Koopa Beach 2 Course - 1'05"65
- PAL Koopa Beach 2 Lap - 0'12"66
- PAL Ghost Valley 3 Course - 1'17"41
- PAL Ghost Valley 3 Lap - 0'15"26
- PAL Vanilla Lake 2 Course - 0'53"31
- PAL Vanilla Lake 2 Lap - 0'10"43
- PAL Rainbow Road Course - 1'28"99
- PAL Rainbow Road Lap - 0'17"59
Leyla Hasso's NTSC Super Mario Kart Time Trial Videos
- NTSC Mario Circuit 1 Course - 1'00"37
- NTSC Mario Circuit 1 Lap - 0'11"97
- NTSC Ghost Valley 1 Course - 1'04"25
- NTSC Ghost Valley 1 Lap - 0'12"16
- NTSC Bowser Castle 1 Course - 1'29"39
- NTSC Bowser Castle 1 Lap - 0'17"56
- NTSC Mario Circuit 2 Course - 1'16"95
- NTSC Choco Island 1 Course - 0'59"62
- NTSC Choco Island 1 Lap - 0'11"77
- NTSC Ghost Valley 2 Course - 1'02"56 and Lap - 0'12"27
- NTSC Donut Plains 2 Course - 1'28"61
- NTSC Donut Plains 2 Lap - 0'17"55
- NTSC Bowser Castle 2 Course - 1'45"42
- NTSC Bowser Castle 2 Lap - 0'20"59
- NTSC Mario Circuit 3 Course - 1'32"72
- NTSC Mario Circuit 3 Lap - 0'18"29
- NTSC Choco Island 2 Course - 1'10"43
- NTSC Choco Island 2 Lap - 0'13"87
- NTSC Vanilla Lake 1 Course - 0'54"86
- NTSC Vanilla Lake 1 Lap - 0'10"49
- NTSC Mario Circuit 4 Course - 1'40"96
- NTSC Mario Circuit 4 Lap - 0'19"82
- NTSC Donut Plains 3 Course - 1'21"73 and Lap - 0'16"09
- NTSC Koopa Beach 2 Course - 1'02"81
- NTSC Koopa Beach 2 Lap - 0'11"85
- NTSC Ghost Valley 3 Course - 1'16"95
- NTSC Ghost Valley 3 Lap - 0'15"06
- NTSC Vanilla Lake 2 Lap - 0'10"59
- NTSC Rainbow Road Course - 1'27"36
- NTSC Rainbow Road Lap - 0'17"20