How it all began
Sometime in 2007, a group of goons from Something Awful decided to tackle a game called Kaizo Mario World.[1] This group of goons consisted of three people – Proton Jon, Psychedelic Eyeball, and Wugga – and they decided to take turns playing through the stages. They suffered greatly, and their fellow goons were greatly amused. Eventually, Proton Jon’s turn to play Special Stage 2 came up… and when the video reached YouTube, he was catapulted to stardom.
Kaizo Mario World itself (the name literally meaning “Hacked Mario World”) was designed by an unknown Japanese gamer with the intent of challenging a friend of his to complete the hellishly difficult levels.[2] Ironically, it was ProtonJon and his team who brought Kaizo Mario World into the limelight, with their hilarious videos; without the Something Awful goons, the hack probably would have served its purpose and then languished in obscurity. The “Move faster Pokey” moment in particular received numerous spinoffs, including Sparta remixes and more custom levels involving hitching rides on Pokeys.
Spin-offs
Proton Jon’s reaction
In the wake of the original video series’ success, Proton Jon went on to play numerous other Super Mario World hacks, many of them sent in by his ever-growing fanbase.[3] Many of these fanhacks were outrageously difficult, much in the same vein as Kaizo Mario World (which found itself being a huge inspiration to game modders once Proton Jon and his team brought it into the limelight). However, Proton Jon gradually grew weary of the constant barrage of invisible blocks, end-of-level death traps, and other completely unfair tricks he was faced with in fan-submitted (and frequently fan-designed) hacks, and eventually decided to put playthroughs of Super Mario World hacks on indefinite hiatus to focus on other Let’s Plays (including those with his new LP team, the Runaway Guys).[3]
Today, Proton Jon finds the “Move Faster Pokey!” meme to be tired and irksome, and dislikes it being brought up.[3] Needless to say, this spurs people who he collaborates with (most notably Chuggaaconroy, fellow member of the Runaway Guys) to bring it up on a regular basis, much to his chagrin (and his viewers’ amusement).
References
[1]Something Awful Kaizo Mario World thread