speedrun
Latest
Symphony of the Night world record speedrun will break your brain
How fast can you complete Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? Even if you have every nook and cranny of the labyrinthine PSOne-era platformer committed to memory, your quickest playthrough isn't nearly as fast as this world record speedrun set yesterday by Speed Demos Archive member romscout. This brisk trip through the Xbox Live Arcade version of SotN follows "any %" rules (reach the end of the game by any means necessary, glitches included), and zooms through both the normal and inverted castles in an astounding 18 minutes and 20 seconds. Things to look for: lots of back-dashing, item-duplicating, and an unexpected use of the Heart Refresh item at the end of the game. Poor Dracula didn't stand a chance.
Skyrim can be beaten in just over two hours (if you're a developer)
It's true: in two hours and change, Sam Bernstein, a member of Bethesda's QA team, managed to reach the end of the main campaign in Skyrim. Sam's time was 2:16:10, a mere 20 seconds faster than his competition, level designer Jeff Browne. The two are actually no stranger to the Bethesda speed run circuit, having participated in a similar event a few years ago in Fallout 3, in which Sam was also victorious. So what does Sam win, aside from immortal glory on a video game blog? Well, he gets a pumpkin pie from Todd Howard and he also gets the trophy you see above. What's Dragon-speak for "winner?"
Tool-assisted speedrun shows Super Mario 64 beaten in five minutes
A group of five speedrunners has beaten Super Mario 64 with no stars in just five minutes. To do so, they used a whole bag of tricks, including glitches, weird jumping macros, and shortcuts. It's not pretty, but if you have 18274 frames of time to spare, you can see the whole video below.
Watch Demon's Souls completed in under an hour
Sure, we liked Demon's Souls a lot, but we just wish it had been a little longer. 54 minutes of gameplay just isn't enough for a full price next-gen title. What's that? You needed more than 54 minutes (portrayed in following videos) to beat the notoriously difficult dungeon crawler? That's cute. (Warning: Don't watch these videos if you don't want the game spoiled!)
Behind the Mask: The Ironman Challenge
Back in the ancient days before real mainstream gaming, there was a dearth of good titles to play. It was a cultural phenomenon at that time to extend gameplay for the few good games that existed by creating emergent challenges for themselves. This is where the concept for the speedrun came about, although the speedrun changed dramatically after that time into something very unique. Still, gamers have been artificially injecting challenge into games ever since the '80s. A game like Champions Online has a fair number of factors, including a smaller endgame and a lower overall difficulty level, that make it ripe for injecting some artificial challenge.
Super Speedrun Bros. The Lost Levels
Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (or Super Mario Bros. 2, if you prefer) is brutally difficult. For most of us, just completing the game is out of the question, much less completing it in under an hour. We're proud to say that we completed it once, but it took a week -- and two people.But YouTube user sprocket2005 managed to complete the All-Stars version of this ridiculous game, or at least through 8-4, in 8 minutes and 35 seconds. Even if it is a tool-assisted speedrun, this is an amazing achievement. More importantly, it makes for an impressive video -- which you can see after the break. It might make you want to download the Famicom Lost Levels on the Virtual Console and try it for yourself.[Via Destructoid]
Four Zelda games in 48 hours
We've all, at some point, had a game that we decided not to put down until the closing credits. Whether you uncompromisingly soldiered on through a Warcraft III campaign, or decided to topple Bowser before turning in for the day, we're all familiar with marathon gaming. However, a small gathering of Zelda enthusiasts are attempting a seemingly impossible gauntlet of non-stop dungeon raiding -- all four 3D Zelda games (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess) in just 48 hours.That's four water temples, three Ganondorf confrontations, and a whole mess of heart containers, stretched over a two day period. With nearly thirty hours to go, the CameronBanga.com team have already bested Ocarina of Time, and are currently trudging through the most tedious of all the Zelda titles, Majora's Mask. We can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than watching these goons sink into sweet, Hyrulian madness via their live webstream -- but then again, we're what most camp counselors would call "indoor kids".
Guinness book of gaming records coming in February
Think you've got the fastest speed run of Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hills Zone? The highest single-quarter score on Galaga? The most legendary hip-hop masterpiece on Kriss Kross: Make my Video? Sure, you can make these claims on the boundless boasting box known as the internet, but there's never been a method of truly officializing your universal gaming dominance. Until now, that is.The Guinness World Records company recently announced that they would begin releasing a Gamer's Edition of their wildly popular series of books on a yearly basis, the first of which will be available at most games retailers on February 8. The book will focus on fast completion times, sales records, and various record setting gameplay elements. Check out their interactive preview of the book -- maybe you'll see one of your own gaming achievements, and wonder if it's a fitting reward for the hundreds of hours you spent mastering the pixel-perfect jumps in world 1-2.
Twilight Princess speed run in under 6 hours
A new speed run for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has just been posted on Speed Demos Archive. Daniel Hart blazed through the game in 5 hours 39 minutes, about ten times faster than we hobbled our way through on the first try. Daniel says he could shave 5-7 minutes off the final time but is happy with the current achievement. We say he's bragging, but boy has he earned it. Videos are available for download as well as embedded in Flash (Part 1 is shown above) for easy ooh-ing and aah-ing. [Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
The Abridged Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
We've gawked at speedruns before, but this one is unique in that it's a speedrun of a Wii game. Daniel Hart recorded himself completing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in an incredible 5 hours and 39 minutes. That beats our best time by roughly infinity. We didn't watch the whole thing, because five and a half hours, while short for a Zelda playthrough, is long for a video. Honestly, the speed-goatherding in the first segment is entertainment enough for us. But if you're stuck in Zelda, or need some strategies, this would be a great resource since the dude knows how to play.[Via Aeropause]
13 minute Ninja Gaiden speedrun: We are all inadequate
Not all speedruns are worth covering on Wii Fanboy, but when the game is Ninja Gaiden, we think everybody should know about it. We were happy the one time we made a run of Ninja Gaiden, and that took like a week. But not only did Tommy Montgomery complete Ninja Gaiden, but he did so in a record-setting 13:49. That's it. We quit gaming. You guys can go watch the video after the break, then download Ninja Gaiden on the Virtual Console and try it yourselves.Check the link for videos of other Ninja Gaiden speedruns too. We're just going to sit for a minute, and reevaluate our lives.
Ninja Gaiden speed runs set new records
A new round of Ninja Gaiden speed runs have set a number of records in the Speed Demos archives. Player Tommy Montgomery, who blazed through the original Ninja Gaiden in 13:49, never really liked the game (and likes it even less after doing the run), but few attempt speed runs for these frustrating games, which was as good of a reason as any to give it a shot. No tricks or shady shortcuts, just straight-up "OMG they memorized the game" action. If you've got the time to spare (admit it, you do), check out the speed runs and wish you could get half as far in any of these games...
Super Mario Bros. in less time than it takes to warm up a Lean Cuisine
Looking for a way to waste time with the Virtual Console? Well, if you do this right, you won't be wasting much time at all. This Super Mario Bros. speedrun performed by Andrew Gardikis takes only five minutes. In comparison, the Super Mario Brothers movie is 20.8 times longer. The coolest thing about this speedrun is that it makes use of Mario glitches inherent in the game, but seems to be done without save state assistance. That means that it's theoretically possible to replicate it on your Wii or your NES. Oh, but only if you're awesome. And just to rub it in a little, only Andrew Gardikis has proven to be this awesome. Sorry, everyone else, including ourselves! [Via Game|Life]
Molten Core Done Quick(er)
Ever been to Molten Core? Well, some people have been there few too many times - as you can tell by watching this speed-run through the core by Norwegian guild The Axemen (EU - Ravencrest). Time? 70 minutes (though the video is only 36 minutes long, speeding through non-boss pulls). My best times through MC have been closer to three hours, and were more commonly three and a half to four, with loot distribution and the occasional stupid wipe, so I must say I find 70 minutes exceedingly impressive. And if you've never been to Molten Core, but are curious as to what the place is like, this video should give you a good idea of what you'd see inside.
