Kotaku: Speed Run

Portal 18 Minute Speed Run

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:20:59 MST

From start to finish, one proficient Portal player sped through Valve's first-person teleporter in a total of 18 minutes and 5 seconds, not including load times. There's plenty of sneaky shortcuts and wall-climbing buggery being taken advantage of, but the merits of this ADD-filled speed run stand on their own.

The second half of the speed run is included after the jump. The final confrontation at the end of the second segment speeds up the already impressive, already posted sub-minute dispatching of GlaDOS.

Clippy goodness found by the gang at NeoGAF.

The Most Wacked Out Super Mario Speed Run Ever

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:00:51 MST

It's called Air and is simply a hacked Super Mario Bros. ROM. It makes no sense. At all.

1:45 Ico Speed Run

brownlee — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 10:40:00 MDT

Over at Game Set Watch, we had our attention diverted from a series of posts we were going to do on why the Playstation 3 is not going to deliver on Ken Kutaragi's recent promise to be a fully functional time machine by this crazy speed-run of Ico for the Playstation 2. We had no idea you could swat the penumbric wraiths away from swarming about an ethereal princess so damn quickly.

As always, it's interesting to read the speed-runner's thoughts on what it takes to beat a game so implausibly fast. The runner actually thinks the EU version of the game could cut the run down from 1:45 to an hour flat, thanks to the two player mode that allows a second player to possess Yorga and break her free from her brain-dead, shamble-into-wall shenanigans. Florian Eckhardt

PS: Don't you just love that guy in the red shirt back there? "Hyuk! DURRRRR...."

Ico Speedrun [Speed Demos Archive]

Maniac Mansion in 7:18

brownlee — Tue, 16 May 2006 14:40:39 MDT

From the implausible speed run department, this tool-assisted speed run of the LucasArts adventure Maniac Mansion, completed in well under 8 minutes. What will those wacky speed freaks speed run next?

Even Faster Super Mario Speed Run Video!

brownlee — Wed, 03 May 2006 14:40:32 MDT

Late last year, we posted a pretty crazy 5:30 speedrun of Super Mario Bros. We were wondering if anyone had managed to top that, so we did a search, and came up with this speed run of five minutes.

The craziest thing? The guy spends most of the time jumping Mario backwards. This must be some crazy speedrunning trick we know nothing about. He also manages to glitch his way through a few warp walls to shave off some time.

If you know a faster run, let us know about it!

Previously: Super Mario Speed Run Video

Link to the Past in 3:48

brownlee — Mon, 01 May 2006 15:40:38 MDT

While tool-assisted demos are a hideous abomination to the speed runner's code of ethics, part of the steadfast moral weave that make this nation great, we couldn't resist posting this time attack of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past that exploits a programming error to make a run through the game in three minutes and forty-eight seconds. Or as the speed runner describes his film: "SNES Zelda completed in a very quick manner by traveling in an alternate dimension through the walls."

SNES Zelda: A Link to the Past in 3:48 [Google Video]

We Love Katamari Speed Runs

brownlee — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 13:40:14 MDT

We saw over at GameSetWatch that those speedy bastards over at the Speed Demo Archive have put together some truly crazy runs for We Love Katamari.

One of the aforementioned speedy bastards, Tom Batchelor: "One of the things that make We Love Katamari so good is that there are so many ways to play it. There are a lot of stages, like Campfire and Sumo, that are probably not meant to be speed-run, but that are very good for speed-running nonetheless."

We're always in awe of the twitch reflexes of these guys. It's like they live their entire lives in Bullet Time. Plus it's Katamari, which is endlessly watchable. We'll try not to fault them for not putting up their speed runs on You Tube, which would make browsing them a lot more enjoyable. But if you're a Katamari or speed run fan, check it out!

We Love Katamari, But Really Quickly [GameSetWatch]

Emulator Free Zelda Finished in 33 Minutes

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 13:22:33 MDT

Yesterday, we featured a tool-enabled Zelda speed run. A Kotaku reader pointed us to another speed run, this one done by fella named Mike "TSA" Damiani without emulators and tools. After Mike finished his run, he had this to say, "However, honest to god - I am not doing this game again. I've had it with this game. I love playing it when I can max out Link early on and destroy levels like a joke. But the speed run of this game is just so demanding and stressing. I do not see myself having the desire to get this game out to try again." Sure, Mike's tool-free run might be slower, but he did it on skill alone. And he was cool enough to give a how-to, which is after the jump.

Travel to Level 3: Bomb drop from Blue Octorok can be annoying as a start of a run because it can fail to work several times. I always went for the closest one, and tried to only kill it and get the bombs from it to save time fighting any other enemies.

Level 3 - Manji: Pretty straight forward. Red Darknut room before Raft I tried to be as efficient with bombs (no more than 3). Got Manhandla in one bomb and got the bomb drop.

Travel to Level 4: Gamble time. I pick the middle because it is the closest and fastest option. Get Blue Candle then and head to level.

Level 4 - Snake: Bomb time. I try to knock Vires out of the way. I mess up in the first room, I should have stayed right and hit the one Vire out of the way. Got nice bomb drops from Vire room before Stepladder and Gleeok chamber. Stepladder room I had an issue with one Like Like, but it went alright other than that.

Travel to Level 2: Get the HC and 100 rupees. Had an issue right before Level 2 with going back to kill a pointless Red Octorok.

Level 2 - Moon: Overall I think I did very well except for the Moldorms. I missed them with one bomb, but using an extra one paid off with a drop. Took out the Ropes pretty nicely, and the Goriyas at the end. Took down Dodongo with 1 bomb.

Travel to Level 5: I was short on rupees, so I chose to get the 30 rupees from Armos cave at the cost of no item switch or bombs. The Blue Lynel didn't cooperate like I wanted on way to White Sword, but I probably could have been more bold. I wanted to preserve the laser shot for Level 5.

Level 5 - Lizard: Probably my worst dungeon. I had rotten luck with the Gibdos, they bunched around the bomb carrying one, so I just tried to slay them all quickly, but it still cost seconds. The first Blue Darknut battle didn't start off well, but it finished up better with bombs. Last Darknut was a moron for running away. The second one, for some crazy reason, I didn't use any bombs when I should have used them. Overall, I think I realistically could cut the most time on this dungeon if I could do it over. Took damage from a Gibdo on way to Digdogger, so I was down to one hit. Got the two bombs to knock out Digdogger instantly.

Travel to Level 1: Pretty straight forward, got HC.

Level 1 - Eagle: I get hit a few times and I lost some time as a result, but the double bomb drop at the end by the Goriyas saved this attempt and persuaded me to keep going (the rather average Level 5 and the stupid hits in this level were almost ready to make me slam the GCN). Then I promptly get hit by Aquamentus because it decides to move in the wrong direction, but still not that costly because I used the stand below his head method.

Travel to Level 7: I got the Bait and Arrows, then went to Level 7, but took a half heart damage to lose the laser. Ouch.

Level 7 - Demon: Bunch of damage taken, but I ripped through this level and got the bomb drop I needed. I took out one Dodongo for a bomb replenish. Used arrows on Wallmasters because bubbles swarmed me too quickly. Aquamentus went down faster this time.

Travel to Level 6: Get the Magical Sword, preserve health.

Level 6 - Dragon: Thank you clocks. Yeah, let me explain something really quick that I should have earlier on. I can't "see" Wizzrobes sometimes on my screen because I can't watch or capture in 60fps on my PC. So if you really want to get into it, I beat this game with a handicap. That's why I get hit like an apparent idiot in some places. Last Wizzrobe room I had to fight in went really well. Gohma went down quickly, despite moving to the side.

Travel to Level 8: Nothing spectacular.

Level 8 - Lion: I just went all out in fighting. Took damage to save time rather than waiting. Not a particularly good Gleeok battle, but oh well. Anyone notice I walked away from a bomb? This would have saved me probably 10 seconds...

Travel to Level 9: ...because I waste time killing Blue Lynels for the bomb drop. But I preserved my life.

Level 9 - Death Mountain: I thought it went well. The last Patra battle could have been quicker. I could have closed in on the first Patra I had to fight to take it out faster. Pretty darn good Wizzrobe fights. Best Ganon battle I've ever had.

Find the Clip Here [SpeedDemosArchieve] Thanks, ReverendTed!

Gaming Faster than a Speeding Bullet

lsmith — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 10:42:36 MST

In December we linked to a video of a speed run through Super Mario Bros.. Gaming Steve links to Speed Demos Archive, a collection of incredibly speedy jaunts through video games. Someone raced through The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker in 6 hrs and 42 minutes. It took me that long to find the first whatevermacallit that you had to sail for hours around the world to find.

Run Mario, Run [Gaming Steve]
Super Mario Speed Run Video
Speed Demos Archive

Super Mario Speed Run Video

Brian Crecente — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 10:13:58 MST

Five minutes and 30 seconds. If you were Luke you could use that time to have sex with a beautiful women and smoke a pack of cigarettes or if you're the guy in the linked video you could beat Super Mario Brothers.

Triple Zing Score!

Mario Speed Runs [Google Video, thanks Alex]