Last week was a seven-day bonanza full of exciting speedruns, as the Awesome Games Done Quick 2018 marathon raised over two million dollars for charity. Here are some of my favorite runs from the show.
Final Fantasy IV by riversmccown (starts at 17:03)
The first two hours of this FFIV run are a blast to watch, and then, just after speedrunner Rivers McCown gets to the Underground, everything explodes. You’ll see.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Randomizer by Andy and ChristosOwen (starts at 26:43)
Bored of perfectly running Link to the Past, some speedrunners have instead embraced the Randomizer, a mod that switches up the locations of every item in the game. Runners Andy and Christosowen took things one step further by playing it without a sword. The race that ensued was delightful chaos.
Super Dram World 2 by Grandpoobear (starts at 21:48)
There is nothing better than watching talented Super Mario World players race through Kaizo-style death-traps.
Animorphs: Shattered Reality by Keizaron (starts at 11:56)
Part of the “Awful Games Done Quick” block, this Animorphs speedrun is hilarious and worth watching just as a reminder that this was actually a video game that people used money to buy.
Dragon Warrior by NESCardinality (starts at 8:49)
Great commentary and ridiculous RNG make this speedy Dragon Warrior run worth watching.
Strider tutorial by jimmypoopins and darkman78 (starts at 25:01)
Rather than simply blaze through Strider, speedrunner Darkman78 decided to teach speedrunner Jimmypoopins how to do it. This run is divided into two parts. In the first, Darkman walks Jimmy through the process of speedrunning Strider. In the second, Jimmy has to do it himself. It’s a creative, funny run that showcases how anyone might start getting into speedrunning video games.
Donkey Kong Country reverse boss order by V0oid (starts at 16:17)
If you’ve ever wanted to see Donkey Kong Country broken into many little pieces, you’ve gotta watch this reverse-boss-order speedrun. It’s full of precise platforming and wild glitches.
Super Mario Sunshine by AverageTrey (starts at 23:30)
Entertaining, informative, and full of fun strategies for collecting all the Shines, this Sunshine run is worth watching even in a post-Odyssey world.