The main reason most people get started with speedrunning is that it’s a fun thing to do - plain and simple. *With that said*, it **is** a competition at its core, even if you’re just competing with the timer on your screen. Sometimes situations will arise where some fun is sacrificed for the sake of competition, whether it be through the discovery of new strategies or otherwise. Depending on how drastic the trade-off is, this has the potential to be damaging to not just the runners of the game, but also to the audience who can be vital to the success of the community.

## What if fast isn’t fun? 

Obviously, the goal of a speedrun is to complete the game as fast as possible, but sometimes in this endeavor there are strategies found that don’t appeal to the majority of the community because of randomness, difficulty, or just flat out not being very fun.

In these scenarios, a community must decide what they want to put forward for the rest of the world to see: preserving the “purity” of the run or make some changes to accommodate the interests of those who want to run under a different ruleset.

![](https://next.speedrun.com/static/blob/7rnq1mej.jpg)

It should be noted, you can create a split with subcategories and have both rulesets exist simultaneously — but which one should be the default?

![](https://next.speedrun.com/static/blob/67e9j5n1.jpg)

Setting the default subcategory may not seem like an important decision, but it's all about creating a positive first impression. Whichever subcategory you set to default will be the one that people see when they first view the category, and chances are pretty good they will look at it before clicking any other options. This means whatever you select as your default will be the primary showcase of the category to anyone who visits the leaderboard, and first impressions are *very* important.

## Should I even care about the default subcategory?

New runners are more likely to gravitate towards the defaulted subcategory, and seeing as it’s likely to be the subcategory that most people are going to run under, it’s what the majority of the games speedrunning audience is going to see. There's no "correct" decision here because every community is different, but here are some things to keep in mind while deciding what the default runs should be:

***Speedgame “Purity”***

There is certainly value to be held in keeping the leaderboard defaults as the categories/subcategories that are the fastest since speedrunning is about completing something as fast as possible at its core.

***Variety in strategies***

Sometimes, a new strategy is found that totally obsoletes every other strategy found thus far. With something as game-changing as this, it’s worth considering which route should be the default.

***Natural Progression***

As time goes on, speedgames will inevitably get shorter through optimization, discovery, or otherwise. Is it worth creating a ruleset to match your needs and wants, or is it better to just “roll with the punches” and take the game as is, noting that there may be changes obsoleting your current decision later down the road?

***First Impressions/Audience Perspective***

It’s no secret that the majority of the greater speedrunning community is made up of spectators, and any community should keep this in mind when it comes to big leaderboard decisions.

***Fun***

Finally, the kicker. *Which subcategory is the most fun?* Fun should absolutely be something to consider in the decision-making process, no matter how much weight you give it. Even on the most hardcore leaderboards, there are people who are just playing to have a good time.

## Leaderboards are community-driven

I’d like to finish off this article by reiterating the importance of community choice. Each and every community is different, and the decisions they come to should be community-driven. Choosing the more entertaining or accessible options are equally valid to selecting the more competitive ones.

Communities are the reason this hobby is so enjoyable, and the different approaches each one takes to solving these situations is what makes them unique.

I hope all of you have a dope day today. Now, go drink some water.

The choice of whether to select a more competitive run as the default subcategory versus a more entertaining one is and should be community-driven.

How Speedrunning Communities Balance Competition and Entertainment

Hey all,



Happy April! We’ve got a few updates we wanted to share, as well as a sneak peek at the future of game moderation on Speedrun.com.



First off, we will be deprecating The Site section of the forum for a new and improved [Support Hub](https://www.speedrun.com/knowledgebase/supporthub) for all your site needs. Whether it’s requesting games, reporting users, or asking to become a moderator for a game, all requests will be fulfilled from a single location to be tracked and handled by site staff. You can check out the new Support Hub in the Knowledge Base [here](https://www.speedrun.com/knowledgebase/supporthub)!



Second, over the course of the next few days we will be rolling out ads for logged-in users. If you run into any bugs with your logged-in experience, please report them in the bug section of the new [Support Hub](https://www.speedrun.com/knowledgebase/supporthub/report-bug).



Last, and certainly the thing we are most excited about, we have a look at the future of the game moderator tools! As we finish developing these, we are looking for volunteer communities willing to beta-test the tools. If you are a super moderator willing to try the new tools and give feedback, please sign up for our beta-testing program [here](https://forms.gle/PHckBxuFGVvc7vH47). Please note that the updates listed below are simply a few of the things we are aiming for in the next few months, and there may be changes in timing or ability to execute on them as we develop.



**Leaderboard Announcements & News**

* A highly requested feature, we will be adding the ability for game moderators to post announcements on the game page for easy communication with the community. Game moderators can also use this feature to share content created by the community, feature specific community members, or share any other news they may have for the community.

  

**Improved Category Management**



One of the main complaints we’ve heard about Category Management is both the organization of the tools as well as the lack of customization on a category by category basis. With that in mind, some updates we are looking forward to are:

* We will be reorganizing the Edit Game section into a Moderator Hub that is both more intuitive and more accessible to new and veteran game moderators.

* We are aiming for the vast majority of settings (such as primary timing method) to change from a game-basis to a category by category basis. 

* Variables will live within a Variable Library, and game moderators will be able to select on a category by category basis which variables they want to apply, fixing the issue of the one/all variable setting. 

* All runs submitted to a category will be visible.

* Which game types are shown as Unofficial will be evaluated and updated.

  

**Run Management**

* Game moderators and verifiers will be able to access more than 50 runs

* We are adding a private Mod Note functionality for game moderators to leave notes for other game moderators on a run.

* Game moderators and verifiers will be able to assign a run to themselves so that they don’t work on the same run simultaneously

  

**Guides & Resources**

* The Guides page and Resources page will be combined into a more customizable Guides & Resources page.

* On this page game moderators will be able to create their own sections as well as add files/guides/links to each section depending on which they need.

* Community members will be able to submit guides and resources, but game moderators will review and approve them before they appear on the Guides & Resources page in order to ensure quality and prevent trolling.

  

**Video Showcase**

* Game moderators will be able to select their favorite videos to showcase on the game page.

  

**Bonus: User Profile Update**

* As we mentioned in February’s update, the User Profile Page widgets will be updated to better reflect the user. This will likely be updated after the moderator tools have been developed, but be on the lookout for that change.

  

We know this does not include the full scope of requests in the [Feedback Form](https://www.speedrun.com/knowledgebase/supporthub/give-feedback) and Feedback Forum, but rest assured that we read each recommendation and prioritize it as we are able to on the road map. As we develop these features the order and timing may change, but we look forward to addressing as many concerns as possible as we continue to grow the site.



Cheers,  

Speedrun.com



We're taking a quick look at some of the game moderator tool updates on the horizon, as well as releasing the new Support Hub.

Game Moderator Tools sneak peek & Support Hub release

Speedrunner [Niftski](https://www.speedrun.com/user/Niftski) just got the world’s first ever 4:54 time in Super Mario Bros. during his [Twitch stream](https://www.twitch.tv/niftski) this past Wednesday (April 7th, 2021). He managed to rescue the princess in a shockingly fast [4:54.948](https://youtu.be/i3NRe3KulqU), the fastest it has ever been done.

For comparison, the last second barrier to be broken was back in September of 2018, with [Kosmic’s 4:55.913](https://www.speedrun.com/smb1/run/m3o7q9qm).

Niftski achieved this through dedication and incredible skill, but it’s even more astounding feat when you realize that the [No L+R TAS of the game](https://youtu.be/0N43G0SXup4) is a 4:54.265… just a fraction of a second faster than Niftski’s own run.

# Subpixels and Frame Perfection

Worth noting as well, this was also the first-ever world record to contain the 8-1 Flagpole Glitch. The Flagpole Glitch (FPG) is an incredibly precise trick requiring a subpixel setup and frame perfect inputs. There are three other FPGs in the run, which have been used before, but the one in 8-1 is especially difficult because it needs to be a top step FPG, on top of a fast acceleration at the start of the level. This is a really complex glitch, so if you’d like to learn more I suggest you check out [this video.](https://youtu.be/yHv0lM4bZD0)

## ![](https://next.speedrun.com/static/blob/3ynl23e6.jpg)

# A Wholesome Ending

At the end of his run, Niftski hopped into a Discord call with some other top level SMB1 runners, including previous world record holder [Miniland](https://www.speedrun.com/user/Miniland), who congratulated him sincerely on his new achievement. Niftski said that near the end of the run, “I told myself to stay calm, just stay calm… and it worked.”

Even for those with the skill to perform the run, it can be challenging to stay calm when on the run of a lifetime. Niftski did a fantastic job of controlling those nerves!

On top of that, Niftski also stated in his description that he’s not done yet! So we have much more SMB1 to see from him.

The race to 4:54 may have been won by Niftski, but there were a few other potential candidates who will still be continuing their own personal grinds for the sub 55. If you’re interested in catching those grinds, you should check out [Miniland](https://www.speedrun.com/user/Miniland), [LeKukie](https://www.speedrun.com/user/LeKukie), [Thelxinoe](https://www.speedrun.com/user/Thelxinoe),  [AldynSpeedruns](https://www.speedrun.com/user/Lul_ecks_dee), and [Tree_05](https://www.speedrun.com/user/Tree_05).

Speedrunner Niftski broke the 4:55 barrier in Super Mario Bros. on April 7. 

The 4:55 barrier broken in Super Mario Bros.

I think one of the coolest parts about speedrunning is the drive of runners to hone their craft down to near perfection. It’s this characteristic that has brought about some of the amazing achievements in speedrunning today. However, along the path of practice for perfection lies **the grind** and for some... *burnout.*

It takes a lot of time and effort to become the best in the world, and the determination of some runners to make it to the top is absolutely astounding. At the end of the day, though, we’re all human beings with mental and physical limits. Sometimes people forget that and just keep pushing and pushing — until they finally break and just burn out. So let’s try to prevent that, shall we?

# The No Reset Run — For newbies and experts alike

A “No Reset Run” is pretty much what it sounds like; it’s a speedrun where no matter what happens, you will continue the run and complete it in its entirety.  Obviously, you don’t need to strictly avoid resetting all the time: it’s still a good idea to grind out your weaker areas in moderation. But far too often, people reset over things they really shouldn’t be (mostly new runners).

Even if the reset is justified, you’ll be breaking yourself down if you force yourself into a never-ending cycle of reset hell.

# This is just a waste of my time. Why even bother?

No, I promise you it isn’t.

Let’s take the example of being stuck in a cycle of resetting over and over, for instance. This is exactly where the No Reset comes in. In this scenario, you’re probably exhausted both mentally and physically. Make yourself toss aside the goal of a personal best for a single run, and just finish it up.

This will give you a much-needed break *and* reaching the end of the run will give you a small feeling of satisfaction just by having reached the end. Tossing in a no reset run every once in a while prevents burnout, which is almost certainly inevitable for anyone grinding the first sections of a game for long enough.

Taking care of your mental and physical health is cool, kids.

# Improve your consistency

Not only does a No Reset Run help you avoid burnout, but doing one once in a while will actually help you improve your consistency.

It’s awful to see a runner so excited to finally get out of the beginning of the game after having reset for the umpteenth time, to only then lose the run because they haven’t played the latter part of the game since the *last time* they escaped reset hell.

If you make sure you’re just as comfortable with the late-game portion of the run, you can ensure that when the time comes that you make it there, you won’t choke due to lack of practice.

# Learn to adapt

This one doesn’t necessarily apply to every scenario in every game, but it’s something you should keep in mind as you run.

If you mess up a trick or otherwise make a mistake — try to salvage it. See if you can find a backup or alternate strat to minimize your time loss. Of course, in an ideal world this wouldn’t be necessary but mistakes **ARE** going to happen, ***and that’s okay.*** Chances are, you can still PB if you have a backup plan or can adapt on the fly.

Doing No Resets and searching for these backup/alternate strats can really help you out in the long run with consistency.

# Help your brain out

I know how much it sucks to see red splits, I’ve been there too, and it makes me want to reset the instant I see it. There is a semi-solution for that though if you’re using LiveSplit. It has a really amazing comparison component I suggest you use (rather than the usual “Personal Best” comparison).

There’s a comparison you can activate in Livesplit (Go to settings - Choose Active Comparisons) called “Balanced PB”. The idea behind this is to distribute your time gains and losses across all splits so that your end time is the same as your personal best, but you have much easier splits to run against.

Not everyone will love this one, but it’s really nice if you had that one section that was just *REALLY* good, and it sucks to run against. This comparison takes that and makes it a bit more balanced among the rest of your splits. It won’t improve your gameplay or anything, but it’ll keep you in a better mindset, and that’s half the battle right there.

# That’s all folks

In the end, everyone learns and practices differently, so you should keep that in mind while approaching how you tackle your next run. With that said, I hope you’ll keep this in mind and treat yourself to a No Reset Run once in a while. Trust me, it’s nice!

Whether you’re new to speedrunning or you’ve been doing it for years, I hope you’ve taken away something from this article but either way… take care of yourself folks, and then get to saving those frames!

Now go drink water or all your splits will be red.

A No Reset Run can shake up your typical routine and give you some valuable late-run experience. 

The Perks of a No Reset Run

You’ve probably heard of virtual reality before, and if you’re reading this right now I’d be *pretty* surprised if you hadn’t heard of speedrunning before. However… have you ever watched a *speedrun* of a virtual reality game before? This niche within an already niche hobby is **incredibly** captivating. VR speedruns blend the digital and physical worlds, pushing the limits of speedrunners’ bodies and minds as they attempt to complete a game as fast as they possibly can within a medium that can sometimes be *very* physically demanding.

## What makes VR speedruns unique... and challenging

Virtual reality as a platform is still in its infancy, and developers are still figuring out the best practices for their games. For us as speedrunners, this can lead to a lot of *very* interesting opportunities. The main quirk I can think of about VR games specifically is how the game deals with the player and the world surrounding them. Most of the time, the player can control the in-game character with both the controllers ***AND*** their real-life body. This leads to some interesting techniques to get out of bounds in games like Half-Life: Alyx and DOOM VFR

HLA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInVy2cLrfQ&t=400s

DOOM VFR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDEZos3X9Hc&t=1268s

In my personal VR speedgame of choice, DOOM VFR, moving your real-life body does *not* move the in-game character. However, it DOES move the player camera, which can still hit checkpoints and end-level triggers, leading to incredibly powerful skips. For instance, skipping an entire level where the level exit is in the same room that you start in by just.. dancing through the final door.

Take that, level designers. ;)

This does lead to some interesting challenges in moderation, which is echoed throughout many VR speedgames. Because of the player’s real-life body being used in speedruns, things like the player’s height, limb length, and even size of play space can significantly affect the ability to perform skips.

Thankfully, there’s no one with infinitely sized limbs or an infinitely large play area otherwise it would truly be a moderation nightmare. Although, we’ll need to see what happens in the future as VR speedrunning grows in terms of moderation approaches to this physical medium, considering competitive fairness and even accessibility for runners. For now, nothing concrete has been agreed upon to solve this, and so there’s more of a “gentleman’s agreement” of sorts in place to make sure everyone knows not to go to do runs inside of a stadium or something.

## What kind of “physically-based” tricks can be done?

In the case of Half-Life: Alyx for instance, there’s a trick called “Height Adjust” which can be much easier if you’re tall or have long arms. Or, as another example, there’s another trick called “Extended Jump” in which if you had a gigantic play area you could likely [skip giant sections of levels by just sprinting forward.](https://imgur.com/a/fr9O0NR)

We shall call thee… SPRINTRUNNING! Surely it couldn’t be called anything else.

## It’s pretty dope to watch

If you’ve never seen a VR speedrun done with a webcam present before, I ***HIGHLY*** recommend it. Watching a speedrunner crawling on the floor, lunging back and forth, jumping, and sprinting in order to perform skips in the game world is truly a treat you don’t wanna miss. If I’m gonna out myself here, it can sometimes look kinda funny. For instance, this time I [demonstrated Switch Walking on Twitter](https://twitter.com/ItsCamNotCan/status/1301697210262974466?s=20)

[blob:BRcfB9CUanCVKtUYKtc2iIsslNKYBtxNlrUS5+K2KIbJhVcsKVcVhNlqlX9Gva0E,align=center,quality=70]

Most of the time though, it’s just really impressive to watch. If you haven’t seen it before, I cannot recommend enough that you watch nwata1122’s speedrun of [Ring Fit Adventure 100% Intensity 30 Intended, pictured above.](https://www.speedrun.com/ring_fit_adventure/run/y8rlo11m)

## Wrapping Up

There are a lot of super cool VR speedgames, and if you have the means to do so, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try. If not, thankfully there’s an entire community of speedrunners making speedy VR Twitch and YouTube content. Also, a very large portion of these runners gather in a single Discord, which I [highly recommend you join](https://discord.com/invite/7PKWZuW). It’s full of a lot of dope people who helped me with research for this article.

Virtual Reality speedrunning is exceptionally unique, and I’m excited to see where it goes in the upcoming years.


Pictured in the header graphic is Buffet_Time from his 37:56 Half-Life: Alyx Inbounds speedrun.



Virtual reality is one of the many unique niches within speedrunning. It has its own complications and its own wonderful quirks, which we're going to explore now.

Speedrunning in Virtual Reality

This month, we had the pleasure of speaking with four different women in the speedrunning community. They told us about their speedrunning tastes, the communities they’re a part of, and more. So without further ado, let’s jump in.



## t0uchan



A speedrunner and a high school teacher, t0uchan started running games in the early 2010s.



Whether she’s running games she grew up with or something that otherwise has meaning for her, she says, “everything that I run I have some sort of connection to.”



She enjoys trying new games and learning new routes and she gravitates towards games with “fast, twitchy movement.”



But the thing that makes the biggest impact on if she will run a game or not is simply whether she thinks she can get more out of it.



“Have I milked this game of all its vanilla fun and do I want to keep playing it?” she says, comparing speedrunning to another game mode like New Game Plus or Time Attack.



When it comes to communities, t0uchan says she’s met some of her best friends through different speedrunning communities. She’s happy to see the world of speedrunning becoming more connected with runners from different games connecting and turning what was once a loose web of speedrunning communities into an increasingly cohesive community.



She believes that speedrunning is best when it is inclusive and welcoming to all kinds of people.



In addition to speedrunning, t0uchan teaches high school computer science and animation classes and she admits that her students are sometimes impressed when they find out about her game records.



“I get all the cool kids,” she says.



[Check out t0uchan’s most recent record in Sonic the Hedgehog - All Emeralds - Glitchless.](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/822832542?t=0h14m22s%2F%3Ftt_content%3Dtwitch_logo)



## Amethyst_Rocks



When it comes to streaming, Amethyst plays *Super Mario World* and mods of *Super Mario World* almost exclusively.



In particular, Amethyst_Rocks enjoys Kaizo mods which are designed to push the limits of players with intricate routes that often require tons of practice to pull off correctly.



While she tends to focus more on first plays than on speedruns, certain mods will catch her attention for further practice and honing into a speedrun.



“I’m very, very picky about my speedruns,” she says.



In general, she says the main focus for most Kaizo speedruns is making it through with as few deaths as possible. For this reason, she tends to focus on shorter mods for her own runs.



Despite that preference for shorter runs, her proudest accomplishment as a runner is a 1h 19m 42s run of a mod called Grand Poo World 2.



About the first time she played it, she says, “it kicked my butt so hard.”



But something about the challenge enticed her to run it.



Amethyst is also a former geologist and though she’s a few years outside of academia, for enough channel points she’ll share a rock fact with her audience. An example:



"The oldest terrestrial material we've found on earth is 4.40 billion years old - the age of the earth, for reference, is about 4.54 billion years old."



[blob:B8CfBcCUanJ0KtC2laxXKnb35tcZBtc7KrhS5+Qqi6s0l1csiXv2KaK0i19GkEWqiZ,align=center]



## Lizstar



For Lizstar, speedrunning started as an offshoot of her interest in game collecting. Now, she says the two interests are intertwined.



“I like exploring libraries and trying to find all the interesting things that people don’t pay as much attention to,” she says.



As an extension of both passions, she has undertaken a [“Genesis Quest”](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RsLU-DYmEPTWBEPB7vq8Ji47e3Ff9P2rohCKLp5esT8/edit#gid=0) in which she is streaming through every game ever released on the Sega Genesis. With a library of over 800 games to tackle, she is already more than halfway through.



At the end of each title, a raffle decides who in her audience will pick the next one. The quality of the games varies, to say the least, and sometimes her audience likes to stick her with some of the less polished options.



It’s all in good fun, and Lizstar actually enjoys trying the strange games.



She likes exploring lesser played titles including those that are not as well made but can still be a source of joy while allowing for some fun discussion about just how bad a game can get.



“I like trash and trash is not necessarily bad,” she says. “It’s just things that people don’t pay much attention to and kind of throw out as worthless but there’s a lot of worth in there.”



In addition to her passion for “trash,” Lizstar is passionate about the communities she has found as a runner.



“The community in general is really what lifts speedrunning up even further for me,” she says.



Lizstar has participated in multiple GDQ events. She says that more than once while practicing for the event she’s discovered new time saves (often with help from other top runners). That puts her in the chaotic but exciting position of rerouting a run while still preparing for the event.



As advice to other runners and potential runners, Lizstar encourages everyone to explore outside of their comfort zones.



She says, “I picked up multiple games to speedrun on a dare and they are some of the best games that I’ve speedran and they’ve really helped me grow my community.”



## ShesChardcore



ShesChardcore has over **3000 posted runs.**



She got into speedrunning after losing her job and getting diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.



“So bad things led to good things, essentially,” she says.



She has a preference for games that haven’t received much attention, and newly released games before anyone else has a chance to get in a run, and meme runs.



Most of the time, she focuses on cultivating new strategies and time saves.



“The technical aspects more than the actual runs themselves sort of attract me.” she says.



As an analytical person, she likes to pick apart games and see how she can push them to do strange and interesting things.



When exploring a game, she says, “I think outside the box and think can I do this or can I do that and then try it. And if the answer is yes then we probably found a time save. And if the answer is no then I think of something else to try.”



Any time she sees an empty leaderboard, ShesChardcore wants to put a time on it.



“I may not really care too much about the game but I want someone to have something to beat so if they just happen upon that page or its a game they liked as a kid or whatever. There’s something there for them to accomplish,” she says.



When it comes to meme runs where the goal is to quickly pull off a strange or silly in-game situation, one of her favorites is Hamsteak% for *Maniac Mansion* on the NES which involves putting an NPC’s hamster in a microwave and getting the player killed. [At the time of this publication, she holds the record in this category.](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/846417009?t=0h0m1s%2F%3Ftt_content%3Dtwitch_logo)



Outside of speedrunning, ShesChardcore used to bowl and has multiple perfect game rings. Comparing speedrunning and bowling, she says, “You can pause in bowling.”



In fact, she enjoys the ways speedrunning forces her to keep pushing through a run.



“It’s a bigger rush,” she says.



[blob:BRcfB9CUan3J5+prlaLqh6bNi+p7BtcYlrpSh+Hnh6bnhVWJi1hZK1UOh+cGva0E,align=center]

*View the Twitch VOD featured in the above tweet [here](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/952750403?t=0h0m2s%2F%3Ftt_content%3Dtwitch_logo)





Thank you to all of these women for taking the time to share their perspectives and experience with us. You can find out more about what each of them are up to at the following links:



t0uchan: [Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/t0uchan/about)  

Lizstar: [Socials](https://lizstar.bemuse.link/)  

Amethyst_Rocks: [Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/Amethyst_Rocks/about)  

ShesChardcore: [Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/sheschardcore/about)  



Want to read about more awesome people involved in speedrunning? Check out [our feature on Bobby “TheBlacktastic” Cruz.](https://www.speedrun.com/news/596-2021-2-25-spotlight-bobby-the-blacktastic-cruz)



*Lizstar at AGDQ. Photo via Games Done Quick, photo by Brian. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.*



In March, we spoke with four different women to discuss how they engage with speedrunning, the community, and their favorite games.

Spotlight: Four Women in Speedrunning

So, you’ve decided to pick up speedrunning. Welcome to the wonderful world of routing, glitch hunting, running, or whatever else it is that has attracted you to this side of the internet.



## Where do I start?



Well, the reality is that it comes down to personal preference, but that would be a rather silly article wouldn’t it? *“Play what you want lul.”* Instead, I’ll guide you through the process of finding a game that you actually like rather than telling you what you should like. 



There are all kinds of categories, for all kinds of games, that suit all kinds of different players. You should find out what sort of games you like, as well as *how* you like to play them and go from there. 



It’s worth noting that leaderboards on Speedrun.com will often support multiple categories for runners to choose from that allow for different styles of play. For instance, the most common category you’ll see on SR.C is **“Any%”**.  



Any% generally means that you must go from the start of the game to the end, but you’re allowed to skip however much of the content in the middle as is possible within the limits of the game (eg. glitches/exploits and not straight up just hacking the game)



Any% is fantastic, and it usually shows the true potential of how fast a game could be beaten when the gloves are off. With that said, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and if it isn’t yours, that’s completely okay! 



Many leaderboards will support categories like **“Glitchless”** or **“No Major Glitches”** (sometimes shortened to NMG). These categories are typically created with the goal to keep the speedrun similar to what could be considered an “intended” playthrough, but with routing and optimizations to speed it up significantly. The existence of categories means you can play a single title in many different ways. This allows for a lot of freedom even within a single game. 



## What game do I pick to speedrun?



Now then, back to the original question. What game should you pick to speedrun? In my own personal experience, I got into speedrunning after finishing a casual playthrough of *Prey (2017)*. After completing it, I wanted more. However, I didn’t want to just start another regular playthrough and so I decided to pick up the speedrun since it seemed interesting, short, and easily accessible.



This would be my first suggestion to you, as a budding frame saver. Think of a few of your all-time favorite games, and from that list check out the associated runs for each game. If you’re like me, you’ll be absolutely fascinated to see a whole new take on a cherished game. This is really one of the great things about speedrunning in my opinion, which is replayability. Taking a game, and setting goals within that game gives you so much more to do. You get to enjoy the game for longer, and you get more bang for your buck.



With the above said, I would offer a warning from my personal experience. If your desired speedgame is one that you really enjoyed casually, make sure you’ve really gone through and gotten absolutely everything you can out of a casual playthrough. Once you start speedrunning a game, it starts to look a lot different, and it’s hard to go back to the “casual mindset” after starting your speedy journey. 



## What happens if I don’t want to speedrun a game I’ve played before?



Well, then I don’t blame you. Sometimes, it’s nice to preserve that relaxed enjoyment that comes from a casual playthrough. So what then? Well, there are still multiple avenues to pursue. I highly recommend using Speedrun.com’s own [games page](https://www.speedrun.com/games) to check out some of the most active leaderboards on the site, because activity means at the very least the game appeals to *some* chunk of the internet. As well as the tools available here on SR.C, [Twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/directory/all/tags/7cefbf30-4c3e-4aa7-99cd-70aabb662f27) has its own filter for broadcasts that fall under the tag “Speedrun”. Through this, you can watch live attempts, immerse yourself within the Speedrunning community, and maybe find yourself a game to speedrun. 



## It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.



So, you’ve explored all previous avenues and still don’t know what to run? That’s okay, I’ve got you covered. As of the time that I am writing this, Speedrun.com has over 22,000 games with leaderboards and more being created every day. A lot of these games are really incredible, and I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the fact that I don’t know everything about every single game that’s ever been speedrun. With that said though, I think I have a decent list of recommendations depending on your interests.



### Retro/Classic Runs

*Do any of these really need an introduction?*  

  

*[The Legend of Zelda Series](https://www.speedrun.com/games#title=Legend+of+Zelda)*  

The Legend of Zelda series is full of all kinds of different games, ranging from entirely busted to relatively faithful to the “intended” experience.  

*[The Metroid Series](https://www.speedrun.com/metroid)*   

Metroid is a true classic, boasting satisfying movement and combat across 2D and 3D installments.  

*[The Mario Kart Series](https://www.speedrun.com/mario_kart)*  

Across all the games, tracks, and categories, chances are fairly high there’s a speedrun for you in here.



### Movement-based Runs

*[Super Mario 64 - 16/70 Star](https://www.speedrun.com/sm64)*   

A movement classic with years of player experience and community resources for easy learning.  

*[Super Meat Boy - Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/smb)*   

Easy to pick up, hard to master. A great choice for a first speedgame.  

*[Super Mario Odyssey - Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/smo)*   

Modern Mario movement goodness, with a low barrier to entry and an incredibly high skill ceiling.  

*[Celeste - Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/celeste)*  

Incredibly challenging, beautiful, and chock full of that sweet movement.  

*[Titanfall 2 - Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/titanfall_2)*   

An underrated first-person shooter built on a modified version of the Source engine, with high octane combat and ultra-smooth movement  



### ”Broken-in-the-Best-Way” Runs

*[LoZ: Ocarina of Time // Defeat Ganon - No SRM](https://www.speedrun.com/oot)*   

Until recently, this category was known as Any%. Defeat Ganon was created once Arbitrary Code Execution was found, allowing runners to warp to the credits through a complex process of memory manipulation.  Defeat Ganon is masterfully broken in all kinds of ways and makes for a unique watching experience. This is by no means an easy run if you wish to learn it, but the community has a *ton* of resources to learn from.   

*[Portal - Out of Bounds](https://www.speedrun.com/portal)*   

Abusing Portal collisions to walk through anything? Sign me up.   

*[The Dishonored Series](https://www.speedrun.com/dishonored_series)*   

Elevators, leaps, and lots of OOB goodness.  

*[DOOM 2016 - Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/d2016)*   

Ever looked at a railing and thought to yourself, “Damn, I sure do wish that would send me 1000 feet into the air at Mach 7” because me too, reader. Me too.   

*[Fallout: New Vegas // Main Quest - Yes Man](https://www.speedrun.com/fallout_nv)*   

Ever wanted to become a plane before?



### Puzzle Runs

*[Portal - Inbounds No SLA](https://www.speedrun.com/portal#Inbounds_No_SLA)*   

A hybrid category akin to “No Major Glitches” that blends the classic source movement with some clever routing.  

*[Superliminal - Glitchless](https://www.speedrun.com/superliminal#Glitchless)*   

A mind-boggling game with tight optimization and very satisfying puzzles.  



By no means is this a comprehensive list, not even close. I tried to limit each category to just a few options, and I’m sure I have some personal bias inside my decisions. As such, I encourage you to do your own research and use this article and list as a stepping stone into speedrunning, rather than a direct guide. 



There are so many amazing speedgames out there, with even better communities behind them. I could never hope to create a fully comprehensive list of amazing speedgames, simply because it seems there’s always more to be discovered or even developed. Speedrunning truly is the gift that keeps on giving. 



***What are your favorite games to run and/or watch? Tell us about them by sending us a tweet 

[@speedruncom](https://twitter.com/speedruncom) with the hashtag #FavSpeedgame!***



*Header photo credit to the PHD Gamer via Unsplash.*

Want to get started with speedrunning, but aren't sure what game to try first? We've got some advice to get you started! 

How to pick your first speedgame

With European Speedrunner Assembly (ESA)’s winter event coming to a close last week, 400,000 SEK ($47,000 US) was raised for the Swedish Alzheimer’s Foundation. [Alzheimerfonden](https://www.alzheimerfonden.se/) is an organization that supports research and projects to eventually find a cure for Alzheimer’s and other Dementia-related diseases. The money raised will have a huge impact on people’s lives, and personally, it’s times like these when I am extremely proud to be part of the speedrunning community that constantly works to make the world a better place. With our passion and contributions, we can change the world via speedrunning and that is incredible. Let’s take a look at some highlights for the event, shall we?



## Incredible Luck



We’ll start off by looking at some incredible luck in some of the runs featured at the event. It’s no secret that speedrunning takes an incredible amount of skill to execute well, especially in front of an audience of thousands. The confidence and talent required to remain calm under the pressure is astounding, but sometimes runners do make errors and need a bit of good fortune to bring them back into the game. 



clips.twitch.tv/PopularDeterminedBobaAsianGlow-4XYn8ADFkjlnTwfT



Here, we have MedicCasts’s run of *Hades*, where Medic made a mistake early on by filling the dash slot of his character’s build with a dash that is almost useless in the run. This cut down his damage significantly, making boss fights much slower as a result. However you are offered replacement dashes later on as seen in this clip, and thankfully Medic was offered the Poseidon dash which is a huge boost back in the right direction. Getting Poseidon Dash this early is calculated to be around a 14% chance, so lady luck was definitely on Medic’s side to bring it home!



clips.twitch.tv/ObliqueWildEagleSMOrc-OpwRuuPdIWnwH2ZY



Onto another stroke of fortune, many speedruns done at a marathon will involve a “farming” segment (attempting to get a rare drop over and over as they cannot reset if they get bad luck). This section of a run can sometimes be circumvented, but some games require you to grind the old-fashioned way. In this clip of *Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow*, Diagongdx is getting ready to farm the Black Panther ability, as it’s significantly faster than any other movement type in the game. You can hear in the clip that he and his commentators are preparing the chat to sit back and relax as they will likely be there for a while. 



However, Diagongdx calls that he will get the ability first try and does just that. This ability has a less than 5% drop chance so getting it first try is extremely rare, calling the first try at a live event is even rarer. Definitely a moment to remember as it’s not just a stroke of luck, but perhaps even a stroke of runner intuition as well.



## Dealing With Downtime



clips.twitch.tv/BenevolentSillyReindeerAMPTropPunch-awymNxz42iNYr-Bf



Taking a little break from the crazy luck and insane plays we’ve seen from the event, our next clip is simply a nice little moment from Kyoslilmonster’s *Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition* run. Usually, during runs like this, runners can do whatever they like in the downtime of unskippable cutscenes or sequences, as long as they keep the timer running. Some runners use these moments to take bathroom breaks, or mentally prepare themselves for more difficult sections ahead. Kyo has a personal tradition where they like to do something out of the box such as cooking or long marathons, especially if it comes to raising money for charity. In this particular cutscene, we got to meet Freya the ferret. She’s only a few months old but has apparently taken a liking to sleeping in her own little race car bed, so maybe we can see a co-op run from Kyo and Freya in the future?



## Friendly Competition



clips.twitch.tv/JazzyBadCrabRalpherZ-k4kRPcD-lNgsPFNP



Bobby Cruz (otherwise known as TheBlacktastic) is a well-known community member in both the esports scene as an event producer and the speedrunning scene as a top-level runner in many games. It is quite rare you see these two communities have a large amount of overlap due to how different each scene is, but that wasn’t the case during Bobby’s *Mega Man* run at the event.



During the run, a good friend of Bobby’s who is a member of the fighting game scene by the name of TuboWare donated and created some great banter on the stream. BOWIEtheHERO (another well-known esports commentator) was reading donations at the time, and even he was caught off-guard by Tubo’s donation calling out Bobby for “speedrunning away from this UMVC3 rematch for months now!” It seems that poor Bobby cannot get away so easily for this *Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3* rematch, and both communities will be sure to remind him!



## Solving the Impossible



clips.twitch.tv/NurturingRoughMooseUWot-pBUTNtQZRhthW_Ws



Kainalo is well known within ESA for his outstanding humor and overall silliness, and what better clip to showcase this than him solving puzzles as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. This particular TMNT game is known for its overall jankiness, so it’s not out of the realms of reality that a puzzle could be bugged in a way to make it impossible. However, in this particular instance, the game is definitely working as intended as Kainalo quickly realized. 



The puzzle itself is very similar to the extremely popular “Flow” games that blew up on app stores a number of years ago, where you must simply connect the colors together like a pipeline without crossing any colors over. This usually means starting from the outside and finishing in the center to avoid any overlap. Kainalo’s turtle has an ability to make these puzzles extremely simple, as usually there are a larger number of colors you must deal with. Applying the aforementioned logic to this puzzle makes it extremely trivial, but as someone who has done marathon runs in front of thousands, I can absolutely relate to sometimes making silly mistakes as a result. We still love you Kainalo, keep your head held high!



## Not for the Faint of Nikoheart



*Alien Isolation* on the Nightmare difficulty setting is no laughing matter, or is it?



Nikoheart is an absolute mastermind at *Alien Isolation*, his coverage of this clip is so in-depth with mechanics that I was absolutely mind-blown at the deep knowledge and understanding of something that seems so simple. 



clips.twitch.tv/TangentialAgitatedStapleKippa-wR-CBvl9nrr0AOIr



In this clip, the Xenomorph proves that even the most knowledgeable can still be caught by surprise on occasion. On the Nightmare difficulty setting, the Xenomorphs are extremely prone to noise and movement so some strategies are used in order to move quickly while making minimal noise. These strategies, unfortunately, didn’t work for Niko in this case, so he had to quickly think of a backup solution before he was caught. In this section of the run there are two Xenomorphs you must escape from, one as the door opens and another on the bottom floor of the facility. The one below should in theory be distracted by a flare that Niko has thrown prior to the clip. While Niko was waiting for the first Xenomorph to head up into the vents, he attempted to silently run down the stairs in hopes that he could also avoid the second Xenomorph. To his extreme surprise, it was two steps ahead and was waiting for him behind the doors. Personally, I would have turned the game off at that point, but I respect Niko for sticking it out and finishing strong.



ESA raising almost $50,000 for a great cause is an awesome way to kick off 2021, and I hope that this positivity continues in a time period where we definitely need it. This will not be the only event we will see from ESA this year, as their schedule is consistently filled with smaller events even when the big ones are being prepared. Not to mention other fantastic organizations that raise money for amazing causes around the world all in the name of speedrunning. If you missed the marathon and want to watch it on demand, check out [ESA’s Twitch channel](https://www.twitch.tv/esamarathon) in order to find all the runs available to watch whenever you like. You can also [follow this link](https://linktr.ee/esamarathon) in order to find them on social media and find the latest news from ESA directly.



**Personal thanks to Museus, romscout, Kyoslilmonster, BOWIEtheHERO, Kainalo & Nikoheart for help with accuracy and context for the clips.**



*Header screenshot from ESA Winter 2021.*

ESA Winter 2021 was a great success, entertaining us while raising funds for Alzheimerfonden. Let's check out some event highlights!

Highlights from ESA Winter 2021

The greater speedrunning community is a web of smaller communities where players come together over common interests. In this series, we want to highlight communities and community members who help to make speedrunning what it is.



Bobby Cruz, aka TheBlacktastic, holds multiple records in various retro and retro-style games. 



Beyond that, he is a community moderator, a game show host for Games Done Quick, an esports event producer, and a Twitch partner. But no matter what he’s doing, Cruz brings his personal charm everywhere he goes.



In a recent record-breaking run of *Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2*, originally streamed at two in the morning, he slides between jokes and commentary on the game.



Occasionally he drops into both recognizable and unique character voices, noting that he dreams of becoming a voice actor.



Even exhausted and “slap-happy,” he performs the run and the stream with personability and skill.



# Getting started with speedrunning



Cruz’s interest in speedrunning can be traced back to the early 2010s when he and his local gaming friends would gather to play fighting games and watch speedruns of *Super Mario 64*.



“I always admired the amount of technical skill and patience required to dedicate one's self to the craft of speedrunning,” Cruz said.



Cruz didn’t begin posting his own runs for several years. Eventually, he started running *Castlevania: Symphony of the Night* and the rest was history.



Since then, his list of runs has only grown.



His current records include multiple first-place runs in *Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2*; first-place runs in the *Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 + 2* versions of *Mega Man 9* (Proto Man Category) and *Mega Man 10* (Bass Category); first place in *Castlevania: Rondo of Blood*; and multiple highly ranked runs in other games.



With as much experience as he has speedrunning, Cruz has a good idea of which kinds of games appeal to him as a runner.



“I’m extremely particular when it comes to my games,” Cruz says.



Regardless of when it was actually released, if he is going to run a game then it needs to have a retro feel with controls that are both crisp and responsive.



He says he enjoys “games that require and reward trial and error and then execution.”



In addition to his own enjoyment, Cruz wants his runs to be equally fun for his viewers.



“I always like incorporating a bit of visual spectacle because if it’s fun for me, I want it to be fun for someone else to watch,” he says.



Cruz enjoys the ways speedrunners can bring new life to older, sometimes forgotten games through exploration and mastery.



Perhaps even more than that, he loves competition.

# Cruz as a host



Over on the Games Done Quick Twitch channel, Cruz co-hosts “Super Boss Bros” with fellow speedrunner, Big Jon.



Together, Cruz and Big Jon cook up fun and categories for contestants to face-off and show off their retro speedrunning chops.



Rounds tend to last about a half-hour and usually focus on a short race like who can get to beat level 20 first in *Dr. Mario* or a timed trial to see which player can accomplish the most of a specific task in the time limit like collecting coins in *Super Mario Bros 3*.



As hosts, Cruz and Big Jon have amusing and genuine chemistry. They laugh about running animations in *The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past* randomizer, discuss the meta nature of providing commentary for *Mario Golf* in hushed golf-announcer voices, and argue whether or not a stage hazard in *Bonk’s Adventure* is a uvula.



“[Big Jon] loves the old-school, PG, weekday-night game shows and I just love the flame of competition,” Cruz says.



When it comes to the speedrunning communities he frequents, Cruz considers the retro platforming scenes to be  “extremely, really really good, wholesome communities.”



In addition to the friendships he’s found there, he also admires the spirit of solidarity in these spaces.



In fact, Cruz mentioned Castlevania4aCause, which started in 2019 as a streaming event where Castlevania-community-member Aphotic_Ktulu put together a charity marathon stream to help a community member cover some overwhelming medical bills. Since then, the event has become a recurring opportunity for the classic Castlevania community to raise money for charitable causes and other community members in need.



“I love being part of things like that and I love being around people who are doing things like that,” he says, revealing that in addition to games and competition, Cruz just cares about people plain and simple.



# The Black Cup



Outside of speedrunning, Cruz has a long-standing love for competitive fighting games.



He enjoys them so much that he produces The Black Cup, a monthly fighting game tournament series featuring different games for each installment.



Additionally, The Black Cup previously hosted the Bloodstained Speedrun Exhibition Series, so there’s something there for everyone.



The next installment of The Black Cup is set for February 28 at 3 p.m. EST.



Links to Cruz’s social media are available at [https://solo.to/theblacktastic](https://solo.to/theblacktastic).



*Header photo courtesy of Bobby Cruz.*

We're putting our February spotlight on a very busy man: Bobby "The Blacktastic" Cruz! Let's talk about what Cruz is up to and where you can follow him.

Spotlight: Bobby "The Blacktastic" Cruz

As we have all properly got stuck into 2021, the yearly cycle of awesome charity-based speedrun marathons resets. Every year the [European Speedrunner Assembly](https://esamarathon.com/) (usually abbreviated to ESA) puts on several exceptional events that bring our community together to bond, showcase amazing talent, and raise money to support fantastic causes. ESA has two main events, that fall in both the summer and the winter times. Their winter event begins February 12th on their [Twitch channel](https://www.twitch.tv/esamarathon), so we thought it would be nice to put together a list of awesome runs (in no particular order) you absolutely should not miss. Whether you are a speedrunning marathon veteran or somebody completely new, this event will have something for everyone to enjoy.



## Honorable Mention - Skies of Arcadia: Legends — 100% by Pengy

### *February 12 - 4 p.m. CET / 10 a.m. EST*  

Before we get into the main list, it would only make sense to talk about the fact that ESA is planning a giant 20-hour long pre-show before the main event starts. What makes it even more mad is that this 20-hour block is a single speedrun! *Skies of Arcadia: Legends* is a GameCube port of the original *Skies of Arcadia* on the Dreamcast. 



This critically acclaimed title is notorious in the speedrun world for its length and complexity, as the Any% category (beating the game as quickly as possible) is already around 11 hours and 100% pushes most runners way over 20 hours. These types of games with such length are huge challenges to overcome due to the amount of planning involved both inside the game and outside in order to pull off a run like this. Pengy has a [Google Document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hUdRrlRVo_tI6EYykdUYteOeIvkUVjEDmabtljcHZq4/edit?usp=sharing) with his notes for 100% speedruns and it is a staggering 45 pages of deep knowledge of the game’s mechanics. There’s even a tiny little 24 page [guide for beginners](https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtb6kfiskd8afyo/SoAL%20Notes_V12_ArcadiaLegend_Beginner.doc?dl=0) to get into speedrunning this game; so simple stuff, really.



## Dark Souls: Remastered — All Bosses by catalystz

### *February 13: 2 p.m. CET / 8 a.m. EST*

We’ve all heard about the Souls series by now, whether it be the first entry *Demon’s Souls* destroying controllers on the Playstation 3 or from unoriginal critics calling every game the *Dark Souls* of X and Y. These games are rock hard, and a regular playthrough usually takes runners anywhere from 60-100 hours due to the extreme difficulty and steep learning curve. Truly not a series for the faint of heart. This is what makes speedruns of such a difficult game so damn impressive. 



I’ve been familiar with the [Souls community](https://speedsouls.com/) for a number of years now, and Cata has blown the world away several times with how absurdly good he is at *Dark Souls*. Being able to tackle every single boss (including the DLC) in just over an hour is no easy task. Showcasing nifty out of bounds skips, early boss kills, frame-perfect wrong warps, and doing a majority of bosses while one hit away from death is even harder; but I’m sure cata will be up to the challenge.



## Super Mario 64 — 16 Star (Blindfolded) by Bubzia

### *February 13: 10 p.m. CET / 4 p.m. EST*

Gimmick speedruns are always a joy to watch, but right now no gimmick is greater than playing an extremely movement-focused game like *Super Mario 64* without ever seeing the screen. *Super Mario 64* has always been one of the most popular games to speedrun, and the elite few who speedrun the game blindfolded are on a whole other level of incredible. Even if you are familiar with SM64 speedruns, this run will blow you away. The run makes use of what we call "normalized" strategies which essentially means methods of knowing where you are in each stage without any sort of visual reference. This means that blindfolded runs look entirely different to even a standard speedrun, and there will be exceptional commentary provided to make sure you’re in the loop every step of the run.



## Fallout 3 — 100% by Jabo 

### *February 18: 7 p.m. CET / 1 p.m. EST*

When you think of Fallout, you usually think of the abomination that is *Fallout 76*, the chess club video, or extremely short and busted speedruns. Completing 100% of what these games have to offer is a gargantuan task, and tracking all the content is near impossible. This particular 100% run involves completing all quests, all DLCs, and collecting all 20 bobbleheads in the game. Considering the amount of quests there are in the Fallout games, getting them all done in a few hours is extremely impressive. Of course, no Bethesda title would be complete without a ridiculous amount of glitches and exploits, so allow Jabo to take you through each one on his way to 100% completion.



## Honorable Mention — Super Metroid - GT Classic by kekumanshoyu

### *February 19: 4 a.m. CET / 10 p.m. EST*



Fredrik “Edenal” Lidholt is one of the main organizers at ESA, and I reached out to him in order to seek what run he is most looking forward to for the upcoming event: "I'm super excited about Super Metroid! Keku (kekumanshoyu) is a very solid runner with a lot of other SNES games under his belt. Super Metroid encapsulates so much of what speedrunning is to me. Skill, sequence breaks, and the category is damn cool for ESA!"



To those unfamiliar with what [GT Classic](https://wiki.supermetroid.run/GT_Classic) is, it is a speedrun that utilizes the Golden Torizo (GT) code which provides runners with many items such as:



100 Missiles  

20 Super Missiles  

20 Power Bombs  

7 Energy Tanks  

3 Reserve Tanks  

All major items except Screw Attack  

  

Having all these items at your disposal means that runners can take the game to heights never seen before. If you’re a fan of Metroid or really pushing games to their limits, join Edenal in watching this timeless classic.



## Cyberpunk 2077 — Any% by nicnacnic

### *February 20: 1:30 a.m. CET / February 19, 7:30 p.m. EST*



Every run we’ve mentioned so far in this list has been all about putting a new spin on classic games. What happens when you switch gears to a game released only a matter of months ago? You get *Cyberpunk 2077*. Arguably the biggest disappointment from gaming in 2020, the release was riddled with bugs and glitches that made the game unplayable for a lot of angry users. However, as they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and a growing community of Cyberpunk speedrunners was born. Many insane tricks were discovered very quickly including a way to gain so much momentum via bunny hopping that you can jump around faster than most vehicles. Seeing a modern game become so broken so quickly is something very unusual, so this run will definitely be worth a watch (if you don’t mind the spoilers)!



## Halo: Reach — Legendary by Two_EEzy

### *February 19: 9:30 a.m. CET / 3:30 a.m. EST*



***Your enemies outnumber you greatly and are hunting you down. Can you survive their onslaught?***



This is the message you receive when selecting to play on legendary difficulty in *Halo: Reach*. It is clear that this difficulty is not something that should ever be tackled unless you want one hell of a challenging fight. As someone who has completed every Halo on legendary, I can safely say that this is no lie; an onslaught is a perfect way of describing what awaits. 



Since the early days of speedrunning, there have always been two common ways to speedrun. The fastest difficulty for speed, and the hardest difficulty for bragging rights. This is no different in Halo, as the difficulty between easy and legendary is absolutely colossal, but that will not stop Two_EEzy blasting his way through Reach. AI Manipulation, sequence breaks, and exceptionally skilled combat await those who want to see Noble Six get to work.



## Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories — Any% by Joshimuz 

### *February 21: 12:45 a.m. CET / February 20: 6:45 p.m. EST*

The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games have always been a staple at ESA and have one of the largest speedrunning communities around. The community brings with it a lot of notorious runners, but Joshimuz is likely a name known well by both veterans and newbies. Going all the way back to ESA 2013 where Josh [broke the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas world record live](https://youtu.be/4B-Qw_tgdcU) and fast-forwarding to the present day where he is a fundraising team leader, Josh has contributed an astonishing amount to both ESA and their respective charities. 



This year will be no different as he tackles *Vice City Stories*, a spinoff title that was originally released as a PSP exclusive back in 2006. *Vice City Stories* is well known to be one of the hardest GTA runs, but a recent discovery smashed the run into a million pieces and shaved around an hour off of the current world record. As the glitch is quite technically complex, we’ll let Josh do the honors on February 20th.



## Where can I watch?



ESA’s winter event will be taking place from February 12-20 over at [twitch.tv/esamarathon](https://www.twitch.tv/esamarathon), and will be running around the clock during those dates to bring you only the best of what speedrunning has to offer. 



What we have mentioned in this list is not all you will be seeing at ESA, and you can find the entire [event schedule on their website](https://esamarathon.com/schedule/). The event will be supporting [Alzheimerfonden](https://www.alzheimersgameover.com/), which is a Swedish organization supporting research into Alzheimer’s and other dementia diseases. You can also find ESA on these platforms:



[Twitter](https://twitter.com/esamarathon)  

[Discord](https://discordapp.com/invite/0TZ2NlveujtasAqb)  

[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/EuroSpeedAssembly)  

[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/europeanspeedrunnerassembly)  

[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/esamarathon/)  



We hope to see you there!



*Header image credit to [ThisIsProx](https://www.speedrun.com/user/ThisIsProx).*







ESA Winter 2021 runs February 12-20, showcasing amazing talent and raising money for Alzheimerfonden. Not sure where to start with the multi-day event? We've got a list of runs you will not want to miss!

Runs at ESA Winter 2021 you don’t want to miss

EBen

xwpw4y0l

summertimealice

SpeedrunCom

The leaderboards will open 2 weeks from launch to allow discussion about the categories we want to start out with.

Hades 2

Indigo Park: Chapter 1

Rooftops & Alleys

An embargo is in place. Please come back when the embargo is open!

**Why?**: The embargo is in place to allow moderators and community members to properly set up the leaderboards. Don't want to rush it and make mistakes!

Dr Robotnik's Ring Racers

UEFN: Paranoid

Join the discord to to learn about the categories if you'd like to start doing runs ahead of the board opening.