Speedrun

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Related terms: Glitch hunting, Tool-Assisted Run (TAS)
See also: Esports
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Speedrunning is a hobby and sport in the video game community that involves players trying to complete a game or specific objectives as quickly as possible. The sport encompasses a wide range of games, methods, and goals, and may be considered a subculture of the larger video game community. Speedrunning arose early in the history of video games, but became more prominent in the 1990s and early 2000s due to the advent of the internet and specific fandoms becoming interested in speedrunning, such as Doom and Quake fandoms.

History

Terminology

  • Any%: Any% is one of the most common categories of speedrunning with the goal of beating the game as quickly as possible, regardless of how much of the game is completed. This category is often split between glitchless and glitched runs.
  • 100%: This common category of speedrun entails beating the game while completing everything it has to offer. What this means differs by game, but may involve objectives like clearing all challenges, finding all collectibles or finishing all sidequests. This category is usually split between glitchless and glitched runs.
  • Low%: A low% run aims to beat the game while doing as little as possible of its content. While this sounds like it would be identical with any%, many games actually take longer to complete if the player skips key upgrades. A notable example of this is the game Twilight Princess of the Legend of Zelda series, wherein the Any% record currently stands at 2 hours and 50 minutes for the GC version[1], while the Low% record takes 14 hours and 7 minutes as of November 28, 2022.[2]
  • IL: Stands for Individual Level, in which the speedrunner aims at beating a single level or section of the game only, rather than the entire game.
  • TAS: Tool-assisted speedrun. A TAS run will employ technological aids such as save states or frame-by-frame advance to do tricks that aren't possible to do in real time.
  • PB: Personal best, a speedrunner's best time for either a specific speedrun challenge or a section within it (e.g. a level)

Fandom

Notable Speedrun Communities

Notable Speedrun Organizations

Notable Speedrunners

  • Dream - Minecraft speedrunner
  • SmallAnt (formerly SmallAnt1) - Super Mario Odyssey speedrunner
  • PointCrow - Breath of the Wild speedrunner
  • Alpharad - Super Mario Odyssey speedrunner
  • cjya - Super Mario Odyssey speedrunner
  • Fir - Super Mario Odyssey speedrunner

Meta

Communities and Resources

References