One of my favorite times of the year is coming up: Awesome Games Done Quick.
AGDQ is a week-long marathon of speedruns, which has gamers beating their favorite games as quickly as possible. The event broadcasts live on Twitch starting Sunday, all while taking donations for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Last year’s AGDQ raised $1,216,309.
You can check out the event schedule here. But while most speedruns are fun, I’m really looking forward to five that you shouldn’t miss at this year’s event.
Super Monkey Ball 2
Story mode, all levels by Peanut
Monday, January 9 at 2:25 p.m.
Above: Super Monkey Ball 2.
Super Monkey Ball is a series that requires precise controls in order to tilt sphere-enclosed apes across dangerous levels. They’re difficult games, but they become much harder when you’re trying to beat them as fast as possible. You’ll see some intense maneuvering and tricks in this run.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
All events by Fuzziness
Tuesday, January 10 at 7:50 a.m.
Above: Super Smash Bros. Melee’s large cast.
You might be wondering how someone can speedrun a fighting game. Well, Super Smash Bros. Melee has a series of “events,” which are challenges that have players using specific characters in order to win matches with special rules. It’ll be fun to watch someone use the best strategies to rush through these difficult fights.
Doom (2016)
Any percent by Blood_Thunder
Tuesday, January 10 at 4:17 p.m.
Above: Doom sure was fun.
Compared to most games played to these marathons, Doom is new. It’s also one of the best games of last year. It’s fast action makes it ideal for speedrunning, so it could be a staple of Awesome Games Done Quick for years. This is an “any percent” run, meaning that the player just needs to beat the game any way he can (glitches allowed). It’ll be neat to see someone already destroy such a recent game.
Super Mario Sunshine
Any percent race by Bounceyboy, Vallu, PangaeaPanga, and AverageTrey
Tuesday, January 10 at 6:44 p.m.
Above: Super Mario Sunshine.
The 3D Mario games always make for fantastic speedruns. All of the plumbler’s platforming tricks and jumps enable players to zip through levels and take advantage of crazy, acrobatic tactics. Plus, this is a four-way race, so you’ll be able to watch multiple runners compete against each other.
Super Metroid
100 percent race by zoast, Ivan, Behemoth87, WildAnaconda69
Saturday, January 14 at 6:45 p.m.
Above: Super Metroid.
Super Metroid is an Awesome Games Done Quick classic. It’s also one of the best games of all time. It’s one of the last runs of every marathon, sometimes with wacky rules like “reverse boss order.” This time, it’s more traditional. Four players are racing against each other in a 100 percent completion race, meaning they have to beat the game after collecting all items. Super Metroid is one of the most popular games for speedrunning, which means that it’s also had the most time devoted to it when it comes to finding ideal paths and tricks.