Recently I’ve been considering what it means
to beat a game.
Not just winning, or finishing it, but experiencing
everything, until nothing’s left to discover.
But when is that point?
Is a game beaten when the credits roll?
Or maybe it’s when you beat every secret
boss.
Or even when every collectable is acquired.
It’s a neat concept to me, since it can
be thought about from so many different angles.
This train of thought also led me to consider
the question in the context of a speedrun.
Is it possible to ‘beat’ a speedrun?
Would that just mean beating the game?
Maybe getting a World Record, or Personal
Best?
After consideration, I would argue that none
of those necessarily result in a beaten speedrun.
For almost all runs, even those which are
incredibly optimized could be reduced by several
seconds, or even just frames.
And there are many times where a record will
stand for months, even years, until a new
glitch is discovered that opens the game up
completely, decimating previous runs which
were thought to be unsurpassable.
This is often referred to as a “Holy Grail”
discovery, as it completely changes the game,
revolutionizing the speedrun.
However some times simply cannot be reduced.
They are so optimal that it is either impossible
to get a lower time, or it is so difficult
and improbable, that it’s unlikely anyone
will ever have a better run.
I’ve done some research and while these
runs are uncommon, there are several notable
ones.
So for today I’ve compiled a list of 4 games,
whose speedruns were beaten.
First off, we have to define when a speedrun
is considered ‘beat’.
For the purpose of this video I’ll define
a speedrun as ‘beat’, when it is either
impossible to get a lower time, or achieving
a lower time is so improbable, that it’s
unlikely anyone can or will achieve a lower
time.
Of the games I’ve included, almost all have
been broken down to their source code, making
it extremely unlikely that any more “Holy
Grails” will be discovered, cementing the
current records as the fastest possible, and
making it so they will continue to stand as
World Records for years to come.
Pokemon games are some of the most popular,
and oldest speedrunning games, despite a ridiculous
amount of RNG.
Some games have to be restarted hundreds of
times just to get good starting RNG for their
starting pokemon.
Since the game is so RNG dependant throughout,
it’s easy to assume that having a perfect
run is impossible, but… that’s not quite
the case.
There is a certain category, where it’s
physically impossible to have a lower time
than the current world record,, at least according
to the metrics used by the community.
Through save corruption and menu manipulation
, it is possible to warp directly to the final
room of the game, and enter the hall of fame,
without even leaving your house.
When you do so the victory screen will state
that you completed the game in 0 hours, 0
minutes, according to the in game timer.
Since the pokemon community measures speedrun
times using in game time, rather than real
time, this time of 0 minutes is the fastest
time physically possible.
While some may be able to beat the game faster
than others in real time, according to the
community’s metrics, there is no faster
time, as the only value lower than 0 would
be negative, which is, obviously, impossible.
Whether or not you consider this as actually
beating the game, is up for debate, however
there is certainly no way to finish the speedrun
faster...
Super smash bros melee Is a relatively popular
speedrunning game, but for today, we’re
going to be taking a look at it’s lesser
known Target Smash speedrun.
In this mode players have to break all of
the targets in a small area, as fast as possible.
This focus on speed makes it a natural mode
to speedrun.
Each character has their own level, which
utilize their unique ability and movesets.
This allows runners to optimize the game to
the extreme, to the point where they are almost
perfect.
Many of the records in this category have
stood for well over 5 years, despite many
individuals attempting to topple them in the
interim.
However the runs themselves aren't technically
perfect.
Through a TAS, or Tool Assisted Speedrun,
which is method where controls are input frame
by frame through an emulator, runners have
found that several of the long standing runs
can actually be beaten by a few frames, which
would translate to several milliseconds in
real time.
The problem is, that Melee as a game, is incredibly
technical, and this carries over to Target
Smash as well, making it very unlikely anyone
will be able the current records, since it’s
simply incredibly difficult.
The necessary inputs are so quick and precise,
that they are practically impossible for a
human being to execute perfectly.
While this speedrun is not technically beaten,
the runners have pushed the run to the edge
of what is humanly possible
Dragster is another example of a game whose
limit’s were reached, and beaten.
This game has an astounding 14 people sharing
the world record time of 5.57 seconds.
Due to a certain amount of recent controversy
surrounding it’s speedrun, the game has
been torn down to each individual line of
code and runners have found that it’s impossible
to complete the game with a lower time.
Every single input for all 14 of the 1st place
world record runs is frame perfect, and it’s
impossible to shave even a millisecond off.
While others may continue to add their names
to the list of world record holders, those
who do will have without a doubt beaten the
Dragster speedrun, as a faster time simply
isn’t possible.
There are some games that aren't challenging
on a technical level, but are largely based
on RNG.
This means that if a run has perfect RNG and
is executed well, then that run will result
in the fastest possible time.
The PC game Clue is a good example of this
concept.
In a casual run, your aim is to find evidence
hidden throughout the manor, which will incriminate
one of the other guests.
However, it’s possible to accuse someone
as soon as the game begins, and if the person,
weapon, and location you guess are all correct,
then the game will immediately end and you
will have won.
Since a winning run will always have 3 perfect
guesses, the only variable is how quickly
you can click.
If all three of your clicks are frame perfect,
then it’s impossible to have a lower time.
While this game is a bit of a joke as a result,
it’s speedrun has nonetheless, been beaten….
Hey everyone!
Thanks for checking out my video!
I had a lot of fun researching for this one,
so I hope you guys enjoyed.
If you did, feel free to like, and subscribe!
I have a new analysis every monday.
If you’d like more videos in the interim,
feel free to check out some of my other analyses,
on screen.
Thanks again for watching, and I’ll see
you in the next one.
