# What is it?

*Nintendo Blast: Metroid Blast* is a shooter based on Nintendo's popular *Metroid* series. In *Nintendo Land*, 12 Nintendo Games are showcased as "attractions"; mini-games based on their Nintendo series that range from 5 minutes of content to months of jam-packed action. Represented series include *Legend of Zelda, Pikmin, Metroid, Mario, Luigi's Haunted Mansion, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Game & Watch, Balloon Fight, F-Zero, Yoshi, and The Mysterious Murasame Castle*. *Metroid Blast* is the representative of *Metroid*. This Sci-Fi adventure has 30 levels, progressively getting more difficult. Player 1 will always play as Samus' gunship on the gamepad, and up to 4 others will play as regular Samus using the remotes. The game is quite simple, with each player having 3 lives before the mission fails. 

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaK7q8xVLA4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaK7q8xVLA4)is

Metroid Blast has many different types of levels. The most common is "Defeat All Enemies" where the goal is to kill all Cyclons, Geemers, Zebesians, and Metroids (and their variants) in a given level. "Boss Fights" are battles fought against large bosses where the smaller enemies can be ignored. Bosses include Ridley, Ice Ridley, and Kraid. The final type of level are token levels. These levels require all players to get each of their tokens in a (usually 5 minute) time limit. These levels require less skill and more strategy and memorization to speedrun. From now on these levels will be known as "Kill", "Boss", and "Token". (The game also includes two other game modes - however they are Co-op only and are not runnable anyway.)

Speedrunners require different methods for each of the level variants. One thing that stays the same, however, is dashing. Pressing down the left joystick allows the runner to get a small boost. However, if used at the wrong time, it can cause the runner to hit a wall, considerably slowing down their time. For "Kill" runs, runners focus on hitting the "I-Frames" of every enemy as quickly and carefully as possible. Boss Runners must manage attacking, dodging, and dashing effectively to get a fast time *and* survive. Token runners must use memorization and dashing effectively to score a low time.

One of the most risk/reward traits of "Kill" runs is Cyclons. Cyclons take a long time to open there I-Frame. Before a Cyclon begins its attack phase, (where it's very easy to kill due to its spinning nature) the Cyclon does expose a small portion of their I-Frame. However, if the player's shot hits the side shells of the Cyclon, it will close again before attacking. Taking the shot can save or lose precious seconds.

![](https://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/kzwvk8nq.jpg)

"Token" runners are mainly focused on memorization, speed, and precision. Most "Token" runners memorize and plan their routes for each level. To have a good time on a token level, runners also need to use their boosts precisely at the correct places to ensure a top speed. "Token" Runners must communicate the most to share new routes and boost spots.

"Boss" Runners have the most difficult levels to run, balancing speed with survival. These runs are ones with many deaths and resets. The three bosses are Kraid, Ridley, and Ice Ridley. These beasts are usually quite easy to take down, but when working together can be quite difficult. Kraid requires the use of the bomb; a more powerful attack that can take out multiple enemies. To defeat Kraid, runners must destroy I-Frames all over his body before he opens his mouth. A small crevice in his mouth allows the player to shoot bombs inside, which explodes after entering his throat. Meanwhile Kraid shoots lava, bombs, and fire beams at you. Ridley and Ice Ridley are quite similar to each other. For both flying dragons, you must hit I-Frames on their Hands, Tails, Chest's, and Mouth's thrice. They will shoot lasers, try to grab you with their hands, and will drop bombs.![](/static/blob/7n617mzq.jpg)

Mastery runs are a different kind of run. Mastery runs often have weird differences with obscure solutions. Some levels require the player to only use bombs or to not dash. This will often drastically slow down runs and require players to invent new, out-of-the-box strategies.

Thank you so much for reading! If this does become a series I will continue to find new, medium-sized, forgotten communities to revive with new energy! I will link the main category, 10 Missions, best time below. 

Happy Running!

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp35YCLPpFg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp35YCLPpFg)

A new idea where we dissect a medium sized speedrunning community from the bottom up, increasing excitement and injecting a new passion for a game otherwise unexplored.

Wolfhowl's Game of the Week: Metroid Blast

Ghostrunner speedrunners came together to form the community now known as GRSR (simply just Ghostrunner Speedrunning). Since 2020 GRSR has submitted a whopping 4500+ runs between the demo and the full game. Even today, Ghostrunner has around 45 active runners - a respectable number for a game coming up on 4 years old.

![](/static/blob/5ngx24eq.jpg)

So when One More Level released a demo on September 14th for the upcoming sequel Ghostrunner 2 (GR2), dozens of hungry runners hopped in to start running and hunting for strats and new tech (including myself.)

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3uYctGx6rigQQzmn1NEgfXHssGTzWcKuUzIgYU2CsAJvjEuq6ptFvgaxmzKF-Q3yiTEjQs8idkj-LBsCZW3QMb095TDWPqFD51BKKuOid9g_XqGnFX9V8Kled7cjdmh_MQBS-sNPAyCEZMB7BSkni58)

GR1 had a decent range of movement tech to choose from, including Slidehops, Dash Slide Jumps (DSJ’s), Ledgeboosts, Super DSJ’s, Wavedashes, Updog (yes, it's actually called that), and more. Thankfully, GR2 managed to keep all of the mentioned techniques intact, if with some small changes in timing in particular with the DSJ. Since the movement felt quite similar, demo speedrun times were able to drop *fast*.

# Day 1

After the demo was released around 6pm EDT, most people did a casual playthrough and then immediately hopped into testing all known techniques from GR1, and searching for optimal routes and new strats. The first attempted speedrun was completed and posted by [Ekorn](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Ekorn), around 7 pm - coming in with a time of 8:05.370. This was already a decent bit shorter than the average 20-minute completion time for the demo, but with lots of room for optimization - especially with strats left to be discovered.

![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/nGBrJ9P8iGUuNLAR56fP5UoyKU3jO5adlQ0HvQgb6l9FHbmKEAVjHpooUj38rOL1mCvA_RR0vOVJ2tgjaS6ns-i9EIT9jpO2Yxkjy37pPNV9_hl1jAYBk9A3H2zVUW-SWP9vSK6bZYKS6zDDDvDtJZ8)

Around the same time as Ekorn posted his run, runner [EzBaek](https://www.speedrun.com/users/EzBaek) found new tech specific to GR2 which has since been dubbed Wall Launching/Wallboosting/WEC (pronounced “weak”, standing for Wall E. Coyote) At the end of a wallrun, the game will force you off. After the game forces you off, you have a little less than half a second to stack jump inputs which will send you away from the wall at an angle with increased speed based on the number of jump inputs you were able to get off. So far, wallboosting has no *concrete* uses in the route, but it does provide an opportunity for some alternate strategies in certain places.

Sometime within the next hour, three new skips would be discovered.It was discovered by multiple people that you could skip the introduction to the Slammer enemy type by simply [going around the arena](https://youtu.be/57FKD2W7Vew?si=k1aZG9HHQO2-Q3U7&t=28) with a couple simple DSJ’s. Conveniently, this same skip also skips a decent amount of platforming - overall saving about 10-15s.

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UInadOv2qpFhaqKBox-FAHDtSzTN8onGozfQcCnKynlLJPhh345GEV0VpkcoHrJuuKXpru9-fRV-lFgIgK5xAfleHEci-fybp3Ommc5H3ZUwDDvDY0hAQFK16jJDIB2DLU4e4MUSakXz6BmJg_hKyx4)

Ekorn also found two new [puzzle skips](https://youtu.be/C-zQWSnbcUs?si=njUgQKiMHTYsufPV&t=155), which added up to an additional ~20s timesave

By 10 pm, top GR1 runner (and well-versed movement speedrunner) [Blaidan](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Blaidan) had lowered the record down to 5:50.110, and then even further down to [5:27.930](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo/runs/y9k767kz) by 10:30 pm. This would stand as the final WR at the end of Day 1.

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/1JWrIY69nY1cPXkuFqQEbq86WcPLXebsvti8Ac8dzhrT69n-k0EbiMlwkPuuovAWxtw4b6V1H9Bc9TBk7jw4l9COEV_XFI6wrxb47smbeSXlZEouO68c6ACtTyD1IsIoKYdrX8iz7klZzI623Phtj1A)

# Day 2

While Day 1 had technically ended, there was absolutely no slowdown of activity in the GRSR Discord server. There was still constant iteration on optimal routes through every area, as well as working on faster and more efficient combat routes for the arenas.

Around 1 am EDT, runner [BladeLMAO](https://www.speedrun.com/users/BladeLMAO) managed to squeak in the first sub 5 minute run with a [4:58.970](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo/runs/y9k769ez). Runners [Taartin](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Taartin) and [Pasiflora](https://www.speedrun.com/users/pasiflora) would both follow up with their own sub 5 minute runs just a few hours later.

![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/oBdTMzifb1thF57m0y8cuwHeGlDVPTEUEyxwPn0VctGLihXEGg1Sp7d4UITMNXyn1QPkA57HrKc_Zjc2HzjxnIpaCyZc23TY-ZROOmx5jyZZ9kuXPcxxZ8I0wF-NCKdDLnr-e2iZrLuiyq8uvWRAps8)

Around lunchtime, runner [Leoninrus](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Leoninrus_Emligan) discovered [the first shortcut](https://clips.twitch.tv/BitterTentativeEagleSSSsss-wWbcf6xoElzOn1ng) in the motorbike section (IWBBT) of the demo. There are a few possible shortcuts in IWBBT, but even [the current WR](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo/runs/mr28402y) at the time of writing only uses one, presumably due to difficulty/inconsistency.

![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/W_JtwvmUQ2BQIVUse5NqCpVWuD_Vyso4jG8Ss3CY3QB0ZOqz7TyCsjBLLovIR6IHMHev95g6vEzBGSDyo9vcha87hFGRTD_NJjgTbSJPMQpLBPfIBxLNT3tZgE9Vsf9JiwANezsR8E9TVrj6oGX3ML8)

By the time dinnertime hit the East Coast, runner [JanisSG](https://www.speedrun.com/users/JanisSG) had discovered that spacing out boosts increases your average speed by around 20 kph, shaving off some additional seconds in IWBBT.At this point, the run was getting quite optimized for the known route - so much so that by the end of September 15th (Day 2) the WR still stood at [4:57.590](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo/runs/zqd6e28m) by [Taartin](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo/runs/zqd6e28m)

# Catching Up To Today

Between Days 3 - 6, just about **20 seconds** was taken off the world record. This is in part due to multiple factors, including [faster arena strats,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWMlFyHT1PA) the discovery that the motorbike goes faster at 60FPS compared to higher framerates, as well as general movement optimizations. At the moment, the world record sits at a shocking [4:37.440](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo/runs/mr28402y) by runner [E1uM4y](https://www.speedrun.com/users/E1uM4y).

Theoretically, a very low 4:3X should be possible within the next few days - or perhaps even a sub 4:30 with a new strat or two. Here are the current known fastest times for each level

**Licking The Wounds** [2:02.XXX](https://youtu.be/hnJhX2ELzcc?si=uULTpEsG6AV-iQSf) by [Blaidan](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Blaidan)

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lx48htdfXTLqnxY60UMgmRw4MTef5a9sjZYIlPnL1ctUilCVSOmHo-k0v367SU7yBkrAvQtsUEVKuLr7lZKppmycGL5qNnaQMX1HwKdnyWJwoWiGG_H9t5QYFGmy3-pM72z2mVLVMLmfs-8MLwc_LzA)

**I Won’t Be Back Today** [2:29.670](https://youtu.be/LGQt1lfGsoc?si=zgg24ohXWufBFvkJ) by [probablyToph](https://www.speedrun.com/users/probablyToph)

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TmNM6XTA9zZIwwovpfQ2Ioc7n5pOYCMZ78vl9ux0p4t6sxWQUe_S_UQWC2GX15Lw8GvcdZL0Ue_mSNasGFj6o89zd245vAvT9zQYXHRm4sCTWktDDWIQyEUW3I4sSDi4jNQ432OOeiVsS3A1zIuqGv4)

# Conclusion

GRSR is by far one of the most passionate speedrunning communities out there, and I certainly am not biased as a member of it ;) I would like to thank Ekorn, Blaidan, Taartin, EzBaek, probablyToph, and the rest of the GRSR community for helping me out with this article - you guys are the best!

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JWjboeHllo8y_bdVaCJY0ejgDPQWsUPsuR0FRvd2UjtcO1exORjZvFdTG7USNKP2EMY8ToGL-Sf5Zzt4uzQhD6islSdUXLuqzUXDuWHkFDtt6Sdc15bTZC4YFDD_d71v2PR-LO9MS9FjoCz0vfHvlxo)

With the amount of activity, we’ve seen in just the first week of the GR2 demo, between just *two levels* - I can’t understate my excitement for the full release of Ghostrunner 2. The dopamine I get from the early routing days of a fresh speedgame is nearly unmatched.

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/4_yFcmdWpezxnKK_eILApAQbEOHphIDLRKZBpwa4G7zVnRqHCMzlJ6f7jNYZ1J0gVZ0yHK20WxK8flRPICfN-ices7NkQ0YPW-EHJaxAroXNQXmbuftZTX_c0EcPa0n-CypIAJyPN5jSHyNkv9tN6YE)

If you’re interested in trying out the speedrun for the Ghostrunner 2 demo, you can learn the majority of what you need from the world record video - but I also recommend you check out [Blaidan’s Ghostrunner Basic Movement Tutorial](https://youtu.be/1vfsX8hg4ig?si=7L-GUtK2rINkvp99). This tutorial was made for GR1, but all of the advice applies to GR2 as well :) Just keep in mind that some of the timings may be slightly different, and for that, you can reference the [GR2 demo world record run](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo?h=leaderboards-will-open-soon-restricted&x=z27eemgk-dlo9jvrl.le233z6l).

The first Ghostrunner game (GR1) was a big hit with the speedrunning community when it launched in 2020, especially with movement enthusiasts.

Ghostrunner Community Tackles New Demo

Thanks to a fellow runner @LeonSReckon we now have an autosplitter for PC version of Gears of War. This autosplitter will cut out load times and help keep an even playing field for all PC runners, regardless of hardware. We hope more players will get on the game and try it out!

![](/static/blob/rz2mwln0.png)

Everything you need to pick up the run is in resource and guides section on the leaderboard. We are always looking for more runners to join the community - it's quite small for the franchise.

Runner @LeonSReckon has made an autosplitter for the game. Helping players to cut out the cutscene loads and parts for a more accurate time.

Autosplitter for Gears of War

Today MoistCritikal announced his fourth $10,000 speedrunning challenge, this time featuring [Escape From Lavender Island (2023)](/efli). Fitting with the theme of featuring obscure games with a limited speedrunning history, the game previously had [only one run](/efli/runs/y9ko81kz) on Speedrun.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc04EBhH7D4

In the [announcement video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc04EBhH7D4), MoistCritikal also discusses the challenge of keeping up with the previously planned schedule of one game per month. In addition to the new game and challenge, he also announced a format change: the glitch bounty is gone and has been replaced by an end-of-challenge race!

There's also an important change to the prize structure, increasing the number of runs that will be eligible for prize money (and adjusting the amount of money that each place wins). If you're interested in participating, be sure to watch the linked tutorial video.

Additional resources:

- [Announcement video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc04EBhH7D4)
- [Tutorial video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbY2SGUvfqU)
- [Escape From Lavender Island game page on Speedrun.com](/efli)
- [Escape From Lavender Island game page on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2164310/Escape_From_Lavender_Island/)
- [MoistCritikal Speedrunning Challenge Discord](https://discord.gg/35SjawXXEZ)
- [Escape from Lavender Island Speedrunning Discord](https://discord.gg/tcFVUB8ZYg)

Good luck everyone!

The latest $10,000 speedrun challenge game is a 3rd person exploration game released this year. There are also changes to the format, replacing the glitch bounty with a race and expanding the number of prize-winning runs.

MoistCr1tikal announces new $10K challenge

Today we're excited to launch **Community News**, an update to the Speedrun.com news system that allows everyone to contribute important announcements and news stories, and to help speedrunners and spectators learn about new games, marathons, or other important community events.

Here's how it works:

- Anyone can now submit news stories to Speedrun.com (including you!)
- After you submit a story, the site moderation team will either approve or reject your story. We'll also do some light copy-editing to make sure it's clear, concise, and free of major spelling or grammar mistakes.
- If approved, your story will appear on the homepage, news page, and other areas of the site. You'll be credited by name, with a link to your Speedrun.com account.

Here are some examples of what makes for a good story:

- New world record was set in a popular game.
- Popular streamer is hosting a charity event.
- Speedrunning an obscure game takes off in popularity.
- Marathon event is announced or shares new details.
- Famous personality mentions or promotes speedrunning.
- Announcement of charity event or fundraiser.
- Leaderboards open for a major new release.
- Notable bug, glitch, or skip discovered in major game.

Of course, we'll consider any compelling news story, even if it doesn't fit neatly into the list above.

All news stories also have a comments section to provide a place for discussion. We're excited to read and share your stories!

You can [submit community news here](/news/new).

Now everyone can submit news stories to Speedrun.com!

Introducing community news!

Hey everybody! First of all we would like to thank every one of you who took the time to report bugs and give us feedback on the new site rewrite, we really appreciate it! Let's take a look into some of the changes our developers have implemented over the last week, shall we?

## Bug Fixes

**General**

- General: OG/SEO image URL fixed
- Reduced cache TTL on comments
- Fixed various missing translations
- Fixed OG/Twitter metadata to be a full URL instead of a relative path
- Fixed user account deletion not working correctly
- Validate username regex for all services during edit and display
- Fixed overflow issue in run views on the Home page, User page, and the "Recent Runs" widget.
- Fixed content type of uploaded images

**Games**

- Fixed milliseconds not always showing properly
- Archiving a subcategory value now properly removes it from game leaderboards.
- Fixed a bug that caused runs to not be properly obsoleted if they were associated with an archived value.
- Properly orphan runs that are associated with an archived level, category, or subcategory value.
- Fix timer bug with WR chart on stats page
- Games: leaderboards now show the correct timers
- Games: leaderboards now properly updated when submitting a run with autoverify

**Runs**

- Fixed broken Bilibili video embeds
- Fixed rounding of milliseconds in run submission form

**Profiles**

- Fixed username component sometimes showing extra suffix

**Forums**

- Hide unread indicator for forums with no threads
- Fix pagination links in thread list
- Properly detect mentions to all valid usernames

**Permissions**

- Verifiers can now edit runs
- Series Super Mods can now create new games in the series
- Various other permissions related issues

**Notifications**

- Notifications: fix redirect paths of some notifications
- Notifications: fix duplicate notifications bug

## Improvements

**General**

- Various Performance Improvements
- Various backend improvements
- Added pagination to comments
- Improve detection of many service usernames
- Highlight archived values in run views on the Run page, and on the Mod Hub.
- Properly redirect old paths to reasonable places
- Improve latest runs view on Home page
- Added tooltips for everything without a label
- Loading bar improvements

**Games**

- Increase max length of text in guides and news posts
- Edit comment and Delete comment are now separate permissions
- Added Recent Runs widget
- Allow changing permissions for guides and resources (now defaults to "allow all")
- Allow pan and zoom on WR chart on stats page
- Don't show level stats if there are no level runs
- Improved variable settings related to category and level scope
- Made misc button on leaderboards stand out a bit more
- Added new "Game Stats" widget in sidebar

**Forums**

- Added "new forum thread" page (formerly a bad modal)
- Renamed sticky to "pin" to go with the new icon
- Added permalink icon to thread comments
- Layout improvements

**Profiles**

- Added About tab
- Added multiplayer details to runs view
- Improved runs view
- Improved threads and comments tabs
- Improved display of grouped usernames

**Notifications**

- Added notifications for comment and forum mentions
- Improve performance of notifications

That’s it for now! This is a list of fixes and improvements that have already been updated on the new site. Thank you for your patience as we continue to work through a list of known issues. Even now we are still working our way through feedback/bug reports from various platforms. Additional updates are coming soon!

We are committed to improving the user experience on Speedrun through bug fixes, improvements to current features as well as developing new features. If you’d like to help with this process, please submit your bug reports and feedback to the [Support Hub](https://www.speedrun.com/support) to ensure it gets seen!

Bug fixes and improvements from July 16-26, 2023

New Speedrun Bug Fixes & Improvements

Today is a major milestone for us, both in our efforts to deliver on long-held promises to the community, and to enable major new updates due later this year and beyond.

In this post we're going to cover what's new with today's launch, the recent history of the site, detail some work left to do, and preview what's coming later this year.

# Major changes

We had two main objectives with the new site:

1. Better serve the communities and users on Speedrun
2. Make it easier and faster for us to continue delivering on goal 1.

In order to meet these objectives, we rebuilt the whole site, back-end and front. Our release date was "when it's ready", which... just so happens to be today!

There's too much change to go into everything, but here are some of the highlights:

- **Fresh look and feel.** You may have noticed, but things look a bit different. We tried to keep the original spirit of Speedrun, but update it to look and feel like a website should in 2023. It's faster, prettier, and more reliable. Give it a try, we think you'll like it.
- **Game pages and leaderboards.** [Leaderboards](/only_up) are now wider, faster, and have a variety of new features. You can easily see the world record history, filter by more details (including verification status), and more! Check out a game page to see it in action.
- **Individual level support.** Level navigation is now built into the main leaderboard, and game pages now have a new separate [Levels tab](/pizza_tower/levels) where you can see an interactive summary of level record holders. This view can be filtered in the same way as the main leaderboard, including by subcategory!
- **Game management.** Game management has been completely overhauled. Speedrun is a complicated platform with a lot of configuration options for game moderators. We rebuilt it all with the primary goal of making sure that moderators felt confident when making changes. The site now explains every single option, warns about dangerous changes, and exposes new options to customize your communities.
- **Moderation tools.** We released the Moderator Hub feature almost 2 years ago to mixed reactions. We've been listening and taking notes, and are happy to say that we've rebuilt it from the ground up to address major points of feedback. The pending run list is now more dense, it's easy to search, you can assign runs to moderators, and the run review interface has been much improved.
- **Search.** Search is now faster, more accurate, and finds more content across the site. There's a new dedicated search results page where you can filter results. You can also easily bring up the search box with your keyboard, just press **/**. 
- **Game Discovery.** We've improved the [Games page](/games) to show popular new games and help you discover new games on different platforms and decades. We also standardized game cover image sizes (you may need to update them for the games you moderate.)
- **User pages.** [User pages](/users/Meta) got a fresh look and new features, including the ability to embed your Twitch stream when live, and improved access to various types of content like threads, comments, followers, and pending actions.
- **User following.** You can now follow users (in addition to games), and their runs will show up in your feed on the home page. User pages have Followers and Following tabs to help you discover new friends. We hope this will help you keep tabs on old friends and discover new game communities.
- **Group messaging.** We've overhauled [direct messaging](/messages) so you can make plans with the whole squad.
- **Guides and Resources.** We've given guides and resources a minor facelift, with more improvements planned in the future. You'll be happy to know that you can now drag and drop images and videos to upload them directly into guides, resources, news posts, etc.
- **New text editor.** The old Speedrun supported a weird markdown-ish text format, but didn't have an easy way to use it. We now have a new text editor with multiple modes (rich text, markdown, preview), which should make it a bit more pleasant to contribute guides, resources, news posts, or just express yourself when submitting a run or comment.
- **Internationalization.** Accessibility is important, and there's nothing more inaccessible than a webpage that you can't read. Speedrun is now fully translated into 17 different languages. The current translations are machine-generated, and their quality can best be described as "usable". Despite this, we see this as an important step forward for speedrunners who don't speak English, and we plan to make improvements.
- **Single sign-on and verified social connections.** You can now sign in with Discord, Google, or Twitch. Additionally you can [verify your Discord and Twitch](/settings/socials) accounts, giving your visitors confidence that they're talking to the real you.
- **... and lots more!**

It really should simply be *"more, better, faster"*.

We tried to make sure that all major existing functionality of the old site has been preserved or accounted for, but please let us know if we missed anything. The best place to do so is either in [The Site](/forums/the_site) forums, or by creating a [Bug Report](/support/tickets).

# History and lessons learned

Elo (the company that owns and operates Speedrun) acquired and began operating the site in 2020. Back then the site was struggling just to stay online. You may or not remember the famous **"Under Pressure"** error message that used to appear on nearly 40% of page loads.

After we took over, the first task was stabilizing the site and solving some of the most obvious problems. Then we went and started adding features - some went over well, others most certainly did not (sorry). Through it all we experienced a lot of growth (site traffic more than doubled in a year), and learned some important lessons.

The biggest thing we learned? We needed to slow down, communicate thoughtfully, and deliver on the promise and potential of the site.

# Making big improvements

In mid-2022 we recognized that it was simply too hard to make progress on the features that users cared the most about, and we struggled to resolve complex bugs. Under the covers, Speedrun is actually an incredibly complex platform (you wouldn't believe the nuance involved in determining the place of a run!), but the software wasn't scaling in the way it needed to. The old site (PHP) was really showing its, and making improvements was both difficult and dangerous - not a good combination.

***... we had to rebuild it ...***

Rebuilding a complex piece of software is a last resort. It's especially difficult and complex when you need to do it at the same time as you keep the existing site up and running. Still, we think it was a necessary step to making the major improvements the site needed. It took a while, but we're happy with the result! Even more importantly, we now have the ability to iterate on the site (introduce features, fix bugs) much faster and more thoughtfully than before.

For the curious: the old site was written in PHP, and the new site is Go (backend) and TypeScript (frontend) - just over 300,000 lines of code. We store data in MySQL and Redis.

# We're not done yet

As with any big migration, there are bound to be limitations and loose threads. The biggest limitation with the new release is that we were not able to make any changes to the mappings between categories, levels, and variables. The reason is simple: so long as the old site was involved, it'd be nearly impossible to correctly introduce new mapping logic. We did manage to make some improvements in this area, but it's far from our true goal of arbitrary custom mapping. So, this remains on our todo list - we hope to accomplish it later this year.

Another area for improvement is internationalization. As described above, it works, but the translations are not very good. We plan to improve them in the coming weeks and months.

# Looking toward the future

We're incredibly excited to launch the new Speedrun, and are already hard at work on making more improvements. Once the dust settles, we're confident you'll enjoy using the site.

Additionally, we have a few areas of focus that we'll be working on this year:

- **Make it easier to improve your PB.** We plan to introduce new features that will help you understand your runs, learn from other runners in the community, and improve your times. It's going to get *fast* in here!
- **Discover new communities and friends.** The Speedrun community is social by nature, but it can be hard to find new activities. We plan to make it easier to stay connected with existing friends, meet new ones, and improve all of our game communities.
- **Encourage the spirit of competition.** Speedrunning is competitive by nature, but it's far from organized. We think we can help bring some excitement and order to the chaos. Buckle up!

Big updates aside, you can expect a fairly steady stream of minor improvements over the coming months.

# Closing thoughts

We hope that you're pleased with today's update. It's been a long time coming!

I'd like to offer a special **THANK YOU** to our [Speedrun Supporter](/supporter) subscribers. For those who aren't aware, Supporter helps you contribute directly to the development and growth of Speedrun. It offers a variety of features to improve your experience on the site, including making the site faster and more enjoyable to use by removing all advertisements.

For those who aren't subscribed to Supporter but like what you see here, please consider it! Your support means a lot to us, and it really does provide us with the resources needed to continue making major improvements.

Now, where was I in [Tears of the Kingdom](/totk)...

We're excited to launch the new Speedrun website! Read on to learn more about what's new, how we got here, and what's coming next.

Welcome to the new Speedrun

But, there's more. SRE has recently communicated that, grateful for the enormous reception, it will deliver a pin to each participant who uploads a valid run.

This unique challenge combines the world of gaming with the culinary arts, as participants race to cook an original recipe as quickly as possible within the latest Zelda release. It's an epic adventure where speed, skill, and the tantalizing aroma of fried chicken unite for a chance to win the prestigious gold trophy.

Don't miss this incredible opportunity to showcase your speedrunning prowess and savor the taste of victory with 11 herbs and spices!

Starting date: Friday, June 23th 2023.

End date: Sunday, July 2nd 2023.

Duration: 10 days.

Get ready to put your virtual chicken frying skills to the ultimate test in this upcoming meme run.Prepare for glory and the chance to win a beautifully crafted trophy made of *actual gold*,valued at over $10,000. Whether you're a seasoned (pun intended) speedrunner or a daring newcomer, this challenge beckons all who dare to take part.

Check out some of the current fastest runs on the [leaderboard](https://run.sre.todoestodo.net/en/leaderboard.php?j=1)

Here's what you need to know:

## 1. ELIGIBILITY

Any player anywhere in the world.

## 2. CATEGORY

The Recipe Run. Make your original recipe as fast as possible in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom!

## 3. SUBMISSION

Through [the leaderboard](https://run.sre.todoestodo.net/en/leaderboard.php?j=1)

## 4. RULES AND REGULATIONS

Every speedrun must respect the official rules and regulations of The Recipe Run. You can learn more from [the rules page here](https://run.sre.todoestodo.net/en/reglas.php)

## 5. REWARD

A trophy depicting the fried chicken item of “The Legend of Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom” made of *actual gold* and worth over 10k, rock included. It will be sent directly to the winner of the run.

Here’s the official write up directly from the organizers of The Recipe Run!

Speedrunespanol hosts the Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom speedrun with a chicken shaped trophy worth over $10.000, courtesy of KFC.

Attention Speedrunners! SRE just launched a meme run in Zelda TOTK where the winner will get a gold trophy worth over $10.000.

The run consists of gathering the ingredients to cook their original recipe fried chicken: 1 raw bird drumstick, oil and 11 different herbs/spices.

You just need to:

● Show your inventory and talk to the Goronel AKA NPC Irton, timer starts once the

conversation ends.

● Go get all the ingredients without any specific order.

● Cook the chicken with the oil and show that you have the 11 different herbs/spices in your inventory. Timer stops when the pop-up with the fried chicken appears.

● Find the rules and more info about the speedrun here: www.thereciperun.com

The fried chicken brand just launched a speedrun challenge consisting of cooking their iconic original recipe as fast as possible in the latest Zelda release for a chance to get a gold trophy valued higher than $10.000.

Good luck, speedrunners! ️

SpeedrunsEspanol have announced a new 10k challenge "The Recipe Run" inside of Tears of the Kingdom - featuring the grand prize, a chicken-shaped trophy valued at over *$10,000!* 

SpeedrunsEspanol Announce Tears Of The Kingdom $10,000 Speedrun Challenge - The Recipe Run

With so many demos to explore, it can feel like searching for hidden treasures in a sea of options. But fear not - I've taken on the challenge and handpicked six games from Next Fest that I believe have speedrunning potential.

So, without further delay (and in no particular order) let's dive into Next Fest and check out these promising speedgames.

(Also quick note, we aren’t sponsored by or currently in partnerships with any of these games as of the writing of this article)

***Viewfinder***

**Surreal Puzzle Platformer**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1382070/Viewfinder/)*

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/vQfvMGWc3Uzt-SXUdTmpoqQ4Tc5V_x0BS30_1HnvL-gXkHkdIr6vpoyBNP99NQIgzqxX59_U6x1Ry_bDI9Z2jJ69Zmk_1bnYQvf_we-q10rAn2NwGbe3KElh4HRghjrcqYXJeHJhikP2HQ0GVHHqvTI)

I must admit, I'm fashionably late to the party on this one, as there’s already a speedrunning community that has popped up around this game! Picture this: a mind-bending journey through trippy puzzle designs reminiscent of Superliminal, wrapped in an atmosphere that balances relaxation and intrigue. The strategies and optimization that emerge in a speedrun when you know all the solutions to a puzzle game are always interesting. For instance, in the first level, you’re meant to fall when a bridge breaks at which point the game teaches you the rewind mechanic - but speedrunners discovered you can skip the tutorial by jumping over the bridge *before* it breaks. There’s lots of other cool stuff too, so I recommend you go [check out a run!]([https://www.speedrun.com/viewfinder](https://www.speedrun.com/viewfinder))

![](https://next.speedrun.com/static/blob/r1n8wnq4.gif)Whether you're a puzzle aficionado seeking a mind-bending experience or simply looking for a comfy game to kill a few hours, Viewfinder is an absolute must-play.

***En Garde***

**Cartoony Spectacle Fighter**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1654660/En_Garde/)*
![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OuSWsMKgbT2cg6Kp88CTJdKYWnFVnxg8tThjmGRQGNgETSLKuZ9ckB7CN2qbxL8JPCm-kejOmLb5-Z6rp5D3HubtURAukvJqjxxivALORmgk4gKMqQyJqwf0zs6JhqpG_sPeh0l7lpeBiVaA11MgD6o)
“En Garde!” is a charming Spectacle Fighter/Action game focused on sword combat. The combat mechanics are super satisfying, allowing for fluid and precise swordplay that keeps you engaged and on your toes. Additionally, the platforming elements sprinkled throughout the demo added a layer of variety, although I personally hope the developers will increase the frequency of these sections in the full release.

[INSERT VIDEO]

As soon as I’m wrapped up with this article, this is definitely a speedgame I want to throw a few run attempts at.

***Echo Point Nova***

**Movement Shooter**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1836730/Echo_Point_Nova/)*
![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gGkyZWr6H38pQwnknZC2U3iZ2cfembPSkGaPUBEijOcdT_rAn0jIfIcKEiezNVJRBpRCQqiW7rsCYJw8lpPQ-JIGvINHyqCVXK4zmiud9Ne0WEYlo2yqwhwIMG_VjYXu2ZMlLqICstD99Lg9SepqrH0)

Echo Point Nova’s demo feels like an open-world sandbox to explore the extremely satisfying movement and gunplay mechanics, which is by no means a bad thing. The movement starts off slow, introducing you first to the Double Jump Boots, then the Grappling Hook, and finally the *pièce de résistance* - the Hoverboard. The routes you can pull off by stringing these three systems together are gratifying as hell. The gunplay also feels like a massive improvement over developer MattWLA’s last title, Severed Steel with punchier effects and visuals.

[INSERT VIDEO]

It's worth noting Matt’s dedication to engaging with the community and actively seeking feedback, which further enhances the overall experience, fostering a collaborative environment where players' (including speedrunners) voices are valued and acknowledged.

***Valley Peaks***

**Amphibian 3D Platformer**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2107550/Valley_Peaks/)*

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/9OAHNHffsc2uvT6lFawjfUrfOWO22DjgaZqT8c6vpkujft-yzv7kmdsQXh39wTgz9eEHajHadmnCt2FH6dgF8tSPe1oeNQeyX9z4esY-PVnyuEoU7B3ObQ4ul8hJDT9F2eAGXwiD_mk45nXOTZxlWpM)

You play as a frog and you climb tall things (optionally very fast) - need I say more? Valley Peaks has a gorgeous art style and great controls for climbing - simply left-click to climb with your left hand and the opposite for the right. Some sections will still challenge you though, and I’m excited to see the possibilities in a speedrun route. In trying to go fast myself during the demo, I noticed that it’s incredibly satisfying trying to scale large things fast - but one mistake and you fall to the bottom.

[INSERT VIDEO]

I can’t wait to see some high-risk strats in runs or especially in a live setting like a marathon, I’ll be on the edge of my seat.

***Skator Gator 3D***

**Reptile 3D Platformer**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1996470/Skator_Gator_3D/)*

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/b0WLNBW2jMc726y6Gg9efIq6x9NiwYeFFF_YXKIaWYTuPFmmV7ND8kTmCbCT-4tmnVr0OWOEydfK7Mza17jieHEq3ElZDMICID40O9SGTGy8K3fi7eHxH1vaBop28XmkVWHPAbX7MQrXdJRPNMyOins)

On the topic of cute animal 3D platformers - Skator Gator 3D! First of all, thanks @shovelclaws for sponsoring the gameplay for this one as I was having some controller issues - and its gameplay is far superior to mine anyway! SG3D has some speedtech in which you jump after a dash with a certain rhythm - this is called a Super Jump and was actually put in place on purpose by the developer! You can see it in use at the start of @Shovelclaws gameplay below.

[INSERT VIDEO]

The developers have also gone through the game and listed baseline speedrun times on each level, as well as engaging with the speedrunning community by reacting to runs!

***Lies of P***

**Souls-Like**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1627720/Lies_of_P/)*

![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/JsXWpYkDgHxN8hPOqLFvRLuYqLFak7vonfM1L5n05pCyPFSdpdTlOwiSGzssFJOyYqGNT_MwDk5h5uRFy_yfIyH4-n7afzQvjl-dW0oBqB7sc6qDFy8LUVsJ6w-C2doZnDwB_vXmS4qbuewnKPssT1w)

In this Bloodborne-esque Souls-Like, you play as Pinnochio (yes, **that** Pinnochio) on a quest to become a real boy - a quest in which you slay thousands of gruesome (and very aggressive) puppets. Lies of P introduces some unique mechanics, including a weapon crafting system where you can take parts from different weapons and combine them together to create something completely new.

[INSERT VIDEO]

The demo for a lowly casual such as myself took several hours (of dying over and over), meanwhile legendary speedrunner @mitchriz [managed to pull off a run in a blazing 16:38]([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edGASDuEz3Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edGASDuEz3Y))

***ALMOST***

**IL-Rush Platformer**

*[Link to game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2280150/ALMOST/)*

Neon White gamers, get ready to grind once again. ALMOST is a fast-paced IL-Rush with a unique Dimension Switch mechanic in which you can go between two different dimensions which each contain its own platforms that aren’t in the other dimension. This mechanic adds another layer that will give speedrunners lots to chew on during the routing process! This is definitely the gameplay that took me the longest to record because the skill ceiling is **ridiculously** high in this game.

[INSERT VIDEO]

For context, this clip took me about an hour to get, and I just barely scratched the top ten on the leaderboard, with the world record being a whole 9 seconds faster than my run.

And that’s a wrap! Although I played a TON of demos over the past few days, I barely scratched the surface of the vast array of those released—there are hundreds more waiting to be explored. Have you stumbled upon a demo that holds great potential for speedrunning but wasn't mentioned in this roundup? Join me in the forum thread I've created so we can discuss!![](https://next.speedrun.com/static/blob/p4zjlnko.gif)

Steam Next Fest June '23 is here! It's that time of the year when game developers shower us with demos of their upcoming releases. It's like a buffet of gaming goodness. 

7 Potential Speedgames From Steam Next Fest June '23

Attention all speedrunners! We are thrilled to unveil a brand new $10,000 Speedrunning Challenge for the fast-paced action roguelike, Oblivion Override! Prepare yourselves for an epic race against time, as you showcase your skills, strategy, and lightning-fast reflexes.

![:spiral_calendar_pad:](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/t5ovorZ2oLhWz_iCeTwyPCjDzJ88_JbwuDBONuIErecJwCW02FcVTctMqi-NG4-tAPFAvt_NH4KsNgtB6L218nsb5hpXaT9_fEizB2FQWTAPPRX78MbKfb3ieP0DcSrTq_kGkhQ0K2idKFffaF-bhQw) **Starting Date: June 14th, 2023**

![:stopwatch:](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/eRX-aeNwggzmULS_Dtp0ArHRpnScN2qDSkbbVaEeRQt1dhBsUpCDLpBHEd_1f85lG6CatnHMX-Xyx4KOmM824afI-i5ryTy7WbvBpzGC7eW-6LlLJHGo0fqmMZljElGs1MRUvUVzy66YZhh9mDpMITY) **Duration: Two weeks, until June 27th, 2023 11:59PM PT**

This exciting challenge will put your mastery of Oblivion Override, the thrilling fast-paced action roguelike, to the ultimate test. With a staggering prize pool of $10,000 up for grabs, the stakes have never been higher. Can you rise to the occasion and etch your name in speedrunning history?

Whether you're a seasoned speedrunner or a daring newcomer, this challenge welcomes all who dare to take part. Here's what you need to know:

### 1. Eligibility:

Open to players worldwide, aged 18 and above.

Must own a legitimate copy of Oblivion Override.

### 2. Category:

Any Alert: Complete the game as fast as possible. (no limitation to alert level)

### 3. Submission:

Record your speedrun and submit it via [our leaderboard here on [Speedrun.com](https://www.speedrun.com/oblivion_override).

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements.

### 4. Rules and Regulations:

All speedruns must adhere to the official ruleset, available on the [Speedrun.com leaderboard.](https://www.speedrun.com/oblivion_override)

Any use of cheats, exploits, or modifications will result in disqualification.

Multiple submissions are allowed, but only your best run will be considered. (You can't claim all top 3 prizes)

### 5. Prize Distribution:

The $10,000 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Any% category. That means first place takes home $4,000, second place gets $2,500, third place receives $1,500, and everyone that are placed in 4th to 23rd gets $100

To follow the challenge and find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit [the Oblivion Override leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com](https://www.speedrun.com/oblivion_override) and the [official discord](https://discord.com/invite/49C4wSYDph) for Oblivion Override.

May the fastest runners prevail, and may the thrill of speed carry you to glory in Oblivion Override!

Good luck, speedrunners! ![:video_game:](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/qtSQ1ZJq02kdXCOaNUewxzAUQyPzAVpq8TK7fh4fD4JIz-itcP_1pilUS8RR7Y7HkAWu2_ZTPq1KY4CzLO5UWdHmQeraPPwCbHv_8_7HD3pPBxhJdM_eH3Fr76eBbvKWV_0wRd4tTxGZZmjAVpR3bQo)![:zap:](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/MlvSN_Sg6gXlDUY7lGbqDrRb4BV9hAXg_hG4d_GRoqsuwtdhHRsDRCzg1BC7CZdG4Hx_0_IuyFotVgez1wcFDml4RoJiAtdX6iLTdQ82HJNKxqS4sHtpoNOzS-Z1S9iKHWP1h0tRwBwuQ4Sz-E23Nx8)️

A $10,000 Speedrunning Challenge has been announced for Oblivion Override, where participants compete to complete the game as quickly as possible in the Any Alert category for a chance to win cash prizes!