In the world of speedrunning, we love playing games quickly, but we also like the spirit of competition, watching the most talented runners compete in their favorite games. With this in mind, the Nitro Speedrun staff proudly presents you a new idea: the Nitro Cup.

# **What is Nitro Cup?**

Nitro Cup is a tournament held every three months centered around a popular game. The objective is simple: complete the game and its designated category as quickly as possible! While anyone can participate, only one contestant will emerge victorious, claiming the coveted trophy, much like Qentiko and Nuclearpastatom already did.

![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/DwhpGAhGuA0_zFY19PzVwLo3R8z9xXV1D8teTeQImSL25OXnOIM_55KD9gx5Xa5CPFOhJU7xk4AxlCAepDunPM2hgEXwVfccGDvSc8xGsf3FKZvaSXGBu6z-RllVA5-4QnEPsauk-EGNUHY4aPYLJvI)

The event is divided into two phases. On Saturday, we have the qualifiers, which follow an LTA format. This means that participants have a set amount of time to deliver their best performance for the game. At the end of the timer, the top 7 players qualify for the next round.

Sunday features the knockout stage! The 7 players compete in the first race, with the top 5 advancing to the next round while the bottom 2 are eliminated. The same process repeats for the second race, narrowing down the field from 5 to 3 players. Finally, the third race determines the podium placements and crowns the winner of the trophy!

# **That sounds exciting! When is the next edition?**

As you may have noticed in the previous images, there have been two different editions featuring The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom and Elden Ring. The next event will focus on Super Mario Odyssey - Any% and will take place on **March 23rd and 24th!**

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

The event will be restreamed in 4 different languages, as we know from now :

- English : [https://www.twitch.tv/speedgaming](https://www.twitch.tv/speedgaming)
- French : [https://www.twitch.tv/nitro_speedrun](https://www.twitch.tv/nitro_speedrun)
- Portuguese : [http://www.twitch.tv/speedrunsbrasil](https://t.co/wag789mvpH)
- Spanish : [https://www.twitch.tv/speedrunsespanol](https://www.twitch.tv/speedrunsespanol)

If you want to participate, simply join the Nitro Speedrun Discord server for event organization at [https://discord.gg/X3JFEr6Gen](https://discord.gg/X3JFEr6Gen) and register for the event here: [https://matcherino.com/tournaments/108770](https://matcherino.com/tournaments/108770)

The event also features a participative cash prize. All the money goes to the top 7 runners. So, if you enjoy the event and want to support the runners, you can make a contribution to the prize pool.

I invite you to watch the final of the last Nitro Cup. The Nitro Speedrun staff and I hope to see you in March !

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2006806117?t=17m16s

Announcement of the Nitro Cup #3 on Super Mario Odyssey, after the sucess of the first two editions on Tears Of The Kingdom and Elden Ring.

Nitro Cup: A New Kind of Speedrun Competition

A Kao community member - @rumii has announced a bounty in Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2. All you have to do is get a time in the 45:XX range (loadless/LRT). So pretty much get a brand new world record and $1000 USD will be yours!

# Rules

![](/static/blob/1n5move3.jpg)

# Game & Category

The game in question is *[Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2](https://www.speedrun.com/kao2)* - **the digital version** which means the 2019 re-release which is on *Steam.* There are many differences between the retail and digital versions - that's why there are separate categories on leaderboards.

Originally a 2003 Polish 3D platformer game released on PC and consoles (GCN, PS2, Wii, & Xbox). It's safe to say it's still the best entry in the series with the most valuable WR to achieve. The game takes a young kangaroo named Kao on a journey to save his animal friends from an evil poacher.

Now we'll focus on the category - **Any% Digital Version**. It is exactly how it sounds like. You got to beat the game from a fresh save, using the digital Kao 2.

# Time to learn

Thankfully the community has made some helpful media for beginners like tutorials and such.

Like this improvised tutorial by the former world record holder - @CubemasterXD (a bit outdated):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f7u5nY4yuE

Or this compilation of all skips (less outdated than the previous video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0hp-adxcpM

# Notable New Tech

On leaderboards, a keen eye could sight this variable - *quads/quadless.* What does it mean?

That's a pretty fresh discovery that allows runners to perform a chain of jumps when they aren't supposed to be able to jump. Normally you can only jump twice. It is a platformer game. Try guessing how many new skips or route changes happened since this discovery :)

Here are quad jumps in action on the 4th level of the game - River Raid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIg5FOLtuOs

Credit to @n3wt, the current WR holder on this level.

# Summary

Obtain a sub 46:00 loadless time in *[Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 - Any% Digital Version](https://www.speedrun.com/kao2)* to win $1000 USD**!** Only the first person wins. You have until the end of the year!

Any questions? Join [the Discord server!](https://discord.com/invite/mvErQShpTE)

Cheers and good luck

Community member rumii announced a bounty for achieving a 45:XX time.

$1000 Time Bounty in Kao the Kangaroo Round 2

Attention runners and racers! We're thrilled to unveil the first challenge as part of what we are calling the SRC Series! The SRC Series is a lineup of challenges we're rolling out on a semi-regular basis, funded entirely by Speedrun.com. SRC Series challenges are designed to be fun and engaging, with a focus on community involvement. The prize bounties are smaller compared to sponsored challenges, providing a  break from the stress of high-stakes competition! We hope SRC Series challenges will bring speedrunners together from all kinds of communities to discover new games and meet new people.

For our first challenge, we've selected Rocket Racing! If you're unfamiliar, Rocket Racing is an arcade style racing game developed in collaboration with Psyonix and parent company Epic Games - taking heavy influence from Rocket League and implementing all kinds of aerial movement with track designs that force you to get crafty with your vehicle.

Here’s everything you’ll want to know heading into the challenge:

**Starting Date:** February 15th, 2024

**Duration:** 10 days, until 11:59PM UTC February 25th, 2024

## Prize Distribution:

The $500 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Any% category. The distribution is as follows:

**1st place** - $250

**2nd place** - $150

**3rd place** - $100

## Eligibility:

Open to players aged 18 and above worldwide, with the following exceptions: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.

## Game:

The game is, of course, Rocket Racing. If you haven’t played RR before, you may not know the install process as it’s a somewhat unique situation. To play Rocket Racing, you'll want to install Fortnite from within the Epic Games Launcher. From inside Fortnite, you'll be able to access Rocket Racing as one of the official game modes.

## Category:

As this is the first challenge we will be hosting with a pre-existing game, we will not be revealing the category until near the start of the challenge to avoid anyone starting ahead of time. That said, if you want to hop in game and start learning some of the tech to prepare yourself - we encourage you to do so if you’d like!

## Submission:

Record your speedrun and submit it via [our Challenge leaderboard here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og37qyvl-Rocket_Racing-src-series-rocket-racing)

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section. Please note that a new requirement has been added to this challenge, requiring that prize eligible runs must have been live streamed.

## Rules and Regulations:

All speedruns must adhere to the official rules, available on the Speedrun.com Challenge leaderboard.

Contest Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og37qyvl-Rocket_Racing-src-series-rocket-racing/contest](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og37qyvl-Rocket_Racing-src-series-rocket-racing/contest)

Category Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og37qyvl-Rocket_Racing-src-series-rocket-racing/rules?view=challenge ](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/og37qyvl-Rocket_Racing-src-series-rocket-racing/rules?view=challenge )(available near launch of challenge)

## Challenges

A new addition to challenges as you may have noticed is our new Challenges Hub which can be found here [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges)! Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet, we look forward to populating it with lots more challenges in the future!

## Preparation Suggestions

To find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit [the Rocket Racing leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/Rocket_Racing) Follow either the game or the challenge to receive notifications about challenge activity! You can also join [the Fortnite Speedrunning Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/9dUjMuKDRG) to keep up with the community!

**Good luck, and have fun Racers!️**

Join us for the first challenge in our SRC Series with Rocket Racing!

SRC Series: Rocket Racing Speedrun Challenge

blud got a god run just for you to do void%

https://www.speedrun.com/users/chungcuchothue123

Off-topic discussion, unrelated to speedrunning.

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