How Speedrunning Keeps Retro Gaming Alive
Speedrunning. You’ve likely seen a bit of what it’s about before. At its simplest, it’s about being quick. At its most complicated, it’s about being perfect. Who knew that so much complexity revolved around the simple idea of reaching the end of the game in as fast a manner as possible? In some runs, it’s about using glitches; jump off certain ledges, fall off at certain spots, and you might find yourself teleporting across the screen. In others, it’s a feat of patience and pixel-perfect movement.
In the most extreme cases, it pushes the limits of how people can play, like Zallard1’s blindfolded speedrun of Punch-Out.
Speedrunning’s got a dedicated community, and any lover of retro games would do well to give it the respect it deserves. Beyond just showing what “perfect play” can look like, speedrunning has done a thing many developers don’t.
It’s kept many games alive.
Glorifying Perfection
There’s no beating around the bush. Speedrunning is, in many ways, a popularity contest, and most speedrunners play the games that people want to watch. These tend to be newer, popular releases like Elden Ring or older titles with audiences like Metroid or Zelda.
What makes these speedruns interesting is how they manage to vary the gameplay. A lot of routing that speedrunners do uses practiced pixel-perfect movement. In many ways, speedrunners need to be perfect in how they move, and there’s something innately satisfying over seeing someone glitch their way into a wall or skip an intended sequence. Speedrunning manages to scratch that itch of feeling like you've "one-upped” a developer, and got the better of them.
More than that, some speedrunners go on runs with challenges in mind, stressing not only a need for perfect play but also for on-the-go ingenuity. A challenge like LilAggy’s Dark Souls 3 Randomizer Speedrun features a lot of quick thinking, frustration, and relief and is a rollercoaster of a time to watch.
Okay, so we know it can be entertaining to watch, sure. But why do WE need to watch it? It’s fun, but is there any real reason to glorify speedrunning? Simple. It’s because it’s keeping gaming (and retro gaming) alive
Why Should We Care?
While speedrunning tends to be a contest of popularity, there are plenty of obscure speedrunners who tackle smaller, unknown games. Titles like Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects don’t have the reach that games like Mario Odyssey do, but a speed-running category for it still exists.
The same goes for many obscure titles we’ve likely forgotten for one reason or another. PS2’s Shinobi, PS1’s Tenchu, and the GameBoy’s Advance Wars are all titles that are now relatively obscure, but kept alive by a small, dedicated community of speedrunners. While the general public may have forgotten these games, these runners have not, and to this day continue to play and stream them to keep their memory alive.
In a strange twist of fate, the practice of trying to finish a game as possible is keeping that game relevant in the public eye for as long as possible.
Can’t Stop The Retro
In a lot of ways, speedrunning is what’s keeping retro alive. Retro games are not only easier to run and play, but they also tend to be more documented than their modern counterparts. Whereas newer games still need runners to put the time and effort into learning new tricks, routes, and exploits, diving into an older game like Super Metroid is different. For games like these, there are videos and beginner guides out there that detail much-needed time-saving tricks and tips to get interested speedrunners on board. When speedrunning is no easy feat, having someone or something to refer to to get you started is an invaluable tool to have.
Speedrunning Tools on LiveSplit
There’s also the added fact that a lot of speedrunners do this simply because they enjoy the games. Of course, there are many documented cases of “Speedrunner rage,” but the reality is that most of these speedrunners pick a game that they truly enjoy playing. More often, it’s the comfy feelings of nostalgia and retro game love that has them coming back to the classics.
Test Yourself
If you love retro games as much as we do, why not try your hand at speedrunning? Let’s glorify the classics together and learn them inside out. Speedrunning tools like LiveSplit will help you get started on your first runs, and emulators like ZSNES and Dolphin will enable you to pick your retro game of choice. Starting your speedrunning career is really nothing more complicated than that.
If you’re itching for something a little more exotic than normal, why not try speedrunning one of our games? Here at Mega Cat Studios, the games we develop and publish are made with classic retro philosophies in mind. They’re easy to pick and play but hard to master despite their simplistic looks. Just like the old retro games, titles like JESTER and ZPF provide a mix of content and replayability, which is the perfect combination to get your own speedrunning career running.
Speedrunning, at its core, is a pastime that rewards the dedicated and glorifies the games of the old. It’s managed to keep some older titles relevant regardless of their popularity and is a large part of what keeps old games alive and obscure games relevant.
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About the Author
Alexander Cuaycong is a writer with a passion for history and video game. When he's not busy buried in dusty books, he's out there trying to make his fantasy worlds come true. For him, gaming isn't a hobby so much as a calling, and it's one he's been doing his best to follow. Whether it's reviewing games, or writing about their history, he's on a mission to spread that love with others.
