Ever wonder how long it would take to beat a NES or PC game? Well after Quake came out, people started speed running it - trying to get from the start of the game to the end of the game as quickly as possible. A website kept track of records, and eventually expanded to all games. There are all sorts of rules on what makes a legal speed run and what doesn't. Some of the games are done ridiculously fast. You can download videos of the runs and see for yourself. There are lots of games for all console systems and the PC. You can check out the game list and looks for your favorite old game. Just to give you an idea of how fast these games are finished, here are some of the current records:
Contra in 11:25 (minutes and seconds...)
Super Mario Bros. 2 in 9:42
Half-Life in 45:45
Super Mario World in 10:56
Another neat aspect of the records is that you get to see people pull off tricks that you might not have even imagined before. I've also watched a few games that I couldn't beat myself back in the day. If you're a gamer at all, you should check out some of the videos on this site.
Posted by ramk at June 9, 2006 12:35 AM