Games Done Quick’s second speedrun marathon of 2023 has come to an end. It was a great event.
Held much earlier than usual, Summer 2023 Games Ends Soon It started on May 28th and ended on June 4th. Raised a staggering $2,239,204 (and count) Doctors Without Borders / Doctors Without Borders. Hundreds of great speedruns packed in, from event favorites to the worst (and funniest) games of all time.
To celebrate this achievement, we’ve put together a list of our favorite event runs and their associated VODs. GDQ Official YouTube (if available) or Official Channel on GamesDoneQuick Twitch. Although this list is Nintendo-themed, there are some multi-platform games as well. I could not do it ignore. See the full line-up for last week’s event here. Official Schedule for SGDQ 2023.
Now, let’s take a quick look at the best of SGDQ 2023.
SGDQ 2023 – Best Nintendo Speedrun
The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask Randomizer
Spike Vegeta is probably one of the community’s most famous speedrunners, and his boundless enthusiasm is contagious. When he’s sitting on the couch or running, he can’t help but get excited about running. He just picked up The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Randomizer a few months ago, and this sub-hour piece of his work is fantastic, adopting it to navigate this beloved game in a whole new way. It shows all the different strategies you need. .
The Randomizer in Majora’s Mask mixes all items, masks, songs and music. That means you can run around trying to get everything you need to reach the end of the game. Spikevegeta, on the other hand, makes great decisions under pressure. Randomizers have always been great watches in GDQ, and Majora’s Mask is no exception.
Toilet paper please!
Remember when we covered “Toilet Paper, Give Me!”?
During “Silly Block” Asuka424 brings the incredible title “Give me toilet paper!” bottom. Inside the roll he puts one of his Joy-Cons and Asuka424 has to roll the roll on the table to deliver it to the man in-game. It’s short and fun, but the game’s bizarre setting and commentary from Asuka, Daneheras, and Nyobari make this game refreshing and fun.
Super Mario Maker 2 Ekiden
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Super Mario Maker has been a bit of a GDQ tradition over the years, but this year’s Super Mario Maker 2 Relay Race brought the heat to life again.
TheRileyC, Aurateur, PangaeaPanga, TanukiDan, Shoujo, Caspur189, LilKirbs and Thabeast721 battled in two teams of four and demonstrated their amazing skills in some very demanding SMM2 levels. The commentary is also hot, and the tension is transmitted. Need a reminder of how smart Super Mario Maker’s level creators are? No, but you’re always welcome.
If you love racing as much as we do and want to challenge yourself to a level, GDQ shared all level codes on Twitter.
Runistis
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The $5 platformer that captivated us with last year’s NL Towers, Lunistice’s popularity as a speed-running game is obvious given its platforming inspirations and retro aesthetic. New to the event this year and current world record holder, Nestani gives us a whistling tour of platform perfection.
The Runistis run is packed with corner cuts, precision and spin jumps for height and speed. It’s really clean execution and highlights that this is a lovingly developed retro-style platformer. Combine that with insightful comments from Nestani and Jaxler, and it’s one of the biggest surprises of the event.
banjo and kazooie
Banjo-Tooie may have been featured at SGDQ 2022, but it’s been four years since the first game, which celebrates its 25th anniversary later this month, last hit the main stage. And the funny ducks are back to run one of the most popular teams in National League history.
It’s been a long time since Banjo and Kazooie last hit the main stage, so the ducks got a chance to show off a slew of new features at this debut GDQ showcase of their “100% No FFM” run. The lack of FFM means that Duck cannot unlock all abilities at the start of the game using the Forge’s Fun Move Glitch. This means you have to manually learn every move as you progress through the game.The duck’s aggressiveness (and his A very catchy Mr. Vile song) and knowledge of the game, this will be the highlight of SGDQ 2023 for us.
modified monkey ball
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Like the randomizer, Kaizo Runs (game runs with incredibly difficult custom levels) are always popular at speedrunning events, especially Super Mario events. But do you know Super Monkey Ball? again Do you have your own Kaizo community? And the levels are terrifyingly difficult. Unless IkeSMB.
modified monkey ball Released in 2019, the game contains some of the most difficult levels you can imagine. Despite multiple fatalities, IkeSMB effortlessly traverses the stage, performing some impressive tricks using gravity, high inclines and perfect balance. Some stages require you to aim at the smallest part of the platform to bounce back towards the goal, while others require you to jump over large gaps. Just looking at it makes my head hurt.
Ratatouille
Every GDQ spawns a new meme. “ORB” is becoming more and more popular! From 2019 to the Untitled Goose Game, his week full of ‘Klaxon’ took place and SGDQ 2023 saw ‘Yes, Chef’. While the meme itself stems from the fun Overcooked 2 run, adef’s Ratatouille on the GameCube is what cemented the phrase as an event classic. adef begins by creating a frame for auditioning for FX’s hit show The Bear, naming his couch ‘Sous Chef’ and ‘Chefed His Party’. Even the host char_bunny is called a “donation chef”. And more than 20 minutes of hilarious unfolding follows as the trio onstage lead in a fast-paced, chef-based commentary. just look. We promise it’s worth it.
Our favorite moment occurs in the cooking section where you have to press button instructions and choose the right ingredients for your dish. Some of the items are… barely recognizable, but the result is an interesting conversation between the runner and the couch.
“Oh, I need this, chefs.”
“This is… on the way, Chef.”
pokemon colosseum race
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For some reason, Pokemon Colosseum has never appeared on the main stage of a GDQ before (although it did at another GDQ-related speedrunning event, Frost Fattals). However, Swiftalu and Sparkle finally solved that problem, bringing the RPG head-to-head to the forefront of the event.
Watching this to the end may make you feel a little nostalgic. It’s almost a four-hour speedrun, so he’ll have to spend a good chunk of his day sitting down and watching this, but for the fun Pokémon commentary, the great interaction between the audience and the couch, and the surprise appearance. Absolutely worth it. Miku Hatsune.
super mario odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey’s brilliant speedrun is easy. Every run is a showcase for the range of movement options in this excellent Switch title. Runner Dangers introduces the magic of Mario Odyssey in just over an hour with excellent commentary from Ganon and Spike Vegeta.and we largely Also, I didn’t get this run because the incentive was just fulfilled during Majora’s Kamen Randomizer.
Even when things went wrong, the Dangers showed a real talent for quickly salvaging or correcting missteps. This is a popular speedrun, but since the last time Odyssey took part in GDQ, a lot of new techniques and routes have been discovered, so even if you’ve seen a few Odyssey speedruns before, This is worth a visit.
Wild Guns Cooperative
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In another hilarious run, giygasblues and Crack Atak blow up the SNES gallery shooter Wild Guns. If Rammy’s Rammy’s Rammy’s Restaurant is all about chefs, Wild Guns is all about “cheering, tootin’, and shooting through” Cowboy with his jokes and more contagious energy. The couch commentary in this piece is great, and includes moments like, “Are horses robots?” And a lot of “i-ho”. Sometimes you want your sofa to know everything about the game. And sometimes stupidity is just what you need. And this run is an example of the latter.
It feels less like a speed run and more like a gathering of friends playing video games together in the best possible way. We don’t know how giygasblues and Crak Atak survived the match without falling into laughter. The best video games require food and pure fun.
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild – Blindfold
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For many, Bubzia’s blindfolded Breath of the Wild speedrun of I will run and watch until the event. And GDQ organizers seemed aware of that, as they held an extended break to meet their donation incentives. But it was worth the wait. After that, he did an hour and a half masterclass on how he could win one of the most open games without seeing what was going on.
Bubzia is notorious in the blindfolded speedrunning community for a reason. If this is the only run you can watch, know that this is one of the event’s best him. There’s a lot of skill, drama, and surprising moments that make BOTW feel even more ridiculous when you fall off the top of a mountain. We are confident that Tears of the Kingdom will tear the speedrunning community apart over the next few months. In fact, it already does. As such, we couldn’t think of a better send-off for his GDQ following Breath of the Wild.
Super Metroid co-op
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Is it… TRUE GDQ events without Super Metroid again symphony of the nightWell, we have both this year (go check it out) Randomizer from Symphony of the Night), Super Metroid capped off the show with a perfect cooperative demonstration by two veteran speedrunners, ShinyZeni and Zoast.
In Super Metroid co-op, two players play in two different “worlds”, but bosses, items, and upgrades are shared between them. So ShinyZeni and Zoast have mapped out a route where each can help each other in the best possible way. Few things are better than a fun Super Metroid speedrun. This unique co-op twist brings you a little closer to the event.
Did you catch a speedrun from SGDQ 2023? Anything we missed, but do you think they’re worth noting? Let us know in the comments.
