10 Ideal Games To Start Speedrunning

10 easy and fun games to start speedrunning

Celeste

Do you want to get into speedrunning looking for a great challenge to achieve? Spend hours perfecting yourself to achieve the ultimate jump, the one that will save you the most time? Look no further, Celeste is the game for you. Become a speedrun classic, There’s something wonderful about Maddy Thorson’s game, so much precision is required to get through it, even without the speedrunner.

“But how could I get to speedrunner a game I’ve already died on dozens of times taking my time???” Well, speedrunner Celeste isn’t that difficult. Of course, you will have a hard time reaching the German’s record Marlin (26m 3s and 312ms).

But it is enough to take a look at the numerous runs present on the Internet or at the various guides to realize that Celeste is a game certainly demanding but particularly pleasant to speedrunner.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

There are those games that allow you to get into speedrunning without much difficulty. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is one of them. If this platform game offers relatively simple mechanics, they require a certain precision if you want to successfully meet its timed challenges.

By encouraging players to push themselves to obtain the rewards awarded below a certain time, the Crash series already incorporates a hint of speedrunning: concept of die & retry, use of precise mechanics to save as much time as possible… Transpose this to a whole run and you get a rather amusing first attempt at speedrun.

Without counting the fun and nostalgic sides of the title which make it possible to attenuate the frustration.

However, to climb to the top of the rankings, there is enough to break a few levers. For information, the record (with loading time) is 45 minutes and 27 seconds. Not bad for a game whose lifespan is around 10 hours.

Limbo

If the speedrun of Crash Bandicoot is not long in itself, taming each level and chaining them in turn avoiding the slightest error is somewhat tedious. So let’s look at a game that will take you a little less time: Limbo. Well known for being a minimalist independent nugget, it is above all of a short and demanding 2D platformer.

Two good reasons to make it a candidate of choice to try speedrunning. Concentration and mastery will be the key words to meet this challenge. It will therefore be necessary stay vigilant and optimize your run by using the few tips allowing you to go faster.

For example, know that in Limbo it is better to jump than to run. A well-known little trick which is listed, along with the others, in the Game Wiki. Note that the record stands at 39 minutes and 23 seconds, for a game lasting an average of three or four hours.

Super Mario 64

Impossible to talk about speedrun without mentioning one of the great classics of the genre: Super Mario 64. The game stamped Nintendo is still known today as a reference and continues to inspire players, as shown by the recent Super Mario 3D All Stars. And that also goes for speedrunning.

With 29,482 runs recorded on speedrun.com, it is the most speedrunned game of all time. A considerable advantage for any budding speedrunner. Indeed, who says often speedrunned game, says many examples, tips and other advice available on the Internet. It will be very useful for you learn about the different glitches (bugs allowing to skip certain parts) that exist.

This old game has a few that are quite easy to do and that will make you feel like a true speedrunner. Note that the other games of the license (Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Sunshine) are also ranked among the most speedrun games.

To return to Super Mario 64, know that the record (on emulator) is held by an Australian: 1h 39m 28s compared to 25 hours on average to complete the main story.

Metal Gear Solid 2 : Substance

For those who would like to discover the speedrun through the prism of FPS, a title is particularly suitable: Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance. What could be more satisfying than going through a dozen-hour-long adventure in just a few (about three hours on average, one if you’re looking to get closer to the current record).

Quite easy to learn, the game is full of small glitches allowing you to play whole sections without great difficulty. These are listed on the Internet, such as through this detailed video by dlimes13.

If we opt here for this special edition of Sons of Liberty, it is because it is the most speedrunned of the three versions of the game. But you can of course start on the one that suits you. Indeed, the guide we told you about earlier is equally valid for Sons of Liberty, Substance and the HD Edition.

Mirror’s Edge

What better way to start speedrunning than with a game that offers many movement possibilities? This is the case of Mirror’s Edge, this game dating from 2008 which invited you to embody Faith, a messenger moving from wall to wall. As a result, the game offers rather fun gameplay, which lends itself well to speedrunning.

More interestingly, the game had, at the time, the right to a rather chaotic and rushed development. So it feels in play with the presence of many bugs and glitches, real nuggets for speedrunners. Add to that gameplay mechanics which, well exploited, allow you to go even faster and you get a fairly accessible and fun speedrunner game.

You can of course find all the tips to properly understand your first run on the dedicated wiki or the various explanatory videos. Note that the current record (with loading time) is 29 minutes and 20 seconds. For a game that averages seven hours of playtime, that’s pretty impressive.

Portal

Here we are with a new speedrun classic: Portal. Between glitches and precision, this puzzle game can be crossed in just a few minutes, compared to a normal few hours. 6 minutes and 44 seconds, this is the record recorded by CantEven last week, in category Out of Bounds. As for the category Glitchless, the record is around 15 minutes.

You would have understood it, there are many ways to speedrunner Portal, offering very different but always relatively short experiences. If you prefer to get started on Portal 2, you will find at least as many tips and examples to follow. Although the game is less speedrunned than its predecessor, it has been broken down by players just as much and is therefore just as fun and accessible.

No wonder then that Zerator decided, in 2019, to offer a speedrun of Portal 2 as a test of its ZLAN. Note however that for this opus the record (one player, classic) is closer to the hour of play.

Refunct

Refunct is, for many, the ideal game to start speedrunning. And for good reason, it is both simple, short and interesting. You want to try your hand at this discipline but the idea of ​​spending hours learning a run by heart and the glitches that make it up scares you?

This game is the perfect compromise, so it seems to have been created for that. Note also that apart from the speedrun, the game had made little noise and was far from unleashing the crowds. But when players started trying to get through it as quickly as possible, they discovered a hitherto unsuspected potential.

If you have to stay focused to best optimize your run, the slightest mistake is not terribly frustrating. Just reset and you can start again having lost only two or three minutes of your time. It is therefore not surprising that certain personalities (Domingo, Zerator…) have used it as a gateway to the marvelous and demanding world of speedrunning.

Resident Evil 4

We start on a slightly longer but fairly accessible speedrun: that of Resident Evil 4. Here, no need for special skills, but diligent viewing sessions to learn and experience the different glitches. It is the latter that will allow you to finalize the game in a handful of hours instead of the fifteen usually necessary.

The task therefore promises to be more laborious than for Refunct, but satisfaction and interest will only be greater. If you prefer another opus of this horrific saga, you should be able to choose it without much problem to try your hand at speedrunning.

Most Resident Evil games are indeed often speedrunned. So that the license rises to sixth place for the most speedrunning game series on speedrun.com.

SteamWorld Dig : A Fistful of Dirt

Finally, we could have talked to you about Minecraft, Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy ou encore Super Metroid, all three ranked among the most speedrunning games. But the idea of ​​these selections is also to offer you games that we sometimes think less of.

So instead of choosing Super Metroid or even Metroid Dread to represent the Metroidvania genre, we’re going to look at SteamWorld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt. The game is not very long, the universe is interesting, the mechanics simple… What a way to have a good time while showing concentration! And of course, how often you will find many guides to help you step by step.

In general, note that most of the games present on the site speedrun.com are accompanied by tips that will greatly facilitate your discovery of speedrunning. Going back to SteamWorld Dig, the record (Any%) is held by Moliman with a time of 21 minutes and 54 seconds. Do not expect to dislodge it, it has been in first place for more than two years.