As AGDQ 2018 ends its fifth day, the week-long speedrunning marathon has provided us with even more excellent speedruns to indulge in. Day five started off with the “Awful Games Done Quick” block, where runners played exceptionally low-quality games and beat them senseless. Most of these runs were more fun than serious, but there were still a few heart pounding runs in the block. Variety was the aim of the day, with everything from Star Fox 2 to Duke Nukem 3D. The night capped off with difficult platformers in the form of I Wanna be the Boshy and Ori and the Blind Forest. With so many great runs to see, it may be hard to choose. I’ve taken the time to form a list of my favorite runs from day five of AGDQ 2018, so check a few of these out if you don’t know where to start.
Remember that you can watch the marathon live from now until January 14th, 2018 over on their Twitch channel. The full schedule for what’s to come can be seen on their website, and past runs can be found in their Twitch videos. Without further ado, here’s our picks for the best runs of the day.
The Best Runs of AGDQ 2018: Day Five
Superman 64 (Any%) by headstrong1290
The “Awful Games Done Quick” block started with a game many consider to be of the worst of all time. Superman 64 is broken beyond belief, and that’s a good thing, since every minute spent playing this game is utter agony. Originally not on the schedule but later added as a bonus run, headstrong1290’s run of Superman 64 will be long remembered. Besides an entertaining presentation of Superman 64, headstrong1290 gave us one of the only new world records in the marathon. Wrapping up the game in 34:49, headstrong1290 nabbed the world record and made it look easy the entire time.
Final time: 34:49
Enviro-Bear 2000 (5-man 5 year relay) by Zic3, SNeaky, Scrublord, IRLAnimeBoi, and Brossentia
Enviro-Bear 2000 is a great representation of what the “Awful Games” block stands for. You play as a bear driving a car, attempting to eat the berries and fish that fly onto your windshield. Eat enough food before the year runs out, and you can safely hibernate for another season. Five runners took the to stage to play a year a piece. Since years in Enviro-Bear 2000 average around 2 minutes a piece, the entire run was frantic and exciting. Runners switched spots after successful years, the audience chanted along with “Eat that fish!”, making for an energy-filled run in the late night. It’s silly speedruns like this that keep me coming back to AGDQ time and time again.
Final time: 8:50
Dog’s Life (Any%) by ThaRixer
This PS2 piece of garbage was rated E for everyone. Despite that, Dog’s Life contains profanity, blood, and people literally being cut into pieces. As weird as that may sound, it only begins to scratch the surface of the oddity behind Dog’s Life. Thankfully, runner ThaRixer was able to show off the game’s weird and wacky attitude without many problems. Another excellent addition to the “Awful Games Block”.
Final time: 19:44
Animorphs: Shattered Reality (any%) by Keizaron
Animorphs: Shattered Reality is bad… very bad. In many ways, this speedrun is just as bad as the game. Keizaron went over estimate, failed several tricks multiple times, and died many times. However, this is hardly Keizaron’s fault, due to Animorphs controlling like a bag of bricks. The reason this run makes my list is mostly for the commentary. CavemanDCJ graced the couch, heckling Keizaron along the way. Keizaron, being a good sport, rolled with the punches and created an entertaining run despite the setbacks. For long time GDQ runners, this run will be even more funny thanks to CavemanDCJ’s meta-humor.
Final time: 40:13
Titenic (Beat the Game) by authorblues
Nope, that’s not a typo. Titenic is a perplexing game; a side scrolling beat ’em up set on the Titanic. Not only was the commentary and gameplay funny, but the actual game is massively entertaining. The translation is utter garbage that makes little sense, and hearing it read aloud was a highlight of the morning. You’ve probably never heard of Titenic, and while I don’t recommend you play it, I highly recommend you check out this run.
Final time: 10:15
Prey (any%) by DrTChops
When I reviewed Prey last year, I liked the game quite a bit, but had issues with its technical performance. Speedrunners flocked to the game early, and quickly broke the game apart. In fact, Prey is so broken, that runners can complete it in less than 7 minutes. That’s surprising even for older NES games, but for a 2017 release that took me 20 hours casually, that quick of a time is mind-blowing. By using the “GLOO” gun to push through walls, runner DrTChops spent nearly 75% of the run out of bounds. While DrTChop’s run wasn’t even close to world record, it’s still an amazing look at just how busted this otherwise enjoyable game is.
Final time: 12:17
I wanna Run the Marathon (any%) by BBF
I wanna Run the Marathon is a brutally difficult platformer that was specifically made for the speedrunning community. This quirky game may seem easy at first glance, but is deceptively difficult. Jumps are nearly impossible to make, and the game takes every opportunity it can to unfairly kill you. However, it’s endlessly intriguing to watch, as it basically spoofs every popular gaming franchise. As runner BBF progresses through each world, the theme changes: Super Mario Brothers, Sonic, Pokemon, and more. This run is a demonstration of crazy platforming skill, and a fun trip through the worlds of our favorite video games.
Final time: 37:32
Full Recap & Donation Tally
The list above are just my personal picks for the day, and I wasn’t able to watch all of them! I have no doubt that I missed several great runs, so check out this list of the entire day’s runs. If something catches your eye, I highly recommend checking out the replays on Twitch VOD.
As always, donations towards the Prevent Cancer Foundation were accepted throughout the day. At the end of day five, the total rested just shy under $780,000! Best of luck on hitting the one million marker!
That’s all I have for you tonight, but be sure to check back for more recaps as the marathon finishes up! For moment by moment updates, check out our Twitter feed (@official90skid)!