The seven-day long speedrun marathon, Summer Games Done Quick 2022, has finally begun! SGDQ 2022 day one was a wonderful return to the marathon’s traditional in-person format, after spending years as an online-only event due to the pandemic. There was an eclectic grab-bag of fun speedruns to watch, ranging from classic platformers to quirky handheld mini-game collections.
To give you a small taste of all the awesome speedruns that occurred on day one of SGDQ 2022, we’re listing off some of our favorites! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to catch all the speedruns on opening day, so if you don’t see your favorite game on this list, don’t worry! This is simply a subjective list of the speedruns that we enjoyed on Sunday.
The Best Speedruns of SGDQ 2022 Day 1
To watch replays of these speedruns (and the rest of SGDQ 2022 day one), you can find videos on the GamesDoneQuick YouTube channel and Twitch VODs. We’ll do our best to update this article with videos and links as they become available!
Shadow of the Colossus (NTA Bossrush Random) by RUBIEHART
The first speedrun of any GDQ marathon tends to set the tone for the days to follow, and rubiehart’s randomized NTA Bossrush run of Shadow of the Colossus started things with high energy. Playing the PlayStation 4 remake of this classic action game, rubiehart took down 16 towering bosses swiftly, all while delivering quality commentary that perfectly explained the various tricks being performed. Plus, there were plenty of pets given to the glorious horse Agro, all thanks to the generous donations from the audience.
Final time: 47:29
Warioware: Touched! (Any%) by Mr_Shasta
The Warioware franchise is one of our favorites, with its zany mixture of weird comedy and varied, ultra-fast gameplay. Luckily, speedrunner Mr_Shasta showed off an excellent Any% run of Warioware: Touched!, becoming the first Warioware game to appear on the GDQ stage! Watching Mr_Shasta blaze through dozens of wacky microgames was a suitably quirky way to quicken the pace of SGDQ 2022 on day one. If you’ve never played Warioware before, this speedrun is a worthwhile crash course in what makes the series so good.
Final time: 31:31
Mass Effect (Any% No Mako Glitch) by MikeWave
Without a doubt, Mass Effect is one of the most influential sci-fi RPGs in all of gaming, one which usually takes around 30 – 40 hours to finish. However, in typical speedrun fashion, runner MikeWave managed to break through boundaries and finish the game in an hour and a half. Utilizing a handful of out-of-bounds glitches, usually triggered by quick-saving and quick-loading in specific spots, MikeWave skipped through Commander Shepard’s journey with calculated speed. Although it featured neither of our favorite companion characters, Garrus and Wrex, this comfy showing of Mass Effect was definitely one of our favorite speedruns of SGDQ 2022 day one.
Final time: 1:30:02
Spyro the Dragon (120%) by Dayoman
Spyro the Dragon, like Resident Evil and Crash Bandicoot, is one of the purest and most skill-dependent speed games from the original PlayStation era. In this spirited 120% run, Dayoman displayed his prowess in movement mechanics while simultaneously delivering lighthearted and confident commentary.
In addition to pulling off an impressive speedrun, Dayoman also elicited excitement and interaction from the live audience, something we greatly missed during the online-only GDQ marathons. Between the satisfying gameplay, consistently interesting commentary, and engagement with the audience, Dayoman’s run of Spyro the Dragon is already one of our favorite speedruns of the entire marathon.
Final time: 1:29:10
By the end of SGDQ 2022 day one, the marathon raised over $130,000 for Doctors Without Borders. This generous pace of donations matches that of AGDQ 2022, which raised over $3 million in total. With any luck (and a lot of selfless donations), SGDQ 2022 might be able to smash that record and earn upwards of $3.5 million. We’ll just have to wait and see, as there are many more days of SGDQ 2022 to come!
That’s all for us today! Be sure to follow us on Twitter for live reactions to various runs and keep checking back for more daily recaps and other speedrun articles. We’re looking forward to the rest of SGDQ 2022 and we hope you are too!
