The final two days of SGDQ 2019 are upon us, and with that comes the most anticipated and impressive speedruns of the entire event. While the rest of the week was packed with excellent speedruns across a variety of genres and platforms, Friday and Saturday at SGDQ 2019 are reserved for the most notable speedruns of the event. Day six of SGDQ 2019 was jam-packed with amazing runs, delivering hour after hour of pure gaming entertainment. Unfortunately, we missed a bit of the early morning festivities, but we were able to catch most of the night-time runs. We’re here to list off our picks for the best speedruns from SGDQ 2019 day six, and hopefully these recommendations will bring you just as much entertainment as they did for us. The donations towards Doctors Without Borders continue to roll in, with the donation total reaching astronomical heights. If you want to catch the final day of the speedrun marathon live, you can visit the GamesDoneQuick Twitch channel. Every speedrun from the week leading up to today is available on Twitch VOD, or on the GamesDoneQuick Youtube page.
The Best Speedruns from SGDQ 2019 Day Six
Quake (Easy Run) by Alexh0w
This speedrun of Quake has everything I love about 90’s first-person-shooters: rocket jumping, damage boosting, and incredibly quick movement. Runner Alexh0w guided viewers through this demonic and deadly world of death and pain, blasting past a variety of grizzly creatures. Although he struggled in a few places, the majority of the run was incredibly impressive, and Alexh0w made everything look exceptionally simple. I spent a lot of time playing Quake in the 90’s, and could never imagine being as good at the game as Alexh0w. If you’re a fan of 90’s shooters, check this run out.
Final time: 17:48
Half-Life 2 (New Engine, In-Bounds) by waezone
This Half-Life 2 speedrun might be a bit hard to follow, but only due to the numerous complex tricks that are strung together by waezone. By utilizing a series of glitches that allowed him to clip through walls, move incredibly fast, and skip major sections of the game. As several points, waezone was literally flying over levels with immense speed, skipping them in a matter of seconds. Don’t let the “in-bounds” category fool you, this Half-Life 2 speedrun breaks the game in more ways than one.
Final time: 59:34
Mega Man 11 (Any%, Normal Difficulty, No Out-of-Bounds, Race) by Qttsix and fastatcc
In my opinion, most Mega Man speedruns are a must-watch by default. This is partially due to my incredible amount of bias towards the franchise, but also the objective difficulty of this classic platformer series. On SGDQ 2019 day six, runners Qttsix and fastatcc faced off in a “no out-of-bounds” race of Mega Man 11. The newest Mega Man in the numbered series, Mega Man 11 doesn’t hold back the punches. The game can be brutally difficult, but with some interesting strategies and neat tricks, these runners made the game seem simple. Given the difficulty of the game, this race was exceptionally close. This is a great speedrun with some classic platforming action and a great visual flare.
Final time: 34:18
Tetris Effect (Journey Mode, Expert Difficulty) by HardDrop
Tetris Effect is simply one of the most beautiful and visually impressive games of this generation. It combines the wonderfully simplistic (but dastardly difficult) gameplay of Tetris with the visuals and music of a psychedelic trip through the cosmos. Watching HardDrop complete the “Journey Mode” of Tetris Effect is absolutely hypnotic, thanks to his fantastically accurate gameplay and the gorgeous graphics. If you’re a newcomer to the speedrun scene, this is run is incredibly easy to follow while still providing an insane showcase of speed and skill.
Final time: 34:07
TASBOT Plays Tetris (Mode B, Max Out, PlayAround) by Baxter and ACMLM
If you enjoyed the Tetris Effect speedrun, you’ll definitely love this tool-assisted-speedrun of the original NES Tetris. For those unfamiliar with the “TASBOT” segments, these speedruns show off just how broken a game can be when a computer takes it on. Using a computer program that allows them to achieve feats that a human could never accomplish, this roughly 10 minute display of Tetris will boggle your mind. There are three distinct runs shown off, including the tough “Mode B” as well as a speedrun to the max scoreavailable in the game. This is Tetris played like you’ve never seen before, and we highly recommend you check it out.
Final time: >10 minutes
TASBOT Play Mario Kart Wii (11 Courses) by 20 TAS Authors
Mario Kart might be one of those games where you would say “how does anyone speedrun this?”. Look no further than this incredible display of 11 unique courses, absolutely smashed by using insanely tough tricks with tons of frame-perfect inputs and unbelievable skips. This TASBOT run shows off just how fast you can complete some courses when you throw away the rules. Glitching through walls, making impossible shortcuts, and abusing a slew of speed-boosts made this Mario Kart Wii run a mind-boggling good time. The TASBOT segment was fantastic at SGDQ 2019, and one of our favorite blocks of SGDQ 2019.
Final time: 16:38
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Any%, No Amiibo) by Wolhaiksong
If you’ve played Zelda: Breath of the Wild and you haven’t had the chance to check out this speedrun, I suggest you simply skip over this entry and go straight to looking up the Twitch VOD. It’s seriously that impressive. For those who want to know a bit more about the run, imagine skipping about 98% of the game and then facing off against the last five bosses with only three hearts of health and minimal powerups. That’s exactly what runner Wolhaiksong did in this speedrun of Breath of the Wild at SGDQ 2019 day five. The awesome final boss rush is merely the cherry on top of this wonderful sundae of a speedrun. The rest of it is comprised of ridiculous glitches that send Link flying across the map at incredible speeds. This is 30 minutes of Zelda that you won’t want to miss.
Final time: 33:18
By the end of day six, SGDQ 2019 has raised over $1.4 million for Doctors Without Borders. There is still one more day left in the marathon, so if you want to join in on the fun check out the GamesDoneQuick Twitch channel. Be sure to check back for our recommendations for the final day, and follow us on all social medias (@official90skid) for live coverage!
