Summer is here and that means speedrun marathons! Well, Summer Games Done Quick 2020 to be exact. Despite having to move the festivities from their normal hotel-convention-style locale to a strictly-online event, the Summer Games Done Quick 2020 speedrun marathon is off to a great start. With a whole week of amazing speedruns planned, day one of SGDQ 2020 was just the beginning! Although there were a few technical hiccups here and there, it seems like the online-only speedrun marathon will be no less entertaining than its in-person counterparts. In case you missed the first day of SGDQ 2020, here are some of our recommendations for what to watch!
If you want to watch any of the speedruns mentioned below, you can check out the replays on Games Done Quick’s Twitch channel or their YouTube channel. Please keep in mind that the list below is simply a subjective list of our favorite runs and nothing more. We weren’t able to watch every run of the day, so you should check out all of the other speedruns that took place at SGDQ 2020. It’s likely you’ll find a gem that we missed! Now that the first official day of the marathon has ended, these are our picks for the best speedruns of SGDQ 2020 day one.
Souls-like games and speedruns go hand in hand. Like peanut butter and jelly, there’s nothing more satisfying (but hardly simple) than watching an ultra-talented speedrunner decimate an equally challenging game. BertoPlease showed his deft skill throughout the nearly hour-long run, dodging past many insta-death attacks, completely destroying intimidating bosses, and generally acting like a master of the craft. If you’ve never caught a speedrun of a Souls game before, this is a great run to check out. Plus, with the Demon’s Souls Remake coming out for PlayStation 5 soon, you might be able to use some of these tricks yourself! Whether you’re watching for educational or entertainment purposes, BertoPlease put on one hell of a show and kicked off the marathon in the right way.
Final time: 51:42
I won’t lie, I’ve got a sweet spot for Streets of Rage 4 and the beat ’em up genre in particular. That said, this max-difficulty speedrun of SoR4 by Mike Uyama deserves a mention simply for the boss battles alone. Even when you disregard the impeccable timing, pattern recognition, and overall skill needed to beat Streets of Rage 4 on Mania difficulty, Mike Uyama’s run is still impressive. Using Blaze (one of my favorite characters, by the way), Mike made several bosses look like absolute chumps using a nifty little juggle technique. Even while casually taking a sip of his nearby beverage, Mike beat the snot out of any enemy that crossed him, wrapping up the game in under an hour. If you’re looking for a fun run without too much complexity, give this one a go.
Final time: 53:19
We’re big fans of Shovel Knight, due to its vibrant colors, addictive gameplay, and exceptionally frequent and free updates. King of Cards is the newest free update for Shovel Knight, and runner davidtki showed us just how quickly it can be beaten. Complete with a wholesome face-cam that featured his family joining in on the streaming fun, this pixel-rich SGDQ 2020 speedrun was a feel-good speedrun that’s very impressive. We recommend both watching this speedrun and playing Shovel Knight. It’s really, really good.
Final time: 31:36
I’m a sucker for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, and with the new Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake coming out, I’m doubly amped. Lucky for me, the always-entertaining speedrunner ThePackle flip-tricked, ollied, and grinded through the entirety of the Xbox-exclusive Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X with speed and (occasional) grace. ThePackle has a track record of impressing us with his Tony Hawk speedruns at GDQ events, as this is far from his first appearance on our “Best of GDQ” articles. If you want a small taste of what to expect when the new THPS remake launches in September, or you just want to be wowed by seriously impressive virtual-skating, this is a speedrun you’ve gotta see.
Final time: 32:08
Ah, Metal Gear Solid, an instant classic! To close out day one of SGDQ 2020, speedrunner plywood demonstrated a super-stealthy speedrun of Metal Gear Solid, played on the challenging “Extreme” difficulty. Using a variety of helpful tricks and silencing any soldiers who looked to stop him, plywood took on the espionage-filled adventure with speed and style. The entire run has some great commentary as well, ensuring that the viewer never gets confused or lost along the way. A super clean run with only a handful of mistakes helped plywood land a pretty good time to boot!
Final time: 1:00:01
By the end of day one, SGDQ 2020 raised nearly $100,000 for Doctors Without Borders. Time and time again, the crew, runners, and viewers of the Games Done Quick community manage to impress with their generosity. Like every other Games Done Quick marathon, I fully expect that donation total to skyrocket. Who knows, maybe this is the year we hit 4 million? We will just have to wait and see.
Those are our picks for the best speedruns from SGDQ 2020 day one! There are still six more days packed with speedrunning entertainment, so be sure to check back every day for more recaps. If you’re watching along at home (or work, or on the bus, whatever), come chat with us on our twitter (@official90skid) or our Discord group. We’ll be watching the entire week!
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