Resident Evil VII by CarcinogenSDA
The best part about this particular speedrun is that even if you don’t know a thing about Resident Evil VII, or if you’ve never even watched a speedrun before, this is a thoroughly entertaining watch from start to finish.
Carcinogen’s run of Resident Evil VII on New Game, Madhouse difficulty is one of the most impressive speedruns GDQ’s ever seen. The run itself is pretty challenging, where a few mishaps will force the runner to improvise on the spot, drawing on their memory of where all the item pickups are, and making detours to keep the run alive.
Not to mention the fact that Carcinogen himself is also very good at explaining the technical parts of the run, such as how movement speed works in the game, and why the cursor memory matters when doing inventory management.
Bloodborne by HeyZeusHeresToast
While not exactly the most optimal Bloodborne run ever, Zeus’ run of the game stands out as one of the most popular speedruns in GDQ history.
Zeus is an endlessly entertaining runner who can keep the audience engaged throughout the entire thing, and let’s not forget that killing all bosses in Bloodborne in just a couple hours is no easy feat either.
Celeste by TGH
Released in 2018, Celeste is one of the toughest precision platformers on the market right now, which means that speedruns of this game are that much more impressive to watch.
At the time of writing, TGH still stands out as one of the best runners of this game, in almost every category. The cool thing about Celeste is that there’s no RNG involved. All the obstacles and moving parts have set patterns that you need to memorize, and playing this game quickly and efficiently is a matter of committing it to muscle memory and reacting accordingly.
Super Metroid by oatsngoats
Super Metroid is basically one of the main poster boys for video game speedruns, and it’s easy to see why. Even if you’ve never played Super Metroid, just watching this game get run is exciting and extremely tense.
If you’re looking for a well-commentated run of Super Metroid, you can’t go wrong with oatsngoats. This is one of the few games where almost every category is fun to watch, whether it’s any% or reverse boss order.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Cosmo
There are tons of awesome Legend of Zelda speedruns out there, but we had to give a special shout out to this OoT run by Cosmo.
Tons of factors come into play here, making this one of the best speedruns to watch. Cosmo himself takes the time to explain the cool tricks he pulls off in the run, and he’s complemented by his couch as well, who are quick to point out little details that newcomers are likely to miss.
If Ocarina of Time isn’t your cup of tea, though, Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask speedruns are also very fun to watch. The latter, in particular, can be quite tense as you have to do everything within a given time limit, and the route for that game is pretty tight at this point.
Final Fantasy VII by ajneb174
RPG speedruns aren’t always very fun to watch, particularly because of just how long they can be. Final Fantasy games are extremely lengthy, and this Final Fantasy VII speedrun weighs in a hefty seven hours, which is no joke.
However, just like most other runs on this list, this GDQ run of FFVII stands out as one of the best thanks to the great commentary provided by the couch. While ajneb himself doesn’t comment too much, Davesterio and J2Champ more than make up for it with their witty commentary and thorough explanations about each technique and skip being shown off.
If you like what you see here, the Final Fantasy X run from RPG Limit Break 2019 is another funny one to watch; it’s an FFX run, featuring 10 runners, completed in 10 hours. Get it? If not, the FFVIII speedrun from RPG Limit Break 2018 is another entertaining one to look out for.
Pokemon Blue by Shenanagans
Just like RPG speedruns, Pokemon speedruns aren’t traditionally very fun to watch either, especially if they’re glitchless runs. Those just take far too long.
However, Shenanagans is one of the best Pokemon runners, and his showcase of Pokemon Blue at GDQ is an incredibly entertaining and informative one to watch. This particular run also involves him catching all 151 of the original Pokemon, which is nothing to scoff at.
Super Mario Sunshine by AverageTrey
Alongside the Metroid games, Super Mario is another one of those series that’s considered a poster boy for speedrunning. Most will point to Super Mario 64 as the Mario speed game to watch, but AverageTrey’s Super Mario Sunshine isn’t too shabby either.
Like most games with 3D movement involved, Super Mario Sunshine speedruns feature tons of cool movement tricks and glitches to help speed things along. Thanks to the FLUDD, Sunshine speedruns also feature some of the most insane speed techs you’ll see.
Of course, the other Mario runs are worth watching as well. Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and even the recent Super Mario Odyssey are all good speed games with fun runs to check out.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater by Molotov
Somewhat surprisingly, the Metal Gear series doesn’t seem to be all that popular in the speedrunning scene. However, we felt the need to highlight this run from Molotov, which shows off an impressive amount of skill.
This particular run of MGS3: Snake Eater is on the European Extreme difficulty, which means that you’ll automatically get a Game Over if you kill an enemy or get spotted. Because of these restrictions, the runner needs to know how to get through every level efficiently without triggering any alerts. It’s a pretty tense run, and a must-watch for series fans.
Cuphead by TheMexicanRunner
Lastly, if you’re just looking for displays of pure, awesome skill, look no further than TMR’s Cuphead speedrun.
Similar to the Celeste runs by TGH, TMR knows Cuphead so well that he makes the entire game look easy. And as you probably already know, Cuphead is not an easy game at all. TMR’s runs of this game are precise, and you can tell that he knows the patterns of each and every boss so intimately that he can clear them all with S grades.
What’s even more impressive is the fact that he can also clear the run and gun levels without killing a single enemy. It’s pure insanity.
About the author
