The first Games Done Quick event of 2023 is over and done with. This speedrunning weekend managed to raise over $2 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, as well as providing speedrunning fans the world over with some brilliant runs. From classic beloved games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 to new favorites like Powerwash Simulator, there were plenty of great games to watch speedrunners utterly dominate.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 in 2:54:51
Super Mario games always get plenty of representation at GDQ events, but this one was a little unique as four runners faced each other in a race to complete the game. The eventual winner was Jhay, who won the race in just under 2 hours. In fact, Jhay’s time was a new record for this particular category, with his time beating the previous record by 40 seconds.
TMNT: Shredders Revenge in 55:59
This was a co-op affair as Paul-Knives and Benja teamed up to blast through the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. They raced against the team of GeneralAndrews and DosPostman, coming out on top in slightly under an hour, taking four minutes off of the previous world record for that category.
Steven Segal Is: The Final Option in 21:44
In the “awful games” block from this year’s event, one of the games played was a beta for a never-released game starring Steven Segal. The game has 18 levels, but the beta doesn’t actually let you finish any of them, making it a strange game for speedrunning. Either way, Crak Atak set a new record in his run here.
Powerwash Simulator in 33:31
This game about cleaning things that are dirty naturally attracted the best of the best who want to get the job done quickly rather than well. Amyrlinn, Bullets, Biglaw, Enigma Requiem, AngelicKnight, and Acediel all teamed up for this run, cleaning things at an unbelievable rate. They came away from the final level, cleaning things like an airplane, boat, and flying saucer in a little over half an hour.
Super Mario All-Stars Shuffler in 1:24:38
This is a run that takes you through the first four Mario Bros games, but with a twist. In this “shuffler” variant, the game will randomly swap between levels from all four games, meaning the runner, Skybliz, is essentially playing four games at once. It didn’t break records, but it’s such a cool run full of clutch moments and impressive memorization on the runner’s part, so you should still go out of your way to watch.
Written by Josh Broadwell and Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
