My Favorite Speedruns From AGDQ 2020

Games Done Quick is a series of charity video game marathons. These events feature high-level gameplay by speedrunners raising money for charity. Games Done Quick has teamed up with several charities in its nine-year history, including Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

The tenth annual Awesome Games Done Quick for 2020 began at 12:00 PM on Sunday, January 5 and ended on Sunday, January 12.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2020
Celebrating 10 years of GDQ with a new record

Thanks to all of the amazing support from viewers, donors, runners, volunteers, sponsors, staff and more, Games Done Quick has kicked off its 10 year anniversary with a new donation record of over $3.1 million! All of the donations go directly to the Prevent Cancer Foundation, in pursuit of cancer prevention and early detection!

Speaking of records, GDQ has now broken the $25 million dollar mark for total donations raised throughout its history. Thank you again for your continued support of our events!

We also announced that AGDQ 2021 will be taking place on January 3rd - 10th, 2021. While we don't have a location to announce just yet, be sure to check out SGDQ this June (21st to the 28th) to find out!

Missed a run from AGDQ2020? Be sure to check out our VODS on YouTube.

I have an annual tradition for the last few years to donate something for their efforts since I love this marathon and seeing so many of my fellow gamers doing something special for a great cause. This past year it really hit home hard, especially following the loss of my grandmother to pancreatic cancer back in October. I'm very thankful to see something like this around to see that possibly fewer people won't have to suffer like she did in the end.

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Here below, you'll find videos of several speedruns that I enjoyed from throughout the marathon. They aren't in any particular order, but these are just some of the many streams that I took enjoyment out of during that week. Hope all of you find something here that you enjoy and give the folks at GDQ a follow as well.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)

If I ever learned how to speedrun any game out there, I think I would try my hand at learning this. I was already well aware of the Kraang, Granitor, and General Traag strategies, but those are easier said than actually done to the refined precision of this runner - who you could see here that even he has trouble with the randomness of this game at times. That level two skip was pretty nuts though, same for that quick kill on Rocksteady at the end of stage one.

Mega Man 4-6 Relay Race

This run was special to me as these are two of the first Mega Man games I ever played. MM4 was the first I played when I visited one of my neighbors' houses when I was a kid, but MM6 was the first one I ever owned at the end of the NES' shelf life along with a few of the classic Gameboy ports of Mega Man titles. I wouldn't go back and play MM5 and the other classic MM titles until their re-releases via the Mega Man Anniversary Collection on PlayStation or via emulation over the years. So yeah, I've been spoiled from the start since Mega Man had both the slide ability, Rush, and the Mega Buster by the time I got into the series.

As for this run itself, it's nothing short of awesome seeing these runners make a joke of these games, even though I still find MM5 to be easily forgettable, save for the twist with Proto Man/Dark Man as the 9th Robot Master. MM4 and MM6 are essentially the same plot with Dr. Wily either concealing his true identity or manipulating a pawn to do his bidding until he's forced to confront Mega Man himself.

Final Fantasy VIII

This was easily one of the longer runs of the marathon week, clocking in at roughly eight hours. It was a shame this run ended up getting overshadowed by the controversial remarks made by Luzbelheim on social media leading up to this event that resulted in his 18-month submission ban to future GDQ events. I'm not even going to even comment nor dwell on that can of worms. That being said, I enjoyed peaking at this run throughout the day - from when I was preparing for my commute to work to the duets by the runners and crew to the gameplay itself. Final Fantasy VIII is always going to be my personal favorite Final Fantasy title from the PSX era for a lot of reasons, but I'm even more happy that it got a chance to shine during a AGDQ marathon.

Even if you don't have nine hours to check out the entire stream, do yourself a favor and check out one of many musical numbers from this year's AGDQ that was a part of this run.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (All Memories and All Beads)

As of this posting, I haven't finished the game for myself, but holy fuck do I get mad seeing these quick kill strats for bosses that took me forever to beat or currently still stuck on.

Super Metroid Impossible (Romhack Playthrough, AGDQ 2020 Finale)

This speedrun served as the grand finale for AGDQ 2020 and definitely lived up to the namesake of this romhack. This game is relentlessly brutal and seems like the ultimate test for any Metroid speedrunner. I tend to watch a lot of Super Metroid speedruns - both traditional and randomizer - but this definitely took the cake in terms of the hoops a player has to jump through to complete this task. There's a LOT of deaths in this at one point, but Oatsngoats powers through until it's conclusion. An impressive effort - no doubt about that.

Super Mario Maker 2 (4v4 Blind Relay Race)

I'll never end up torturing myself playing some of these "kaizou" Super Mario levels, but seeing this relay race of teams playing the newest batch of user-created stages was a sight to behold. I didn't have any idea that they added the ability to transform into Link (from The Legend of Zelda's original NES outing but with some of his powers from later games) in a recent update, so seeing those powers on display was a welcome treat.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (2 Players 1 Controller, Blindfolded)

Out of everything that I had the pleasure of watching from AGDQ 2020 this year, this was the thing that blew me away the most and arguably the best run of the entire week - without a shadow of a doubt. The amount of chemistry and skill required to beat this game on one controller is one thing, but to do it blindfolded is another thing altogether, especially to say that they even managed to defeat Mike Tyson on their first attempt. I practically stood up and applauded after seeing this spectacle firsthand and live.