Welcome back to another edition of the speedrunning weekly! This past week was absolutely stacked with jaw-dropping world records, incredible glitches, and personal tales that show the heart (and frustration) behind the grind. Let’s dive in.
🌟 WR Roundup: The Fastest Gamers on the Planet
🏁 SMB3 Warpless WR – 49:50 by Kuto1k
Kuto1k has claimed the crown in Super Mario Bros. 3 Warpless with a blistering 49:50. A monumental achievement in a category where optimization is everything. Shoutout to RunRunForFun for sharing this gem.
🏁 Super Metroid Low% Ice – TWO WRs in a Week by Oatsngoats
Yes, you read that right—two records in a week. Oatsngoats broke their own Low% Ice record in Super Metroid, first with a 47:56 and then shaving it down to 47:45. That’s dedication, precision, and pure Super Metroid mastery.
🏁 SMB: The Lost Levels Any% ACE – 7:39.543 by Niftski
Niftski returns with a historic first: the first full game RTA ACE run of The Lost Levels. Using Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) to skip massive portions, Niftski saved over 12 seconds compared to the regular Any% WR. Insane stuff.
🏁 Banjo-Kazooie Any% – 59:15 by Funderful
Banjo-Kazooie joins the under-an-hour club! Funderful sets a new standard in bear-and-bird speed with a slick sub-1-hour time. A big leap forward for a classic.
🏁 Oblivion Remastered Sub-10 by YungboySpice
In what feels like a blink, Oblivion Remastered is now sub-10 minutes. Speed tech and skips are evolving at breakneck pace in this remastered RPG run.
🏁 LotR: Return of the King Any% Console – New WR by Zojalyx
Zojalyx takes the ring to Mordor faster than ever before. The classic PS2 title now has a shiny new world record time. For Frodo!
💥 Glitch of the Week: The Holy Grail of Ben 10
Move over aliens, we’ve got menu overlap, dual instances, and softlocks. Speedrunner Slugg broke Ben 10: Power Trip wide open with a brilliant workaround to a 3-year-old roadblock—allowing full alien access earlier than ever. This could revolutionize the All Bosses category, possibly bringing the sub-hour dream closer to reality.
GhostHNW’s write-up on the tech is dense but thrilling—a wild tale of glitches past, clever saves, and precise timing. Keep your eye on this one; it’s poised to reshape the meta.
🧠 From PBs to Personal Struggles
🏅 Untied Second Place – SMB Any% in 4:54.748 by averge11
In the ever-competitive Super Mario Bros. Any% race, averge11 lands an untied second place. That sub-5 barrier is legendary, and this time puts him just behind the greats. Near-perfection!
😩 “Learning to Speedrun Mario 64 Broke Me” by HOmystic12663
Not every highlight is a WR. Sometimes, the journey itself is the story. HOmystic’s documentary-style retelling of learning SM64 16-Star from scratch is an emotional, hilarious, and honest look into the speedrun rabbit hole. From burnout to breakthroughs, it’s a reminder that every runner starts somewhere—and that “somewhere” can be soul-crushing. But hey, at least it makes for great content.
📅 Event Watch: ESA Summer 25 Schedule Drops
ESA Summer 2025 is gearing up, and WarDrumsGaming calls it a “banger”—and they’re not wrong. The schedule is live, the lineup looks fire, and it’s shaping up to be a must-watch event. Expect classics, new blood, and probably a few record attempts live on stream.
🔚 Wrapping Up
From world records and glitch history to the raw grind of learning a new game, this week proves again that speedrunning is as much about passion as it is about precision. Whether you’re frame-perfect or just frame-one, keep grinding—and maybe one day, your story will be the one at the top of this post.
Until next time, stay fast 💨
Source: reddit.com
