ARTICLE - Speed Running and Jumping

I have a problem with the general term "speed run". I have a memory of a video titled "Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 17:13" and thought to myself, wow that's impossible. It turns out I was right. It was impossible. The player proceeded to start the game as normal, being ambushed by that little twerp Navi and told to go talk to a tree. So far, so Zelda. They carry on to the first dungeon and get to the first boss, Gohma: The Parasitic Armoured Arachnid, only to then start messing about with the boss door. Weird, I think to myself, for a speed runner to be faffing about doing some random nonsense after stating to have beaten the game within 20 minutes. The timer in the corner says about 11 minutes have passed. There's no way this guy is going to make it. Suddenly we are in the tower of Hyrule Castle as it's falling apart at the end of the game. The player is still young Link. They race to the bottom to confront the final boss, Ganon. They beat him and stop the timer. The final cutscene and credits are going on in the background as I stare at the frozen timer: 17:13. This wasn't a speed run of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, this was a speed jump. You don't read the first three pages of a book then skip to the last three and claim to have speed read it. There's "skimming the page" then there's glancing at the front and back cover.

Ah, memories...

Anyway, for me speed running a game is: you start it, play the game in as time-efficiently as possible (no, skipping large portions of the main game doesn't count) and finish it. By all means, stop the timer as the final bosses last breath passes their lips. As long as the playable portion of the game is finished. I can't say I've ever attempted a speed run. I've replayed levels in various games to get better times for rewards, like the boss rush in Shadow of the Colossus, but I've never made the time itself my goal. I like feats of skill. Watching someone play a game I'm not particularly good at (Enter the Gungeon for example) is great. It's educational to watch how good players can clear games. When you introduce game breaking glitches to your playthrough you take away from the experience in my opinion.

One day, I'll exit the Gungeon

I don't like glitchy speed runs because at the end of it all you've done is shown someone how to break the game, not get better at it. I know speed runs aren't really about showing how to efficiently finish games, they are a test and display of skill. I know that these are considered "glitch runs" and there are other runs out there that don't involve glitches (the fastest for OoT being 4 hours 15 minutes 3 seconds) I don't mean to sound overly critical. I understand that some people find joy in where a games cracks are and exploiting them. I just don't feel starting a race, cutting across a few fields and then passing the finish line is considered taking part in the race.

Let's not forget what happens when you mess
with the fabric of the Zelda universe.

Maybe I'm just not "with it". Oh look, they say, there's Old Man Mango set in his ways, complaining about "the kids today". Probably what set me off was the fact Zelda: Ocarina of Time is up there with Final Fantasy 8, Bioshock and Ratchet and Clank in terms of games that blew me away the first time I played them. Strange picks? Sure, why not. Anyway, RANT OVER, if you agree or disagree comment and such. Godspeed!