Zelda Runners: Sequence Break – AGDQ 2020

First of all, Merry Christmas! I hope you’re all still having a lovely break, and if you have been dragged kicking and screaming back to work already, then I hope you’re not too stressed already. But before you return for your 4th helping of leftovers (we really shouldn’t have bought so many pigs in blankets again), allow me to showcase some of the events that have made this year (and decade) so special in the speedrunning world, and how things might change in the coming 10 years. On top of that, a little closer to now, I’ll give you the lowdown on the event that’ll stave off the January blues for a little while longer – Awesome Games Done Quick 2020. So, grab your dinner plate, excuse yourself from the table (they’re only trash talking other families don’t worry), and settle in for a Zelda Runners Holiday special!

 

Now Playing

First up, though, is the lowdown on what’s been happening since the last article. Several Tool Assisted Speedruns (TASes) have been released. The Spirit Tracks TAS by からあげおいしい achieved a time of 3:57:26.324. Meanwhile, an A Link to the Past Low Pause TAS was presented by KingWafl, achieving a final time of 2:07:18, and a total of 20.5 pauses (it’s complicated).

In addition to this, a Festive update was added to the A Link to the Past Randomizer, which added a brand new mode to the existing software. This is only available for a limited time, so if you’re interested in playing this update, you can check out the details here.

 

Awesome Games Done Quick 2020

The bi-annual speedrunning charity event returns for its winter outing on the 5th January. This year, 6 Zelda titles are featuring, including the return of Skyward Sword any% for the first time since the Reverse Bit Magic glitch chopped almost 4 hours off of the category. Cadence of Hyrule also makes its first appearance at a main event, featuring in Games Done Quick Express earlier this year. The full Zelda line up is as follows:

• Skyward Sword – Any%, by Gymnast86 – 7PM, Sun 5th
• Zelda I + Adventure of Link – Relay Race, by various runners – 7:08PM, Tue 7th
• Ocarina of Time – 100% NSR, by zfg – 4:32PM, Wed 8th
• Cadence of Hyrule – Story, by SpootyBiscuit and Goof – 8:07PM, Wed 8th
• The Wind Waker – Any%, by CLG Linkus – 4:54PM, Fri 10th
• A Link to the Past – Randomizer, Crowd Control, by Andy and Warp World – 12:41PM, Sat 11th

Of course, this is a general speedrunning event, so other games appear too. Some highlights of the event include the 103% Donkey Kong Country run (10AM, Mon 6th) by V0oid, the first outing of Celeste‘s Farewell DLC (9:08AM, Fri 10th) run by flarebear, and the mammoth Super Mario Maker 2 Blind Relay race between some of the game’s biggest names (5:06PM, Sat 11th). As always, there’s much more to the event than what I can cover here, and you’re bound to find something you’re interesting in watching.

All times above are in Central Time. Check out the event’s dynamic schedule, which displays in your own time zone here.

Year in Review 2019

In terms of speedrunning, 2019 has been one of the biggest years ever for 3D Zelda titles. From the discovery of a workable Barrier Skip in The Wind Waker, to the Moonwarp in Majora’s Mask, almost every game has had a major discovery (don’t worry Twilight Princess, next year is your year, I can feel it). Also discovered this year was Reverse BiT Magic, the trick that chopped off over 4 hours from Skyward Sword‘s Any% category, and the knock-on effect still being felt in the 100% route.

Thanks to various new discoveries, Breath of the Wild has also continued to shave time off of all its various categories, the 100% route in particular went down over 3 hours. In addition to these, Link’s Awakening 2019 and Cadence of Hyrule have both built a strong speedrunning community, with the former still consolidating their categories and leaderboard. A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, and Breath of the Wild have all gone under leaderboard reshuffles thanks to new discoveries.

It’s also been a strong year for community events, with races, tournaments, TASes, and other showcases featuring across almost every title’s community. On top of this, Games Done Quick‘s events raised over $5 Million for charity, and countless other events have raised cash and awareness throughout the year.

It’s difficult to write a review on the decade as a whole. For a start, I was only 10 when it began, so I was too busy speedrunning my chocolate bars and maths homework to pay attention to anything else (obviously paying more attention to one than the other considering I failed maths in the end). On the other hand, this decade hasn’t quite seen the development of many communities, as much as the creation of them. Speedrun.com was only launched in 2014, and has now grown to document over 1 million runs from over 270,000 users. and Ocarina of Time Any% has dropped almost 9 minutes (from 25:17 to 16:58) from its first recorded appearance.

The decade has seen the release of 5 remakes, whose runs are all very different from their originals, and 4 brand new titles, which have all hit the ground running with their communities. Breath of the Wild in particular has one of the largest speedrunning communities of all time now, and both it and Ocarina of Time continue to find new glitches and exploits all the time. The growth of the internet has also nurtured the community nature of glitch hunting, which itself has lead to some of the biggest breakthroughs, including Reverse BiT Magic, Arbitrary Code Execution in Ocarina of Time, and of course, The Wind Waker‘s infamous Barrier Skip.

As for what the future holds, the big titles such as Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time continue to gain new discoveries almost monthly. As their communities grow, I have no doubt this will continue long into the future. Just how low can Ocarina of Time go? Sub 15? Sub 14? Perhaps even under 10 minutes? Perhaps some other, less broken titles will begin to drop off, unless new techniques are discovered. There will always be runners dedicated to their games, but there’s only so far a run can be pushed without new routes.

As is, Discord and other communication services will no doubt continue to help runners discover and develop their routes, as well as offer potential new runners an in to the community. Charity events such as Games Done Quick and  the European Speedrunners Assembly will continue to grow, though how long they can sustain their donation totals remains to be seen.

And, of course, we have new games to look forward to. If Breath of the Wild‘s sequel houses any of the original’s glitches and exploits it will no doubt become one of the most popular runs of all time. Going in with previous knowledge of the engine will no doubt propel both games in the short term. As for beyond this, it’s hard to tell. New engines will always bring new ideas to the fore for runners to experiment with.

One thing is for sure – the Zelda speedrunning community is as strong as ever. As long as there are games to play, there are people out there ready to break them. The future is bright, and I’m excited to see where it takes us next.

 

Round Up

The Legend of Zelda

100%, No Up+A. YuaRyuc – 37:26

 

Adventure of Link

Any%, NMG. Simpoldood – 53:02.081

 

A Link to the Past

NMG, Master Sword. DomTurchi – 21:37
Any%, NMG. Xelna – 1:23:09

 

Oracle of Ages/Seasons

Linked (Ages – Seasons), All Essences, No ACE/MC. Sagaz – 4:15:55

 

Ocarina of Time

100%. glitchymon – 3:51:34
GSR. CountLG – 1:14:10

 

Majora’s Mask

Any%. EnNopp112 – 28:17.462
All Masks. popesquidward – 2:01:57
All Dungeons. popesquidward – 1:13:43

 

The Wind Waker

Any%. Linkus7 – 1:04:50

 

Twilight Princess

Master Sword RTA. Kejs – 18:58

 

The Wind Waker HD

Any%. Ian Miles – 54:15
Any%, No MSS. Joaish – 1:15:36

 

Triforce Heroes

Den of Trials (Multiplayer). BossMode + Shadic8 + Spielpro – 29:29

 

Breath of the Wild

Any%. sketodara01417 – 27:29.530
Master Sword, Original, Restricted. Limcube – 1:53:28.960
All Shrines, Original. DJCarmichael – 6:35:53.450
Master Sword and Dungeons, Original, Restricted. Vivoxe – 2:33:51.070
All Main Quests, Original. aka12 – 2:49:16

 

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

New Game, Legend Mode 100%. GlaceyXG – 24:49:30

 

Cadence of Hyrule

Any%. Goof – 16:13.170

 

Link’s Awakening 2019

Any%. Samura1man – 1:11:29

 

Final Split

Zeldathon – 27th Dec ~ 2nd Jan – A mammoth Zelda only event, featuring runs from every game in the series. The event raises money for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital‘s charity.

 

MagFAST – 2nd Jan ~ 5th Jan – Featuring speedruns, live music, and a world record attempt, this event has something for everyone to pass the time to Games Done Quick.

 

Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 – 5th Jan ~ 12th Jan – The biggie. Featuring over 130 runs, and 150 prizes, this promises to kick off the new year with a bang.

 

And that’s it. I’ll be back to some sort of regular schedule in the new year, after Games Done Quick has calmed down. Until then, I wish you all a very happy holiday, and a safe start to the new decade!

Euan is the host of Zelda Dungeon’s Speedrunning series, Zelda Runners. He can be found on Twitter, and he doesn’t know what he’ll be doing this time next week. After all, he doesn’t have 2020 vision.