Daily Debate: To Which Zelda Game Would You Dedicate the Time Learning to Speedrun?
Posted on January 20 2024 by Kristen G. Rosario
As of this writing, Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), an event where they demonstrate speedrunning talent to help raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation is well underway. Aside from contributing millions of dollars to worthy causes at least twice a year, the other most beneficial thing Games Done Quick has done is getting more gamers jumping into the speedrunning community. For some, it’s for the challenge, but for others, it’s just to have fun with some games they love to play.
The Zelda franchise is no stranger to the speedrunning community as every single game in the franchise has been completely sped through in some way, shape, or form. Fans of the series are quite divisive though when it comes to any category of speedrun. While some embrace the chaos that comes with going through a game as fast as humanly possible, there are others though that see a lot of those runs as having unfair advantages.
Regardless of your speedrunning opinion, this question is for those who lean more towards the former instead of the latter. With all these amazing games in the Zelda series, which one would you be willing to sit down and take time out of your day to speedrun? Of course, I’m not just talking about doing it Zelda Dungeon Marathon-style where you get through a game as fast as possible; I am actually talking about dedicating yourself to putting your name on the top of that speedrun leaderboard, and maybe, one day, heading to a GDQ event.
Maybe you would want to tackle a Zelda title from the NES era like The Legend of Zelda or The Adventure of Link? They have a bit less to worry about compared to the more recent games in the franchise. There are the portable games with their own challenges, such as Phantom Hourglass or Link’s Awakening. Maybe a much smaller game from the franchise would be suitable to speedrun? Or, you can go completely out-of-the-box and just tackle one of the Philips CD-i Zelda games if you want to truly stand out from the crowd.
Considering my prior experience with the title at the 2018 Zelda Dungeon Marathon, I would definitely dedicate to speedrunning Link’s Awakening. While it took me about a month or so to nail the run down for the marathon, I had a good time during those training sessions.
If given the time, what Zelda game would you dedicate speedrunning to? Are there any in the franchise that you see as the biggest challenge to speedrun? Let us know in the comments below!
Kristen G. Rosario is an Editor who joined Zelda Dungeon back in September of 2015. His current goal is to become a full-time video game journalist, hoping to eventually gain a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. While he pursues that dream, he not only takes care of his adorable dachshund Angel, but also helps run a YouTube channel with his brother. The Zelda series is a quest he hasn’t fully completed yet, but hopes to get there one day.
