Speedrunner Ignores the Dangers of Going Alone, Runs Through NES Zelda Swordless
Posted on August 03 2015 by Rod Lloyd
As a wise, old man once said: “It’s dangerous to go alone!” Such a warning should be reason enough for a young boy to pick up a sword before starting his adventure, right? Well, speedrunner jkoper thinks otherwise. During last week’s Summer Games Done Quick marathon, jkoper faced the dangers of the original Legend of Zelda alone and demonstrated a very impressive “Swordless” speedrun.
The annual speedrunning marathon Summer Games Done Quick ran all last week, raising money for the Doctor’s Without Borders charity. On Thursday, the event featured an always-entertaining Zelda block, giving us both a Majora’s Mask 3D run and the bonus “Swordless” run of The Legend of Zelda on NES.
Speedrunner jkoper gave viewers a show with his Swordless run, fighting all the way to Ganon without ever touching or swinging a sword. Swordless is an established category in NES Zelda speedrunning and runners traditionally end their run upon entering Ganon’s boss room, as Ganon can’t actually be defeated without a sword. However, jkoper decided to try to finish the game completely for the marathon. I won’t give away how the run ends, but I will say that tensions were indeed high.
You can watch archived videos from SGDQ’s other Zelda speedruns, including an Ocarina of Time run and a 100% A Link to the Past run.
Did you watch this speedrun live? Were you impressed by jkoper’s swordless achievement? Let us know in the comments!
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
