After a week of nonstop speedrunning action, Summer Games Done Quick 2018 came to a close on Sunday morning at around 4:00 AM ET. If you’ve never tuned in to a GDQ event before, it is exactly what the title says — gamers blow through dozens of games as quickly as they can while raising money for charity. This summer’s event was one of the most successful to date, as over $2 million was raised for Doctors Without Borders.
If you happened to miss the event, we have good news: Every speedrun was recorded and uploaded to the Games Done Quick YouTube channel. I recommend going through and watching runs of games you enjoy, but we’ve also taken the time to pick out ten of the best speedruns from the event, which you can watch below.
Iconoclasts
After kicking off SGDQ 2018 with two classic platformers, RiskyCB mixed things up by jumping all the way up to 2018 with Iconoclasts, which came out just a few months ago. It’s a great game that deserves more attention, and it’s crazy to watch the speedrunner fly through the game as quickly as he does.
DOOM
There is no way to play 2016’s DOOM slowly, but jeromegood moves so quickly through this first-person shooter that it can actually be difficult to keep track during parts of the run. This is one of many modern games on this list, which means that there are several notable improvements since the last time it was run.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Not everyone will remember this weird, open world GTA-style rip-off starring the cast of The Simpsons, but I certainly do, and couldn’t help but include it on this list. Good commentary, plenty of nonsense, and it’s all in French for some reason. I only wish there could have been a bigger crowd to witness it in person.
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Not only are 2D Sonic runs always incredibly entertaining, but this run is especially notable because it marks Mike89’s retirement from speedrunning after years of being a fixture in the community.
Cuphead
Having struggled through much of Cuphead — a notoriously difficult run-and-gun platformer — I was blown away by the skill on display as TheMexicanRunner dismantled boss after boss. If you never beat Cuphead and want to see how easy it can be for someone who knows what they’re doing, watch this speedrun.
Celeste
Celeste is already in the early running for one of the best games of 2018, so I was glad to see it represented at the event with not just a speedrun, but an incredibly close race as well. Plus, the game’s developers showed up to take part and watch the two speedrunners tear their game apart, which is always fun.
Prey
Another relatively new game, Prey was making its third appearance at a GDQ event this summer, but this is the first time we’ve seen any category other than the Any% run, which only takes about 10-15 minutes. But just because the runner can’t go out of bounds in this run, that doesn’t stop him from pulling off countless tricks.
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
PJ is one of the best speedrunning commentators in the business, and the goofy games he chooses to run at these events never fail to entertain. In Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, there is an attack called “Death From Above,” which is basically a ground pound. Unfortunately, if you cancel the move before the animation end, the character will continue to scream indefinitely, which turns this run into a delirious trip that you need to experience.
Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Maker isn’t the only GDQ game where speedrunners race against one another, but it’s always a fan favorite. Every event, two teams of three have to complete a series of difficult Super Mario Maker custom levels, trading off the controller to a teammate any time they die. It’s one of the unmissable runs.
Super Mario Odyssey
The scripted commentary is a bit awkward, but the run by NicroVeda was one of the best and most thrilling of the entire event. Super Mario Odyssey is just over a year old, so every time it appears at one of these events, significant improvements have been made to the routing which means you’ll see new tricks and glitches every time. Even at over an hour long, this run flies by thanks to the constant action and the interesting explanations.
