Imagine going back in time, to an eight-year-old version of yourself who can't beat that last boss in the Zelda/Metroid/Mario game you got for Christmas, and nonchalantly telling that frustrated pre-teen that, one day, someone would be able to beat the entire game in under 15 minutes. Presumably, then you would step back into the timestream, cackling evilly as the child cries. Wouldn't that be fun?
Anyway, all that is to say that speedrunning — the act of completing a game as fast as humanly possible — is one of the greatest feats of civilisation to date, and Games Done Quick, the week-long charity fundraising marathon, is back with Summer Games Done Quick.
All the old favourites are present on this year's schedule: Super Metroid, Super Mario 64, Majora's Mask, various Mega Mans (Mega Men?), and Breath of the Wild, but we're in it for the weird and wonderful speedruns too, like Nintendogs, Outer Wilds, and Geoguessr.
The marathon began on Sunday, the 4th of July and will continue until next Sunday, the 11th of July, and so far the completed runs have included a 25-minute run of James Bond 007: Nightfire and a sub-20-minute run of Pikmin 3 Deluxe.
Later today (Monday, July 5th) there will be a Super Mario Odyssey run that aims to complete the game in ten minutes by getting only the Story Moons and the moons given to you by the Talkatoo, as well as a Stop 'n' Swop run of Paper Mario, which we've written about before, because it's really cool.
Summer Games Done Quick 2021's fundraising efforts will go towards Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian aid organisation that provides medical care to over 70 countries worldwide. At the time of writing, SGDQ has raised over $130,000, thanks to the donations of the community.
Check out the SGDQ livestream itself on Twitch, and browse the schedule on the GDQ website to figure out what you'd like to see best — and don't forget to donate to Doctors Without Borders here!
