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With the advent of Twitch streaming, perhaps one of the most popular gaming activities today is speed running, the act of completing a game the fastest time possible in the respective category. To this end, players utilize advanced techniques and in the case for the highly popular any percent category, various glitches and exploits to compete for the fastest time, such glitches may involve going out of bounds, exploiting save mechanics, wrong warping, and even writing custom code within the game itself. Unearthing these exploits often require immense effort from a dedicated community, and speed runs represent the culmination of this effort.
While certain games like Super Mario 64 and Celeste have gained widespread attention and fame, there are also hidden gems that deserve recognition. That’s why in this article we’ll take a look at five of some of the most underrated speed runs that slipped under the radar to keep the video concise.
I won’t be explaining all the glitches and exploits shown in this video. There are plenty of full speed runs, showcases, and explanations found throughout YouTube, so definitely check those out too.
Dog’s Life
Number five, dog’s Life. If you’re a fan of quirky and unique meme games, you’re in for a treat. Pun intended, dog’s Life is a kid friendly adventure that was released in 2003 and gained some popularity after it was featured in awesome games done quick. In 2018, players take control of a Jack Russell terrier named Jake, Jake’s mission to save his fellow K9 friends from the clutches of an evil cat lady named Peaches, who has a twisted love for mashing up dogs into canned cat food.
Don’t worry though. Dog’s 3+ rating ensures that it’s safe for your kids. But don’t assume Jake is an ordinary dog. Jake is a very good boy with some serious tricks up his furry sleeve, including boost jumping, sequence breaking and clipping out of bounds.
As such. Bones, which are basically this game’s equivalent of stars from Mario 64, aren’t necessary to complete the game on any percent, even outside of speed running. The game offers great movement and puzzle elements, making it surprisingly fun. And if you’re a fan of weird and messed up storylines like me, dogs’ Life won’t disappoint. It’s definitely one of the craziest ones out there. Overall, dog’s Life offers plenty of opportunities for optimization. The current any percent world record held by death moves stands at an impressive 12 minutes and 37 seconds.
So if you’re up for a hilarious adventure, dog’s life is definitely worth checking out.
Kenna Bridge of Spirits
Number four, Kenna Bridge of Spirits. Kenna Bridge of Spirits is a charming indie game visually and narratively, inspired by Disney and Pixar and mechanically inspired by dark souls. The game follows the story of a young spirit guide named Kenna as she embarks on a journey to uncover the mysteries of an abandoned village and help restless spirits move on to the afterlife.
From dense forest to ancient ruins and ethereal realms, Kenna encounters benevolent and malevolent spirits while uncovering a dark force haunting the land. Adorable friendly spirits, unfitting known as the rot, also assist Kenna in battle, overwhelming foes by swarming and temporarily immobilizing them. Furthermore, Kenna herself boasts various abilities, adding a lot of depth into the game’s combat mechanics. Personally, I had the opportunity to play Kenna Bridge of Spirits, and I really enjoyed it. If you’d like to know more, you should check out our review.
Anyway, In terms of speed running, Kenna is riddled with impressive game breaking glitches, movement techniques, and unique strategies. Kenna may be a spirit guide, but even more so, she’s a bonafide glitch queen, clipping out of bounds, super dashing and voiceless hyper dashing are regularly used in Kenna Bridge of Spirits, any percent speed runs. The World War witness to the spectacle when it was performed by Speed Runner, insert logic on awesome games done quick 2022. Insert logic is also the easy any percent world record holder clocking in at 22 minutes and 19 seconds on version 1.15.
Ratatouille
Number three, Ratatouille. Fittingly, the French studio Asobo jointly adapted the heartwarming Pixar film with heavy iron studios and various consoles. If you haven’t watched a movie, Ratatouille tells the tale of Remy, a talented young rat with a heightened sense of taste and smell. Who dreams of becoming a chef like his culinary idol, the late Auguste Gusteau. With the help of his human friend, Remy navigates the bustling streets of Paris and the kitchens of a renowned restaurant to achieve his culinary dreams. As for the video game adaptation, if you’re expecting gameplay that simply revolves around chopping ingredients and throwing them into a casserole, boy are you in for a shock. Even though children are the clear target market, Ratatouille features surprisingly intense gameplay.
The game features 33 levels, most of which detail the events shown in the movie. While Remy is definitely a talented Michelin worthy chef, he’s also a master at collecting apple cores, clipping through walls and platforming. Speed drowning, Ratatouille surprisingly, requires fast inputs and precise movement optimizations. For this reason, it has become decently popular and people are still speed running it to this day. However, Ratatouille remains unassuming as a speed running game. Most people don’t expect this level of gameplay from a Disney title, much less a game that one would guess to only be about cooking French high cuisine.
Of course, this isn’t to say there is no cooking involved. Cooking exists in the form of various mini games, which adds yet another level of complexity to Ratatouille speedruns. PC is the most popular platform for this game, and the any percent world record was completed just two months ago by Speed Runner Wu.
Gex: Enter the Gecko, and Gex 3
Number two, Gex: Enter the Gecko, and Gex 3 enter the Gecko developed by Crystal Dynamics. The Gex franchise remains one of the best old school platforming games. Yet few players speed run this franchise for some reason.
The main character is Gex, a secret agent Gecko with a love for TV and movie references. Levels take place across multiple worlds in a universe known as the media dimension. Gex travels to multiple worlds to thwart his arch-nemesis, Reze’z plans to take over the media universe and ensure the longevity of bad TV shows and Z grade movies. Rez also leads an army of various TV characters from different TV worlds, earning him his nickname, Lord of the Media Dimension. The most recent titles Gex Enter The Gecko and Gex 3, enter The Gecko received critical acclaim for their great gameplay and level design.
While Rez may command an imposing army, Gex is no mere pushover in every sense of the word. Gex is armed with a sharp tongue. In addition, Gex wields a powerful tail whip attack and uses swift karate kicks to dispatch froze with ease while effortlessly jumping and climbing to complete levels. There are many reasons why this franchise is deserving of the coveted Number two spot for One Gex is a beloved franchise adored by fans worldwide. Secondly, the game features incredible movement options like tail bouncing to use objects and enemies as a springboard to reach new heights. Though it may not be a glitch, this mechanic allows Gex to break the developer’s intended level designs if done perfectly, leading to more optimal roots being used instead. Also, both games are quite alike and you’ll often find speed runners tackling both.
That’s why I’m mentioning them together as it really wouldn’t make sense otherwise. Gex’s bread and butter movement technique is the karate kick, which is generally the fastest way to move around levels and the most popular glitch beat runners use is TV cancelling. This technique allows players to activate a TV button without getting kicked out of the level, and it can be pulled off in different ways depending on the environment. Usually it’s followed by a death abuse or the game treats Gex as if he died and responds him at the levels beginning or the last checkpoint, all while keeping the remote safely in hand. In addition, there are numerous ways of going out of bounds, such as repeatedly hitting a fly TV to spawn in a huge number of flies, which affects the game’s memory and causes Gex to become invisible and effortlessly clip through walls. However, the most game breaking glitch of all is the wrong warp, where players perform precise actions to warp and skip entire levels.
As a result, the Gex games have a separate category for any percent runs that exclude wrong warping so players can enjoy the game respecting its intended sequence. It’s astonishing to note that a speed runner by the name of Mystic Core has achieved a world record in multiple categories on both these games. For instance, the any percent world record for Gex enter the gecko on the more popular PS1 one platform stands at an impressive 40 minutes and 56 seconds while the corresponding record for Gex 3 on PS1 one is a remarkable 23 minutes and 36 seconds. If you’re interested in Gex speed running, you’ll definitely want to check out the many runs posted on the platform,
Hobbit
Released in 2003 by Inevitable Entertainment for the GameCube, PlayStation2, and Xbox, and by the Fizz factor for Microsoft Windows.The Hobbit is a licensed adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Epic fantasy novel. Under the same name, Hobbits are actually a race of people similar to humans of small stature and large hairy feet. The titular hobbit in question is Bilbo Baggins, who starts off living in his cozy home in the Shire, a peaceful region in middle Earth. However, his life takes a surprising turn when the Wizard Gandalf extends a fateful invitation to join a group of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield on a perilous quest to reclaim their lost treasure from the fearsome Dragon smaugg.
In case you’re wondering, the video game adaptation has no relationship with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit is a self-contained 3D platformer that pays homage to Tolkien’s beloved literary world with great fidelity. Like most 3D platformers, the game is divided into various levels. Though in this case, they’re separated by a loading screen. As such, sequence breaks don’t extend to skipping levels entirely. There are major skips that involve going out of bounds. However, Billbo can also jump and use jumping slash attacks with slopes to gain extra height and speed. This technique is called a slow boost and is fundamental to the Hobbit speed running. Perhaps the most game breaking of all are the menu glitches by pressing R and A on the same frame. When selecting exit game, an invisible glitch copy of the Game Start menu will be made. This copy of the menu has a very special property.
It could store the end level event, If you entered a level with a glitch active, for example, by making a save at the end of an unexpected party, the first chapter of the game, then continue to the next level and make a new save. Then load back into an unexpected party cause the menu glitch again, then end the level. The menu glitch will now be stored. The glitch can be utilized to bypass subsequent levels simply by finding a text box popup that initiates the stored end level event. This game Breaking Glitch led to optimizing the game down to menu glitches, which made the community establish a distinct category for speed running without menu glitches, dubbed any percent, no major glitches.
Speed Runner Shockster made history when he beat MKarma World record, completing the game in an impressive 26 minutes and 30 seconds. If you’re interested in the Hobbit speed running, I highly recommend watching MKarma documentary chronicling its fascinating history that led me to making this video in the first place.
These are just five of some of the most underrated games to speed run in my view. Please remember to show support to the community members keeping these hidden jumps alive. What do you guys think? I know I may have left out some games deserving of this list. If there are speed running games you’d like to be covered in the future, be sure to leave a comment down below.
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