EAT SHIT, SONIC: How To Speedrun Your Way Into The World Record Books

World record breaking speedruns are tightly choreographed dances, feats of technical brilliance and physics-defying stunts. And like Black Swan, things get damn competitive: speedrun scoreboards pretty much change daily across the world, with new hacks and new games constantly being pushed. 
If you’re keen to try speedrunning without losing yourself, Natalie Portman style, in the thrill of the rush, here are a couple of tips to start off sprinting.
When you’re a few milliseconds behind that world record.
1) START WITH A GAME YOU LOVE
It sounds obvious, but since you’re going to spend a lot of time playing, it’s best to ignore trends and stick to something you really love and know well. Without any mods or emulators, the best bet is to avoid games with un-skippable cutscenes. 
To kick off, we’d probably go with an older game, either 8-bit or 16-bit: Super Mario Bros. is a classic speedrun game, as are the likes of Sonic, Donkey Kong, and Castlevania
Of course, your mileage may vary. If you’re really feeling something more modern, go for it – you can speedrun pretty much whatever you want. There’s even a whole community of Animal Crossing speedrunners out there.
2) SMART SMALL
Unless you are a speedrunner savant, it’s best to aim a little lower than the world record at first. Keep it in mind, sure, but don’t berate yourself. Glory and gold are the goal, but remember that Rocky didn’t become World Heavyweight overnight. Montage music at the ready: it’s training time.
3) KNOW THY GAME INSIDE AND OUT

Research, people! Know what’s hot and what’s not in your game of choice. How have the speedrunner before you shaved seconds? What are the glitches? How do you time your jumps?
If you’re perfecting a dance, you need to have your footwork down. Watch videos, make notes of what you need to do where. 
4) MUSCLE MEMORY

Alright, so lets start. You’re going to want to play until everything is reflexive. What that means is taking it slow and step-by-step. Concentrate and make notes. If you’re really serious, get a capture card for your PC or TV (or download an app like Plays.TV) and watch it back. 
5) DON’T RESET
So you’ve fucked up a section. It happens. The immediate response is to reset and start again, but that’s a novice’s mistake. If you keep resetting every time you screw up a practice run, then all you’re doing is getting really good at the game up until your mistake, with pretty much no training for the rest of the game. 
You wouldn’t just focus on one body part at the gym, would you? (And if you do, please stop. You look lopsided!)
6) SEEK COUNCIL

IRL photo of speedrun convention. (Image: Lord Of The Rings/New Line Cinema)
The online speedrun community is totally tight, and everyone’s keen to share hacks and tips. Check out the r/Speedrun Reddit, or head to Speedrun.com. Youtube commenters or Twitch streams are good places to compare notes too. Don’t feel like your question is too dumb or silly – just because you’re running doesn’t mean you have to leave behind your mates.
7) RECORD EVERYTHING

There’s just so much beauty (in a good speedrun). (Image: American Beauty/20th Century Fox)

If you’re getting serious, it’s time to start recording. Your next practice run could be the percolation of all your labour, and it would SUCK if you had no proof. As the saying goes, “if a tree falls in the woods, nobody on the internet will believe you”.
8) TAS, IF YOU’RE NASTY

There’s two major communities of speedrunners: the straighty 180s and the slightly more loose. 
TAS stands for ‘tool-assisted speedrun’, which means you use mods to do things like slow-mo and frame-by-frame run-throughs in difficult sections and playing with algorithms to, for example, ensure the perfect Tetris piece comes next. The argument here is that it’s not completely glitching the game out, since they are technically possible – highly unlikely acts, but technically possible.
TAS records are a whole other thing, which might be worth trying if you’re not enjoying the OG speedrun style. Because after all, it’s supposed to be fun.
9) CHILL OUT

Oh, and remember to take breaks.

Remember, the only person you’re really beating is yourself. Have fun with it!
Image: Sonic The Hedgehog/Sega

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