The Gold Split - Week #25: We're so back
Week #25 (Jan 2): We're so back; Quake; Sly 2; GoldenEye 007; Ocarina of Time; Event News; TAS Movies; New World Records: Peggle, Jak & Daxter, Mafia, Isaac, Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Happy New Year 2025! And also (unintentionally) welcome to Gold Split #25!
We’re so back, and it’s time to catch up on three weeks of news. In Germany we have a term called ‘Zwischen den Jahren’, or ‘Between the Years’ if you would translate it directly. It describes the time between the holidays and the new year when nothing really seems to happen and you lose track of time and might start asking yourself which day it is.
So, while still slightly out of it, let’s try to summarise the last three weeks of speedrunning news and figure out what you might want to watch in the week to come. Hint: it starts with Awesome and ends with Games Done Quick 2025.
Contents
Up to Speed ⚡️
Frame by Frame (TAS Movies) 🔧
I encourage you to think about what happened recently in the communities you are a part of. If there are any stories, articles, glitches, events, or other topics I should cover, go ahead and submit them here or in the Gold Split Discord! 📨
Up to Speed ⚡️
There have been lots of news and videos for your watchlist over the last three weeks. Let’s get right into it!
⚡ New segmented Quake speedrun on Nightmare difficulty (15-minute video)
In this segmented speedrun each level is optimised separately and then combined into one showcase. Many different speedrunners from the Quake community worked on this project for over two years. The result is the best humanly possible speedrun of Quake on its hardest difficulty. ‘Quake done Quickest 2’ is a major improvement over the first iteration and saves 69 seconds (nice) compared to its predecessor from 2011.
🦝 The re-release of Sly 2: Band of Thieves comes with a surprising cutscene skip (Bluesky-Thread)
The skip works for every single cutscene and might save up to 50 minutes in total during the Any% run. At the time of writing, the leaderboards for the game have been split into one that allows the skip and one that doesn’t. More information and video clips are available in the thread. Thanks to Slysonic for sending this one in!
If you, the person reading this, also have new glitches, discoveries, or developments within your community to share, submit them here!
🍄 The History of Minus World Speedruns (52-minute video)
In the version of Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom Disk System, the minus world includes three levels. Speedruns with the goal to get to the end of level -3 have been optimised more and more over the years. In this video, SummoningSalt traces the evolution of strategies from when the first runs were completed and showcases the progression of records throughout the years.
🍀 Ocarina of Time speedruns are insanely lucky (22-minute video)
In this video, dannyb highlights how glitch hunters discovered the techniques and glitches that made the Any% category in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time faster and faster over the years. Nowadays, the game is completed in less than four minutes. It took years of ingenuity and extraordinary luck to get to this point, and the video does a stellar job at breaking each of the glitches down briefly.
🔫 In GoldenEye 007, a new strategy makes a previously difficult to achieve time significantly easier (3-minute read)
The strategy is used in the level Dam and involves setting the game display to 'Cinema', the aspect ratio to 16:9 and looking up at a certain angle. This allows for the guard at the gate to spawn sooner, opening it for the player. Since the discovery, many more players have achieved a time of 0:52 on this level. The post contains a very detailed write-up as well as a link to the leaderboards.
🦇 New glitch revolutionises Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver speedruns (12-minute video)
Jaxler explains the mechanics of a new glitch called Fly Stop, a combination of two already existing glitches. It effectively freezes the game world, but gives the character a large speed boost and vertical mobility. Fly Stop has a wide range of applications, completely changing the speedruns and promising time improvements in several categories.
⏳ Echoes of Wisdom leaderboards now allow breaks during 100% category
Players may now take three breaks and 30 minutes of break time during the over seven hour long 100% category run, with more time being added after the eight-hour mark. The vote passed unanimously among the game’s community and this result will increase accessibility for everybody attempting the marathon of completing and collecting everything the game has to offer. Next, the community will discuss the possibility of skipping the game’s intro.
⚾ New record in Super Smash Bros. Melee’s Home-Run Contest using Kirby (40-second video)
The new record uses two intentional phantom bat hits, a strategy previously thought to be only viable for tool-assisted attempts. More in-depth information is available in the video description as well as this Reddit thread. It’s 40 seconds of your life, go and have a look!
🤖 Speedrun WR Bot is now on Bluesky
Speedrun WR Bot was created by Gyoo and is posting about a new world records listed on speedrun.com or haloruns.com every five minutes.
Briefly
🎥 The Greatest Quake Record of all Time (21-minute video)
⚔️ How Speedrunners completely break Tales of Symphonia (15-minute video)
🧟♂️ Speedrun.com hosts Plants vs. Zombies Challenge with a $500 prize pool (3-minute read)
Event News 📅
Really Really Long a Thon has actually found its end after more than three weeks of showcasing only the longest categories. In the meantime before and just after the holidays, Fireside Pride and RTA in Japan also had really successful events. Check out their VODs!
The big upcoming event is obviously Awesome Games Done Quick 2025. Starting on January 5th, it is once again going to raise millions for a good cause and rallying people across the globe like no other event can. In Week #19 I gave an extensive look at some of the highlights of the schedule and expanded on that briefly in Week #23. Have a look at those to find some showcases you will definitely want to look out for.
Until then, we have the SM64 ROM Hacks Marathon as well as FINNRUNS to keep you company. The latter is broadcast mostly in Finnish with a few English showcases in between, but few languages are easier to understand so you should be okay.
🏁 Finished
Really Really Long a Thon 8 raised CA$4,250 The Open Medicine Foundation
Fireside Pride 2024 raised $9,235+ for Point of Pride
RTA in Japan Winter 2024 raised ￥10,074,655 (~$64,195.70) for Doctors Without Borders
⏱️ Running
Until January 6th: Winter SM64 ROM Hacks Marathon 2025 (Schedule)
Until January 6th: FINNRUNS Winter 2025 (Schedule), benefitting WWF Finland
🔜 Upcoming
Starts January 5th: Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 (Schedule), benefitting the Prevent Cancer Foundation
This Week’s Top Times 🏆
🥇 First Place:
Peggle Deluxe (Adventure Mode) in 00:47:12.000 by Jnano
VideoThe Simpsons: Hit & Run (All Story Missions: PC) in 01:16:33.000 by HomerOfSteel (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Super Mario 3D World: Any%) in 01:24:50.000 by Xylex (She/Her)
VideoJak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (No LTS) in 00:52:25.000 by HillaryPuff
VideoMafia: The City of Lost Heaven (Any%: PC) in 02:24:58.000 by lollapooza
Video • Twitch • YouTubeHypixel Dropper (All Runs: 1.9+) in 00:00:27.350 by Torinikuwu (She/Her, They/Them)
VideoThe Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (1 Character) in 00:03:07.169 by WHOLDER4EVR (She/Her)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeNew Super Luigi U (Any%: Normal) in 00:25:44.549 by Tark
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSonic 3 & Knuckles (Sonic: Beat the game, Glitched) in 00:29:40.000 by eandis
Video • Twitch • YouTubeFTL: Faster Than Light (Beat the game (Advanced Edition)) in 00:11:52.000 by mutol
Video • YouTube
🥈 Second Place:
Only Up! (Any%: Dragon Route) in 00:14:45.720 by amyfs (She/Her)
Video • TwitchEnter the Gungeon (1 Character: Any%) in 00:06:46.000 by Juliecat420
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥉 Third Place:
Super Mario Odyssey (Any%: 1P) in 00:56:40.000 by VGR_SR (He/Him)
VideoSuper Metroid (Any%) in 00:40:43.760 by ShinyZeni
Video • Twitch • YouTube
Frame by Frame 🔧
During the holidays and the turn of the year, TASVideos.org have published an astonishing amount of new videos, increasing the rate by an order of magnitude. I can’t feature all of them here and now, but these are the best ones. For a full overview, head to TASVideos.org directly.
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GameCube) in 29:57.57 by Niczur
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game (Sonic)
Resident Evil 4 (GameCube, Score Attack) in 15:06.47 by Ubercapitalist
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Maximum Score (The Mercenaries: Castle)
Metal Slug 4 (Arcade) in 14:32.15 by zk547
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game (2 Players)
Wario Land 3 (GBC) in 22:59.62 by k80may
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Game End Glitch
Rockman Complete Works: Rockman 5 (PSX) in 27:47.70 by Baddap1
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Diablo (Windows) in 04:10.31 by dwangoAC, ephphatha, staphen & AJenbo
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Spider-Man 2 (GameCube) in 52:01.68 by Natetheman223
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game (Swingless)
Pokémon: Gold (GBC) in 29:58.35 by CasualPokePlayer
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Game End Glitch
FEZ (Linux) in 1:05:09.20 by Wobmiar
Video • Author Notes • Goal: 100%
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS) in 05:57.92 by Chall99 & RemyMS
Video • Author Notes • Goal: All Superhard Staff Ghosts
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you next Thursday, January 9th 2025. 👋🏻
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