Bored? Watch a random world-record speedrun

Speedrunning is intimidating on two levels: becoming a speedrunner yourself and becoming a fan of the genre. You need plenty of patience for both, because there’s a lot to sift through — rules, terms, glitches, lengthy runs, etc. But a really good speedrun is still fun to watch, and a new tool makes it easier to find even more of the cream of the crop.

Speedrun World Records pulls from the Speedrun.com API to provide random selections from various record-setting runs. Each video links out to the game’s Speedrun.com page so that viewers can see where it sits on the leaderboard, find other impressive playthroughs from that game and get other details.

What’s cool about this site is that it extends beyond the usual Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time speedruns that are mainstream, as far as the genre goes.

“This site provides you with a world record from a random game and random category in hopes that: you will be entertained, you will follow the runners on twitch/youtube, or even find a new speedgame and compete for a world record!” the website’s homepage states as its M.O.

In our first few rounds of trying out Speedrun World Records, we pulled up a pretty eclectic mix of videos:

We’d never heard of this PC game before, so it’s a little hard to contextualize how spectacular of a run this is. Still, wrapping an entire game in less than 30 minutes is pretty sweet.

Here’s a classic. A full-length Final Fantasy finished in two and a half hours? Nice.

We didn’t know there was a Riddle Transfer 1, but it only takes seven minutes to catch up on this Newgrounds flash game.

Just like speedrunning in general, this tool takes some trial and error. Now that summer’s in full swing — and Summer Games Done Quick approaches — it’s a great way to pass the time, even if it doesn’t turn you into a seasoned runner yourself.