A YouTuber named Spelunky God has claimed the world record time for the massively challenging platformer: Spelunky. He managed to finish the game in a neckbreaking 1:47.192. That is, one minute, forty-seven seconds and one-hundred ninety-two milliseconds.
To give a little perspective on how quick that is, the “Speedlunky” achievement is considered the mark of a true expert – just about unattainable to the common rabble – and it is awarded for beating the game in 8 minutes.
Spelunky God notes that there are small imperfections in his run. “Lost a little time to Olmec and 4-3” h says. Speedrunners, always so modest (despite a not-s0-modest screen name). This run has even seen some love from the game’s creator, Derek Yu, who tweeted “Wow, this is a REALLY fast Spelunky run,”
For anyone that doesn’t know, Spelunky is an extremely challenging platformer puzzle game (not that the challenge part is easy to see in the video). Even as a person that has spent dozens of hours playing the game, I have only managed to beat it twice. Not to mention Spelunky God’s incredible finesse of the teleporter, an item that transports players in a semi-random direction. It’s a serious time saver, but usually boosts you into a wall, and thus your death. And who knew that it was possible to teleport into the secret exit inside the Moai Island head?
The Spelunky community isn’t huge, but it is very passionate and dedicated. Finding new tricks, constantly chipping away at run times, this is exactly why speedrunning is so interesting.
Less than a year ago people were declaring that Spelunky speedruns would never be under 2 and a half minutes, but now here we are. To see the entire community share their strategies and remain friendly and humble as they set world records reminds you what speedrunning and its culture is all about.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olt7CpI9Vnk]