Speedrunners are nothing if not dedicated. According to one Super Mario 64 runner, there’s such a thing as a ‘half A-press’ that takes a mere 25 minutes to explain. Speedrunning charity events have provided some of the greatest sociological mysteries of our time. They’re perfectionists to the core. But they’re also a great source of inspiration to anybody, not just gamers; Loving something so much that you want to know every single in-and-out it has to offer is a beautiful thing!
Spyro has its fair share of speedrunners too, but they’re not content with doing it all by their lonesome. The brainchild of prominent Spyro community member CrystalFissure and popular speedrunner Nintendogen64, The International Spyro Grand Prix was created in April (inspired by New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax Tournament) to open the door for speedrunning beginners through some healthy competition. Providing a fresh kind of speedrun is just a bonus. The duo, operating under the ‘Spyro Tournaments’ name, hope to provide other Spyro speedrunning events in the future. But what does this Grand Prix actually involve? From the announcement video:
“You will be doing speedruns against another person. The two of you will pick an objective in one of the games, and race to complete it. We encourage the goal to be creative and not just a generic “race to beat a boss” kind of thing.”
As is commonplace with Spyro speedrunning, the games on show are the original trilogy with various concessions made in terms of software region. I’ve been keeping up with its first round of matches, and it’s been fantastic background noise! You can check out the tournament through its Youtube channel, and you can find out more about it (including the full set of rules) on its website.
Arana blames her stunted social skills and her general uselessness on a lifetime of video games. Between her ears is a comprehensive Team Fortress 2 encyclopedia. Her brain remains at large.
