Speed run videos are useful for us to relive our favorite games without having to dig out the old systems and actually play. (Honestly, what chance are you, thirtysomething, going to have these days when Bald Bull starts his charge?) Here’s somebody who played her/his way through Mike Tyson’s Punch Out in about 33 minutes. From start to finish.
Also, he only gets hit once, and that’s against Tyson himself.
Punch Out was never the toughest game, but it’s pretty impressive to watch a player who’s mastered all the game’s tricks and secrets. Taking out some of those big World Circuit dudes in one round (Piston Honda #2 in one minute? Nice) is quite something.
There are a lot of these “speed run” videos on YouTube, and while they’re probably made so that the player can show off MAD NES SKILLZ, they’re useful for those of us who gave up video games as a passion long ago to relive our favorite games without having to dig out the old systems and actually play. (Honestly, what chance are you, thirtysomething, going to have these days when Bald Bull starts his charge?)
Here are a few more, in case you’re feeling the love:
Double Dragon (with the mind-blowing video description “Tool-Assisted Video”!)
And perhaps most amazingly, Metal Gear
The only downside of these speed runs is that, since the point is to get through the game as fast as possible, you only end up seeing the bare minimum of the game. In Mike Tyson or Mega Man, you’re going to see every level anyway, but with Mario 2, the player’s going to warp through most of the levels. Or in Metal Gear, the player’s going to ignore the transceiver, meaning you don’t get to read Big Boss’s inane advice about sailor suits and cardboard. But then, that’s what Zany Video Game Quotes is for.
