Semantic Nonsense: ADGQ 2021 highlights
Ever since the pandemic began, I have been waiting for the wheels to follow off fundraisers. But it looks like even a year in, charity is still going strong.
Hot on the heels of the $3 million payday for St. Jude’s via Game Theory’s telethon on YouTube, perennial fundraising favorite Awesome Games Done Quick nearly matched it with $2.7 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
It’s been a solid shining light for me in what had otherwise been a week highlighted for a lot of the wrong reasons, so I’m happy to once again give a shout out to the event and boost some runs that are worth a look if you hadn’t caught them.
Startropics by BugDoctor
One of my favorite NES games of all time, it’s also a solid speedrun for those of you who dislike skips, zips, glitches and out-of-bounds. It’s all about rock-solid execution.
Super Orb Bros. (Mario 3 hack) by mitchflowerpower
There’s a lot to like here. Start with a runner who’s been running for what feels like since the dawn of time showing no signs of slowing down with age. Then add in a super difficult ROM hack of a classic game that does more than troll the player, it also patches in a crazy amount of new mechanics. And Top it all off with a performance for the ages that cuts the world record for two different categories in half. Now THAT’s a show.
Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City by apathyduck
This one’s my pick for all the meme-y games in the lineup this year, which a rather intricate path and tech for such a ridiculous title. It’s no Shaq Fu, but it still brings a lot of wild weirdness to the table that it’s worth experiencing [someone else play it] once.
Diablo III by meatr0o, Heckson and Whisperra
Games Done Quick has been host to many a multiplayer race before, but a co-op speedrun is much rarer novelty, filled to the brim with checkpoint abuse. It’s a highly creative and entertaining take on a speed run that not many games can accommodate.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 by PARTY MAN X
There’s nothing special about this run compared to other demonstrations of Tony Hawk games in past GDQ events, but I thought it important to show you that an actually good player did more in the first 5 minutes than I did in my entire stream of this game.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX by TASBot
And while we’re at reviewing my old streams, one of TASbot’s two victims this year was Link’s Awakening DX, which has all sorts of exploitable programming oddities I never even knew existed.
Ecco the Dolphin by GrimShins
If you’re like me, and only really know this game from a single screenshot on the back of a Sega Genesis box and the Angry Video Game Nerd’s recent episode on it, you should consider watching this run to get caught up on the bonkers lore of this auteur game.
River City Girls by BahamutX_
It’s a very funny game steeped in Kunio-kun, Data East and WayForward Easter eggs that’s sure to please the fans. But the real show here is all the nuggets of insider info getting dropped due to the game’s directors being on the “couch.”
Super Mario Bros. 35 by Adef, Authorblues, Kosmic and Iateyourpie
An unusual race in which the runners aren’t guaranteed to face the same challenges. Instead, this is a score attack, with each of the four runners being awarded a point for each KO and 10 points for each 1st-place finish they can rack up in 90 minutes.
It’s a tense time, and an excellent primer on the strategies that have developed around Super Mario 35 during its short life. The run definitely got me interested in giving it at least one more go before Nintendo kills it in March.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) by Gordon Ramsay
Before there was Cyberpunk 2077, there was Sonic 2006. And I don’t mean it temporally. Sonic ’06 is so fundamentally broken, there are glitches that are only used in the run to avoid OTHER glitches. It’s a beautiful mess. This is the speedrun that fights back.
Kit Kat of the week: Mocha and Chocolate
Hershey finally sticks the landing on one of their Nestle-envy flavors. This particular Kit Kat Duo delivers a plate of chocolate with plenty of mocha stacked on top. Despite the strength of the mocha in this concoction, the chocolate never gets lost.
About The Author
Drew
Features Editor | Drew started behind the 8(bit)-ball in the video game world. He first became interested in anime by chance exposure on the Sci-Fi channel. Drew's the creative force behind blog-wide features, works the movie and food beats, and pioneered Damage Control’s entry into video, podcasts and streaming.
