Digital Athleticism.

I don’t know why exactly, but in recent times, I’ve taken to going over some of my favorite speedruns, and there’s something that has always amazed me about them. I don’t know about some of you out there, but whenever I see someone completely bend a game backwards, so much so that it seems like they’re playing the programmers instead of the game itself, I stand and take notice.

How can I not? What these people achieve in and of itself is extraordinary. It’s one thing to master a fighting game–For example, knowing a character (or characters) inside and out, being able to read an opponent and completely dominate the crux of another player’s style is something few people can do in general. It’s a difficult task indeed, but have you ever seen someone finish the Green Hill Zone Act 3 from Sonic 1 in 41 seconds? (2:25 in the video below for the impatient)

It blows my mind. The combination of skill, memorization, and dedication to any one title simply for the cause of destroying it, making your name out there is something I respect endlessly. They’re practically athletes, honing their craft to a level beyond normal means.

Even for a fighting game, I’ve certainly seen someone tear through games in a way I never thought possible, but nothing like this video of someone by the name of Dark Fulgore making a mess of Mortal Kombat Trilogy as Shang Tsung (essentially playing as EVERYONE).

I’m sure some of you (especially our resident pros) are looking at this and scoffing, thinking what I already know to be true, yes, MKT is one of the most broken fighting games in existence, it’s a joke in the competitive fighting world at large, but I don’t think anyone can be pretentious enough to dismiss what’s on display there. Anyone who has even tried to play that fighting game knows what he’s doing is difficult because not only does the game sport busted input reading AI and a clunky fighting engine, but because he’s literally annihalating the game with every character. This is a feat that requires knowledge of all their moves, combos, specials, and finishers, along with knowing how and when to use them. Would you want to play against him in a tournament?

This knowlege doesn’t even always have to play by the rules, since knowing a game entirely doesn’t simply stop within the realm of playing by the rules, it’s also knowing what makes it tick. What’s going on behind the scenes. I knew after taking months to finish Super Mario 64 when I was a kid was a difficult feat, but I felt good when I was able to do it in a matter of hours. Imagine how I feel over 10 years later, and I’m witnessing someone peel the skin of this game back, managing to finish it in 15 minutes using a combination of UNBELIEVABLE dexterity and some well placed glitches:

To you pros out there on the internets, I salute you. While I’ll never go FACE deep into a game enough to do what you guys are doing (my personal claim to fame is finishing RE1 on GC in 1 hour 40 mins), I’ll always be entertained and envious of what you guys contribute to our niche.