10 Fastest Speedrun Records in Gaming History Ever Recorded

Most players love to explore a game as much as possible, spending their time finding every secret they can while racking up achievements in as many areas as they can get to. There’s another type of gamer who enjoys speedrunning, trying to achieve a win condition as quickly as possible. Speedrunning consists of various conditions, the use of glitches, warps, and a lot more, and there’s a huge online community devoted to it. We’ve looked through some of the more impressive records and highlighted 10 of the fastest speedrun records ever recorded, arranged from the longest to shortest durations.

1) Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1 is a DLC for Doom Eternal, and on February 21, 2022, therealpaisano broke the record, beating the entire thing in only 4 minutes, 43 seconds. That’s decidedly faster than the devs had in mind because, according to How Long to Beat, it should take around 5 hours for a regular player, 6.5 hours for the main game with sidequests, and around 7.5 hours for completionists to make their way through all of Doom Eternal’s Ancient Gods Part 1. Therealpaisano managed it in under 5 minutes with a few tricks, and didn’t even set out to break the record when he started.

2) Outlast

You don’t see many folks in the speedrunning community tackle survival horror titles. They’re the types of games people savor and enjoy through the long haul, but that didn’t stop ItzDoVi from tearing through Outlast at breakneck speed. On January 19, 2024, ItzDoVi broke the Outlast speedrunning record in 4 minutes, 39 seconds, 160 milliseconds. For most folks playing the game, it takes about 5 hours, but for completionists who want to hit every detail, it’s an 11.5-hour commitment. Granted, speedrunning through in under 5 minutes misses a lot of the game’s content, but it’s also an incredible achievement.

3) Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania-style side-scrolling game that’s difficult in all the right ways, hearkening back to the good old days of the 8-bit generation. It’s not a quick game, as it typically takes the average player around 27 hours to complete the main story. For anyone who wants to go through the entire thing and hit all of the extra content as well, that’s around 41.5 hours of work, and completionists can expect to spend 65 hours playing Hollow Knight. Staxis managed to beat the entire game in only 4 minutes, 32 seconds, 48 milliseconds, thanks to a glitched speedrun, setting the record on April 21, 2022.

4) Elden Ring

If you’ve played Elden Ring, you know it’s not the type of game that you can get through quickly. It’s a massive open-world title requiring a lot of time. Just getting through the main story takes about 60 hours, while adding all the extra content brings it to 101 hours. A completionist goes a bit further with 135 hours in the game, but on August 15, 2022, HYP3RSOMNIAC managed an unrestricted speedrun of Elden Ring in only 3 minutes, 56 seconds. This was made possible via the teleporting “zip glitch” and some other tools that helped HYP3RSOMNIAC achieve a speedrunning record.

5) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

If you’ve read my articles on ComicBook, you already know my love for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. You likely also know that it’s not a short game. For most players, getting through it takes between 27 and 37 hours, depending on what level of completion you want. A speedrunner named Murph_E used several exploits and glitches to bypass the typical time required and completed Ocarina of Time in just 3 minutes, 50 seconds, 917 milliseconds. You can see in the video how he hops backward through the forest, then flips through walls to the end. It’s weird, and it took years to find all of the glitches before the record was set on May 11, 2023.

6) Super Mario Bros. 3

Like Ocarina of Time, I have a lot of love for Super Mario Bros. 3, which is the best game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and I will die on that hill! Ahem, but I digress … the game is fairly long, requiring plenty of movement across its world map, but if you sit down and devote 6 hours to it, you can beat it and see everything Super Mario Bros. 3 has to offer. Kuto1K managed to speedrun through the game ridiculously fast on July 21, 2023, as it only took 3 minutes, 0 seconds, 666 milliseconds to get through the entire game and score a new world record.

7) Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy is an excellent platformer that’s ridiculous and insanely difficult, requiring perfect timing to survive. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also an incredibly competitive game because of its high level of difficulty, challenging players, so it’s a prime target for speedrunners. Most players spend a good chunk of time playing the game, requiring at least 9 hours for the main story. It’s at least twice that for the extra content and up to 46 hours for completionists. Crep managed to speedrun the entire thing in only 2 minutes, 12 seconds, and 483 milliseconds on June 3, 2017, thanks to the “Wrong War” glitch and other tricks.

8) Minecraft

Minecraft isn’t exactly a beatable game, as it’s an open-world sandbox title where you can do whatever you want. That said, there is a way to “beat” Minecraft: defeat the Ender Dragon. For most, this takes a lot of work to build up a network of supplies and preparation, often requiring hundreds of hours of gameplay. Guccigang managed to speedrun the Minecraft Bedrock Edition in only 1 minute 25 seconds, which is absolutely ridiculous given the hundreds of hours I’ve put into the game. The feat was managed on July 7, 2023, thanks to a series of exploitable glitches, and it’s unlikely anyone will beat the record anytime soon.

9) Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy

Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy is a somewhat unusual platformer that was released in 2017. It revolves around a guy inside a metal cauldron who carries a large hammer that the player can use to grip objects to move himself. It’s weird, but oddly entertaining and challenging in all the right ways. For most players, Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy takes around 6-7 hours to beat, while completionists can spend a good 30 hours on the game. Blastbolt managed to speedrun the entire thing in only 59 seconds, 885 milliseconds on April 26, 2023. The game is notoriously difficult, so this record is unlikely to be broken.

10) Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a game many people have played, as their employers either forgot to remove it from their PCs or couldn’t for some reason, and it’s a great time waster. It’s not really a game you’d think about as a speedrunning candidate, but it is, and people spend a lot of time on it. How Long to Beat says the main story takes about 36 minutes to beat… whatever that means. Regardless, SheenSimpson set the record for beating Minesweeper on November 14, 2017, and it’s unlikely to be broken, as it took only 1 second. That’s right — in a literal blink and you’ll miss it moment, SheenSimpson dominated Minesweeper in 1 second, setting the ultimate speedrunning record that will likely stand the test of time.

Have you ever set a speedrunning record? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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