Speed running. I don’t care if you are the most seasoned hardcore gamer or someone who hasn’t touched a game since Pac-Man, speed running is impressive regardless of your background. The fact alone that there are people who dedicate their lives to learning the ins and out of a game so much that they can turn a 40 hour game into a 40 minute game is just flat out crazy! Sometimes, it’s through use of exploits in the game code (not to be confused with cheating or hacking), other times, it’s through pure unadulterated skill. THIS is very much the latter!
Battletoads has the distinct pleasure to be known by many as one of, if not THE, toughest, most unforgiving games to ever grace the NES. I know that, as a kid, I was never good at it. For that matter, I’m sure old man me isn’t very good at it either.
Image courtesy of: Jason “Textfiles” Scott
See, there’s this section early in the game called “the Turbo Tunnels.” Your Toad hops on a jet powered bike and races on a straight path avoiding obstacles. Doesn’t sound too crazy, right? Well, ask anyone who played this game as a kid, and they will likely have Vietnam style flashbacks to this specific section. I know I still have PTSD from it. To say it was “hard” would be a massive understatement.
Enter TheMexicanRunner (TMR for short), a man who has dedicated his life to this game, among others. He knows this game so well, he likes to challenge himself in new ways with it. One such way involves the Turbo Tunnel exclusively. What kind of challenge can make the hardest section of the hardest NES game MORE CHALLENGING THAN SIMPLY BEATING IT? How about doing it BLINDFOLDED?
This is easily one of the most impressive feats of speed running I have ever witnessed! I can’t even beat the Turbo Tunnel with two working eyes, and here comes TMR, beating it with NO eyes, in one life, taking ZERO HITS, all live on Twitch in front of a breathless audience! Amazing! This video is worth watching for his pop off in the end alone! The moment he realizes what he’s just done, and his reaction after is just magical!
If you liked what you just saw as much as I did, you might wanna head on over to YouTube and give TheMexicanRunner a quick follow and check out the rest of his content. You’ll be glad you did.
While you’re there, if you would like to see what WE have to offer, you should check out our YouTube Channel as well! BrainShartStudios: your one stop shop for top quality internet trash! Enjoy?
Also, we like to make fools of ourselves on Twitch from time to time, too. Head over there now and give us a follow! You can make fun of our inability to play video games LIVE! So have at it! We can take it, I swear!
You can also bother us over on Facebook here if you want. Do kids today even still use Facebook? Whatever, couldn’t hurt, I guess.
