Shack Chat: What was your favorite run from Summer Games Done Quick 2022?

We're fans of Games Done Quick's efforts throughout the year and the Shacknews staff loves to gather in front of their televisions to watch Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick. We got into the topic of our favorite runs during SGDQ and our opinions varied enough that we thought it would make for a good Shack Chat topic this week.

Check out our picks for our favorite SGDQ 2022 run. Then be sure to check out the schedule for the upcoming Flame Fatales, where the women of Games Done Quick will raise money for Malala Fund.

Question: What was your favorite run from Summer Games Done Quick 2022?

Super Mario World - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Editing Done Quick

If you like Mario, chances are that you loved this year's Summer Games Done Quick. There were runs for Odyssey, Sunshine, All-Stars, 64, and Maker 2. There were also some ROMhacks on display, including some custom stages for Super Mario World, which is the run that stood out to me.

This 3v3 relay didn't just feature some of my favorite community streamers like CarlSagan42, Juzcook, and Shoujo, but it also spotlighted some wildly creative mechanics, the kinds that one wouldn't expect to see from such an old engine. Plus, Celeste creator Maddy Thorson contributed a level herself and it's one that's totally worth watching, just because of the gravity-bending mechanics involved.

Pokemon Emerald Randomizer - Donovan Erskine, Hoenn’s finest

I’ve played Pokemon Emerald a dozen times, I know that game like the back of my hand. Watching the Randomizer run at SGDQ made me realize that I don’t know a damn thing. The speedrunning strategies are cool on their own right, but the pure game knowledge and on-the-fly thinking required to keep up with all of the chaos a randomizer throws at you was truly impressive.

The way that the runners knew every single Pokemon’s ability, damage output, type match-ups. How they had some sort of plan for just about every possible scenario in any given situation. It’s incredible, and honestly makes me want to dig my DS Lite out of the closet and take Emerald for one more spin.

Halo Infinite - Sam Chandler, Halo Infinite will be good, again

As much as I love a Super Mario 64 speedrun, I can’t look past Halo Infinite appearing at a GDQ. While the multiplayer might be suffering recently, the campaign in this game is phenomenal, one of the best in the series, and to see it played so quickly is incredible. I love the movement offered with the grappleshot, granting players the ability to skate across the ground. But what’s more impressive are the fusion coil launches. Fantastic run by WaifuRuns. I hope Halo stays a staple in GDQ lineups.

catalystz’s Elden Ring Run - Bill Lavoy, Slowrunner

It’s an easy one for me. I thoroughly enjoy watching people make Elden Ring look like a walk in the park. Knowing just how much I struggled with a boss like Radagon of the Golden Order, then watching catalystz stand in his blind spot and tea bag him, felt like a victory for Elden Ring players everywhere. The thing about Summer Games Done Quick, though, is that no matter what game you enjoy, you’re going to see something that blows your mind. Maybe a little strategy that you can apply to your own run, or something that you couldn’t pull off in your wildest dreams, but that you appreciate nonetheless.

Satisfactory - TJ Denzer, Senior Automation Enthusiast

I love Satisfactory. I love it. It’s such a fantastic sandbox of extraterrestrial sci-fi industrial design and automation, and it makes me happy to see the incredible designs other builders put together. As I wait for the day it comes out of Early Access so I can talk it up in Shacknews Awards for all the good things it does, I can still count myself pleasantly surprised that it had a speed run at SGDQ 2022, and oh my goodness, this run is incredible. The sheer depth of knowledge and placement of every ever-more-complex machine is so good and precise and the skill with which Epiphane handles the game’s quirks and even its bugs is impeccable. I only wish I had this level of efficiency in my own Satisfactory playthroughs, but watching this video also gave me all sorts of new ideas to try in my own industrial designs.

Banjo-Tooie - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo show host/Platformer!

What was my favorite game from Summer Games Done Quick? That is a tough question as there were plenty of interesting games/runs performed during the show. Getting to see someone play a game so easily is a real sight to behold. That being said, I think the run of Banjo-Tooie was a sight to see.

Banjo-Tooie, in my opinion, is one of the tougher N64 games as well as one of the most annoying as it has a ton of things to do and collect. To see someone, like Duck, go into the game and make quick work of it is crazy. Honorable mention to the Mario Maker 2 runs as well as the Pokémon Emerald Randomizer runs, as well as all the talented speed runners.

Silent Hill 4 - Dennis White, Community Manager

While the Elden Ring run was amazing as well, I couldn’t watch it all because I haven’t finished the game! So instead, I gotta show AnEternalEnigma some love as he finally got to run this game again after 5 years since his first time around in 2017. He’s come a long way since then both in speedrunning this game and with his hosting. For some of us he’s a key voice for SGDQ now.

This run had a great couch with both Maxylobes, ecdycis, and kz_frew chiming in during Enigma’s run. I never played this game myself but I love how Enigma makes a game that’s considered the least favorite of the original Team Silent games by many but is a fun speedrun to watch. There’s randomized portions that can kill the run if not managed properly and a pretty dramatic final boss fight that can lead to good or bad endings as one of the game’s characters can literally die if you don’t beat the boss quickly enough.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Asif Khan, Has beaten Kirby and the Forgotten Land

It is incredibly difficult to pick just one speedrun from SGDQ 2022 that I liked the best, but for a first-time appearance, I have to say that Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s speedrun was awesome to watch. I absolutely loved learning about new glitches and exploits that make the game beatable in under 90 minutes. That run also highlighted a lot of the crazy moments in the game very well, even with that crazy ending. While I could have picked the Elden Ring or Super Mario Maker 2 runs, Kirby was the best boy last week in my opinion.

Donkey Kong Country - Morgan Shaver, Nostalgia Nerd

Growing up, I tried to beat Donkey Kong Country as quickly as possible many, many times. Even though I was able to beat the game a few times in a general sense, I was never able to do it in any amount of time that’d be considered impressive. So, seeing someone do what I always wanted to do in successfully speedrunning DKC at SGDQ made for an incredibly satisfying and exciting watch.

Not only is it exciting to see someone get through the game in a lightning fast 29 minutes and 28 seconds, in reverse boss order no less, a lot of info is packed into the run as well. With this, if I hypothetically wanted to try speedrunning DKC again, I’d probably do a heck of a lot better than I did as a kid, and I appreciate that. If you’re nostalgic for DKC, the speedrun from Tonkotsu is a must-watch, as are all of the SGDQ runs this year.

Those are our picks. Now we'd like to hear yours. What was your favorite run from Summer Games Done Quick 2022? Join the conversation and let us know in the comments.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.