Over the past few decades, there have been plenty of video games that have given us great challenges. Games like Dark Souls are just downright difficult and would make anyone want to stop playing them. Even with difficult settings, this hasn't stopped speedrunners from trying to beat the most difficult games.
Speedrunning isn't a new concept and has been around since 1977. Getting the highest score and completing the game by gathering all achievements might be more rewarding, but there is a method to speedrunning. Hours upon hours have been dedicated to trying to complete games in the quickest manner, no matter how difficult the game may be.
10 Kamilia 3
The game I Wanna Kill the Kamilia 3 might not be one of the most popular games to try and speedrun, but after seeing this game, you will understand why it’s one of the hardest to speedrun.
This game is a fangame in which all the levels are modified versions of other fangames. Kamilia 3 is split into two parts. The first part of the game is a four-stage game that takes you to a boss.
After beating the boss many have agreed that it becomes a nightmare to play. It becomes a super grindy game that includes numerous RNG and avoidance factors. Luck may not be on your side in this game.
However, some have been able to beat the game in a little over two hours with any percentage. Getting a True End, completing the game 100% and more, took over ten hours.
9 Outlast
Horror games, for some, might be the perfect games to speedrun. There is nothing like the adrenaline and heart-racing feeling you get when playing a horror game, and Outlast keeps you on your toes, especially having to be on constant high alert.
Taking place in a psychiatric hospital, Outlast is sure to keep anyone paranoid, but with great dedication and concentration, there have been many who have completed the game in speedrun fashion. Completing the game with 100% has taken just over 26 minutes while completing it with Any% (any percentage) was just five and a half minutes.
8 Spelunky
Spelunky is a fan-favorite speed-running game. One of the things that makes this roguelike platformer stand out is its randomly generated levels. Not to mention there are quite a few challenges that make this game difficult.
This has only enticed speedrunners to try their hands at completing the game as quickly as possible. When it comes to Any% incredible times of just a minute and a half have been achieved.
Completing the game at 100% by collecting all 114 journal entries has seen a time of a little over 25 minutes.
7 GoldenEye 007
One of the best games that are based on a film has to be GoldenEye 007. Not only is it a great game, but it is also a very challenging one that is perfect for speedrunning.
This game has a great set of levels and enemies that can make it hard to get through each level. There are also two different runs that can be completed that start and end on specific maps known as the 00 Agent and Secret Agent runs.
Speedrunning at Any% has produced over 19 minutes and 100% coming in at 55 minutes. The best Secret Agent run is just over 28 minutes while the 00 Agent is around 35 minutes.
6 Bloodborne
When you think of the hardest games to speedrun, let alone just play regularly, Bloodborne should be one of the ones that come to mind.
The game itself, like Dark Souls, is just extremely challenging and hard in both gameplay and controls. This challenged many speedrunners to take on the game and try their hands at beating it in record time.
Completing the game with Any% has produced an astounding 20-minute run. There are a few challenges like beating all bosses which has been done in a little over an hour and getting all trophies took three and a half hours.
5 Doom
There are many instantly recognizable and iconic games. Doom is one of those games and is one of the most popular series since the first game’s release. It makes perfect sense that this is a fan-favorite game to speedrun.
The amount of time and dedication to speedrunning this game has produced some amazing times. Completing all four stages on Ultimate Doom at Any% has seen times of around 17 minutes.
An even greater challenge is completing all four stages at Ultra-Violence Speed which has seen an incredible 21-minute speedrun.
4 Cuphead
Cuphead ended up becoming an incredibly popular game upon its release for a few reasons. It looked like a great game with a compelling story, but once you began playing, it immediately became apparent how hard this game was.
There have been some great times of completing the game at Any% on regular settings coming in at just over 28 minutes. Now taking it to the next level has seen completing the game on Expert Mode at Any% has seen a time of 24 minutes and 54 seconds beating the previous record of 25 minutes and 15 seconds.
3 Super Mario 64
The Super Mario Series has produced some of the most iconic, loved, and played games. Completing any game in the series can be a reward in itself. However, one of the most favorite games within the series to speedrun hands down has to be Super Mario 64.
This game has produced many speedrun attempts with a variety of different challenges. One of the most challenging of them has to be completing the game with a 120-Star run, and the best time coming out of the 120-Star run came in at an hour and thirty-seven minutes.
2 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda series is a beloved series just for the amazing storytelling, iconic characters, and stunning graphics, especially with Breath of the Wild. With so much to do and explore in this game, that hasn't stopped many from attempting to speedrun the games.
Ocarina of Time is arguably the best game in the series. While bigger games, in terms of storylines and exploration, may seem like games you shouldn't speedrun, it’s more of bragging rights. Seeing the game completed 100% as a speedrun has taken around three hours and forty-five minutes.
When it comes to truly speedrunning this game at Any% an insane time of three minutes and fifty-one seconds has been achieved.
1 Pokemon Series
Now when it comes to speedrunning games, any of the Pokemon titles is a top contender, as there are plenty of challenges in the base games. Not only can spawn rates of the Pokemon be slow at times, but knowing when, where, and what conditions need to be met can be a challenge in itself.
One of the biggest challenges in speedrunning Pokemon is trying to catch ‘em all, and the best run in the Catch ‘Em All challenge for Red and Blue has seen a time of an hour and twenty-eight minutes. Looking at Catch ‘Em All runs for later releases like Sword and Shield it has taken over 16 hours.