Awesome Games Done Quick 2016: Day 4 Runs to Watch

Day 4 of Awesome Games Done Quick is underway, with some of the world's best speed runners jumping into some of the most popular, obscure, and beloved entries into the gaming world. Today, it's more of the recognized names in video game history, with Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog and others taking center stage. As always, this is being done for charity, with the event organizers raising money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Let's take a look at some of today's runs worth watching.

Day 4 Runs to Watch

Battletoads (NES) - 12:52PM PT

Anyone that played Battletoads in its heyday (or even through last year's Rare Replay on Xbox One) know that it is a brutally tough game. It has no mercy and it takes keen reflexes to make it through this one in one piece. TheMexicanRunner will be the latest to face the relentless Battletoads head-on, as he'll attempt to complete this classic beat 'em up in under 35 minutes.

Super Mario Maker (Wii U) - 5:17PM PT

Say what? Yes, Super Mario Maker and its endless array of user-created levels will take center stage at this year's Awesome Games Done Quick and its debut will be an unforgettable one. Eight speed runners (mitchflowerpower, TheMexicanRunner, Andy, trihex, area51, bismuth, Dram55, and linkdeadx2) will all race one another to complete a full-blown custom level race in under 90 minutes. The catch? They'll have no idea what levels they'll be playing. This will be absolute must-see action, so set a custom alert and join the fun later today.

Super Mario World (Super NES) - 6:57PM PT

After the Mario Maker insanity, it'll be time to celebrate 25 years of Super Mario World with two speed run races! For the warmup act, Carl Sagan, Dotsarecool, xsvArea51, and SethBling will attempt to complete the game with no exits in just under 10 minutes. That's the appetizer. The main course will see Kakusho, Akisto, xpaco5, and trumez attempt to complete the game and hit all 96 exits in under 90 minutes. It's going to be an incredible competition and is the best way to wrap up this year's Mario block.

Day 3 Highlight

Crypt of the Necrodancer

As we mentioned with the Mario Maker note above, speed running becomes a much more difficult task when the runner doesn't know what he or she is getting into. Yesterday, players witnessed an incredible feat when SpootyBiscuit braved the procedurally-generated Crypt of the Necrodancer. This was an absolutely wild run, with no indicator of the dangers faced, randomly-generated items, and requiring the poise to keep up with the beat under intense pressure. It wasn't a perfect run, as SpootyBiscuit did die a couple of times, but was still able to complete the game in under 20 minutes. Set aside some time to witness the wildness here.

Today's Full Schedule (All times in PT)

• 6:47AM - Sonic Lost World (DarkSpinesSonic - 1:25:00, any% Wingless)
• 8:17AM - Strider (bjw - 0:10:00, Any%)
• 8:32AM - Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment (Spiriax - 1:10:00, Any%)
• 9:52AM - Gimmick! [Mystery Game] (aquas, becored - 0:15:00, Best Ending Race)
• 10:17AM - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (whitman_price - 0:25:00, Any%)
• 10:47AM - Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (jimmypoopins - 0:12:00, Any%)
• 11:02AM - Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (gusmancini - 0:22:00, Pacifist)
• 11:32AM - Batman: The Video Game (Just_defend, dxtrslab, badbrakes, InfestedRiche - 0:15:00, Any%)
• 12:07PM - Blaster Master (Skavenger216, ShiningDragoon, feasel, UraniumAnchor - 0:35:00, Deathwarps)
• 12:52PM - Battletoads (TheMexicanRunner - 0:35:00, Any%/100%)
• 1:42PM - Donkey Kong Country (Eazinn - 0:35:00, Any% All Stages)
• 2:22PM - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (V0oid - 1:40:00, 102%)
• 4:07PM - Kaizo Mario Bros. 3 (mitchflowerpower - 0:40:00, Any%)
• 5:17PM - Super Mario Maker (mitchflowerpower, TheMexicanRunner, Andy, trihex, area51, bismuth, Dram55, linkdeadx2 - 1:30:00, Custom Level Blind Race)
• 6:57PM - Super Mario World (Carl Sagan, Dotsarecool, xsvArea51, SethBling - 0:10:00, 0 Exit)
• 7:27PM - Super Mario World (Kakusho, Akisto, xpaco5, trumez - 1:30:00, 96 Exit)
• 9:27PM - Lagoon (PJ - 1:40:00, Any%)
• 11:17PM - Lester the Unlikely (Radioactive_Rat - 0:20:00, Any%)
• 11:42PM - Low G Man: The Low Gravity Man (Zakky the Goatragon - 0:20:00, Any%)

The Stream and Donation Links

Catch all the action over at Awesome Games Done Quick, the official Games Done Quick Twitch channel, or watch the full Awesome Games Done Quick stream below!

Watch live video from GamesDoneQuick on www.twitch.tv

And once again, anyone looking to contribute to the Prevent Cancer Foundation can do so from the Prevent Cancer Foundation website.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?