History Awesome / GamesDoneQuick

* Five words: ''SekiroShadowsDieTwice''. Blindfolded.

* hypnoshark's run of ''Videogame/CrashTeamRacing'' was filled with great execution on a technical standpoint, hitting every notable speed trick and time-saving skip with very few errors. Special mention goes to the Papu's Pyramid race, where hypnoshark quickly collects a mask form a pack of crates and drives across a thin brick path immediately at the start of the race, all in one try.

* Public donations by the end of the event totaled over $3.1 million, but then the massive additions from Twitch subscriptions, chat bits, and corporate sponsors was added to the donation tracker... and it soared over $3.4 million, sending the chat into a nuclear explosion of hype that continued to burn well past the credits.

* [[Main/RhythmGame Rhythm Games]] generally result in some of the most hype moments in the current marathon, blasting awesome music into the viewer's ears while the runner shows off incredible skills and talent hitting notes and beats, including playing some of the hardest charts of the run's featured game.

* In the randomized ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon Crystal]]'' run on Day 4, [[ButtMonkey Keizaron]] gets an epic ThrowTheDogABone moment by ''finishing 30 minutes under the run's estimate'' and coming in first place in the race between him, 360Chrism, and Shenanagans.

* In the randomized ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon Crystal]]'' run on Day 4, Keizaron gets an epic ThrowTheDogABone moment by encountering a '''full odds shiny Victreebel''' live on stage.

* hypnoshark's run of ''Videogame/CrashTeamRacing'' was filled with great execution on a technical standpoint, hitting every notable speed trick and time-saving skip with very few errors. Special mention goes to the Papu's Pyramid race, where he quickly collects a mask form a pack of crates and drives across a thin brick path immediately at the start of the race, all in one try.

* A meta-awesome moment happened after AGDQ 2020 ended. They chose to host another speedrunner, [=AeonFrodo=], who was running ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', sending her viewercount from about 15 to about 80,000. She set a new world record time in her category in front of that much-larger audience then hosted another speedrunner, [=SniperDog147=], who followed up with a world record in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles''. Viewers who stuck around after AGDQ got to see two new world records being set.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvzIb53Lcno Sinister1 reprised his 2013 attempt]] at completing the original ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'' for the NES while blindfolded, which he started attempting in 2012. In 2012, he was bested by Bald Bull. In 2013, he finally defeats Bald Bull, but gets bested by the Piston Honda rematch. In 2014, he beats the second Honda fight [[spoiler:and eventually makes it ''all the way to Tyson himself'']].

* Immediately after this run, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSr3aXd4XuQ Zallard1]] tackles ''Super Punch-Out!!'' for the SNES (again, blindfolded). [[spoiler: He finishes the game with only a single KO against Narcis Prince]]. The donation tracker sums it up quite succinctly:

* During [=DNTN31=]'s ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIIzE_H7D2g speedrun at AGDQ 2014]], a donation incentive to play Toad's Turnpike from Extra GP went unmet by the end... or so the runners thought. [[spoiler: During the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMc0OIjb36Q#t=481 F-Zero speedrun]] that began immediately after, it was announced the donation incentive ''was'' met at the very last minute, with a donation of ''$10,000.'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czLvz00Bu3M DNTN31 came back and blew it away.]]]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RseGrqEmdNA&t The final game of AGDQ 2014]] is ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. The donation total stands at just under $850,000. The marathon has already surpassed expectations--almost double the previous AGDQ--but they decide to aim for [[MemeticMutation one]] ''[[Film/AustinPowers meeeeeeelion]]'' [[MemeticMutation dollars]] anyway "because why not". Can the community pull together and make it in the 5 and a half hours remaining? [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RseGrqEmdNA&t=5h56m35s They do.]] And the crowd goes '''wild''']].

* In the [[ToolAssistedSpeedrun TAS]] block, the mystery game is revealed to be ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. Considering what happened a year ago, there's no way anyone could top that, right? [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czKHg5lmwsw Wrong]]. They fulfilled last year's goal of coding a perfectly playable ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' -- a few graphical glitches and All-Stars music notwithstanding -- and played through the first stage.]]

* AGDQ 2015's "Save/Kill the Animals" incentive in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', per usual, got a ton of money poured into it--over '''$200,000''', in fact. Each option garnered over $100,000 through the course of the marathon, and in the last 40 seconds before cutoff, [[spoiler:Save]] got a single, anonymous donation of $10,000, stealing the win with a comment of "Get Rekt--[[spoiler:Save]] the Animals".

* Returning from [=AGDQ2014=] was blindfolded ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!'', except this time it was a race between [=Sinister1=] and [=Zallard1=]. [[spoiler: It ended up with both of them ''managing to beat Mike Tyson'']].

** And how does the run end? With them facing the final boss, Majora... all together, holding the same controller, each one operating one button or the analog stick... [[UpToEleven and blindfolded]]. [[spoiler: They did it flawlessly, barring getting hit a couple times which didn't matter.]]
* [=TASbot=] managing to outdo itself once again by turning ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' into [[spoiler:'''''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'''''. And if this wasn't enough, he allowed Twitch chat to control it à la ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemon''.]] And [[UpToEleven then]] it broke the game, because the cursor scrolled too far up, causing the game to write garbage data to itself when an object is placed.
* During the ''VideoGame/StepMania'' showcase, one of the songs played, [[spoiler:"300"]], is introduced by the commentators with a DramaticPause:

* The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' run. Already a phenomenal speed game on it own, six of its top speedrunners split into two teams (Team Canada and Team USA) to do a relay race. Aside from a few mistakes, the runners perform fantastically, and in the end, [[spoiler:Team Canada wins by a mere ''30 seconds'' after lagging behind during World 5]]. Highlights:

** At the end, [[spoiler:both runners manage to defeat [[FinalBoss Lord Fredrik]] in the least amount of cycles possible.]]

* The [[SelfImposedChallenge blind]][[SugarWiki/SoCoolItsAwesome folded]] ''[[Videogame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'' run. Re-read that again, just in case you failed to understand; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H4atoATpNE THE BLINDFOLDED SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT RUN.]] As if that wasn't enough, before doing his blindfolded Symphony run, [=Romscout=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlt7l82bW3Y performed]] a Low% ''Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow'' run [[spoiler:that ended in a way that could very well be called the new definition of "clench."]]

* During the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' run by tripl3ag3nt, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJxXBDJhyEw#t=54m45s he accidentally discovered]] an ''entirely new glitch'': [[spoiler:using the cinematic camera during a wall-hopping sequence got Sonic softlocked into a permanent spinning animation ''in mid-air''.]] tripl3ag3nt does note that the glitch cost him a sub-one hour time, but he doesn't care, because it was ''awesome''.

** Everdraed, the man who created [[spoiler: Photoshop Flowey]] arrived on Skype right after the battle ended, expressing both admiration for the speedrun community, and shocked disbelief at the glitches used in the run. He then tells everyone to enjoy the game however they like, to let no one tell you how to play.

** The ''Undertale'' run itself came after the intense ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' Race, where the audience was forced to stay quiet near the end, possibly due to the race being very close between Behemoth and Zoasty. Here, TGH manages to make the game exciting to watch and gets the crowd cheering during each of the final bosses of the game, such as: [[spoiler: copying Omega Flowey's distorted hitsounds whenever he gets hit, chanting [[VideoGameCaringPotential "HUG THE GOAT!"]] after the fight with Asriel, [[https://clips.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick/PowerfulBeePeteZarollTie the tracker hitting $2.2 million right as the hug happens]], and finally the buttclenching battle against [[ThatOneBoss Sans]], which he does ''almost flawlessly'', only taking 2 hits during the whole fight.]]

* On the second and third days of the marathon, [=TheMexicanRunner=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwwmEdjxQEY ran]] ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Resurrection'' and the original ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''. The former, an already difficult game, had its difficulty elevated from the run's original setting. The latter would add a requirement to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQLiSDpEPc5&t=6m53s play the Turbo Tunnel level blindfolded]], relying solely on audio cues to progress. Both of these run changes were due to donation incentives, and TMR would accomplish ''both'' in flying colors.

* Bubzia returned from AGDQ 2020 to tackle [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKnDj3wMNik another blindfolded run]] of ''Videogame/SuperMario64''. Unlike the last blindfolded ''Mario 64'' run, this one would go without performing any tricks or exploits. In other words, Bubzia's goal is to get 70 stars and win the game relying ''only'' on audio cues. The result? ''Barely'' beating sub 1 hour and 50 minutes with a final time and new personal best of '''1:49:59''', ''well'' under the 2:15:00 estimate. The steam chat went ''wild'' after the run's conclusion and the current host was unable to process just how amazing the run was that he had to run off and catch his breath in the intermission.

* The ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' Stop 'N' Swop run is one of the most broken runs in all of GDQ, using Stale Reference Manipulation in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' to trigger a credits warp in ''Paper Mario''.
* On the second and third days of the marathon, [=TheMexicanRunner=] ran ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Resurrection'' and the original ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''. The former, an already difficult game, had its difficulty elevated from the run's original setting. The latter would add a requirement to play the Turbo Tunnel level blindfolded, relying solely on audio cues to progress. Both of these run changes were due to donation incentives, and TMR would accomplish ''both'' in flying colors.

* Immediately following the above run was havrd's run of browser-based geography guessing game ''Geoguessr''. Take that in. A browser-based geography guessing game, ''[[ARareSentence on Games Done Quick]]''. Not only that, but havrd makes it all work, being able to decode which country he is dropped at in the world and get all [[FlawlessVictory perfect scores]] by picking the precise spawns, even when the third through fifth spawns throw him through several loops due to their difficulty.
* Day 5 presented [=Dage4=]'s thrilling run of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 Battle'', full of complex speed tricks, many successful skips to cut huge chunks out of the stages, and phasing through walls to skip directly to the Goal Rings of multiple levels (notably Eternal Engine, Crazy Gadget, and Final Rush). To say the Twitch audience was riled up would be an understatement.
* The same day that featured the above ''Sonic Adventure 2'' run would conclude in bombastic fashion with the ''Videogame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' race with [=PulseEffects=] and Swiftalu. While the run would desync several times, it would resync by the time the two runners reach the final boss versus Ghetsis. Armed with only a Stoutland, the runners would stomp his entire team into the ground and finish the game only '''five seconds''' apart from each other. It would go on to become one of the closest races in Games Done Quick history.
* Bubzia returned from AGDQ 2020 to tackle another blindfolded run of ''Videogame/SuperMario64''. Unlike the last blindfolded ''Mario 64'' run, this one would go without performing any tricks or exploits. In other words, Bubzia's goal is to get 70 stars and win the game relying ''only'' on audio cues. The result? ''Barely'' beating sub 1 hour and 50 minutes with a final time and new personal best of '''1:49:59''', ''well'' under the 2:15:00 estimate. The steam chat went ''wild'' after the run's conclusion and the current host was unable to process just how amazing the run was that he had to run off and catch his breath in the intermission.

* Immediately following the above run was havrd's run of browser-based geography guessing game ''Geoguessr''. Take that in. A browser-based geography guessing game, ''[[ARareSentence on Games Done Quick]]''. Not only that, but havrd makes it all work, being able to decode which country he is dropped at in the world and pick the exact landing spot almost immediately and get all [[FlawlessVictory perfect scores]].

* Immediately following the above run was havrd's run of browser-based geography guessing game ''Geoguessr''. Take that in. A browser-based geography guessing game, ''[[ARareSentence on Games Done Quick]]''. Not only that, but havrd makes it all work, being able to decode which country he is dropped in the world almost immediately and get all [[FlawlessVictory perfect scores]].

* Bubzia returned from AGDQ 2020 to tackle another blindfolded run of ''Videogame/SuperMario64''. Unlike the last blindfolded ''Mario 64'' run, this one would go without performing any tricks or exploits. In other words, Bubzia's goal is to get 70 stars and win the game relying ''only'' on audio cues. The result? ''Barely'' beating sub 1 hour and 50 minutes with a final time of '''1:49:59''', ''well'' under the 2:15:00 estimate. The steam chat went ''wild'' after the run's conclusion and the current host was unable to process just how amazing the run was that he had to run off and catch his breath in the intermission.

* Bubzia returned from AGDQ 2020 to tackle another blindfolded run of ''Videogame/SuperMario64''. Unlike the last blindfolded ''Mario 64'' run, this one would go without performing any tricks or exploits. In other words, Bubzia's goal is to get 70 stars and win the game relying ''only'' on audio cues. The result? ''Barely'' beating sub 1 hour and 50 minutes with a final time of '''1:49:59''', well under the 2:15:00 estimate. The steam chat went ''wild'' after the run's conclusion and the current host was unable to process just how amazing the run was that he had to run off and catch his breath in the intermission.

* The Paper Mario Stop 'N' Swop run is one of the most broken runs in all of GDQ, using Stale Reference Manipulation in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' to trigger a credits warp in ''VideoGame/PaperMario64''.