As a casual gamer that likes to take things slow, experience every detail and tell a story in whatever game I enter, the realm of the speed runner is far from my area of expertise. However, that does not mean I don’t appreciate the perfection of their craft and the manner in which they brush off runs of remarkably challenging games with consummate ease.
This is especially the case with Spelunky, the platform cave explorer, where you control an adventurer seeking plunder and riches while evading the variety of monsters, wild animals and hunters.
Unless of course you are YouTuber D Tea, whose goal is simply to get to the bottom of the earth and back to the top in the quickest time possible.
Beginning in the opening mines, he locates both a jetpack and teleporter in the very first shop, which he proceeds to steal and use his lightning reflexes to vastly speed up his progress throughout the levels. D Tea then travels throughout the game with high speed locating items needed to progress beyond the normal end game boss Olmec.
He grabs the Hedjet in the ice caves and the Scepter in the temple to unlock the City of Gold, before using Olmec to descend down into Hell. It is then simply a case of phenomenal speed and agility that sees him defeat the final boss Yama and clock a time of 3:44.411.
It would probably take me that long to complete the first section of the mines, if I hadn’t already become a cobra’s evening feast. Tea himself states that it was a run where virtually everything went as best as it possibly could in his favor, besides not having a map. The options in the first shop set the tone of this speed run as it ensured his quick passage across all the opening levels.
I tip my miner’s cap to this effort, and someone will have to dig deep to beat this unbelievable time.
