Spelunky true ending speedrun sets a new world record
D Tea blazes through Hell in 3.44.
Spelunky player D Tea has set a new speedrunning world record by dashing to the true ending of Derek Yu's platforming roguelike faster than anyone ever has.
In a mere three minutes, 44 seconds and 411 milliseconds D Tea defeats Yama, the ruler of Hell.
For those unfamiliar with Spelunky, getting to Hell is an achievement in and of itself as it requires chasing through a complex sequence of secrets that involves finding a couple of hidden levels and acquiring a few rare items.
As such, D Tea has a rather fortunate seed as they acquire the teleporter - a necessity for a competitive speedrun - on the second stage, and they happen to start right next to the hidden Black Market entrance in 2-2.
Even with these strokes of luck this is a very impressive run. D Tea makes the teleporter look like cheating, but it's all too easy to misjudge its distance and teleport into a wall resulting in an instant death. It's rather amazing that this never happens given how many close calls D Tea has.
Furthermore, a true ending run can't rely on the teleporter alone as getting to Hell requires ferrying specific items across multiple levels and you can only hold one item in your hands at a time. As such, the teleporter is no longer in play during the final eight stages, making them easier to follow.
Perhaps my favourite part of the run is actually only 23 seconds into the video when D Tea gets into a skirmish with a shopkeeper over a jetpack and teleporter. Armed with only their starting gear in cramped quarters, D Tea stylishly robs the poor merchant of his wares without missing a beat. Do check it out.
