Somebody has speedrun the entirety of Ring Fit Adventure in 18 sweaty hours
Time to burn.
Regardless of where you sit on the fitness scale between Irrepressibly Active Amy and Sedentary Sally, the very notion of 18-hours non-stop exercise is probably one that fills you and your muscle tissue with a nameless, quivering dread. But that's exactly the kind of marathon session that some speedrunners are putting themselves through in an attempt to set a record-breaking run of Ring Fit Adventure.
Ordinarily, Ring Fit Adventure's surprisingly lengthy campaign - which received much acclaim for its engaging blend of physical activity and light RPG-style design when it released last year - would be tackled in sensible sessions ranging from a few minutes to an hour. However, as reported by Vice, some speedrunners are now starting to feel Ring Fit Adventure's allure, and have begun tackling the game with their irrepressible record-setting mindset.
For the most part, speedrunners have so far attempted to best Ring Fit Adventure on a per-level basis, trying to secure the best times in each of the game's 23 worlds. Inevitably, however, some are craving more, and are now starting to go all in, challenging themselves to race through the entire experience as quickly as possible.
One full-game challenger, Adam "Ventifer" England, told Vice that he initially wanted to speedrun an RPG, but the idea to play Ring Fit Adventure stuck after a joke with a friend. England took the day off work for his attempt at the end of last year, stocking up on water, vitamin water, and protein shakes to see him through. His complete run, which included "five or six" bathroom breaks and is viewable above, took 19 hours, 30 minutes, and 11 seconds.
However, that impressive (if somewhat foolhardy) feat of endurance is not the fastest time on record. Currently, that title is held by a Japanese player calling themselves Sakinyan, who managed to defeat Ring Fit Adventure's final boss in 18 hours and 55 seconds with exercise intensity set to 'one', as you can see below. Sakinyan was forced to abandon a follow-up attempt, with intensity maxed out at 30, after an extremely sweaty 11 hours and 16 minutes.
I'm not sure that any of this sounds particularly wise from a health and safety perspective (especially if you're not already well-versed in extreme exercise), but, as always with speedrunning, it's hard not to be impressed at the sheer dedication to a cause.
Eurogamer's Emma Kent was recently transfixed by a more sedate form of speedrunning during this year's Awesome Games Done Quick charity event, which came to a close this weekend, raising £2.3 million ($3.13m) for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.