Different Types of Speedruns

As strange as it sounds there are different ways to speedrun a game. These different runs vary from game to game but all usually feature the same main category called: Any %. This means that the runner must beat the game as fast as possible and the completion percent doesn't matter. On the other hand, there is another category common among different games called 100% where the runner tries to beat the game with 100% completion.

So how about Castlevania? The most popular category is Any %, however, there is no 100% category for this game. Instead, Castlevania has some unique categories of its own that aren't as popular as Any % but still have followings of thier own. These categories consist of:

• Whip Only - No subweapons can be used (but can be picked up).
• Low % - Whip upgrades are forbidden. No subweapons can be used (but can be picked up). Potions, pork chops, and rosaries are also forbidden.
• Easy Mode - Easy mode can be found on the Japanese version of Castlevania. Beat the game as fast as possible by any means necessary.
• 2 Loop - Beat the 1st and 2nd loop as fast as possible by any means necessary.
• Damageless - Beat the game with no deaths and taking no damage.

This graph can show us a few things about speedrunning Castlevania. The first and most obvious is that Any % is largely the most popular category having far more submitted runs than any of the other categories combined. Aside from that, we can conclude that the stricter the rules become the fewer people even attempt to run the game in that category. The most prevalent example of this is the damageless category featuring only two official runs.

One thing that is interesting about this chart, which features the fastest time from each category, is that difficulty doesn't always correlate with the longest time. We can see that clearly the most popular and most ran category of Any % features the fastest time but following that we have Easy Mode then Damageless. Damageless of course having only two official runs and considered to be an incredibly difficult feat. That being said it is still faster than three other categories on the chart.

Back Next