How to Maximize Your Efficiency in Speedruns: A Personal Journey of Frustration, Progress, and Small Wins
Speedrunning is one of those hobbies that, at first, seems pretty straightforward. You pick a game, learn the ins and outs, and then try to complete it in the fastest time possible. Simple, right? Well, if you’ve ever dipped your toes into the speedrunning world (or even just watched a speedrun), you know it’s much more than that. There’s a level of focus, precision, and strategy that takes time to master. And trust me—it’s a wild ride of successes and failures.
Let me start with a little anecdote. A few years ago, I tried speedrunning Super Mario 64. Simple enough, right? Wrong. It took me weeks to get the controls down, months to understand the routing, and a crazy amount of trial and error. At one point, I could barely get past the first few minutes without hitting a wall (literally and figuratively). I kept getting frustrated, thinking, “Why can’t I get this to work? Everyone else is doing it!”
But here’s the thing about speedrunning: it’s not just about going fast. It’s about maximizing efficiency—knowing when to push yourself and when to slow down and get your bearings. That’s the key. And today, I want to share with you the tips and tricks that I learned to improve my own efficiency in speedrunning.
1. Master the Basics (The Unsexy but Crucial Part)
I know it’s tempting to jump right into attempting your best time. Who doesn’t want to pull off insane moves like they’re a pro? But here’s the deal: the basics matter. Like, really matter.
When I started speedrunning Super Mario 64, I thought I had a good grip on the game since I’d played it casually for years. But speedrunning? Totally different beast. I kept making small, silly mistakes. I’d mess up a jump here, a wall kick there, and before I knew it, I was resetting over and over. And let me tell you—nothing is more frustrating than messing up the same thing every single run.
Here’s the lesson: Before you even think about routing or optimizing, you need to perfect your basic movement. Speedrunning is about consistency, and consistency comes from mastering your controls. For example, Mario’s triple jump is a game-changer, but you need to nail the timing to make it work. I spent literal hours just practicing that one jump, and only after that could I start to focus on improving my overall runs.
Tip: When learning a new game for speedrunning, start by watching speedruns of that game. Pay attention to how the players move. Then, practice just moving around the game world before worrying about anything fancy.
2. Optimize Your Routing (This is Where the Magic Happens)
Now that you’ve got your movement down, it’s time to talk about routing. This is where you figure out the most efficient path through a game—what stages to play, which skips to perform, and when to do certain actions.
When I first started, I didn’t realize how important this was. I would just play the game normally, thinking I could make up time on the fly. Nope. Routing is everything. I spent hours optimizing my route to make sure I was saving time by skipping unnecessary levels and tricks.
The beauty of speedrunning is that there’s always room for improvement. But, here’s the thing: while learning the basic moves, you also need to be learning the most efficient path through the game. Your route should minimize downtime and avoid unnecessary detours. Focus on maximizing each move to cut out all non-essential actions.
One key moment for me was when I discovered the MIPS Clip in Super Mario 64. For the longest time, I had been running through the game like everyone else, but then I learned how to skip a major part of the game by doing a precise glitch. Suddenly, my time was slashed by a solid 30 minutes!
Here’s a table I made that compares two different routes for early-game progression in Super Mario 64. Trust me, optimizing this can make a massive difference:
| Route A (Old School) | Route B (Optimized) |
|---|---|
| Go through Bob-omb Battlefield first | Skip Bob-omb Battlefield |
| Do all 120 star levels in order | Skip stars you don’t need |
| Perform each individual level | Use shortcuts and skips |
3. Understand When to Commit or Reset
This is a tough one. As someone who’s super competitive, I often find myself pushing through runs that I know are destined for failure. It’s frustrating because, deep down, I know I should reset, but there’s always this voice telling me to “just keep going” in the hopes that something magical will happen. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t.
I’ve learned the hard way that committing to a run can be a huge waste of time if your early-game execution was poor. For example, in one of my earlier Super Mario 64 runs, I spent 45 minutes messing up the same jump over and over. It was clear that I wasn’t going to get it, but I pushed through anyway. Guess what happened? My final time was embarrassing.
The lesson: Be willing to reset when it’s needed. Don’t waste precious time on runs that have no chance of being competitive. This mindset shift will help you be more efficient with your time and allow you to focus on better runs.
4. Practice Makes Perfect, but Recovery is Key
Here’s a reality check for you: speedrunning is all about recovery. If you miss a jump, fail to execute a skip, or mess up a boss fight, it’s not the end of the world. Sure, it might throw you off, but recovery is the key to efficiency.
For example, in Super Mario 64, the level Bowser in the Dark World used to wreck my run. I’d get to that part and, if I missed a throw or messed up the jump, I would feel completely defeated. But after a lot of trial and error, I learned that it’s important to recover quickly, adjust, and move on. Instead of letting my mistakes haunt me, I learned to turn them into learning experiences.
Here’s a quick table showing how recovery looks after a mistake:
| Mistake Type | Recovery Method |
|---|---|
| Failed jump/skip | Reset position and try again |
| Lost time on a trick | Focus on next section, optimize |
| Missed a boss fight strat | Adapt to a backup strategy |
5. Keep Your Mental State in Check
Speedrunning can be an emotional rollercoaster. One minute, you’re feeling like you’re going to set a world record. The next, you’re cursing at your screen, wondering why you can’t pull off a simple trick.
But here’s the thing: if your mind isn’t in the right place, you won’t perform well. The more frustrated you get, the worse your runs become. It’s like being in a bad mood while trying to solve a puzzle—it just makes everything harder.
A big breakthrough for me was when I realized that speedrunning isn’t just about executing tricks; it’s about having the right mindset. When I get frustrated, I take a break. I walk away, grab a drink, and come back with a fresh mind. It’s amazing how much this helps.
Conclusion: Be Patient, But Be Consistent
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my speedrunning journey, it’s this: efficiency doesn’t come overnight. It takes hours of practice, routing, mistakes, and resets. But it also takes patience and consistency. No one becomes a master overnight, and even the best runners mess up sometimes.
The key to maximizing your efficiency in speedrunning is all about finding your rhythm. Master your controls, optimize your route, know when to reset, and most importantly—keep your mind clear and focused. With enough time and effort, you’ll start to see the results.
And remember: even when you feel like giving up, just keep going. Speedrunning is all about progress, and every little improvement gets you closer to your goal. You’ve got this!
Additional Resources:
- Check out speedrun.com for world records and optimized routes.
- Join communities like Discord groups where speedrunners share tips and tricks.
- Practice makes perfect. Keep grinding, and don’t give up!
Happy running!