Tragic Ninja Gaiden race serves as a reminder of what makes GDQ marathons so fantastic.

With Summer Games Done Quick well under way, we've already seen a few days' worth of incredible speedrunning achievements. TheRetroRunner faced out against a Low% run of Ninja Gaiden on the NES in one of today's, and the fact that it almost didn't end in victory further highlights what makes these events unique in the first place.

For those who are not acquainted with Ninja Gaiden's Low% category — It's basically a sword-only run with a few important limitations, something I had never seen before. While picking up a few objects by mistake is OK, you are unable to utilize them against adversaries or pick up items that activate automatically. Thus, there won't be a fire wheel, time travel, or healing potions.

Fortunately, TheRetroRunner and the other admins in this category are very skilled. The most important of them is the sword cancel technique, which allows you to quickly perform slashes by mashing down and B in midair. But even with those weapons at his disposal, the last hallways of Ninja Gaiden offered harsh companionship. His health was low due to a few poorly timed boosts, and he quickly fell victim to the game's last boss's third form.

And after that, regrettably, it occurred once again and again!

The monster dances with you

The RetroRunner quickly dispatched of the Masked Devil and big nasty Jaquio with his lightning-fast down+B slashes. To help with stability, he even placed a chopping board on his lap. He thus entered the fight with the Demon Statue full of confidence.Just as Ryu's battle was set to finish, he made a single mistake, but TheRetroRunner and his couch were quick to jump back in with a little bit of disappointment from the Runner himself. After all, you only need to go back and repeat one level to find yourself back in the fight's ultimate state. But his excitement was waning as the subsequent efforts faltered in the same area. The last few runs in the last phase were somewhat taxing. Of fact, the game had not altered, but the atmosphere had definitely changed.In fact, TheRetroRunner was about to give up because it was becoming too hard. He wondered whether the people behind GDQ wanted him to continue, as he was getting close to his estimate and it would have an impact on the timeline as a whole. That's where the GDQ watchers and attendants, as well as the runner's couch, came into play. TheRetroRunner needed a little more encouragement every time, and he was about to win.

The teeth of failure*

With a lot of encouragement, TheRetroRunner ultimately finished, carefully following the Low% guidelines that were set down at the beginning. After a few close loses, no one would have faulted him for setting down the controller, but that's the wonderful thing about Games Done Quick and other such friendly and pleasant gatherings. Although success was not certain, there is always space for improvement for the next try.It's simple to get engrossed in the virtual feats of endurance speedrunning. Nothing elevates a game beyond its bounds like seeing a perfect run. Still, TheRetroRunner's sword-only run through Ninja Gaiden made me realize what makes these kinds of events so unique. It's a wonderful reminder that these runners are really giving it their all in front of thousands of people who are contributing money to a worthy cause in return for some well-rehearsed entertainment. The downs may have just as big of an effect as the ups.The fact that Summer Games Done Quick still has nearly a full week left excites me. The upcoming incredible, maybe record-breaking run on the crowded schedule excites me. Not too clean speedruns will also be something I watch out for. For good measure, let's applaud everyone of them.