The exercise game built around some RPG-lite elements has proved to be an incredible endurance test as speedrunners spend around 18 hours completing it.
I’ll admit, speedrunning has always been a fascination of mine, although it’s something I think better appreciated from afar. There are so many great games out there that spending days on days just playing through a single one to try beat it as quickly as possible has never appealed to me, but hey, if you’re willing to do that I’ll happily watch you break records. Or maybe your back if you’re playing on getting into speedrunning Ring Fit Adventure. It seems like some speedrunners have decided to be absolute mad lads and get through the Nintendo Switch’s exercise game as fast as humanly possible, with the current record sitting at 18 hours and 55 seconds.
A Japanese player, going by the name of Sakinyan, set the record back in December of last year and while no-one has been able to top it, a few dedicated speedrunners have given it their best shot. Patrick Klepek over at Vice Games sat down with Adam “Ventifer” England, who holds the world’s second fastest run of Ring Fit Adventure at 19 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, to speak about a speedrun that is based less on exploiting glitches and more on physical endurance and stamina. According to England, in preparation for the run he took the day off work and stocked up on protein bars before delving into the fantasy world of flame-haired athletes and ripped dragons. He also had to stop to take “five or six” trips to the loo, something that certainly doesn’t happen in your average speedrun.
What’s most interesting is taking into consideration the calories that players are burning to get through the game as quickly as possible. It’s estimated by fellow speedrunner Liam “LiamGiiV” Gallagher that speedrunning the entirety of Ring Fit Adventure on the lowest intensity setting is the equivalent of burning 4,000 calories. Yet if you had to max out the intensity at 30, players would be burning an ungodly 40,000 calories. On New Year’s Eve, Sakinyan tried this seemingly impossible feat and unfortunately pulled the plug on the endeavour after 11 hours and 16 minutes, tired and broken due to the extreme strain of it all. Round of applause for giving it a try though, the absolute hero.
While it’s still a fairly new game in the speedrunning scene I think there’s something to be said for how distinct it is from other lengthy RPGs. While players will find glitches or exploits to get through it all much faster, I think that would rob some of the magic of seeing speedrunners push themselves to their physical limits. Sure, that’s why different categories in speedruns exist, but I doubt it would be as interesting to see some cheat the fitness out of an exercise game. Each to their own, I guess.
Last Updated: January 14, 2020
Admiral Chief
January 14, 2020 at 14:27
I keep my ring fit by eating KFC masala chicken