''Running with Speed'' is a 2023

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about

speedrunning Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and exploit glitches ...

directed by Patrick Lope and Nicholas Mross. It was written by Lope, Mross, and

Summoning Salt Summoning Salt ("Salt" for short) is a pseudonymous American speedrunning, speedrunner and YouTuber known for his video documentaries about the history of speedrunning records. As of June 2025, his channel has over 2 million subscribers and ...

, the latter of which also narrated the documentary.

Summary

The documentary is split up into three main parts, first introducing Summoning Salt and then focusing on classic

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

games such as ''

Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...

'' and ''

Super Mario Bros 3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a 1988 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990, a ...

''. It then covers the legacy and history of

Games Done Quick Games Done Quick (GDQ) is a semiannual video game speedrun charity marathon held in the United States, originally organized by the Speed Demos Archive and SpeedRunsLive communities. Since 2015, it has been handled by Games Done Quick, LLC. Held ...

and its charitable impact on the world and how it fosters the growth of professional careers for featured speedrunners, many of whom earn a living from streaming on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

. It also covers the

Nintendo World Championships The Nintendo World Championships (NWC) is a nationwide Electronic sports, video game competition series, organized by Nintendo of America at no particular interval. The first Nintendo World Championships was in 1990, touring 29 American cities ...

and other speedrunning competitions, including Kaizo competitions. The documentary mostly focuses on Nintendo classics from the 1980s and 1990s, including ''

Super Mario 64 ''Super Mario 64'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combini ...

'', '' The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'', ''

Punch-Out!! is a boxing video game series created by Genyo Takeda, and published by Nintendo. The player controls Little Mac, a boxer who aims to become the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.) champion. The original '' Punch-Out!!'' arcade game w ...

'', and ''

Super Metroid is a 1994 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third installment in the ''Metroid'' series, following the events of the Game Boy g ...

'', amongst others. Notable speedrunners featured in the documentary include Allan "Cheese" Alvarez, David "GrandPooBear" Hunt, and Narcissa Wright.

Critical response

Writing for techraptor.net, Andrew Stretch wrote, " 'Running with Speed'' takesthe time to set up what Speedrunning is at the start, giving viewers a working foundation of knowledge before diving deep enough into Speedrunning to explain how pixel-perfect jumps and sequence breaking are so important to get the best possible times while speedrunning games like ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' or ''Super Metroid''. Whether you're brand new to Speedrunning or have been tuning in to AGDQ for years chances are this documentary will have something new for you to learn."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 23157244 Documentary_films_about_video_games 2023 documentary films 2023 films Speedrunning