Speedrunning is a pastime that gamers the world over obsess with, whether they’re glitching their way through Breath of the Wild or nailing down the perfect timing for a sequence of jumps in Super Mario Bros. It’s not often that you think of speedrunning as an activity that wears on the player; if you do, you might be thinking their eyes or hands get tired, or maybe sitting in the same position for too long can grow to be uncomfortable. A few gamers, however, are taking it to the limit when it comes to how far you can push your body while speedrunning by attempting to tackle the story mode of Ring Fit Adventure, Nintendo’s latest outing in the world of fitness gaming.
Most players who are playing Ring Fit Adventure are only doing so for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, getting their workout in and moving along with their day. A select few players, however, are doing everything they can to finish the entire story as quickly as possible. The current world record holder, Sakinyan, has managed to complete the story mode on the lowest intensity in just over 18 hours. Keep in mind that’s 18 hours of continuous play, which also means 18 hours of continuous exercise. There are small breaks scattered throughout the run, one for the bathroom, others for water; but still, that’s a staggering feat.
Sakinyan also recently tried a run through Ring Fit Adventure on the highest intensity level, 30, and managed to last an incredible 11 hours and 16 minutes before calling it quits. Her downfall ended being a fight that took her seven hours and 18 minutes to reach in her lowest intensity attempt — Vice points out that at that rate, a complete playthrough of the highest intensity would take well over 24 hours.
Sakinyan isn’t the only Ring Fit Speedrunner out there either, Vice managed to talk with Adam “Ventifer” England, whose has the second fastest Ring Fit Adventure record at 19 and a half hours. Ventifer’s run consisted of more breaks than Sakinyan’s; he commented to Vice that he would try to sneak in hydration and protein bars and shakes during levels, but eventually drinking water during the run began to tire him out. Outside of Sakinyan and Ventifer, only one other player has attempted to speedrun the entire game. Many players are attempting the game in smaller chunks, seeing how quickly they can tackle Ring Fit Adventure’s individual worlds.
The speedrunning scene for Ring Fit Adventure is certainly young, but it fits into a weird niche where the effort it takes to speedrun can be astronomical compared to the typical speedrun experience. On a personal note, I’m planning on starting my own adventure with Ring Fit later this week. Maybe once I get my feet under me, I’ll throw my ring into the ring.
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Written by Jaxson Tapp
As a lover of gaming and the written word, Jaxson currently fills his time not only with playing games, but also writing about them. Ready for anything, Jaxson’s passion for puzzle games, JRPGs, tough platformers, and whimsical indies helps him bring a well-rounded opinion to Nintendo Wire’s reporting.
