Metroid Dread World Record

Goodness gracious me, the speedrunning community took to Metroid Dread like bees to a picnic table. I guess I can’t be especially surprised; Metroidvania games, and the mainline Metroid series in general, have always been favorites of speedrunners. There’s an almost surgical precision with which one can memorize these games, their maps, and their mechanics, to the point that even though it’s barely been a week, there are already mildly terrifying records on the board. Speaking of which, what is the current Metroid Dread world record?

Metroid Dread World Record

Bear in mind that speedrunners are, unsurprisingly, a speedy bunch, so by the time I finish writing this sentence, there could be a new record on the books. That said, at time of writing, the current world record for a Metroid Dread completion at any completion rate and difficulty is 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 33 seconds.

If that sounds impossible to you, believe me, I had a moment of disbelief when I saw it myself. Just playing through the game at my own pace took me a good eight to nine hours in total, so to see someone do it in just an hour and a half feels utterly unthinkable. It’s the real McCoy, though; the record was set by YouTuber and speedrunner Hardpelicn, who documented his run on YouTube for all to see and verify. He even made it through the entire game with no deaths, which is kind of required anyway since dying and reloading wastes precious time. 

The really crazy thing is that, according to Hardpelicn and his commenters, he actually made quite a few mistakes on this run, which means there’s still plenty of potential for another speedrunner to take the throne. I have a feeling the community will be picking apart this game for a good while.