Daily Debate: Which Speedrun Zelda Title is the Most Enjoyable as a Spectator?

Regular viewers of Zelda Dungeon’s yearly summer charity marathon know we love the world of Zelda speedrunning — so much, in fact, that we’ve started our very own speedrunning platform, Dungeon Runners! While I’m not a practiced speedrunner myself (yet!), I continuously marvel at the accomplishments of different speedrunning communities in the Zelda fandom, and am always so impressed when I get to watch a good run, whether it be in person at ZD’s annual charity event, or while tuning in for other talented runners’ streams or showcase performances.

I recently spent a good chunk of a weekend watching a 100% speedrun of Twilight Princess for the GameCube (stay tuned to our speedrunning event coverage on Dungeon Runners for the forthcoming details, and in the meantime, check out our recent recap of Games Done Quick at PAX West). At the end of the session, it hardly felt like nearly seven hours had passed at all. The run had been so carefully practiced, optimized, and explained along the way that as a viewer, I was both stunned by the monumentous task of completing the story and finding all the collectibles, items, and upgrades in the fastest manner possible, and entertained by how well it all knitted together in the end. As someone whose first experience of Twilight Princess was as a spectator, watching my sibling play through the game, I enjoy experiencing it in this way almost as much as playing it myself!

Other titles in the series that immediately come to mind for me when it comes to enjoyable Zeldas to watch fast are Majora’s Mask and Link’s Awakening. Runners of these titles are infectiously enthusiastic about their games of choice, and always have interesting facts and facets of the game they could tell you for about as long as the speedrun itself takes to complete. So much of the fun for me when it comes to watching speedruns is seeing just what makes fans of certain games love them even more as they turn these games upside down to appreciate them from every angle.

What about you? Which Zelda title is the most fun to watch when it comes to speedrunning? What factors are most important for an enjoyable spectator experience? Leave your thoughts down below in those comments!

Kora Burton

Kora started writing for Zelda Dungeon in 2022, leading up to Tears of the Kingdom‘s release, and now assists the writing team as an Executive Editor. She also works as a college administrator assisting students with their travel, research, and internship goals. She’s an avid lover of board games, fantasy fiction, and DragonCon, and is a mother to a kid in the stars.