Inside the Strider NES Wrong Warp Discovery
A newly found sequence break shaved nearly a minute off the established route. We walk through how the discovery happened and who found it.
Tracking Every Frame-Perfect Record in Classic Platformers
A Giza-based archive documenting speedrun history, category routing, and the runners pushing old cartridges to their limits.
Browse ArchiveWhat Readers Are Saying
Found this site while chasing a route for Mega Man 3 any%, and the timestamp breakdowns in their glitch writeups saved me hours of trial and error. Solid stuff.
Their coverage of the Rockin' Kats WR chase was more detailed than the actual leaderboard comments. Someone on this team clearly watches every submitted run frame by frame.
I don't even run games competitively, I just read for the history. The piece comparing Castlevania III JP vs US routing taught me things I didn't know after years of watching runs.
Every Frame Counts. So Does This Archive.
New route breakdowns, WR trackers, and runner profiles added as records fall across the platformer scene.
Archive FAQ
Common questions from readers new to the platformer speedrun scene
How do you verify a world record before listing it?
We cross-reference submitted runs against leaderboard timestamps, community-verified splits, and publicly available VOD footage. Only runs with clear, reviewable evidence make it into the archive listings.
What counts as a 'classic platformer' on this site?
We focus on titles released roughly from the late 1980s through the mid-90s across NES, SNES, Genesis, and arcade hardware — games with established any%, 100%, and category extension scenes.
Do you cover TAS (tool-assisted speedrun) categories?
Yes, alongside human-verified runs. TAS entries are clearly labeled separately since they follow different rules and represent theoretical optimal routing rather than real-time human execution.
Can I submit a run or correct a record on your tracker?
We welcome corrections and submissions through our community channels. Every submission gets checked against existing footage and leaderboard data before any archive page is updated.
Why focus specifically on platformers instead of all genres?
Platformer routing has its own language — pixel-perfect jumps, wrong warps, sequence breaks — and we'd rather go deep on one genre's history than spread thin across everything.
Fresh From the Archive
Recent writeups on routes, records, and the runners behind them
The Routing Mind Behind Battletoads' Toughest Splits
An interview-style profile on the runner who rebuilt the turbo tunnel strategy from scratch after months of frame-counting practice.
Why Castlevania III's JP Version Draws Separate Runners
Regional differences in enemy placement and physics split the community into two distinct leaderboards. Here's what actually changed.
Tracking the Shatterhand Any% Record Since 2019
A timeline of how this underrated NES title's record dropped nearly ninety seconds across six years of incremental optimization.
How Arcade Ports Changed Platformer Routing Forever
Console adaptations introduced new glitches absent from original arcade cabinets, reshaping entire categories almost overnight.
Records We're Currently Tracking
A snapshot of runs and categories under close watch in the archive
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01
Mega Man 3 Any%
One of the most contested NES categories, with sub-20-minute runs relying on precise weapon-swap sequencing and menu manipulation.
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02
Shatterhand Glitchless
An underrated Natsume title gaining traction among runners for its tight hitboxes and unforgiving no-damage optimization routes.
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03
Rockin' Kats Wrong Warp%
A recently formalized category built entirely around a boundary-skip trick discovered through frame-by-frame community analysis.
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04
Castlevania III JP 100%
The Japanese release's altered stage layout creates a distinct completion route rarely covered outside dedicated tracker sites.
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05
Strider NES Sequence Breaks
A patchwork of skips and warps that turned a once-linear platformer into one of the genre's most technical speedrun puzzles.
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06
Battletoads Co-op Extensions
Two-player categories add synchronization challenges on top of the game's already brutal single-player difficulty spikes.
Why Readers Keep Coming Back
What makes this archive different from a standard leaderboard mirror
Updated as Records Fall
Listings get revised shortly after a new run clears verification, not weeks later once someone gets around to it.
Route Context, Not Just Times
Every entry explains the routing decisions behind a time, not just the final number on a leaderboard.
Built With the Community
Corrections, submissions, and runner interviews shape the archive directly rather than being written from a distance.
Verified Before Publishing
Runs are cross-checked against footage and existing leaderboards before they're added, keeping the archive dependable.