Tetris (1989, NES) by Nintendo

Current 100 Lines, 0 Start Leaderboard (speedrun.com)

If there’s ever a game that I would say is awful to stream, yet fun to speedrun, Tetris is likely at the top of the list.  While it makes it almost literally impossible to read chat, taking all of your concentration, the game and speedrun are so fun, and at a high level so fascinating to watch, that I can still say with certainty that this is one of the best speedruns on the NES, regardless!

Tetris, the game itself, needs no introduction, so here’s the quick synopsis: stack shapes to make lines with increasing difficulty as you go.  That’s really about it.  The NES version is considered the de facto standard in competitive play, as it has amazing controls, solid gameplay, and no-frills presentation: it’s bare-bones classic Tetris and it plays almost flawlessly.

The speedrun is pretty nifty: you can stack the pile high intentionally in order to speed things up.  This, of course, makes the game much harder, but it also becomes quite a thrill when you get in the zone.  It’s easily one of the coolest feelings you can have in speedrunning when you can put the pieces exactly where you want, and when you want.

Puzzle fans and Tetris fans alike will love this speedrun!  Just keep in mind, your chat might get a bit neglected…