Since the inception of Awesome Games Done Quick, the biannual video game speedrunning charity marathon, in 2010, Super Metroid has been among the most popular featured games. It has regularly occupied a primetime spot in the stream, usually on the final day, and is popular with fundraising. Every year, viewers decide for the speedrunners whether they will save the Dachoras or Etecoons at the end of the game, or abandon them to their fate – that is, if the speedrunner survives to the end. “Save or Kill the Animals” has been a significant donation incentive for viewers. But for the first time in AGDQ history, Super Metroid will not be featured at AGDQ 2018 in January.
Organizers of AGDQ said the reason for Super Metroid‘s omission was due to player deaths: the game’s difficulty, and the fact that players rarely or never save during their runs in order to finish them as fast as possible, mean that many of the runners die ingame before the end and are therefore unable to finish the run. In fact, at AGDQ 2016, only one of the four people speedrunning Super managed to complete their run.
This is not to say that Metroid will not have a presence at AGDQ 2018: they plan to stream the original Metroid, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. But what do you think? Is AGDQ abandoning one of its most-loved traditions, or is this a logical decision?