Released in 1995, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy‘s Kong Quest challenged players to guide Diddy and Dixie Kong through over 40 colorful platforming levels strewn across Crocodile Isle‘s overworld map. With maze-like stages, numerous collectibles to find, and a punishing difficulty curve, completing DKC2 was no quick task for casual gamers.
Yet rather than tediously trudging through the campaign, prominent speedrunner Waffle saw opportunity in the classic SNES title for optimized, thrill-ride play. By leveraging glitches, memorization, and pinpoint platforming precision, Waffle has achieved DKC2 completion times once thought impossible.
Understanding What Speedrunning Entails
For those unfamiliar, speedrunning is the practice of completing video games as fast as possible through exploitation of programming quirks, oversight of developer intentions, and sheer skill. The international speedrunning community treats games as puzzles to be solved using any means necessary – glitches, shortcuts, even blindfolded play.
DKC2 has over 119,000 logged speedrun attempts to date, placing it among the most popular titles to optimize. The table below helps put elite-level times into perspective:
| Type | Average Playtime | Speedrun Record | Waffle‘s Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casual Playthrough | 5+ hours | 1 hr 7 min | 39 min 48 sec |
As this data shows, mastering a game to Waffle‘s level involves much more than quick reflexes. Planning the optimum route, researching obscure glitches, and meticulous grinding separate the best from the rest.
How Waffle‘s Skills Break DKC2 Wide Open
Waffle has been professionally speedrunning since 2013, focusing primarily on 16-bit era Nintendo classics like Super Metroid, Yoshi‘s Island, and Link to the Past. When applying his platforming prowess to DKC2 in September 2017, he managed to complete the timeless jungle romp in an astonishing 39 minutes and 48 seconds.
Utilizing tricks like "Map Glitching," which teleports Diddy and Dixie across Crocodile Isle‘s overworld, Waffle outright skips entire levels. By memorizing token locations that award extra lives, he‘s able to brute force later stages without caution. Creative open-air barrel hopping enables what‘s called "air swimming" – essentially flying above ground. And precise cartwheel jumping allows bypassing obstacles and enemies that would normally impede progress.
Thanks to these techniques and more, Waffle earned a DKC2 personal best over 20X faster than average players. His 39:48 record places him in the top 0.38% of all tracked speedrun times – an utterly dominating performance.
Raising Money For Charity Along The Way
While Waffle stepped back from actively speedrunning DKC2 after that legendary 2017 run, he does still showcase it during prominent charity marathons like Games Done Quick. These events unite speedrunners from around the world to turn record setting performances into fundraising powerhouses.
Awesome Games Done Quick 2017 featured Waffle annihilating DKC2 in 41 intense minutes, helping raise over $2.2 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. For many gamers, this GDQ debut was their introduction to both Waffle‘s unprecedented talent and the uniquely exciting world of speedrunning. Videos of the run now have nearly 300,000 views on YouTube.
Celebrating Player Creativity and Community
Far from diminishing DKC2‘s beloved status, tool-assisted speedruns like Waffle‘s highlight the game‘s enduring magic. That even after decades of technological leaps forward, one of Rare‘s 16-bit masterpieces still compels digital athletes to push themselves to superhuman heights is a testament to superb game design.
And by uniting friends old and new each GDQ to transform nostalgic joy into philanthropic impact, speedrunners remind us video games aren‘t just about personal accomplishment – they also have potential to bring out the best in us for the benefit of others.
