Quick Drives - Darbian Takes on Wii Sports Resort Golf

Darbian, while mostly known for his speedruns on Super Mario Bros on the NES, has been branching out a bit. During an event called the 12-Hour Challenge, which is organized by Golden, Darbian picked up Wii Sports Resort Golf and played in the 18 Holes category. For just under a week, Darbian sat on the top of the leaderboard, but has since dropped quite a bit. This is likely due to the sudden interest in it due to Darbian’s Twitch popularity, and the fact that he learned the run quickly. Leaderboards aside, Darbian’s unlikely speedgame became a fun one for him.

Seeing this odd title being streamed by a guy known for his platformers, we asked Darbian to talk about speedrunning a golf game and a little bit about his life.

We first asked him why he picked up Wii Sports Resort Golf to begin with. Of course, he mentioned participating in the community challenge, discovering an interesting rule or variant to really challenge runners.

“This event takes place shortly after each GDQ event, so there's usually one in early February and then another sometime in August. As explained in the pastebin, there's an optional theme that can be followed. The theme for this challenge was to choose a game that involved motion controls. I thought of my favorite games that involved motion controls and remembered how much fun I had playing Wii Sports Golf, so I thought I'd give it a try.”

“I found the game to be very fun to speedrun compared to the platformers I usually play. Every hole is challenging on every run and nothing is "free". The wind speed and direction changes on every hole, so you are constantly reacting to what the game is giving you. Any hole can kill the run, so it's really exciting on those rare instances where a lot of holes go well.”

Even when Darbian was at the top of the leaderboard, he admitted that it could be taken further.

“In terms of mastering the game, I am nowhere near there yet. If you look at my current best run you'll see lots of very obvious blunders throughout. However, you'll also see some ridiculously lucky shots that counter those blunders. Having a run where literally every hole goes well would be crazy - there's so much variation in each run that it seems impossible to have a mistake free game.”

We then delved into some broader questions, asking Darbian if he finds that he is better at something in life because of speedrunning.

“I think I try to optimize some things in life like errands, grocery shopping, and my evening routine. I'm not sure that speedrunning is the reason I do those things though. I do think it's healthy to have a hobby that you actively participate in and enjoy, and speedrunning fills that role for me.”

Speedrunning in a ton of instances has rekindled the interest in games that likely wouldn’t be picked up again otherwise. This is notable in runners picking up games like Yo! Noid or Cool Spot, which Darbian also used to hold the record for. We asked Darbian on his thoughts on how speedrunning  can make games of the past relevant.

“I was into retro gaming before I got into speedrunning, but I'll admit that playing through my favorite games was starting to get a little boring. After enough playthroughs, the game simply cannot offer anymore challenge to you and you eventually stop seeing anything new. This is where speedrunning really changed things for me.”

“Suddenly, it was like every single game I had ever played had a new difficulty mode that was impossible to master.”

“I could return to all of my favorite games that were starting to get stale and be challenged again. This is why I absolutely believe that speedrunning helps to keep many retro game communities alive. To answer your second question, I also believe speedrunning has made some games relevant that would otherwise be forgotten. It's not uncommon for an otherwise bad game to make a decent or even great speedrun - oftentimes poor programming can lead to some of the most comical glitches that can be used to complete the game faster.”

Lastly, we asked Darbian how speedrunning, streaming, and being at the top of many leaderboards has changed his life. Does he enjoy the spotlight or does it freak him out sometimes?  

“It’s really cool to do something that nobody else was able to (at the time at least). Speedrunning definitely gave me my 15 minutes of fame. I’m a pretty introverted person and the sudden attention that the first Super Mario Bros. record brought me was extremely stressful. I was not able to stream for a whole week after getting it, because I was so wound up. I had people calling and reaching out from across the country and across the world to tell me they heard about the run on the radio, tv, newspaper, etc.”

He did admit that managing the spotlight gets easier over time. “As I have had more attention on me, I have gotten better at handling it.”

Reminiscing about starting out with the stream, Darbian said, “I would get really nervous if I had any viewers, then it was 5 viewers, then 10, then 20, 50, 100 and so on. Eventually I just stopped getting worked up over it, and a couple of years ago I stopped checking my viewer count while streaming.”

Darbian did say that he thinks his popularity will likely never reach that level again.

“I both enjoyed the spotlight and feared it sometimes. I think my most impressive speedrunning days are behind me, so I don’t anticipate experiencing that level of attention again. Specifically, I am not retiring but I don’t currently anticipate being able to do anything that would bring as much attention as my past achievements and I am completely fine with that. I enjoy seeing other members of the community get recognized for their ridiculous achievements.”

Darbian can be found streaming on Twitch.

Interested in more speedrunning content? Check out our interview with Wind Waker Hd speedrunner gymnast86.