Who holds the record for the fastest GTA San Andreas speedrun?

Modified Jan 05, 2021 06:51 GMT

GTA San Andreas fans might be shocked to find out where the current world record lies.

Video game speedruns are infamous for being completed far faster by a professional than in a casual walkthrough. This is especially true when multiple people compete for the same record.

For clarification purposes, this article refers to the original GTA San Andreas on PC, not the remastered one. That said, as there are 11 categories to choose from, the fastest one is the most noteworthy.

In this instance, it’s RealKeV3n’s speedrun from the Any% category. The Estonian YouTuber’s speedrun lies at an impressive 14 minutes and 57 seconds, which is only two seconds faster than the next record, by an English player, 123robot.

Alas, world records in video game speedruns are often painfully close.

How did RealKeV3n complete a GTA San Andreas speedrun so quickly?

As it is true for any Any% speedrun, RealKeV3n’s run was done through careful planning and manipulation. It starts off simple, with the YouTuber stealing an HPV-1000 instead of the starting bicycle near CJ. This police motorcycle is crucial for the Script Stack Overflow glitch, which occurs in approximately 82070 milliseconds after starting the game.

The speedrunner has to activate “Vigilante” and cancel it in a timeframe of 33 milliseconds when parking the HPV-1000 in the first safe house’s garage. It is important to note that the in-game time should be 07:47 when that happens.

Naturally, RealKeV3n executes it perfectly. He completes “Big Smoke” and “Sweet & Kendell.” In the latter mission, he steals another HPV-1000 instead of completing it with the bicycle the game provides. By now, he’s four minutes and 27 seconds in.

Then, he advances the game by six hours via the in-game save feature. In true GTA San Andreas speedrun fashion, RealKeV3n goes to the nearby bar, plays the arcade game, and warps to the hospital to steal an ambulance. This vehicle is used to get to Ryder’s place, to start the mission “Ryder.”

Why Ryder is important to the GTA San Andreas speedrun

Normally, Ryder (the mission) starts off with CJ and Ryder going to Reece’s barbershop. The Script Stack Overflow glitch was performed correctly with the HPV-1000 earlier on in the run, so RealKeV3n could hear the phone call that was supposed to play 20 seconds after the Big Smoke mission.

He enters the barbershop. Hilariously, Ryder says, “You know something, I take it back. Old Reece still got it cracking,” several times as RealKeV3n continues to pause the game in several intervals. Eventually, he makes his way back to Ryder’s place to redo that mission.

Of course, Ryder’s two sentences constantly get repeated as RealKeV3n continues to pause GTA San Andreas, redoing the mission briefly before tossing a grenade at Ryder’s car and activating “Vigilante” on the previously stolen HPV-1000. This bizarre strategy ends up warping RealKeV3n to the end of GTA San Andreas, with the final mission, “End of the Line.”

What is noteworthy in this GTA San Andreas speedrun is that it’s the second half of “End of the Line” (the part that involves Officer Tenpenny). From there, the mission gets completed efficiently (and stylishly), as RealKeV3n completes the game in 14 minutes and 57 seconds.

Minor things to note about this speedrun

Interestingly enough, speedrunning GTA San Andreas in this method requires the player to avoid vending machines. Hence, some routes taken result from this peculiar method.

In layman’s terms, vending machines interfere with how some game codes are run, which would change how the warp gets executed.

As for RealKeV3n, he has over 133k subscribers on YouTube and also holds the record for the GTA San Andreas remaster Ingame 100% category at three minutes and 47 seconds.

As wild as that sounds, that’s a topic for a whole other article. Still, the speedrun for the Any% for the original GTA San Andreas is impressive to watch.

Edited by Ravi Iyer