A genre-crossing milestone in pinball has been reached: The first ever speedrun of an arcade pinball game on the main stage! Ryan McQuaid (McSquid) went to Game Done Quick in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and absolutely CRUSHED the speedrun of Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA)! LIVE, in front of an auditorium audience and with 35,000 livestream viewers watching, he posted a time of 18:45 for destroying all nine reactors. This run also included a Powerball since the donators met that incentive, which made the attempt that much more dangerous. By the way, the tilt bob was installed and proved to be working as tilting did happen.

Summer Games Done Quick was an example of me having no idea what I’m missing. Sure I’ve watched the speedruns before, but this time, I was privileged enough to be there live as well while the run was taking place. Standing just behind the high chair “couch” where commentators Brianna McQuaid and Scott Danesi presented expert commentary, I and other enthusiastic friends got the crowd hyped as each reactor went down.

Being part of the supporters (like Spooky Player Jen) who were standing nearby, cheering on Ryan McQuaid as he performed his amazing speedrun was a fantastic experience. Brianna McQuaid and Scott Danesi had the live commentary ON POINT and helped the crowd get into what was happening. I think the crowd started to “get it” around Reactor 3 when it was destroyed, and the HYPE increased as each reactor went down after that as it became clear how each phase was completed on the way to a successful run.

The complete run:

Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA) is a great game, and it’s especially good for speedruns. Its phases, checkpoints, and end goal are clearly identifiable for most people, even those who are not experienced pinball Players. That makes it easier for new Players to get into it, fail out somewhere and KNOW where they need to improve when they try again. Because of this, TNA will also help cultivate NEW #pinball Speedrunners and increase the profile of pinball in general. Ryan has already started the effort towards doing just that. I am grateful I was able to attend this year’s SGDQ for the time I had available, and I am looking forward to going next year, certainly if SGDQ decides to bring pinball back for another run.

Check out this clip where Ryan pulls off a Start Multiball + 2 Reactor Destroy Target Combo LIVE in one shot (on Reactor 3)! Note the DANGER at the beginning of the clip proving that the tilt bob was very much in service. Sometimes, the infinite RNG of *real life* can work in your favor!

Clip:

With that, the official Total Nuclear Annihilation Speedrun Leaderboards are LIVE! Ryan’s run at SGDQ served as part of the qualification process to make the game eligible for speedrun records. On the site are instructions for producing a valid setup to do a TNA speedrun as well as a tutorial video by Ryan himself.

If you hurry, you could be a speedrun record holder! Now, it’s only a matter of time until we have a TNA record holder recap video by YouTuber SummoningSalt.
https://www.speedrun.com/Total_Nuclear_Annihilation

After finishing the initial run, the encore started with the introduction of two special utensils(?) / hand implements(?) to hit the flipper buttons with while still trying to win somehow. The winners of these utensil donation incentives were the giant wooden spoon (and it was indeed giant), and the whisk which overtook the frying pan at the last minute. With only those two tools, watch as Ryan makes it further in the game than most people get by using their hands.

All told, Games Done Quick raised a total of $2.4 Million for the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).